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Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Ukrainian Perspective: Invasion of Ukraine: February 19, 2024
2024-02-20
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title

[Korrespondent] 21:18 Zelensky said in an evening video message that the situation is now “extremely difficult” on several parts of the front - where Russian troops have concentrated maximum reserves. “They are taking advantage of delays in aid to Ukraine. And these are very tangible things. There is a shortage of artillery. The need for front-line air defense and greater range of our weapons,” the president added.

21:01 The Russians promised to evacuate the defenders wounded in Avdievka from the Zenit fortified area, but they shot them, reports the 110th brigade. Due to the complete encirclement of Zenit, it was decided to contact the coordination center and organizations that are negotiating with the Russian Federation on the exchange of prisoners. The Russian side assured the coordinators that it agreed to evacuate the wounded Ukrainians and provide assistance to them, and in the future exchange them. However, the Russians did not fulfill their promises and shot the wounded.

20:19 Five more Ukrainian children were returned from the occupied territory of the Kherson region, said the head of the OVA, Alexander Prokudin.

19:00 Children's Ombudsman of the Russian Federation Maria Lvova-Belova stated that Russia returned 11 children to Ukraine: “Today we have the largest group, 11 children. Some, due to the loss of their parents, go to relatives in Ukraine, some We are returning children from the orphanage." Qatar acted as a mediator.

18:53 In the Krivoy Rog region of the Dnepropetrovsk region, an X-59 guided aircraft missile was destroyed, the Air Command of Skhid reported.

18:24 Russian pilot Maxim Kuzminov, who in the summer of 2023 hijacked a Mi-8 helicopter of the Russian Aerospace Forces and flew it to the territory of Ukraine, was found dead in Spain, Ukrainskaya Pravda reports, citing a source in the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense. It is known that he was shot.

18:05 Hungary will not block the 13th package of sanctions against Russia, because at the preparation stage “we managed to remove all points that were contrary to Hungarian interests,” Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó said.

17:58 The Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry stated that the country will not send weapons to Ukraine: “Ecuador will not send weapons to a country that is involved in an armed international conflict.”

17:33 The US Army is forced to independently pay for the support of the Ukrainian military, since Congress has not yet passed a bill to help Ukraine, CNN reports. In particular, the US army has spent more than $430 million since October 2023 on various operations, including training Ukrainian troops, transporting equipment and transferring US troops to Europe. This bill was paid by the Army Europe and Africa Command. But without additional funding for Ukraine from the United States, the command will have to withdraw money from other projects.

16:45 Ukraine and Italy plan to sign an agreement on security guarantees in the near future - the final details of the bilateral agreement are currently being worked out, reports the Italian publication Formiche. Diplomatic sources expect the Italian agreement to be more similar to the French one than the German one.

16:21 Japan in the first months of 2024 became the largest donor of financial assistance to Ukraine - according to the results of the first quarter, the amount will be about $2.2 billion, the Ministry of Finance reported.

15:44 The EU plans to approve the transfer of income from frozen Russian assets to Ukraine in the coming days, said the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. "We have now initiated legal steps to ensure that the interest received from these deposits does not belong to Russia," she added.

15:32 After success in Avdievka, Russia is trying to return the territories that the Ukrainian Armed Forces liberated during counter-offensives in 2022 and 2023. We are talking about a bridgehead further outside the city, as well as Marinka, Rabotino, Kremennaya and Bakhmut. This is the most dangerous situation since the beginning of the war, writes The New York Times. More details - in the material the Russian Federation launched a wide offensive.

15:23 The White House is working to provide Ukraine with longer-range ATACMS, NBC News reports, citing sources. If Congress approves a funding bill for Ukraine, the missiles could be included in one of the first military aid packages, officials say.

15:00 Russian troops dropped explosives from a drone on an indestructibility point in one of the villages of the Novoaleksandrovsk community of the Kherson region, no people were injured. Berislav was also hit by a drone, one person was wounded, the OVA reported.

14:46 Zelensky said that he is in the Kharkov region, visited the command post of the battalion of the 14th separate mechanized brigade named after Prince Roman the Great, which defends Kupyansk. “We discussed important issues with the brigade commander, talked with the soldiers, and presented them with awards,” the president said.

14:28 According to Russian rescuers, the pilot of the downed Su-35 died in the Sea of ​​Azov, said Nikolai Oleshchuk, commander of the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

13:54 Soldiers of the Third Assault Brigade in Avdeevka were completely surrounded for some time, but were able to get out, said deputy commander of the 3rd Special Brigade Maxim Zhorin. He also assured that there was not a single defender left on the territory of the Avdeevsky Coke Plant. “Basically, there is nothing left there except a few dilapidated basements. Almost half of all the KABs that fell on our heads in Avdievka were located on the territory of the coking plant,” Zhorin added.

13:33 In the Avdeevsky direction, the defense forces have gained a foothold on new lines of defense and are successfully repelling the enemy’s attempts to develop an offensive, said the commander of the Tavria group of troops, Alexander Tarnavsky. In the Zaporozhye direction, the Russians returned to the tactics of small assault groups with the involvement of several armored vehicles. These attempts at offensive actions are stopped, the enemy in the vicinity of Rabotino is destroyed, Tarnavsky assured.

13:14 The head of the NATO military committee, Rob Bauer, said that the West was too optimistic about the war in Ukraine in 2023, believing that “if we give the Ukrainians the ammunition and training they need, they will win.” "We have to be careful not to be too pessimistic in 2024. The very fact that Ukraine is still a sovereign state and that the Ukrainians have regained 50% of what the Russians took in 2022 is simply amazing," Bauer added.

12:35 “Governor” of the occupied Kherson region Vladimir Saldo was poisoned with ricin in August 2022, the substance was found in biomedical samples, said the head of the radiation, chemical and biological defense forces of the Russian Federation Igor Kirillov. Saldo claims that “a person from the inner circle who was recruited by the SBU” was allegedly involved in his poisoning; the poisonous substance was added to the food.

Kirillov also claims that the leader of the “LPR” Leonid Pasechnik received severe poisoning with phenolic compounds in December 2023. Before this, Pasechnik’s poisoning had not been reported.

12:07 In the new sanctions package, special attention will be paid to the issue of supplying drones to Russia, said German Foreign Minister Annalena Bärbock. According to her, the foreign ministers of the European Union countries will today discuss new sanctions, which Brussels expects to introduce by February 24.

11:59 Syrsky clarified that the enemy fighters destroyed today carried out attacks with guided bombs on the positions of Ukrainian troops.

11:48 Defense forces in the Eastern direction destroyed two more Russian aircraft - a Su-34 fighter-bomber and a Su-35S fighter, said Air Force Commander Nikolai Oleshchuk.

11:01 Public accounts write about an attack on an oil depot in occupied Makeyevka.

10:53 Ukraine has been preparing to repel Russian aggression for five months, commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces Alexander Pavlyuk told Radio Liberty. According to him, back in the fall of 2021 he was aware of the very high probability that there would be a full-scale war. Even then, there were all signs that Ukrainian troops would meet the enemy not only from the “LPR” and “DPR”, but also from Russian territory.

“And for the month of February, we did everything possible to meet the enemy with dignity: all positions were strengthened as much as possible, all possible options of action were calculated, all reserves were moved - we conducted full-scale training at least twice, and a lot of local training was carried out.”, - said Pavlyuk.

10:36 In the Zaporozhye direction, the Defense Forces are disrupting the enemy’s offensive for the second day in a row, the Zahid operational command reported. That night, the Russians again tried to repeat the offensive and storm the Ukrainian positions, but were unsuccessful. Equipment and personnel were destroyed.

10:14 Advisor to the mayor of Mariupol Pyotr Andryushchenko reported the fall of a burning plane or aircraft-type UAV over the Primorsky district in the direction of the village. Rybatskoe. Before this, two explosions occurred. It is not yet possible to determine the exact location of the crash; the area is cordoned off.

09:49 At the Munich Security Conference, representatives of NATO member countries in private conversations discussed the need to prepare for a possible Russian attack on one of them amid doubts about the US role in protecting Europe, Bloomberg writes. Compared with the determination of previous meetings, there was uncertainty this year in Munich, one official said.

09:03 Russia is advancing in five directions at once - this is the most dangerous situation since the beginning of the war, writes The New York Times. We are talking about Avdeevsky, Maryinsky, Rabotinsky, Kremensky and Bakhmutsky directions. The Russian Federation has accumulated up to 40 thousand troops in the Mariupol area and about 110 thousand in the Kupyansk and Liman areas. Thus, Russia is trying to return the territories that the Ukrainian Armed Forces liberated during counter-offensives in 2022 and 2023.

08:42 The General Staff announced the estimated losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of February 19:

  • personnel - about 403,720 (+1290) people,

  • tanks - 6498 (+11),

  • armored combat vehicles - 12,232 (+34),

  • artillery systems - 9733 (+24),

  • MLRS - 986 (+2),

  • air defense systems - 674 (+0),

  • aircraft - 336 (+1),

  • helicopters - 325 (+0),

  • UAV of operational-tactical level - 7460 (+11),

  • cruise missiles - 1898 (+0),

  • ships/boats - 25 (+0),

  • submarines - 1 (+0),

  • automotive equipment and tank trucks - 12,767 (+31),

  • special equipment - 1545 (+5).

08:15 Over the past 24 hours, 80 military clashes took place at the front, the General Staff reported in its morning report. In the Avdeevsky direction, the Defense Forces repelled five enemy attacks near Novobakhmutovka, Lastochkino and Pervomaisky, Donetsk region, in Maryinsky - 18 attacks in the Georgievka, Pobeda, Novomikhailovka areas of the Donetsk region.

In the Kupyansky direction, two attacks were repelled in the Tabaevka area of ​​the Kharkov region; on Limansky - ten attacks near Belogorivka, Lugansk region, Ternov and southeast of Vyemka, Donetsk region; on Bakhmutsky - eight attacks near Ivanovsky, Kleshcheevka, Andreevka, Donetsk region; in Zaporozhye - ten attacks in the Rabotino area of ​​the Zaporozhye region. In the Kherson direction, the Defense Forces hold their positions and repelled 16 assaults by Russian troops.

07:38 At night, the Defense Forces destroyed all four Shahed-type attack UAVs that Russia launched in the direction of the Kharkov region from the Belgorod region, the Air Force reported.

06:31 The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported that the Russians were able to launch offensive operations on several sectors of the front at once due to delays in Western aid to Ukraine. According to analysts, Russian troops are conducting at least three offensive operations: along the border of the Kharkov and Lugansk regions, in particular, in the direction of Kupyansk and Liman; in Avdeevka and around it; near Rabotino in the west of the Zaporozhye region. Moreover, the Russian army began its offensive in the western part of the Zaporozhye region over the past 48 hours.

ISW believes this Russian offensive could prevent Ukrainian forces from preparing personnel and equipment to resume counter-offensive operations. At the same time, Ukraine will suffer if it simply digs in and tries to defend itself until the end of 2024, as some Western states and analysts propose, ISW notes.

05:25 The Japanese-Ukrainian conference on economic development and reconstruction, which is jointly held by the governments of both countries, has started in Tokyo. As noted by the Japanese Foreign Ministry, the purpose of the event is to promote dialogue between government officials and business sectors of both countries, to explore the potential of public-private cooperation for the economic reconstruction of Ukraine.

Link


Southeast Asia
Mahathir Says Son's Malaysian Graft Probe Politically Driven
2024-01-24
Hey, Hunter!
[Yahoo] Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said the nation’s anti-corruption agency’s probe into his son’s business activities is politically motivated and that he’s unaware of any other reason that would warrant such move.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has ordered his eldest son, Mirzan Mahathir, to declare all of his income since 1981, when the 98-year-old first became premier, Mahathir said at a press briefing on Monday.

“I’m told that my son is being investigated because he is my son,” Mahathir said, adding that the government of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is using the law against the political opposition. A spokesperson for the anti-corruption body MACC didn’t respond to queries from Bloomberg News.

MACC is also investigating Daim Zainuddin, a former finance minister and adviser to Mahathir. Zainuddin’s wife, Nai’mah Abdul Khalid, was charged on Tuesday for not declaring her assets, which include the 60-story Ilham Tower building in Kuala Lumpur that the agency seized in December.

Anwar, a former ally of Mahathir, rose to power in November 2022 on an anti-corruption drive, after having been long denied the top job. His reform agenda has faced criticisms after the government last year withdrew 47 criminal charges against a key supporter, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. Anwar has denied interfering in the case, as well as in MACC’s investigations.

“The people who are against the government will have the law thrown at their faces, while those who are supporting the government will even have 47 charges dropped,” Mahathir said.

Malaysia’s anti-corruption body last week ordered Mahathir’s son to declare all assets in his possession within 30 days. The order is part of the agency’s investigation into information from the Panama Papers — a large stash of records for shell companies that was uncovered by a journalism consortium in 2016 — as well as Mirzan’s business activities involving the sale and purchase of government-linked companies.

Mirzan once ran the shipping company Konsortium Perkapalan Bhd. The firm was bailed out by national oil and gas company Petroliam Nasional Bhd. during the first term of his father, the New Straits Times reported in June last year, citing Anwar. Mahathir has denied such allegations, and filed a defamation suit against Anwar.

On Tuesday, Daim’s wife faced trial, with the court setting bail at 250,000 ringgit ($52,806), demanding a surety and for her to surrender her passport.

Anwar was seen as Mahathir’s successor in the 1990s before he was fired in the wake of the Asian financial crisis. Anwar then spent time in jail on charges of abuse of power and sodomy, which he denied and said was politically motivated.

Mahathir and Anwar reunited in the 2018 election to oust former premier Najib Razak in the wake of the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal. Mahathir became prime minister for the second time, making an agreement to hand over the premiership to Anwar at a later date. But squabbling within the coalition, including over when Mahathir would step aside as prime minister, helped bring the administration down in 2020.

“The law is being abused for political ends,” Mahathir said at the briefing.

Related: Hunter Biden lawyer testifies that first Trump impeachment created ’emergency’ to file unpaid taxes
Related:
Mahathir Mohamad: 2022-12-16 Analysts: Malaysia’s Anwar may give Thai Deep South talks shot in arm
Mahathir Mohamad: 2021-11-26 Malaysia not allowing Israelis at squash world championship, governing body says
Mahathir Mohamad: 2021-03-27 Malaysian Police: Foiled IS Sympathizer’s Plot to Kill PM Mahathir Last Year
Link


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Russians attacked 13 regions during the day - OVA
2023-11-04
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[LB] The Russians attacked Chernihiv, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Kirovohrad, Dnipropetrovsk, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhya, Sumy, Odesa, and Kharkiv regions.

In the Lviv region this night, air defense forces destroyed 11 enemy drones. A critical infrastructure object has been hit. There were no casualties or damage. There was a fire, it was promptly extinguished. The data on the consequences are being clarified, according to the summary from OVA as of this morning.

In Ivano-Frankivsk this night, the forces and means of air defense of PvK Zahid destroyed one Shahed-136/131. There was no information about the victims. The data is being verified.

A cruise missile was shot down in Kirovohradsk over Kropyvnytskyi district. There were no casualties or destruction of civil infrastructure. Data on the consequences are being clarified.

There were eight shellings (30 explosions) in Chernihivska during the day. The enemy shelled the Novgorod-Siverskyi, Koryukivskyi and Chernihivskyi districts. The use of FPV drones and mortars has been recorded. No information was received about losses among the local population or damage to civil infrastructure. The data is being verified.

In Luhansk , the invaders targeted Nevsky and Bilogorivka. From aviation, the enemy hit the Serebrian Forest. The Russians stormed the Kupyan direction yesterday. During the day, the enemy fired 132 rounds (544 shells).

In Kharkiv that night, the enemy struck Kharkiv, first, with four Shahed-type kamikaze UAVs. Two garages, four cars and an outbuilding were damaged. The educational institution was partially destroyed. The service station building, an inactive sewing shop and a residential building were also damaged. There were fires. Eight residents of Kharkiv with an acute reaction to stress, including two children, turned to doctors. They received help on the spot. No one was injured. Also, during the night Korotych was shelled, two non-residential buildings were damaged, and fires broke out. During the day, the enemy shelled the Kharkiv, Chuguyiv and Kupyan districts. In particular, Vovchansk, Gatishche, Ternova, Dvorichna, Synkivka and other settlements were under attack. No casualties.

In Sumy, at night and in the morning, the Russians carried out two shellings of border areas and settlements. Nine explosions were recorded - from mortars and artillery. Shalyginsk and Znob-Novgorodsk communities were shelled. No consequences. Yesterday, during the day, the Russians carried out 11 shellings of the border territories and settlements of the Sumy region. 78 explosions were recorded. Bilopolska, Yunakivska, Krasnopilska, Putivlska, Seredino-Budska, Esmanska communities came under fire. In the Seredyno-Budsk community, as a result of mortar shelling, the premises of one of the community's enterprises and a non-residential premises were damaged.

In Zaporizhzhia, the enemy struck 172 attacks on 20 towns and villages of the region. 137 artillery shells fell on the territory of Gulyaipol, Novoandriyivka, Malynyvka, Novopavlivka, Levadny, Zatyshshi, Lugivskyi, Pyatikhatok, Maly Shcherbaki, Kamianskyi and other front-line settlements. The enemy carried out 24 UAV attacks on Zliznychny, Gulyaipol, Novodarivka, Novodanilivka, Chervony, Charivny, Malynyvka, Robotyny, and Malya Tokmachka, an air strike on Novodarivka, as well as 10 MLRS attacks on Gulyaipol, Malya Tokmachka, Poltavka, Malynyvka, and Robotyny. 14 reports were received about the destruction of residential buildings and infrastructure facilities. Civilians were not injured.

In Dnipropetrovsk yesterday afternoon, the aggressor attacked the Nikopol district. Three kamikaze drones were directed at the district center. Heavy artillery aimed at the Pokrovsk village. A utility company, eight private houses, an outbuilding, power lines and a gas line were mutilated. It passed without casualties or injuries. In the afternoon there was an "arrival" in the Synelniky district. A private house was damaged there. People were not injured. At night, our defenders shot down the drone of the aggressor, probably "Shaheed", in the Kryvorizka district.

In Donetsk, the Russians fired 14 rounds at populated areas of the region. Under the fire, Avdiyivka, Toretsk, Kurdyumivka, Nelipivka, Berdychi, Lastochkine, Netaylove, Novoukrainka, Urozhayne were destroyed. Seven residential buildings (two of them multi-apartment buildings), two civilian cars, and a garage were damaged. In a day in Donetsk region: three wounded.

In Odesa, air defense forces destroyed two Shahed-131/136 drones at night. There are hits on the technical territory of the infrastructure object in the region. No injuries or significant damage were recorded. Data on the consequences are being clarified.

In Mykolaivska yesterday afternoon, the enemy launched a missile strike, during which missiles of an unknown type lost their combat capability. Their wreckage fell in an open area. No damage or injuries were recorded. At night, three Shahed-131/136 type attack drones were destroyed by air defense forces. Also, yesterday morning and afternoon, the enemy made artillery strikes on the villages of Yaselka and Dniprovske of the Kutsurub community. There are no casualties. Shelling of the water area of ​​Ochakivska hromada was recorded yesterday. No casualties.

The enemy fired 108 rounds (602 shells) in the Kherson region during the day, of which 11 rounds (71 shells) were fired at Kherson. The Rashists targeted the districts of 38 settlements of the region; the territory of an educational institution and an enterprise in Beryslav district; plant in Kherson. Yesterday, the occupiers once again struck the village of Vesele with artillery. A 60-year-old man died as a result of the shelling. Also yesterday, a 54-year-old man was injured as a result of enemy shelling in Novoraisk.

A 44-year-old man was injured as a result of the Russians dropping a VOG from a drone in Beryslav. In the evening, the Russians set fire to Urozhane of the Berislav community. Two women, 49 and 38 years old, were injured. They were taken to the hospital. Doctors provide assistance to the victims. In a day in the region: one person died, four were injured.

We will remind you that this night the Russians delivered one of the most massive strikes in weeks. The enemy fired about 40 attack UAVs (shot down 24) and a rocket (shot down).

Link


India-Pakistan
Death toll from Bajaur bombing climbs to 63
2023-08-04
[Dawn] The total number of deaths from the suicide kaboom on a gathering of Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam
...the political wing of the Pak Taliban...
-Fazal here on Sunday has climbed to 63, said a senior health official here on Wednesday.

Dr Liaqat Ali Khan, medical superintendent of the District Headquarters Hospital, Khar, told a press briefing that 43 bodies were brought to the hospital, while 13 bodies were taken away by their relatives from the site of the blast. He added that seven injured died during treatment in different hospitals in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistain's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire...
and Lower Dir on Wednesday.

Dr Ali said three bodies were buried at a local cemetery in Khar by the Rescue 1122 as nobody came to claim them.

The official said a total 123 people were maimed in the incident, who had been under treatment in different hospitals, mostly in Peshawar.

Meanwhile,
...back at the chili cook-off, Chuck slipped the habañero into the roasted jalapeño...
one person was killed and four children were maimed after unknown assailants shot up them inside their home in Babar Shah area of Salarzai tehsil, police and Recue 1122 officials said on Wednesday.

They said the incident occurred on Tuesday night when unknown assailants started firing at the family of Zahid Khan inside his house, leaving one person, namely Khalid Khan, 40, deader than Tut and four children injured.

Rescue 1122 officials said the maimed children identified as Maaz Khan, 8, Mariam Bibi, 13, Hasana Bib, 9 and Marwa Bibi, 6, were shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital.

A statement issued from the district police office claimed the police had identified those involved in the firing, and efforts were underway to arrest them as a case had been registered against them.

Related Pakistani paranoia: Bajaur bombing bid to sabotage visit of Chinese vice premier - Fazl claims foreign forces behind attack.
Related:
Bajaur: 2023-08-02 Daily Evacuation Brief August 2, 2023
Bajaur: 2023-08-02 PM urges Taliban govt to stop use of Afghan soil for 'transnational terrorism'
Bajaur: 2023-08-01 Daily Evacuation Brief August 1, 2023
Related:
Salarzai tehsil: 2017-03-04 12 bombs found in Bajaur Agency
Salarzai tehsil: 2016-03-18 Blast kills man in Bajaur Agency
Salarzai tehsil: 2015-01-23 Levies man shot dead in Bajaur
Link


India-Pakistan
Police arrest four terrorist associates, solve Kulgam grenade attack case
2023-07-29


Police along with Army busted grenade throwing module by arresting four terrorist associates in Kulgam thereby solving Yaripora grenade attack case in which several civilians were maimed, a police statement said. Incriminating materials, arms & ammunition have been recovered from their possession.

On 24-05-2022, a grenade was hurled on a police party at Main Chowk Yaripora, however the grenade missed the intended target and went kaboom! in the crowd nearby, in which 13 persons got injured. Accordingly, a case FIR No. 24/2022 under relevant sections of law was registered in Police Station Yaripora and investigation of the case was set into motion.

During the course of investigation, Kulgam Police alongwith Army (1RR), arrested four terrorist associates/conspirators for their involvement in the terror crime case. They have been identified as Nasir Nabi Dar son of Ghulam Nabi Dar, Mohd Abass Dar son of Abdul Ghani Dar, both residents of Gundchahal Frisal, Aaqib Majid Ganie son of Abdul Majid Ganie resident of Badroo, Yaripora and Zahid Ali Bhat son of Ali Mohd Bhat resident of Kokergund Yaripora.

Incriminating materials, arms & ammunition including a pistol, 02 pistol magazines, 14 pistol rounds and a hand grenade were recovered from their possession. Investigation of the case is going on.
Link


India-Pakistan
Punjab CTD arrests nine militants of banned outfits
2023-06-11
[Dawn] The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) claimed on Saturday to have arrested nine alleged Death Eaters of banned outfits during operations in different areas of the province.

According to the front man, the Punjab
1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots....

CTD conducted 46 intelligence-based operations in different districts of the province to effectively deal with any untoward incident of terrorism, in which 47 suspected persons were interrogated and nine alleged Death Eaters were arrested with weapons, explosives and other prohibited materials.

The arrested Death Eaters include six members of the Tehrik-e-Taliban
...Arabic for students...
Pakistain Atiq Ahmed, Rashid Khan, Muhammad Riaz, Muhammad Siddique Khan, Muhammad Shoaib and Zahid Khan; two members of al-Qaeda Muhammad Raheeq and Kashif Usmani; and one member of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ...
Maqsood Ahmed.

The front man said 1.328kg of explosives, 10 detonators, 17 feet of protective fuse wire, six prohibited books, 11 prohibited magazines, 56 pamphlets of the banned
...the word banned seems to have a different meaning in Pakistain than it does in most other places. Or maybe it simply lacks any meaning at all...
organization
, 100 stickers, five receipt boxes and Rs41,170 in cash had been recovered from the possession of these terrorists.

He said the Death Eaters wanted to target important installations and other religious places across the province.

The police have registered nine cases against the arrested Death Eaters in Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Sahiwal, Multan
...Home of the Multan Sultans...
, Gujranwala and Bahawalpur and shifted them to an unknown location, he said.

The front man said 284 combing operations were conducted during this week with the help of local police and security agencies, 13,949 people were checked, 56 suspects were arrested, 32 FIRs were registered and 17 recoveries were made.
Link


India-Pakistan
Two police officials martyred in Swabi, Waziristan attacks
2023-04-09
[Dawn] An assistant sub-inspector of police embraced martyrdom and two other personnel suffered critical injuries when bandidos faceless myrmidons attacked the vehicle they travelled in with a hand grenade in Swabi district on Friday evening.

Also in the day, a police constable was killed in an act of ’murder’ in North Wazoo tribal district.

The Swabi attack was reported in the main Yar Hussain Bazaar a few minutes before Iftar time.

The police said that the bandidos faceless myrmidons lobbed a hand grenade at the police personnel’s vehicle as it was bound for the Yar Hussain cop shoppe.

They said that ASI Sair Khan was martyred in the attack, while the accompanying constables Gul Naseeb Khan and Ajaz Khan were seriously injured.

The police said that the dear departed belonged to Kalu Khan village.

They said that the injured were immediately shifted to the Mardan Medical Complex, where the doctors declared the condition of constable Gul Naseeb to be critical.

The police claimed that ostensibly, it was a murderous Moslem attack, which was being probed.

"It seems that bandidos faceless myrmidons are behind this hand grenade attack, but they are investigating it from different angles to know about it," district police officer Najmul Hussain told Dawn.

The police cordoned off the area after the attack and tightened security at and around all entry points and key places in the area.

Meanwhile,
...back at the laboratory, Igor and Oleg were discussing what the quickest way might be to deal with the monster...
button men killed a police constable in Khadikhel market of North Waziristan tribal district on Friday.

The police said it was an act of "murder". They said that constable Zahidullah came under gun attack in a market while doing his duty.

The police said that faceless myrmidons fired bullets at the constable and fled.

They said that the policeman embraced martyrdom on the spot.

The police said that the body was shifted to the main Mirali hospital, while an investigation had been launched into the "murder."
Link


Afghanistan
Mujahid: 300 Passport Employees Detained or Fired for Corruption
2023-02-05
[ToloNews] Zabiullah Mujahid, the Islamic Emirate's spokesperson, said that so far, 300 General Directorate of Passports employees have been arrested or fired on charges of corruption.

Speaking to TOLOnews, Mujahid said that the Afghan government is committed to rooting out corruption and that the passport office has been cleared of any corruption.

"There were some forgeries produced. So far, 300 people from that department have been fired, arrested, and nabbed
Book 'im, Mahmoud!
due to corruption there," Mujahid told TOLOnews.

However,
a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all...
some Kabul residents claim that even though the General Directorate of Passports is closed to the people, passports are given out to people in exchange for high fees.

"There are some people who sell passports for a lot of money on the black market. This has caused a lot of problems for the people," said Ramin, a resident of Kabul.

"Some of our relatives have paid 1200 dollars, 1000 hundred dollars and 1500 dollars to get passports and leave the country," said Hekmat Shah, another resident of Kabul.

Residents of Kabul said that receiving a passport is a fundamental right and that the Islamic Emirate should begin issuing them.

"It's been six months since I registered at the passport office, I filed the online form, but unfortunately I haven't received any calls or forms from the office," said Ahmad Zahid, a resident of Kabul.
First the new staff has to be taught to read. Then they need to be taught how to use a computer. Only then will they have the skills to learn how to use the passport office system. So good luck with that, Mr. Zahid.
The spokesperson of the passport department said that the technical problem has not been resolved in this department so far, so the issuance of passports has been stopped.

"All technical groups are working to find solutions to the existing problems so that we can then begin the passport distribution process. Passport distribution generally is halted at all," said Noorullah Patman, the spokesperson of the passport Directorate, told TOLOnews.

The passport directorate has been closed to the public for about five months, and there have been no updates on the ongoing technical issue; however, this Directorate issues passports to patients after receiving approval from the medical commission.
Link


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Death toll in Afghanistan cold snap rises to 166, official says
2023-01-29
Forward with the Taliban into the Seventh Century!
[GEO.TV] At least 166 people have died in a wave of bitterly cold weather sweeping Afghanistan, an official said Saturday, as extreme conditions heaped misery on the poverty-stricken nation.

Afghanistan has been frozen by temperatures as low as -33°C (-27°F) since January 10, combined with widespread snowfall, icy gales, and regular electricity outages.
*shrug* It is well known that if a country wants to avoid power outages, it must pay its utility bills. Afghanistan’s primary supplier is Uzbekistan, but they source from a variety of Central Asian countries plus Iran. They just signed a new contract with Turkmenistan, and renewed existing contracts with Uzbekistan, but that paying thing is the kicker.
Aid agencies had warned before the cold snap that more than half of Afghanistan's 38 million people were facing hunger, while nearly four million children were suffering from malnutrition.

The disaster management ministry said on Saturday the corpse count had risen by 88 over the past week and now stood at 166, based on data from 24 of the nation's 34 provinces.

The deaths were caused by floods, fires and leaks from gas heaters that Afghan families use to heat their homes, ministry official Abdul Rahman Zahid said in a video statement.

Some 100 homes were destroyed or damaged and nearly 80,000 livestock, a vital commodity for Afghanistan's poor, also died in the cold.
Link


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Perpetrators of ‘modern slavery’ given up to 12 years in US
2023-01-27
[Dawn] Three members of a Pak-American family were sentenced this week to prison terms ranging from five to 12 years, for their roles in keeping a woman from Pakistain in forced labour at their home for more than 12 years.

US federal authorities, who described the case as "modern-day slavery", said the victim had married into the family.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the US Justice Department said that Zahida Aman, 80, was sentenced to 12 years; Mohammed Rehan Chaudhri, 48, to 10 years; and Mohammad Nauman Chaudhri, 55, to five years in a federal prison in the Eastern District of Virginia.

Additionally, the court in Richmond, Virginia — where the defendants and the victim lived — ordered Aman and Rehan Chaudhri to pay the victim around $250,000 in restitution for back wages and other financial losses the victim incurred because of the defendants’ criminal conduct.

According to court documents, in 2002, the victim married Aman’s son, and the brother of defendants Nauman and Rehan Chaudhri. Thereafter, she lived in their home.

Over the next 12 years, the three defendants forced her to perform domestic services. To coerce that labour, the defendants verbally assaulted and physically abused the victim. The defendants slapped, kicked, and pushed the victim, even beat her with a wooden board, and, on one occasion, hog-tied her hands and feet and dragged her down the stairs in front of her children.

Even though the victim had temporary immigration status in the United States, Aman took her immigration documents. Thereafter, the defendants threatened the victim with deportation, should she not obey their demands.

The defendants also threatened to separate the victim from her children.

Following a seven-day trial in May 2022, the jury convicted all defendants of conspiracy to commit forced labour, convicted two of the defendants of forced labour, and convicted Aman of document servitude.

Jessica D. Aber, US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia and Stanley M. Meador, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI
...Formerly one of the world's premier criminal investigation organizations, something for a nation to be proud of. Now it's a political arm of the Deep State oligarchy that is willing to trump up charges, suppress evidence, or take out insurance policies come election time...
Richmond Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by US District Judge John A. Gibney.

They banished the victim from the main part of the house to a basement to hide their conduct, limiting her access to food and basic human interactions and further separating her from her children, the prosecutor said.

Their conduct made the victim so desperate that she tried to take her own life twice. The victim lost 60 pounds and clumps of her hair during the 12-year ordeal and was physically unrecognisable to one of her brothers when he first encountered her after he travelled to the US from Pakistain to learn whether she was still alive.

After they were married, her husband told her that if she wanted to please him, she had to make his family and, particularly his mother happy. Within weeks of her arrival, the victim was forced to work all day and was slapped on a regular basis for performing chores incorrectly. On one occasion, she was tied with rope and pushed down the stairs in front of her children as punishment for taking one of the family member’s phones and trying to call her husband who had moved to Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,, where he lived with a girlfriend.

The defendants eventually moved the victim into the laundry room, where she slept on a mat on the floor.

Salman Chaudhri and the victim had four children from 2003 to 2008, before he moved out. In May 2016, the victim beat feet from the family’s home with help from her brother and contacted the local police. The victim currently lives in Connecticut with all four children.

Prosecutors said the worst punishment the defendants inflicted was the wedge they drove between the victim and her children. They convinced the children their mother was a monster, forcing them to spit on her.
Link


India-Pakistan
Punjab CTD conducts 30 operations, arrests four Da’ish terrorists
2022-12-11
[PakTribune] the Punjab
1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots....

CTD arrested four alleged snuffies during IBOs across the province.

A CTD spokesperson said that during 30 IBOs, 30 suspects were interrogated, out of which four suspected snuffies were arrested, he added.

Weapons, explosives and other prohibited materials were recovered from their possession, he added.

The arrested accused included Danish, Muhammad Raziq Afridi, Muhammad Muzaffar Mehmood and Hafiz Zahid Mehmood, the spokesperson said, adding that they all belonged to various banned
...the word banned seems to have a different meaning in Pakistain than it does in most other places. Or maybe it simply lacks any meaning at all...
organization
s, including the Tehrik-e-Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
Pakistain and others. Four FIRs were registered against the arrested persons, he added.

The spokesperson said that 2,672 grammes of explosives, primacord eight feet, five detonators, a pistol (30-bore) with seven bullets, a battery, five pamphlets, a book, four stickers, two receipt books, three magazines, five cards of the banned organization, a cycle of violence (Honda 125), and Rs38,200 in cash were recovered from their possession.

During this week, the CTD conducted 351 combing operations with the help of local police and law enforcement agencies, he said, adding that during the operations, 14,265 persons were checked, out of which 46 suspects were arrested, 42 FIRs registered and 33 recoveries were made.
Link


India-Pakistan
Two TTP militants jailed for life in Landhi blast case
2022-11-17
[Dawn] An antiterrorism court on Wednesday handed down life imprisonment to two forces of Evil of the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
Pakistain (TTP) on charges of carrying out an improvised bomb (IED) blast near a Rangers office in Landhi.

Inamullah alias Mulla and Muhammad Shafiq were found guilty of killing two persons and wounding eight passers-by in the Khurramabad area on March 11, 2013 by detonating the IED.

They have already been sentenced to death by a military court in 2013 for carrying out the Abbas Town kaboom.

On Wednesday, the ATC-V judge, who conducted the trial in the judicial complex inside the central prison, pronounced his verdict reserved after recording evidence and final arguments from both sides.

The judge noted that the prosecution proved its case against the accused beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Besides life term, the court ordered the convicts to pay Rs200,000 as compensation to the legal heirs of the victims.

The judge also sentenced them to total 20-year-imprisonment for causing injuries to eight people and terrorism.

However,
a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all...
the court ruled that all the sentences would run concurrently.

The court kept the case against two absconding accused — Fareedullah alias Fareed and Zahidullah alias Zahid — on dormant file until their arrest or surrender.

In the verdict, the judge wrote that some mitigating circumstances did exist in this case, for which the accused could not be handed down capital punishment of death.

It stated that at the time of the commissioning of the offence as per the prosecution evidence and material available on record, both the accused were accompanied by their accomplices Zahid and Fareed, who had a remote control in their hands which the prosecution failed to recover from their possession. Therefore, the capital punishment cannot be given to them, the court ruled.

According to the prosecution, a CTD investigating officer on March 18, 2013 interrogated Inamullah and Muhammad Shafiq, who were already in jug in connection with two other kaboom cases. They disclosed to their involvement in the Rangers headquarters blast, it added.
Link



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