Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

India-Pakistan

Punjab CTD arrests 17 suspected terrorists in intelligence-based operations

2023-07-29

[Dawn] 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....
Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) on Friday said it had arrested 17 suspects associated with defunct organizations during various intelligence-based operations (IBOs).

According to an official statement by the CTD, officials conducted 132 IBOs in various parts of the province. During these operations, the CTD interrogated 134 suspects, resulting in the arrest of 17.

The statement disclosed that two of the arrested suspects were associated with the TTP (Ghazi Force) and were detained in Attock, adding that they were "planning to target Chinese nationals".

The CTD also said that three suspected TTP forces of Evil were arrested in Dera Ghazi Khan, adding that they were reportedly "planning to attack worship places".

The CTD also apprehended a terrorist associated with Jamaatul Ahrar
...A Pak Taliban splinter group that split off from the Mullah Fazlullah faction because it wasn't violent enough...
who was "planning to target worship place in Lahore".

According to the CTD statement, three other suspects were detained in Gujranwala and Sargodha for possessing banned literature, while eight suspects were found to be sharing "hate material" targeting other sects on social media.

Out of the 17 forces of Evil who were arrested, six were affiliated with the TTP and six with the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain
...a Sunni Deobandi organization, a formerly registered Pak political party, established in the early 1980s in Jhang by Maulana Haq Nawaz Jhangvi. Its stated goal is to oppose Shia influence in Pakistain. They're not too big on Brelvis, either. Or Christians. Or anybody else who's not them. The organization was banned in 2002 as a terrorist organization, but somehow it keeps ticking along, piling up the corpse counts...
(SSP). Meanwhile,
...back at the laboratory the smoke and fumes had dispersed, to reveal an ominous sight...
two of the suspects were associated with ISIS, while the remaining three were members of other organizations.

According to the CTD, a total of 14 First Information Reports (FIRs) were registered against the arrested suspects in various cop shoppes located in Sargodha, DG Khan, Multan
Multan

...Home of the Multan Sultans...
, Gujranwala, Pakpattan, Okara, and Rawalpindi.

During the operation, the law enforcers seized a cache of weapons, including four hand grenades, seven detonators, 893g of explosives, two 30-bore pistols, three magazines associated with a banned outfit, pamphlets and stickers affiliated with the banned SSP, as well as two mobile phones and a sum of Rs17,780 in cash.

The CTD said it conducted 485 "combing operations" with local police across the province, which resulted in 36 arrests and the registration of 29 first information reports.

"The CTD Punjab is proactively pursuing its goal of safe and secure Punjab and will not leave any stone unturned in its efforts to bring forces of Evil and anti-state elements behind bars," the statement added.

Link

India-Pakistan

CTD arrests six ‘militants’ of banned outfits in Punjab

2023-06-05

[Dawn] The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) claimed on Saturday to have arrested six suspects belonging to different banned outfits during operations in different areas of Punjab.

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 39 intelligence based operations (IBOs) in different districts of the province, interrogating 40 suspects and arresting six Death Eaters allegedly affiliated with different banned outfits, recovering weapons, explosives and other prohibited materials from them.

Those arrested have been identified as Shoaib Rafiq, a member 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 Hizb-e-Tahrir, Muhammad Baqir Mehndi, a member of Sipah Muhammad Pakistain, two members of the Baloch Liberation Army — Zahir Shah and Muhammad Shahzad, Muhammad Afzal, a member of Jamaatul Ahrar
...A Pak Taliban splinter group that split off from the Mullah Fazlullah faction because it wasn't violent enough...
, and Asif, a member of Tehrik-e-Taliban
Taliban

...Arabic for students...
Pakistain, he said.

Goodness! Are any bad guys left in the area at all?

The front man says that 415 grams of kaboom, one hand grenade, one improvised bomb (IED bomb), six detonators, six feet safety fuse wire, two feet Prima Card, four prohibited books, 31 pamphlets of banned organization, nine stickers, two flags, a receipt book, three mobile phones and Rs49,680 in cash have been recovered from the suspected bad boys.

He says the Death Eaters had planned terrorist activities across the province and wanted to target important installations and religious places.

The police have registered five cases against the arrested suspects in Lahore, Gujranwala, DG Khan, Sahiwal and Rawalpindi and shifted them to an unknown location, he adds.

The front man adds that 238 combing operations were also conducted during this week with the help of local police and security agencies, checking 1,1041 persons and arresting 33 suspects. He says 28 FIRs were registered against the suspects and 20 prohibited items were recovered.

He says the CTD is diligently pursuing its goal of a "safe Punjab" and making all out efforts to put Death Eaters and other anti-state elements behind bars.

Link

India-Pakistan

Four ‘terrorists’ of banned outfit killed in gun battle with CTD in Quetta

2022-09-28

[Dawn] Four suspected turbans of the banned Jamaatul Ahrar
...A Pak Taliban splinter group that split off from the Mullah Fazlullah faction because it wasn't violent enough...
were killed in a shootout with a team of Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of police in Hazar-Ganji area of the thriving provincial capital on Tuesday.

The CTD personnel intercepted a truck, on a tip-off about drugs being smuggled to Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
, at Gulzarabad checkpoint on the outskirts of Quetta, a CTD spokesperson said.

Instead of stopping, the men travelling in the truck opened fire on the CTD personnel, triggering an exchange of fire that continued for half an hour, leaving four turbans dead.

Upon searching the truck, 27 kilograms of fine quality heroin was recovered from secret compartments meant to hide drugs for smuggling.

"The four turbans killed in the shootout belong to banned Jamaatul Ahrar," the front man said, adding that further investigation was in progress.

It was the second operation of the Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
Counter Terrorism Department against drug smugglers in the thriving provincial capital. Two weeks ago, police and CTD personnel had conducted a joint operation in the city nullah, killing eight drug smugglers.

CTD officials said that drug money was being used by terrorist outfits.

Link

Afghanistan

Senior TTP leader Omar Khalid Khorasani killed in Afghanistan, Taliban spokesperson confirms

2022-08-10

More on this story from yesterday.

[DAWN] Senior Tehrik-e-Taliban
Taliban

...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
Pakistain (TTP) leader Omar Khalid Khorasani and two others members of the banned outfit were killed in a roadside kaboom in Afghanistan on Monday, according to Taliban front man Muhamamad Khorasani.

Omar's real name was Abdul Wali Mohmand and he previously headed the TTP in the Mohmand Agency
... Named for the Mohmand clan of the Sarban Pahstuns, a truculent, quarrelsome lot. In Pakistain, the Mohmands infest their eponymous Agency, metastasizing as far as the plains of Peshawar, Charsadda, and Mardan. Mohmands are also scattered throughout Pakistan in urban areas including Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta. In Afghanistan they are mainly found in Nangarhar
The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country..
and Kunar...
bordering Afghanistan.

In a statement today, TTP officials said that the car carrying Omar came under attack in the eastern Paktika
...which coincidentally borders South Wazoo...
province near the Barmal district on Sunday evening.

They urged the Taliban government in Afghanistan to investigate the incident and unearth "spies" who could be responsible for the death of senior TTP leaders.

Apart from Omar, the two other men killed in the attack have been identified as Mufti Hassan and Hafiz Dawlat Khan. They were among several TTP leaders who had joined the outlawed ISIS in 2014.

It is pertinent to mention here that Omar was a member of the TTP team involved in negotiations with Pak officials, Pashtoon jirgas and recently with religious scholars over the past few weeks.

Recently, a jirga member had posted the TTP leader's photo on the sideline of its meeting with Pakistain's side which had held two rounds of talks in Kabul in the first week of June and late July.

Omar and a majority of the TTP members from Mohmand agency had parted ways with the TTP and formed a splinter faction Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain Jamaat Ahrar (TTP-JA) in 2014.

The then TTP chief Maulvi Fazalullah had sacked him after he had announced the formation of his own group Jamaat ul Ahrar, which comprised of almost all the Taliban leaders from the Mohmad Agency. Omar had accused the TTP leadership of deviating from the outfit's ideology.

The group received prominence when Jamaat-ul-Ahrar front man Ehsanullah Ehsan

...formerly the front man for the Pak Taliban, then the lips and tongue of the Jamaatul Ahrar splinter group in Mohmand Agency...
grabbed credit for the Wagah border suicide kaboom in November 2014, in which over 70 people, almost all civilians, were killed.

The TTP leader's killing could be seen as a major blow to the group, especially at a time when it is involved in talks with the Pak government.

Omar was wanted by the Pak government for his involvement in a series of attacks on security forces, tribal elders and members of the peace committee in the area.

In July 2017, one of the UN Security Council’s sanctions committees, upon Pakistain’s request, had approved the addition of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar in the list of entities and individuals subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo.

Meanwhile,
...back at the argument, Jane reached into her purse for her .38...
the United States added Omar's name to the US State Department's Rewards for Justice wanted list in March 2018. The US had announced a reward of up to $3 million for information on him.

In recent years, several TTP leaders, including former chief Maulvi Fazallah, have been killed in Afghanistan after they crossed into the border due to military operation in the tribal areas, Swat
...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat...
and parts of the Malakand division. Fazlullah, who served the TTP chief in Swat, was killed in a US dronezap in Afghanistan’s eastern Kunar province
... which is right down the road from Chitral. Kunar is Haqqani country.....
in June 2018.

Tolo News adds:

Meanwhile, some sources said that Khurasani was present in the negotiations which were reportedly held between the TTP and Pakistani government in Kabul.

The political analysts gave various views on the killing of Khurasani.

“To gain money and weapons from the US, (Pakistan) should always declare an enemy and that enemy is now TTP. This is an enemy who could be controlled everywhere and they can eliminate it anywhere they want to,” said Sher Hassan Hassan, a political analyst.

“I think there are disagreements among the TTP. Usually, whenever there are peace negotiations, the hardliners are on one side and the moderates are on the other side. I think it is about the internal disagreements among the TTP,” said Waheed Faqiri, a political analyst.

Khurasani was the chief of Jamat-ul-Ahrar (JuA), a TTP branch that is designated a terrorist group by the United Nations and United States, according to Reuters.

Link

India-Pakistan

26 killed in suicide attack near Nadra office in Mardan

2022-07-08

[Dawn] At least 26 people were killed and 50 others injured when a powerful blast occurred near the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) office on Nisatta Road in Mardan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, on Tuesday.

The attack was claimed by Tehrik-e-Taliban
...Arabic for students...
Pakistain (TTP) splinter group Jamaatul Ahrar
...A Pak Taliban splinter group that split off from the Mullah Fazlullah faction because it wasn't violent enough...
, which was also behind last year's deadly blast at Wagah Border.

However,
by candlelight every wench is handsome...
TTP central front man Mohammad Khorasani in a statement distanced his group from the Mardan attack, saying "we have nothing to do with blasts at public places," reported BBC Urdu.

The explosion destroyed the front entrance of a regional branch of Nadra.

"At least 26 people have been killed and more than 50 injured," said provincial information minister Mushtaq Ghani. "[The] condition of 11 of them is still critical," Ghani added.

The blast took place at a time when the office was crowded with people lining up to make applications for National Identity Cards (NIC).

'SUICIDE ATTACK'
Deputy Inspector General Mardan Division Saeed Wazir told DawnNews the blast was a "suicide kaboom carried out by a bomber".

The DIG added that a security guard posted at the office stopped the bomber at the gate, after which he detonated his boom jacket. The suicide attacker was on a cycle of violence

and rammed it into the gate after being denied entry, he said.

Conflicting reports suggest that explosives may have been planted on a cycle of violence parked near the Nadra office.

District police chief Faisal Shahzad said the jacket wallah was riding a motorbike. "Apparently the target was the queue as there were around 400 people standing there," Faisal said.

Some of those critically maimed were taken to the main Lady Reading Hospital 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...
city.

POWERFUL EXPLOSION
Officials of the Bomb Disposal Unit that reached the scene of the earth-shattering kaboom said around 8 to 10 kg of kaboom was used in the attack.

According to initial reports, the powerful blast took place near the gate of the office and damaged doors and windows in the building. At least 40 people are said to be injured, with some at death's door.

Human body remains were strewn across the blast site.

The area was cordoned off as rescue and security sources rushed to the site. The injured were shifted to Mardan Medical Complex, while an emergency was declared at all medical facilities in the area.

The office is located on the link road that connects Charsadda to Mardan. Mardan is situated in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, which has seen several terrorist attacks over the past several years — many of them targeting security officials.

SEARCH AND STRIKE OPERATION
Earlier in December, a search and strike operation was launched in Mardan, resulting in the arrest of about 327 suspected persons, including 16 illegally staying Afghan nationals, and persons involved in various crimes.

Mardan District Police Officer Faisal Shehzad, talking to media persons, had disclosed that the search and strike operation was carried out in Par Hoti, Bashkhali, Gujraat, Iranabad, Chora, Bhaijan, Surakh Dheray, Katakhet, Barikab, Galyara and localities adjoining the city.

He said they had also established checkposts jointly manned by police and army personnel at different points of the district and around 500 vehicles were searched with the purpose to take suspected passengers into custody if there were any inside those vehicles.

Link

India-Pakistan

Man who allegedly funded Kanpur violence arrested

2022-07-06

[OneIndia] The police have arrested a person from Lucknow for allegedly funding June 3 Kanpur violence.

The man identified as Haji Vasi had gone missing following the ~~violent~~ mostly peaceful clash that broke out between two groups belonging to different communities allegedly over a market shutdown in Kanpur. A non-bailable warrant was issued earlier against the accused, AP Tiwari, Additional Commissioner of Police said.

"Kanpur Police arrested Haji Vasi on Monday night. He is accused in the June 3 Kanpur violence case. We had a non-bailable warrant against him and were searching for him continuously since the incident. His search was on in Delhi and other neighbouring states. He will be presented to the court," he said.

As many as 36 persons were arrested in connection with the clash so far.

Earlier, the Kanpur Development Authority sealed off Vasi's property, the police said. On June 11, the police arrested another accused identified as the President of Jamaatul Quresh, Nizam Qureshi from Kanpur, who was often seen with the criminal mastermind of the violence, Hayat Jaffar Hashmi, ANI reported.

Hayat Jaffar Hashmi, the main accused in the Kanpur violence case was arrested along with three other criminal masterminds, namely Javed Ahmed Khan, Mohammad Rahil, and Mohammad Suffian the day after the violence on June 4. All of them were allegedly associated with the Maulana Ali Jauhar Fans Association,

...Muhammad Ali Jauhar was an Indian Muslim activist, prominent member of the All-India Muslim League, journalist and a poet, and was among the leading figures of the Khilafat Movement back in the days leading up to Indian independence...

and were sent on a 14-day judicial remand on June 5, the police said.

Link

India-Pakistan

Parliament’s imprimatur

2022-06-24

[Dawn] IT may be a given that the country’s security establishment would take the lead in talks with the banned TTP, but it was important that this hugely consequential issue be part of a more inclusive process. And that is the direction in which matters at last seem to be moving.

On Wednesday, the military top brass in a briefing to the politicianship held out the assurance that no extra-constitutional concessions would be given to the holy warriors and any deal arrived at would be subject to parliamentary approval.

The meeting, the first of its kind since the coalition government came to power, was arranged after the PPP protested that the civilian leadership was being sidelined in the ongoing negotiations. It goes to show that it is worth demanding a seat at the table, instead of being resigned to irrelevance.

The implications of ’mainstreaming’ holy warriors are far-reaching and must be discussed threadbare by the people’s representatives, for they would be in the hot seat if things do not go as planned. The imprimatur of parliament is essential.

In the interest of inclusivity, the coalition should have also invited the PTI leadership. At the very least, the presence of KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan should have been sought at the briefing.

One of the TTP’s demands is a rollback of Fata’s merger with KP, but they have been told there can be no reversal of the move that was effected through a constitutional amendment. Their other demands, indicated the military officials at Wednesday’s meeting, are under consideration.

As matters stand, an indefinite ceasefire between the government and the TTP was announced last month with negotiations set to continue, and an in-camera parliament session is to be convened to bring politicians into the loop. But there is a long way to go before any resolution can be arrived at.

A number of thorny issues need to be ironed out, not the least of which is how the holy warriors are to be ’mainstreamed’. It would certainly rankle the public if top commanders whose hands are stained with the blood of innocent Paks are given amnesty.

Of course, it is debatable whether any deal is even possible. Peace agreements with holy warriors in the past have invariably failed; in fact, these ~~violent~~ mostly peaceful actors have used the time to regroup and come back stronger than ever. Moreover, the TTP comprises several outfits with varying degrees of heft within the combine as well as different levels of commitment to militancy. Some are war-weary, while others, like the Jamaatul Ahrar
...A Pak Taliban splinter group that split off from the Mullah Fazlullah faction because it wasn't violent enough...
, are driving a hard bargain. It would be exceedingly difficult to bring them all on the same page.

That said, if an agreement is arrived at, it must be one the public perceives as doing some justice to their years of suffering. And its details must not be kept from them.

Link

India-Pakistan

Sharif set to become next Pakistan PM after parliament ousts Khan

2022-04-11

[An Nahar] Imran Khan
...aka The Great Khan, who ain't the sharpest bulb on the national tree...
was dismissed Sunday as Pakistain's prime minister after losing a no-confidence vote, paving the way for an unlikely opposition alliance that faces the same issues that bedeviled the cricket star-turned-politician.A new premier will be chosen Monday, with centrist Pakistain Moslem League-N (PML-N) chief Shehbaz Sharif already anointed to lead the nuclear-armed nation of 220 million people.

His first task will be to form a cabinet that will draw also heavily from the center-left Pakistain Peoples Party (PPP), as well as find space for the smaller conservative Jamaatul Ulema-e-Islam-F (JUI-F) group.

Link

India-Pakistan

Militant groups in Pakistan reunite to overthrow the government

2020-08-21

[KhaamaPress] Three bully boy groups in Pakistain got reunited to jointly fight against the Pakistain government, Washington Post reported.

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar

...”Assembly of the Free”, they were very active purveyors of suicide and car bombs inside Pakistan after the 2014 split, sometimes teamed with ISIS-K. They slowed down in 2018...

and Hezb-ul-Ahrar

...split from JuA in 2018 over JuA’s ungentlemanly behaviour and choice of targets. Shortly after the split they released their very own soundtrack...

were the two splinter groups that split years ago from Tahreek Taliban
Taliban

...mindless ferocity in a turban...
Pakistain(TTP) announced rejoining TTP on Monday.

The news was confirmed by the TTP spokesperson on Monday saying the leaders of the two factions have officially announced their allegiance to Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud, the TTP Chief.

TTP front man Mohammad Khurasani said that Maulvi Omar Khalid Khurasani
...intel chief of the Jamaatul Ahrar TTP splinter group, or whatever it's calling itself these days...
, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar leader and Mukkarram Khurasani aka Omar Khurasani, the chief of Hezb-ul-Ahrar pleaded allegiance to the TTP chief Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud aka Abu Asim Mansoor.

Khurasani did not disclose when and where the meeting had taken place, but Taliban sources told The News that they had gathered somewhere between the Pakistain and Afghanistan border.

The bully boy groups combined when the Pak Army announced operations against the murderous Moslems were a huge success.

Pak officials said in a formal statement that operations included clearance of 46000 square kilometers of terrorist areas resulting in 18000 dead murderous Moslems and seizure of 40 tons of explosives, VOA reported.

Golly. That sounds like an awful lot — what are the real numbers?

TTP and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar are both included in the American blacklist, it is noted in UN analytical that Pak murderous Moslems pose threat to both Afghanistan and Pakistain with an estimated 6000 to 6500 forces that some of them have affiliated with the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
Khurasan.

However,
alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk...
Pakistain has accused Afghanistan many times before for covertly supporting the insurgency in Pakistain which Afghan officials deny these accusations instead accuses Islamabad of sheltering and supporting terrorism waging deadly insurgencies in Afghanistan.

The new alliance is said to have been a fresh set of threats to Pakistain that can lead to more attacks over the governmental troops and suicide kabooms.

Related: Long War Journal suggests this reunification is Al Qaeda’s idea, and reminds us that the TTP’s international notoriety is based on the failure of Faisal Shahzad (Faisal the fizzlebomber) to blow up Times Square on May Day, 2010.
And from 2014: Al-Qaeda in Pakistain: The Org Chart

Link

Africa Subsaharan

S Africa minister apologises for police officer's anti-Muslim rant

2020-04-27

[AlAhram] South Africa's police minister on Sunday apologised for a "blasphemous" remark made to praying Moslems by a policeman enforcing coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)

coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)

...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...
rules, which was also condemned by a leading Moslem organization after being caught on video.
A video posted on social media and authenticated by the authorities shows police entering a room where around 20 Moslems were praying, and ordering them to the ground.

One of the police is heard saying "Are you bigger than the president? Is Mohammed bigger than the president?"

South Africans are under orders to observe strict confinement to fight the virus spread, and are allowed to leave their homes only to buy food or for medical appointments. Any gatherings are strictly prohibited.

Minister Bheki Cele said in the statement he had "issued an apology to the Moslem community for the blasphemous remarks during the arrest".

An "urgent investigation" had been launched "to establish the identity of the person behind such sacrilege".

The police, in a separate statement, said the comment was "rather unfortunate and it is unacceptable that someone could make such an utterance".

It did, however, also say that people of all religions had to respect rules during the confinement.

The Jamaatul Ulama South Africa Council of Moslem Theologians said not only were the remarks "demeaning in the name of the prophet Muhammad", but police entering a prayer room with "their heavy boots", as seen in the video, was "distressing to Moslems who consider prayer places as sacred".

But it also reminded the faithful to observe lockdown rules.

The incident, on Saturday in the Mpumalanga province in the north of the country, led to the arrest of 24 people.

On Friday, police had already detained 17 people at a religious ceremony for violating lockdown rules.

South Africa is the worst-affected sub-Saharan country by the coronavirus with 4,361 confirmed cases and 86 deaths.

Link

India-Pakistan

Govt making efforts to arrest Ehsanullah Ehsan: Ijaz Shah

2020-02-24

[The News (Pak)] Interior Minister Ijaz Shah Saturday said the government was making efforts to apprehend the former spokesperson of the Tehrik-e-Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
Pakistain (TTP) and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) who beat feet from the state's custody a few weeks ago.

The interior minister was speaking to media after a tree plantation ceremony at the District Commissioner's office. Talking about Ehsanullah Ehsan

...formerly the front man for the Pak Taliban, then the lips and tongue of the Jamaatul Ahrar splinter group in Mohmand Agency...
's escape from custody, he said that efforts were being made to arrest him.

Last week, Shah admitted for the first time that the ex-TTP spokesperson had escaped the state's custody after an audio message of the holy warrior stating the same started doing the rounds on social media.

Link

India-Pakistan

News of Ehsanullah Ehsan's escape is 'true', state is aware, says Interior Minister Ijaz Shah

2020-02-18

[DAWN] The news that former Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan

...formerly the front man for the Pak Taliban, then the lips and tongue of the Jamaatul Ahrar splinter group in Mohmand Agency...
has escaped from the custody of Pakistan security agencies is true, Interior Minister Ijaz Shah confirmed on Monday.
The scene: A palatial residence outside Abbottabad. The characters: Evil mastermind Ehsanullah Ehsan, under palatial house arrest, and his guard, Mahmoud.
Responding to a question during an informal conversation with reporters at the parliament in Islamabad, the minister said he had read reports of the former TTP leader having fled.
Ehsanullah: "Hey, Mahmoud! Call me a cab!"
Mahmoud: "I can't do that. Yer under house arrest!"
When asked whether there was any truth to the reports, he replied: "The news is true, it's true."
Ehsanullah: "No, I'm not."
Mahmoud: "You ain't?"
The minister added that the "state is aware" of his escape. He did not provide any details.
Ehsanullah: "Nah. They're lettin' me out."
Mahmoud: "Fer really?"
Asked by a reporter whether the state was doing anything about the matter, Shah said: "A lot is being done. You will hear good news."
Ehsanullah: "Would I lie to you?"
Mahmoud: "Well... Youse got a honest face."
The confirmation comes following around 10 days of official silence over reports of the former TTP spokesman's escape, which had been announced by him in an audio message released on social media.
Ehsanullah: "Ain't I?"
Mahmoud: "Hello? Is dis Choudry's Cab Company? I got a fare for youse..."

Link

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