Recent Appearances...

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Hello !
Recent Appearances...

Mohammad Ilyas Kashmiri	Mohammad Ilyas Kashmiri	Harkatul Jihad Islami	Afghanistan/South Asia				20040222
	Mohammad Ilyas Kashmiri	Muttahida Jihad Council	India-Pakistan				20040222

Afghanistan

RFE/RL Expands Broadcasts to Afghanistan Despite Taliban Ban

2023-02-01

[RFERL] Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s (RFE/RL) award-winning programming is now available 24 hours a day for millions of Afghan listeners who have come to rely on the broadcaster in the last two decades. Two months after the Taliban
Taliban

...mindless ferocity in a turban...
removed RFE/RL from AM and FM radio transmitters in Afghanistan, Azadi, as RFE/RL is known locally, is doubling its time on air providing Afghans with independent news in the Dari and Pashto languages. From 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. local time Azadi is broadcasting on mediumwave on 1296 kHz, while during the second half of the day programming is available on shortwave.

This broadcasting milestone comes on Azadi’s 21st anniversary, and further solidifies RFE/RL’s role as a true public broadcaster — the only non-governmental radio broadcaster available 24/7 in Afghanistan. In the last two decades Azadi has become a staple of everyday life. Afghans frequently referred to Azadi as their "national broadcaster," and its mix of news and information is commonly heard in public settings in the country, from marketplaces to taxis.

"Our expanded programming for Afghan audiences is indicative of the resilience and creativity of our team and their dedication to continue to reach our audiences in Afghanistan in the face of extreme Taliban pressure," said RFE/RL President and CEO Jamie Fly. "Azadi will now be available for Afghans day and night to give them hope for a better future."

Despite significant pressure from the Taliban, RFE/RL continues to provide bold coverage of stories suppressed by state media. Azadi has given a platform for the most vulnerable -- women and girls, victims of ~~violent~~ mostly peaceful extremism, the LGBTQI+ community, and youth -- to share their experiences. At every step, Azadi has responded to the Taliban’s restrictive governance: when the Taliban forbade music, Azadi continued to play music on air; when the Taliban banned women from public life, Azadi gave women space to tell their stories; when the Taliban barred girls from attending school, Azadi and Learn Afghanistan provided a rigorous curriculum over the radio. For 21 years, Azadi has helped the powerless find community and hope.

In contrast to official Taliban claims, Afghans have again and again expressed their appreciation and gratitude to RFE/RL for providing a vital public service. RFE/RL will continue to find new and innovative ways to reach audiences.

Afghanistan is one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists, and RFE/RL journalists have paid the ultimate price for their commitment to a free press. In 2018, three Radio Azadi journalists -- Maharram Durrani, Abadullah Hananzai, and Sabawoon Kakar -- were killed in a suicide kaboom in Kabul. In 2020, Mohammad Ilyas Dayee was killed in a targeted kaboom.

Link

India-Pakistan

Police officials allegedly caught burying torture victim

2019-08-15

[DAWN] A man allegedly picked up by the police from his place of work two weeks ago was found murdered in the fields of Guliana on the second day of Eidul Azha, leading to the registration of a murder case against a sub-inspector and others on Tuesday.

The accused sub-inspector has been suspended following the registration of the case, but has yet to be arrested.

Saddar Division Superintendent of Police (SP) Rai Mazhar Iqbal told Dawn that no arrests have been made in connection with the murder so far. He claimed the investigation into the case will be carried out "purely on merit" and whoever is found guilty will be treated according to the law. He reiterated: "Investigation will be conducted on merit, merit and purely on merit."

The initial post-mortem report suggests that the victim was tortured.

In his FIR, the victim’s brother, Chehari resident Ghulam Abbas said that on July 27, four people in police uniforms led by a sub-inspector came to his home and the sub-inspector introduced himself as a station house officer.

He said the officials were travelling in four vehicles, one of which was a double-cabin police vehicle.

He said the police entered his home and took him and Sohail Gondal into custody and asked them about the whereabouts of his brother Mohammad Ilyas. Ilyas worked as a tractor driver for Shaukat Ali.

He said they accompanied the police to Shaukat Ali’s home in Mandra at dawn and found Ilyas before he started work. Ilyas was taken into custody by the sub-inspector and driven away in a private car.

Mr Abbas said that when he asked what crime his brother committed, the sub-inspector told him his brother was involved in a car deal. He said that despite their efforts they could not find any information on his brother because the police had taken him to Gujar Khan.

He said that on Tuesday, they were informed that the police had taken Ilyas’ body to the Gujar Khan Tehsil Headquarters Hospital and were preparing to bury him after declaring him an ’unclaimed body’.

He claimed that his brother’s tortured body was left in a deserted area on Guliana Road on Monday night, and Tuesday morning the sub-inspector and other police officials were preparing to bury the body as an unidentified individual.

He said he reached the site where they allegedly planned to bury his brother after he learned of the plan.

Mr Abbas said that when he saw his brother’s body, he found that he had been tortured. He then told police high-ups that his brother was illegally detained and tortured to death by police, after which a murder case was registered against the police officials.

Local residents and the victim’s relatives later blocked the G.T. Road to protest the police’s actions.

Station House Officer Chaudhry Ilyas said he was only posted to his office a couple of days ago, and the victim’s detention and custody was not in the notice of the cop shoppe.

He said the accused sub-inspector may have kept the victim at a personal location, adding that an FIR has been registered against him and unidentified accomplices.

He said the accused official beat feet from the graveyard and raids are being carried out to apprehend him.

Rawalpindi City Police Officer (CPO) Deputy Inspector General of Police Mohammad Faisal Rana took notice of the body found in the jurisdiction of the Gujar Khan cop shoppe whose heirs have claimed the victim died under police violence.

The CPO said that a case may be filed after obtaining a written application from the heirs of the dear departed.

A case was registered under section 302/34 with the Gujar Khan police.

Link

India-Pakistan

Rangers soldier martyred

2018-06-09

[DAWN] KARACHI: One soldier of the Pakistain Rangers Sindh was martyred and two others were maimed while three suspects were enjugged
Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out!
after an exchange of fire in a Korangi locality late on Wednesday night.

According to Rangers’ spokesperson, the paramilitary force, acting on a tip-off, conducted a raid in Ilyas Goth located in the 51-C area of Korangi to arrest some ’criminals’, including Shafiq alias Kala.

"When the suspects noticed the Rangers party was approaching them, they resorted to firing. During the exchange of fire, constable Mohammad Ilyas was martyred while two other soldiers, Ibrahim and Amir, were maimed," said the official.

The Rangers managed to arrest Shafiq Kala and his accomplices, Aleemuddin and Shahbaz alias Osama.

The spokesperson described Shafiq as the targeted killer. He added that Shahbaz, who was arrested in an injured condition, was the one who opened fire on the soldiers. The injured was taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for treatment.

Link

India-Pakistan

Elders 'ban' musical gatherings in Landi Kotal

2017-09-09

[DAWN] Seminary organisers in the town of Landi Kotal in the Federally Administered Tribal Area on Friday allegedly announced a ban on musical gatherings in the area, sources in the political administration told DawnNews.

Syed Mohammad Ilyas Banuri alias Khan Lala and Syed Muhammad Ibrahim alias Bacha Jan, organisers of the Khanqah-e-Binoria seminary, allegedly announced the restriction on musical gatherings in the Shinwari Ashkhel area, the sources said.

The organisers warned that the houses of those either holding musical gatherings or in possession of musical instruments would be burnt, the sources claimed.

According to sources, a few days ago, the organisers of the seminary had allegedly ransacked weddings in the area and seized musical instruments being played there.

Today, after Friday prayers and in the presence of hundreds of people, the men allegedly burnt the instruments, the sources said.

Niaz Mohammad, an assistant political agent, told DawnNews that the administration has summoned Khan Lala after taking notice of the incident.

"We will ask him [Khan Lala] what capacity he made such statements in when there is a political administration available. If something objectionable is happening, then it is up to the administration to take action not an individual."

Link

India-Pakistan

5 die in Line of Control shelling

2017-07-09

As India-held Kashmir braced for stepped-up policing Saturday on the occasion of the first death anniversary of famed Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, Indian troops resorted to heavy shelling in different areas of Azad Jammu and Kashmir from across the Line of Control (LoC), officials said.

At least five civilians, four of them women, were reported killed and 10 others injured in the shelling incidents, the highest death toll in a single day in many months of cross-border violence.

“There has been heavy firing and shelling by Indian troops in different parts of Abbaspur and Hajira sectors since 5:30am in the morning,” said Raja Tahir Mumtaz, the deputy commissioner of district Poonch, where these two sectors fall in.

He said Mohammad Sharif, a 75-year-old resident of Bhaira village near the Tetrinote crossing point in Hajira sector, lost his life after a mortar shell landed on his mud-house, destroying it completely.

Apart from him, 70-year-old woman Sassi Begum was also killed in Tetrinote. She had come from Mandhol village in Battal sector to see her relatives in Tetrinote.

DC Mumtaz said Riyasat, 35, and Aqsa Iftikhar, 18, were injured in Tetrinote.

Meanwhile, a 26-year-old woman, Faiza Saleem, was killed and two young girls — Adiba, 22, and Mahnoor, 17 — were injured in Satwal village of Abbaspur sector. They belonged to the same family, Mumtaz said.

Another woman, Kulsoom, 35, was killed and her 14-year-old son Zahid injured in the Dhakki Chafar village of Abbaspur sector, he added.

“Initially, Zahid was injured and when Kulsoom rushed to rescue him, she too fell victim to the shelling and died on the spot,” the deputy commissioner said.

Abida Parveen, 22, was injured in Chafar and two teenaged boys, Rizwan Hanif, 16, and Faizan Ali, 14, were injured in Batol and Chaatra villages of the same sector, he added.

“These are the initial reports, but given the magnitude of shelling, I am afraid the casualties may rise,” the deputy commissioner said.

In Kotli district, a 22-year-old girl, Aniba Jamshed, was critically injured in Indian firing in the Lanjot village of Nakyal sector at about 6:30am.

"A bullet fired by the Indian troops hit her in the head, rendering her critically wounded," a police official told Dawn from Nakyal police station, adding that she was rushed to District Headquarters Hospital Kotli.

“The woman [later] succumbed to her injuries in the afternoon,” SSP Kotli Chaudhry Zulqarnain Sarfraz told Dawn.

Elsewhere in the same sector, two men — Mohammad Ilyas and Jahangir — were injured in the Oli Panjni village, he added.

The heavily militarised LoC that splits the disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir between Pakistan and India has been extremely tense for quite some time, and as a result civilian casualties occur frequently.

The latest casualties have pushed the number of those killed in AJK in Indian shelling during the ongoing year to 18 and those injured to over 105, according to officials at the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA).

FO lodges protest with India
The Foreign Office (FO) summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh to lodge a protest against the "unprovoked" ceasefire violation.

The FO's Director General (South Asia and Saarc), Dr Muhammad Faisal, lodged the protest.

"The deliberate targeting of civilians is deplorable and contrary to human dignity and international human rights and humanitarian laws," Faisal said.

He urged India to respect the 2003 ceasefire agreement, to investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations, to instruct Indian forces to respect the agreement, and to maintain peace on LoC.

Link

India-Pakistan

'Unprovoked' shelling by Indian troops across LoC injures three villagers

2016-12-31

[DAWN] MUZAFFARABAD: After a silence of nearly two weeks, guns roared across the Line of Control (LoC) on Friday, leaving three civilians maimed in Azad Jammu and Kashmire (AJK).

A police official, Mohammad Ilyas, told Dawn from Abbaspur in the southern Poonch district that Indian troops shelled from across the LoC between "Asar and Maghreb," injuring three persons in Taroti village.

The policeman identified the injured as Mohammad Mushtaq, 57, his son Shahbaz Mushtaq, 20, and another man Zeeshan Amin, 20.

The condition of injured was said to be stable, he said.

Meanwhile,
...back at the argument, Livia had made her point with her knee to Jane's stomach...
in a tweet, the newly appointed Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) chief Maj-Gen Asif Ghafoor said that Indian troops resorted to "unprovoked mortar shelling" in Chirikot sector from 4:40pm to 5:40pm, which was "effectively responded" by Pak troops.

Link

India-Pakistan

Sound of silent revival

2014-11-13

[DAWN] MOHAMMAD Ghufran took less than a few seconds to sum up the reasons that have led to the decline of the political and economic influence of the Moslems in the world. "We've digressed from the 'true path' of Islam and lost our way," he explained to Dawn on Sunday, the last day of the first phase of the Tableeghi Jamaat's annual gathering at its centre in Raiwind. The second phase begins on Wednesday.
Right. Not enough Islam. I knew it all along.
The 32-year-old public schoolteacher from Gujranwala, who spends his weekends 'reforming' his fellow Moslems, isn't the only one who holds that the Moslems can regain their old glory and dominate the world if they choose to return to the true path of Islam. Millions of other followers of the Tableeghi Jamaat, the largest Islamic revivalist movement in the world today, share his opinion, and are trying to change the Moslem societies and communities around the globe through dawa, or preaching.

The Jamaat, an offshoot of the Deobandi movement, was founded by Maulana Mohammad Ilyas in Saharanpur, now in India, to spread the message of Islam and purge the Moslems of the influences of other religions, especially those from Hindu culture. In the early years, its influence grew very slowly. Its biggest impetus came from the partition of the subcontinent after which it spread around the world. But "its roots essentially remain in South Asia and its leadership also comes from the subcontinent," says Arsalan Khan, a cultural anthropologist who did his PhD on the movement and teaches at the Institute of Business Administration in Bloody Karachi

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India-Pakistan

Teenager confesses to cinema explosions

2014-02-26

[DAWN] A teenager confessed to bombing Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), 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 Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
's Shama Cinema before a local judicial magistrate on Monday and said he and his accomplice had hid hand grenades used in the terrorist activity under shalwar to deceive guards on the premises.

The bombings left 15 people dead and dozens injured on Feb 11.

Official sources said the 15-year-old suspect from Bara tehsil of neighbouring Khyber Agency

told Magistrate Mohammad Ilyas Khan that he and his accomplice were maimed in the stampede caused by the bombings.

They said the magistrate sent the suspect to prison on 14-day judicial remand until March 10 after recording his confessional statement under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The sources said the suspect was taken into custody by police four days ago from the Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar, where they along with other injured were shifted after the blasts.

They said initially, police claimed that three blasts had taken place inside the cinema, but later it transpired that two kabooms had occurred.

The investigation officer of the case had produced the suspect before an anti-terrorism court judge Anwar Hussain Khan amid strict security measures after completion of three-day physical remand.

The judge was told that the suspect had confessed to bombings and had expressed willingness to record confessional statement. The judge referred the suspect to the judicial magistrate for the purpose.

The sources said the suspect claimed in his statement that a Bara-based myrmidon organization had trained him before tasking him with attacking Shama Cinema.

They said the suspect said a member of the outfit provided him and his accomplice with hand grenades, while another dropped them outside the cinema on cycle of violence.

The sources said the suspect said when he and his accomplice saw two guards bodysearch visitors at the cinema's entrance, they went to a nearby shop, purchased sticking tape, used it to fasten the hand grenades with legs under shalwar and managed to enter the cinema.

Link

India-Pakistan

Rape cases: CII says DNA data not acceptable as primary evidence

2013-05-31

[Dawn] The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) has declared that DNA test is not acceptable as primary evidence in cases of rape, but it could be used as a supporting evidence for confirmation of the crime.

A meeting of the CII, presided over by its chairman Maulana Mohammad Khan Sherani on Wednesday, also maintained that there was nothing wrong with the blasphemy law and it didn't need amendment.

The meeting was of the view that Islam has set procedures to determine cases of rape and said Islamic procedure should be adopted during investigation.

It declared human cloning illegal because it is against Islam.

The CII directed the Higher Education Commission and other institutions to correct English translation of 'Allah', 'Rasool' and 'Masjid'.

It said the usage of 'Holy Book' and 'Holy Place' was illegal.

The meeting expressed concern
...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended...
over changes made in the syllabus of Islamic Studies, especially in Punjab, and instructed the provincial government to include the deleted chapters/essays from the curriculum.

It instructed the Director General, Research, Mohammad Ilyas Khan who is also CII secretary, to send letters to all provinces and Gilgit-Baltistan asking them to ensure Islamic education in their syllabus.

The meeting ordered the authorities to look into the books being taught in educational institutions and rectify errors.

The council suggested dialogue to resolve the issue of 'Ruet-e-Hilal' (sighting of moon) due to which every year a dispute arises between religious scholars of Khyber Pakhtunkhawa and other provinces.

Maulana Mufti Ghulam Mustafa Rizvi, retired Justice Nazir Akhtar, retired Justice Mushtaq Ahmed, Dr Mohammad Idrees Soomro, Allama Iftikhar Hussain Naqvi, Saeed Ahmed Shah Gujrati, Maulana Hanif Jalandhari and others attended the meeting.

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India-Pakistan

Jirga to aid Kohistan killers' arrest

2012-03-13

[Dawn] The administration of Kohistan
...a backwoods district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa distinguished by being even more rustic than is the norm among the local Pashtuns....
district has constituted a 70-member jirga of local Learned Elders of Islam and elders, which would extend help to the law-enforcement agencies in arresting perpetrators of the Feb 28 Harban bus attack.

"This jirga would also discuss ways to arrest those involved in Harban carnage with the jirga of elders and Learned Elders of Islam of Diamer. It will also convey the message of Kohistanis to people of Gilgit-Baltistan that their area should not be used for settling scores of the sectarian conflict in Gilgit," said Maulana Dildar Ahmad, a former provincial minister and key member of the jirga, while talking to news hounds at Dassu on Sunday.

The 70 members of the jirga were selected in Dassu at a big gathering, which was also attended by district coordination officer Aqil Badshah and district police officer Mohammad Ilyas.

The participants condemned killing of 16 people in Harban attack and vowed to extend cooperation to the administration in arrest of the perpetrators of the heinous crime.

Maulana Dildar said that the district administration of Diamer had also constituted a jirga of elders and Learned Elders of Islam, which would hold dialogues with Kohistan jirga in Chilas. He said that besides other factors concerning the attack an international conspiracy to pitch the people of Gilgit-Baltistan and Kohistan against each other couldn't be ruled out.

Link

India-Pakistan

Kohistan bus ambush kills 18

2012-02-29

[Dawn] Sectarian gunnies ambushed a bus on Tuesday, killing 18 Shia Moslems in a usually peaceful region of northern Pakistain that neighbours the former Taliban stronghold of Swat, officials said.

The bus was stopped, before passengers were ordered off and shot in the mountainous district of Kohistan
...a backwoods district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa distinguished by being even more rustic than is the norm among the local Pashtuns....
as it travelled from Rawalpindi to the northern city of Gilgit.

"Armed men hiding on both sides of the road attacked the bus," local police chief Mohammad Ilyas said.

"Eighteen people have died and eight maimed," he added. The ambush happened near the town of Harban, 130 miles (208 kilometres) north of the capital Islamabad.

Survivors said seven or eight gunnies stopped the bus, forced the passengers to get off and then opened fire, regional administration chief Khalid Omarzai told AFP by telephone, confirming the casualty numbers.

"It appears to be a sectarian attack," local MP Abdul Sattar Khan said.

"Its a remote area. We are getting reports that the gunnies forced people to get off the bus. They checked their papers and shot them dead," he told AFP.

The victims were Shia Moslems, he said. "It could be the outcome of the murder of two Sunni Moslems a few days ago in Gilgit. The people of the area had vowed they would take Dire Revenge™," Khan added.

Authorities were slow to confirm the motive and insisted Death Eaters are not active in the area.

Kohistan borders the 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...
valley, where Pakistain in 2009 managed to put down a two-year Taliban insurgency.

Omarzai told AFP that he could not immediately confirm whether it was a sectarian attack, saying that the police were investigating.

President

Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari
... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ...
and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani
... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ...
had strongly condemned the Kohistan incident.

The two leaders directed the concerned authorities to ensure best medical treatment for the injured.

Gilani said such incidents could not deter the government's resolve to fight the menace.

While the president said the culprits of such heinous crime would not be spared

Link

India-Pakistan

18 dead in Pakistan sectarian bus ambush

2012-02-28

Sectarian gunmen ambushed a bus on Tuesday, killing 18 Shiite Muslims in a usually peaceful region of northern Pakistan that neighbours the former Taliban stronghold of Swat, officials said.

The bus was stopped, before passengers were ordered off and shot in the mountainous district of Kohistan as it travelled from Rawalpindi, the city where Pakistan's army is headquartered, to the northern city of Gilgit.

"Armed men hiding on both sides of the road attacked the bus," local police chief Mohammad Ilyas said.

"Eighteen people have died and eight wounded," he added.

The ambush happened near the town of Harban, 130 miles (208 kilometres) north of the capital Islamabad.

Survivors said seven or eight gunmen stopped the bus, forced the passengers to get off and then opened fire, regional administration chief Khalid Omarzai told AFP by telephone, confirming the casualty numbers.

"It appears to be a sectarian attack," local MP Abdul Sattar Khan said.

Link

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