War against terror

Betts, who is the Department's acting coordinator for counterterrorism, will lead the US delegation at the meeting on December 12-13. The 19th meeting of the Joint Working Group will "review regional and global terrorist threat assessments, collaborative bilateral and regional counterterrorism programming, and initiatives to strengthen law enforcement and judicial partnerships", the Department said on Thursday.

Responding to a question, Minister of State in the Foreign Office, Lord Tariq Ahmed, said: "On the specific issue of the trial of Mr Yasin Malik... we are monitoring it very closely. We do note he has been charged under the Indian law... and therefore we cannot intervene in the independent judicial process of India directly

“Pakistan has completed 26 of the 27 action items in its 2018 action plan… Pakistan provided further high-level commitment to address these strategic deficiencies pursuant to a new action plan that primarily focuses on combating money laundering,” the task force noted in its review of the country’s performance.

Apart from radiating their radical messages, terrorists are increasingly using the online medium to buy weapons and as a tool for recruitment. "Regulating online platforms is much more difficult than traditional platforms which make combating these propaganda very arduous," a report by Modern Diplomacy said.

In Jawzjan province, 19 militants were killed and 15 wounded after warplanes targeted Taliban hideouts in Murghab and Hassan Tabbin villages on the outskirts of provincial capital of Shiberghan, Xinhua news agency quoted the Ministry as saying. Fourteen Taliban militants lost their lives and two others wounded when the air force struck their position on the outskirts of Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province.

The Israeli military took at least 49 structures in the Ras al-Tin, Ramallah Governorate displacement on Wednesday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement on Friday.

The Embassy said it has collected the recordings from several parts of Afghanistan, which have recently fallen back under Taliban control as Western forces withdraw from the conflict-hit nation. The deeply distressing videos show civilians being beaten, tortured and murdered.

Five members of the Neo-JMB banned militant outfit were arrested in Bangladesh by a specialised unit of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), a top official said on Monday, adding that IED-making materials were also seized during multiple raids. Md Asaduzzaman, chief of the DMP's Counterterrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit, told IANS that while three of the militants were arrested on July 8, the remaining two were held on Sunday.

The clash took place in Dawlat Abad district after the commandos and local troops launched a clearing operation, TOLO News quoted the official as saying, adding that six policemen were also injured in the violence. The security forces have retreated from the centre of the district following the heavy clashes are now stationed in Qaramqol district, the official said.