Six Belgian children of Islamic State members were brought back to Belgium on Friday from camps in Syria where US-backed militia are holding thousands of militants and their family members.

The children, ranging in age from six to 18, were all left parentless in Syria, making their repatriation less complicated than that of dozens of other Belgian children of IS members held in Syria`s northern Kurdish region.

"The 6 children from #Syria have just arrived in our country," Belgium`s Foreign Minister Didier Reynders Tweeted late on Friday. "The children are now being monitored and supervised by the competent local state attorneys &amp; youth support services."

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) controls the quarter of Syria east of the Euphrates river after driving back Islamic State in a series of advances from 2015 that culminated in March with the group`s defeat at its last territorial enclave in Baghouz, near the Iraqi border.

However, it says it is unable to indefinitely hold the thousands of Islamic State fighters and members and their families who surrendered during its offensive.&nbsp;

"This must be extended to men and women in our camps and prison, not only children," Mustafa Bali, a spokesman for the SDF, said on Twitter regarding Belgium`s move.

Many of those in custody or held at overcrowded displacement camps in northeast Syria are foreigners, and many remain unrepentant supporters of violent jihad.&nbsp;

Islamic State members also brought a large number of children into their zone of control or bore babies who are now orphaned, destitute or even stateless, and whose future is uncertain.

The SDF has warned that keeping them in northeast Syria where there is no long-term political settlement to underpin its control of the area is a security risk, and has called for help in managing a humanitarian crisis in the displacement camps.

Western countries have so far been unwilling to take back their citizens who went to Syria to join Islamic State - seeing them as a security risk if they return home but knowing they may be unable to prosecute them.&nbsp;

The United States, France and the Netherlands have each repatriated a small number of women or children from northeast Syria, but many others remain there.

The SDF has also handed over numerous Islamic State militants to Iraq, which is putting many former jihadists on trial and executing some of them.

An Iraqi court sentenced a Belgian man, Bilal al-Marchohi, 23, to death by hanging in March for being part of Islamic State. Pictures on his phone showed him posing with weapons and cradling his infant son.

Six Belgian children of Islamic State members were brought back to Belgium on Friday from camps in Syria where US-backed militia are holding thousands of militants and their family members.

Six Belgian children of Islamic State members were brought back to Belgium on Friday from camps in Syria where US-backed militia are holding thousands of militants and their family members. The children, ranging in age from six to 18, were all left parentless in Syria, making their repatriation less complicated than that of dozens of other Belgian children of IS members held in Syria`s northern Kurdish region. "The 6 children from #Syria have just arrived in our country," Belgium`s Foreign Minister Didier Reynders Tweeted late on Friday. "The children are now being monitored and supervised by the competent local state attorneys & youth support services." The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) controls the quarter of Syria east of the Euphrates river after driving back Islamic State in a series of advances from 2015 that culminated in March with the group`s defeat at its last territorial enclave in Baghouz, near the Iraqi border. However, it says it is unable to indefinitely hold the thousands of Islamic State fighters and members and their families who surrendered during its offensive. "This must be extended to men and women in our camps and prison, not only children," Mustafa Bali, a spokesman for the SDF, said on Twitter regarding Belgium`s move. Many of those in custody or held at overcrowded displacement camps in northeast Syria are foreigners, and many remain unrepentant supporters of violent jihad. Islamic State members also brought a large number of children into their zone of control or bore babies who are now orphaned, destitute or even stateless, and whose future is uncertain. The SDF has warned that keeping them in northeast Syria where there is no long-term political settlement to underpin its control of the area is a security risk, and has called for help in managing a humanitarian crisis in the displacement camps. Western countries have so far been unwilling to take back their citizens who went to Syria to join Islamic State - seeing them as a security risk if they return home but knowing they may be unable to prosecute them. The United States, France and the Netherlands have each repatriated a small number of women or children from northeast Syria, but many others remain there. The SDF has also handed over numerous Islamic State militants to Iraq, which is putting many former jihadists on trial and executing some of them. An Iraqi court sentenced a Belgian man, Bilal al-Marchohi, 23, to death by hanging in March for being part of Islamic State. Pictures on his phone showed him posing with weapons and cradling his infant son.

Belgium takes back six Islamic State children

A senior US general has called the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/islamic-state-defeated-caliphate-eliminated-says-us-ally-in-syria-205079">Islamic State</a>(IS) in Afghanistan as a serious threat, adding that the IS terrorist organisation&nbsp;aspires to attack the United States.

"<a href="https://www.wionews.com/opinions/the-next-islamic-state-battlefield-will-be-in-south-asia-216301">ISIS</a> in Afghanistan certainly has aspirations to attack the United States. It is our clear judgment that as long as we maintain pressure on them it will be hard for them to do that, " Marine General&nbsp;Frank McKenzie said.

Further calling the IS "very worrisome in eastern Afghanistan", McKenzie added, "combat operations have failed to reduce the group's fighting ranks. Others have said they are thought to number in the thousands".

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/opinions/islamic-state-is-focusing-on-subcontinent-and-india-in-particular-219555">Islamic State is focusing on subcontinent and India in particular</a>

Associated Press had earlier reported that the Islamic State was expanding its footprints across Afghanistan. Citing US and Afghan security officials, the report claimed&nbsp;that the terror group was recruiting new fighters and plotting attacks on the United States and other western countries.

General McKenzie is the head of US Central Command and manages the country's military operations across the greater Middle East.

Watch: Wounded and alone, children emerge from last Islamic State enclave in Baghouz

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The Islamic State grew in Afghanistan with the emergence of the jihadist militant group in Syria and Iraq in&nbsp;early 2014.

The IS in Afghanistan calls itself as the Khorasan Province, a name applied to parts of Afghanistan, Iran and central Asia in the Middle Ages.

Besides assisting the Afghan defence forces against the Taliban, the US forces in Afghanistan are combatting the Islamic State group separately.&nbsp;

A senior US general has called the Islamic State(IS) in Afghanistan as a serious threat, adding that the IS terrorist organisation aspires to attack the United States.

A senior US general has called the Islamic State(IS) in Afghanistan as a serious threat, adding that the IS terrorist organisation aspires to attack the United States. "ISIS in Afghanistan certainly has aspirations to attack the United States. It is our clear judgment that as long as we maintain pressure on them it will be hard for them to do that, " Marine General Frank McKenzie said. Further calling the IS "very worrisome in eastern Afghanistan", McKenzie added, "combat operations have failed to reduce the group's fighting ranks. Others have said they are thought to number in the thousands". Also read: Islamic State is focusing on subcontinent and India in particular Associated Press had earlier reported that the Islamic State was expanding its footprints across Afghanistan. Citing US and Afghan security officials, the report claimed that the terror group was recruiting new fighters and plotting attacks on the United States and other western countries. General McKenzie is the head of US Central Command and manages the country's military operations across the greater Middle East. Watch: Wounded and alone, children emerge from last Islamic State enclave in Baghouz × The Islamic State grew in Afghanistan with the emergence of the jihadist militant group in Syria and Iraq in early 2014. The IS in Afghanistan calls itself as the Khorasan Province, a name applied to parts of Afghanistan, Iran and central Asia in the Middle Ages. Besides assisting the Afghan defence forces against the Taliban, the US forces in Afghanistan are combatting the Islamic State group separately.

Islamic State in Afghanistan aspires to attack US: Marine General Frank McKenzie

The National Investigation Agency Thursday continued raids here for a second day in connection with the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/nia-arrests-mastermind-of-isis-tamil-nadu-module-after-searches-226661">ISIS Kerala-Tamil Nadu module case</a>.

After carrying out searches at seven locations in the city on Wednesday, the NIA had detained six people for questioning and arrested prime accused Mohammed Azarudeen, who was a Facebook friend of Sri Lankan Easter Day blasts mastermind Zahra Hashim.

Officials from the revenue and police departments are carrying out searches at the houses of three other people-Mohammed Hussain, Shahjahan and Hayatulla- from as early as 4.30 am Thursday, police sources said.

NIA had registered cases on May 30 against Azarudeen, Sheik Hidyathullah, Akram Sindhaa, Aboobacker M, Sadham Hussain and Ibrahim alias Shahin, all from Coimbatore, for their involvement in recruiting youth and planning terrorist attacks in south India, especially Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

The officials had seized a number of devices like mobile phones, laptops, pen drives and incriminating documents during the searches on Wednesday.

The intention of those detained was to recruit vulnerable youth into the ISIS or Daish for carrying out terrorist attacks in south India, especially in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the NIA had said in a release last night.

Azarudeen was the leader of the module and has been maintaining a Facebook page 'KhilafahGFX', through which he had been propagating the ideology of ISIS, it said.

The NIA has alleged that Azarudeen has been a Facebook friend of suicide bomber Zahran Hashim and other members of the module have also been sharing radical contents attributed to Hashim, over the social media.

The officials are likely to take Azarudeen to Kochi in connection with the case and the other five have been asked to appear before a court in Kochi, the sources said.

The ISIS had claimed responsibility for the serial bombings in Sri Lanka on April 21 in which around nine suicide bombers were involved.&nbsp;

The National Investigation Agency Thursday continued raids here for a second day in connection with the ISIS Kerala-Tamil Nadu module case. After carrying out searches at seven locations in the city on Wednesday, the NIA had detained six people for questioning and arrested prime accused Mohammed Azarudeen, who was a Facebook friend of Sri Lankan Easter Day blasts mastermind Zahra Hashim.

The National Investigation Agency Thursday continued raids here for a second day in connection with the ISIS Kerala-Tamil Nadu module case. After carrying out searches at seven locations in the city on Wednesday, the NIA had detained six people for questioning and arrested prime accused Mohammed Azarudeen, who was a Facebook friend of Sri Lankan Easter Day blasts mastermind Zahra Hashim. Officials from the revenue and police departments are carrying out searches at the houses of three other people-Mohammed Hussain, Shahjahan and Hayatulla- from as early as 4.30 am Thursday, police sources said. NIA had registered cases on May 30 against Azarudeen, Sheik Hidyathullah, Akram Sindhaa, Aboobacker M, Sadham Hussain and Ibrahim alias Shahin, all from Coimbatore, for their involvement in recruiting youth and planning terrorist attacks in south India, especially Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The officials had seized a number of devices like mobile phones, laptops, pen drives and incriminating documents during the searches on Wednesday. The intention of those detained was to recruit vulnerable youth into the ISIS or Daish for carrying out terrorist attacks in south India, especially in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the NIA had said in a release last night. Azarudeen was the leader of the module and has been maintaining a Facebook page 'KhilafahGFX', through which he had been propagating the ideology of ISIS, it said. The NIA has alleged that Azarudeen has been a Facebook friend of suicide bomber Zahran Hashim and other members of the module have also been sharing radical contents attributed to Hashim, over the social media. The officials are likely to take Azarudeen to Kochi in connection with the case and the other five have been asked to appear before a court in Kochi, the sources said. The ISIS had claimed responsibility for the serial bombings in Sri Lanka on April 21 in which around nine suicide bombers were involved.

NIA searches continue for second day in ISIS Kerala-Tamil Nadu module case

ISIS Is Down Not Out Yet. Reports Show That The Terror Group Is Alive & Kicking In NorthEast Afghanistan 3 months ago, the U.S. President proclaimed the end of ISIS in Syria... Now reports show that ISIS is rapidly gained ground in Afghanistan. Palki gets us the latest updates

Gravitas: ISIS expands footprint in Afghanistan

The ISIS Has Lost Its So-Called Caliphate In Syria & Iraq. But It Expanding Presence Across the World & Plotting Attacks Here's a report tracking the rise and fall of ISIS and it's evolution into one of the most dreaded terror outfits in the world

Gravitas: Tracking the rise & fall of ISIS

A Brief Summary Of The Rise Of ISIS In Afghanistan. Here's how and why Afghanistan became a breeding ground for ISIS in the region.

Gravitas: Why is Afghanistan a fertile ground for ISIS?

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/nia-raids-in-tamil-nadu-four-arrested-in-connection-with-sri-lanka-blasts-226506">The National Investigation Agency on Wednesday</a> arrested Mohammed Azarudeen, the alleged mastermind of ISIS Tamil Nadu module who was a Facebook friend of Sri Lankan suicide bomber Zahran Hashim after it carried out searches at seven locations in Coimbatore, officials said.

During the searches, the agency seized 14 mobile phones, 29 SIM cards, 10 pen drives, three laptops, six memory cards, four hard disc drives, an internet dongle and 13 CDs/DVDs, besides one dagger, an electric baton, 300 air-gun pellets and a large number of incriminating documents, the NIA said in a statement.

A few pamphlets of Popular Front of India and Social Democratic Party of India, both under the scanner of security agencies, have also been seized from the houses and workplaces of the accused, it said.

Based on the recoveries, the agency has started questioning the accused about the material, it added.

A case was registered on May 30 this year against the module allegedly led by the 32-year-old Azarudeen of Coimbatore and five other residents of the city.

The agency had received the information that the accused persons and their associates were allegedly propagating the ideology of proscribed terrorist organisation ISIS on social media with the intention of recruiting vulnerable youth into the group for carrying out terrorist attacks in south India, especially in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the NIA said.

It alleged that Azarudeen was the leader of the module and maintained a Facebook page named "KhilafahGFX" through which he had been propagating the ideology of the banned West Asian terror group.&nbsp;

The NIA has alleged that Azarudeen has been a Facebook friend of Sri Lankan suicide bomber Zahran Hashim.

The IS had claimed responsibility for the serial bombings in Sri Lanka on April 21 in which around nine suicide bombers were involved. Total 258 people were killed and 500 others injured in the terror attacks in the island nation.

The National Investigation Agency on Wednesday arrested Mohammed Azarudeen, the alleged mastermind of ISIS Tamil Nadu module who was a Facebook friend of Sri Lankan suicide bomber Zahran Hashim after it carried out searches at seven locations in Coimbatore, officials said.

The National Investigation Agency on Wednesday arrested Mohammed Azarudeen, the alleged mastermind of ISIS Tamil Nadu module who was a Facebook friend of Sri Lankan suicide bomber Zahran Hashim after it carried out searches at seven locations in Coimbatore, officials said. During the searches, the agency seized 14 mobile phones, 29 SIM cards, 10 pen drives, three laptops, six memory cards, four hard disc drives, an internet dongle and 13 CDs/DVDs, besides one dagger, an electric baton, 300 air-gun pellets and a large number of incriminating documents, the NIA said in a statement. A few pamphlets of Popular Front of India and Social Democratic Party of India, both under the scanner of security agencies, have also been seized from the houses and workplaces of the accused, it said. Based on the recoveries, the agency has started questioning the accused about the material, it added. A case was registered on May 30 this year against the module allegedly led by the 32-year-old Azarudeen of Coimbatore and five other residents of the city. The agency had received the information that the accused persons and their associates were allegedly propagating the ideology of proscribed terrorist organisation ISIS on social media with the intention of recruiting vulnerable youth into the group for carrying out terrorist attacks in south India, especially in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the NIA said. It alleged that Azarudeen was the leader of the module and maintained a Facebook page named "KhilafahGFX" through which he had been propagating the ideology of the banned West Asian terror group. The NIA has alleged that Azarudeen has been a Facebook friend of Sri Lankan suicide bomber Zahran Hashim. The IS had claimed responsibility for the serial bombings in Sri Lanka on April 21 in which around nine suicide bombers were involved. Total 258 people were killed and 500 others injured in the terror attacks in the island nation.

NIA arrests mastermind of ISIS Tamil Nadu module after searches

The propaganda of the Islamic State (ISIS) is growing across South Asia. Easter attacks in Sri Lanka which killed over 250 people is case in point. The attacks were claimed by a local terror group National Thowheeth Jamaath, which is an ISIS-affiliate

It's important to recall here that investigations had revealed that the mastermind of the attack, Zaharan Hashim, was in touch with radical elements in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Following the investigations, NIA had arrested several suspects, one of whom had confessed to the plan of carrying out a suicide attack in Kerala.

Kerala police and Coast guard were already on high alert since Sri Lanka attacks, what raises more concern are the Intelligence inputs claiming that a boat carrying 15 IS operatives has been set off for Lakshadweep Islands from Sri Lanka.

Moreover, in a recently held internal security meeting, Intelligence agencies have warned Home Ministry that radical groups are trying to spread their presence across the country.

Apart from southern states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu, these groups are also targetting people in Northeastern states. The inputs further stated that funds from Gulf countries are being used to mobilise these outfits.

Home Ministry has asked the intelligence agencies to keep a tight vigil on the suspected groups. Furthermore, the government is likely to come up with a counter-radicalisation policy.&nbsp;

The government is also keeping a close watch on social media as the ISIS operatives, many a time, use technology to approach the youth. State police also keep check on deviant youth and once the suspects are identified they are counselled on the risks involved.

Taking a cue from the countries that have implemented counter-radicalisation policy, the government can also run programmes which not just focus on countering ideology but also psychological rehabilitation. Local religious leaders, lawyers, senior citizens can be roped in to engage with the youth on dangers of extremism and radicalisation.&nbsp;

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's national security team now has two prominent faces on the diplomatic and strategic fronts which is an asset for the government - External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. They both have achieved a lot together during the previous term of the NDA government. (2014-2019).

In his last tenure, Doval had played a key role in launching de-radicalisation initiatives with several Asian countries. The government will continue with such initiatives this time as well.

India and Maldives on Saturday agreed to set up a Joint Working Group on counter-terrorism, countering violent extremism and de-radicalisation.

India has been struggling with the radicalisation of youth in Jammu and Kashmir by the militant groups based in Pakistan. According to security officials, at least 50 youngsters have joined various terror outfits since March 2019. Youth in the age group of 15 years to 25 years are most vulnerable to be exploited.&nbsp;

Centre already runs some programmes to counsel the youth in the valley to bring in them positive behavioural changes. Army has been able to bring back a number of ultras to the mainstream with the help of the parents&nbsp;and senior citizens.

The state needs more career counselling centres, drug de-addiction centres, personality development centres and training workshops.

To defeat terrorism and radicalisation, it's important to engage in dialogue with the youth and motivate them to live a dignified and constructive life.

Amit Shah has also instructed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take "harsh action" against separatist leaders who are instrumental in fuelling terror activities in the state and put them behind bars.

In a stern message to Pakistan when the global strategic environment is against Islamabad, Prime Minister Modi has reiterated its stand that there can be no talks between the two countries until Pakistan stops its anti-India activities.

Narendra Modi government 2.0 has&nbsp;shown zero-tolerance towards terrorism, radicalisation and extremism across the country.&nbsp;

With Shah, Jaishankar and Doval, Modi has ramped up India's security infrastructure to deal with the challenges pertaining to the national security and foreign policy. 
 
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

The propaganda of the Islamic State (ISIS) is growing across South Asia. Easter attacks in Sri Lanka which killed over 250 people is case in point. The attacks were claimed by a local terror group National Thowheeth Jamaath, which is an ISIS-affiliate It's important to recall here that investigations had revealed that the mastermind of the attack, Zaharan Hashim, was in touch with radical elements in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

The propaganda of the Islamic State (ISIS) is growing across South Asia. Easter attacks in Sri Lanka which killed over 250 people is case in point. The attacks were claimed by a local terror group National Thowheeth Jamaath, which is an ISIS-affiliate It's important to recall here that investigations had revealed that the mastermind of the attack, Zaharan Hashim, was in touch with radical elements in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Following the investigations, NIA had arrested several suspects, one of whom had confessed to the plan of carrying out a suicide attack in Kerala. Kerala police and Coast guard were already on high alert since Sri Lanka attacks, what raises more concern are the Intelligence inputs claiming that a boat carrying 15 IS operatives has been set off for Lakshadweep Islands from Sri Lanka. Moreover, in a recently held internal security meeting, Intelligence agencies have warned Home Ministry that radical groups are trying to spread their presence across the country. Apart from southern states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu, these groups are also targetting people in Northeastern states. The inputs further stated that funds from Gulf countries are being used to mobilise these outfits. Home Ministry has asked the intelligence agencies to keep a tight vigil on the suspected groups. Furthermore, the government is likely to come up with a counter-radicalisation policy. The government is also keeping a close watch on social media as the ISIS operatives, many a time, use technology to approach the youth. State police also keep check on deviant youth and once the suspects are identified they are counselled on the risks involved. Taking a cue from the countries that have implemented counter-radicalisation policy, the government can also run programmes which not just focus on countering ideology but also psychological rehabilitation. Local religious leaders, lawyers, senior citizens can be roped in to engage with the youth on dangers of extremism and radicalisation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's national security team now has two prominent faces on the diplomatic and strategic fronts which is an asset for the government - External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. They both have achieved a lot together during the previous term of the NDA government. (2014-2019). In his last tenure, Doval had played a key role in launching de-radicalisation initiatives with several Asian countries. The government will continue with such initiatives this time as well. India and Maldives on Saturday agreed to set up a Joint Working Group on counter-terrorism, countering violent extremism and de-radicalisation. India has been struggling with the radicalisation of youth in Jammu and Kashmir by the militant groups based in Pakistan. According to security officials, at least 50 youngsters have joined various terror outfits since March 2019. Youth in the age group of 15 years to 25 years are most vulnerable to be exploited. Centre already runs some programmes to counsel the youth in the valley to bring in them positive behavioural changes. Army has been able to bring back a number of ultras to the mainstream with the help of the parents and senior citizens. The state needs more career counselling centres, drug de-addiction centres, personality development centres and training workshops. To defeat terrorism and radicalisation, it's important to engage in dialogue with the youth and motivate them to live a dignified and constructive life. Amit Shah has also instructed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take "harsh action" against separatist leaders who are instrumental in fuelling terror activities in the state and put them behind bars. In a stern message to Pakistan when the global strategic environment is against Islamabad, Prime Minister Modi has reiterated its stand that there can be no talks between the two countries until Pakistan stops its anti-India activities. Narendra Modi government 2.0 has shown zero-tolerance towards terrorism, radicalisation and extremism across the country. With Shah, Jaishankar and Doval, Modi has ramped up India's security infrastructure to deal with the challenges pertaining to the national security and foreign policy. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

As radicalisation grows, Narendra Modi government puts in place stronger measures

Sri Lanka's president has told his cabinet that he will <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/sri-lanka-leader-rebuffs-probe-after-criticism-over-easter-attacks-225375">not cooperate with a parliamentary investigation</a> into security lapses leading to the Easter suicide bombings, official sources said Saturday.

Maithripala Sirisena summoned an emergency meeting of his cabinet on Friday night to oppose the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) probing the April 21 attacks that killed 258 people and wounded nearly 500.

A ministerial source told AFP Sirisena has refused to allow any police, military or intelligence personnel to testify before the committee.

"The cabinet meeting ended inconclusively," the source said on condition of anonymity. "The government did not agree to suspend the PSC either."&nbsp;

Sirisena's office did not comment on the outcome of the heated cabinet meeting, but said the president had told senior police officers on Friday that he will not allow any serving officer to testify before the PSC.

Last week, Sirisena's intelligence chief Sisira Mendis told the committee that the president had failed to hold regular security review meetings to assess the potential threat from Islamic radicals.

Halfway through his testimony, the live telecast of the proceedings were stopped on Sirisena's orders, official sources said.

Sirisena's defence secretary and police chief have suggested that the president, who is also the minister of Defence and Law and Order, did not follow proper protocols in dealing with intelligence reports, including advance warnings about the April 21 bombings.

Sirisena has repeatedly denied he was aware of an impending threat.&nbsp;

A local jihadist organisation and the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attacks against three churches and three luxury hotels.

Sirisena said last week that he had met with the national police chief and his top brass 13 days before the Easter Sunday attacks but no officer had raised the warnings which had been relayed by India.

Official sources said New Delhi had provided details of planned attacks based on information from a jihadist in Indian custody.

The government has admitted there were intelligence failures before the attacks, in which 45 foreign nationals died.

Sirisena subsequently suspended police chief Pujith Jayasundara and dismissed his top defence official Hemasiri Fernando.&nbsp;

Sri Lanka has been under a state of emergency since the attacks.

Sri Lanka's president has told his cabinet that he will not cooperate with a parliamentary investigation into security lapses leading to the Easter suicide bombings, official sources said Saturday.

Sri Lanka's president has told his cabinet that he will not cooperate with a parliamentary investigation into security lapses leading to the Easter suicide bombings, official sources said Saturday. Maithripala Sirisena summoned an emergency meeting of his cabinet on Friday night to oppose the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) probing the April 21 attacks that killed 258 people and wounded nearly 500. A ministerial source told AFP Sirisena has refused to allow any police, military or intelligence personnel to testify before the committee. "The cabinet meeting ended inconclusively," the source said on condition of anonymity. "The government did not agree to suspend the PSC either." Sirisena's office did not comment on the outcome of the heated cabinet meeting, but said the president had told senior police officers on Friday that he will not allow any serving officer to testify before the PSC. Last week, Sirisena's intelligence chief Sisira Mendis told the committee that the president had failed to hold regular security review meetings to assess the potential threat from Islamic radicals. Halfway through his testimony, the live telecast of the proceedings were stopped on Sirisena's orders, official sources said. Sirisena's defence secretary and police chief have suggested that the president, who is also the minister of Defence and Law and Order, did not follow proper protocols in dealing with intelligence reports, including advance warnings about the April 21 bombings. Sirisena has repeatedly denied he was aware of an impending threat. A local jihadist organisation and the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attacks against three churches and three luxury hotels. Sirisena said last week that he had met with the national police chief and his top brass 13 days before the Easter Sunday attacks but no officer had raised the warnings which had been relayed by India. Official sources said New Delhi had provided details of planned attacks based on information from a jihadist in Indian custody. The government has admitted there were intelligence failures before the attacks, in which 45 foreign nationals died. Sirisena subsequently suspended police chief Pujith Jayasundara and dismissed his top defence official Hemasiri Fernando. Sri Lanka has been under a state of emergency since the attacks.

Sri Lanka president vows to block Easter attacks probe

George Clooney and wife Amal are under massive pressure as their twin children could next become targets for terrorist organisation IS(Islamic State).

As Amal, a high-profile lawyer takes the organisation to court for human rights abuses, the celebrity couple fear for the safety of their children.&nbsp;

Named&nbsp;Ella and Alexander, the twins have been stopped from being taken for walks in the park or any other outdoor activity as there is apparently a "bounty on their heads". The kids have been taken to a safe place and reportedly not even the extended family is told of their whereabouts.&nbsp;

George addressing this matter at the Hollywood Reporter's Awards Chatter podcast said, "It's the kind where going to a ballgame and sitting out with the gang isn't really possible - it's distracting for everybody else, and not necessarily fun for me.”

He went on to add, "I miss some of that. My wife and I wanted to walk our kids in Central Park, and that's just not possible. We tried, but we walk out the door and everybody surrounds them. And there's a bounty on my kids' head for a photo, so that's something that we are very conscious of. Everything changes when you have two kids on how you have to protect them. My wife is taking the first case against IS&nbsp;to court, so we have plenty of issues - real, proper security issues - that we have to deal with on a fairly daily basis."

The superstar father expressed how difficult it is to be in this situation and said, "We don't really want our kids to be targets, so we have to pay attention to that. But, you know, we also live our lives. We don't hide in corners."

The Clooney family has now hired a number of bodyguards with Secret Service or CIA backgrounds. They are with the family 24 hours in a day and even keep their schedules on lock-down from friends and relatives.

As for how this started, Amal is currently pursuing legal action against the religious extremists who have brutalised their way through Syria and Iraq in the last five years. She aims at prosecuting the group for genocide against the Yazidi people in northern Iraq, who have been subjected to death, rape, torture and sex slavery as IS&nbsp;fundamentalists cut them off from contacting the outside world.

The case is set to go through the French courts later this year. She had earlier spoken around the same theme at the United Nations’ Security Council last month, in which she urged UN countries to demand justice.

George Clooney and wife Amal are under massive pressure as their twin children could next become targets for terrorist organisation IS(Islamic State). As Amal, a high-profile lawyer takes the organisation to court for human rights abuses, the celebrity couple fear for the safety of their children.

George Clooney and wife Amal are under massive pressure as their twin children could next become targets for terrorist organisation IS(Islamic State). As Amal, a high-profile lawyer takes the organisation to court for human rights abuses, the celebrity couple fear for the safety of their children. Named Ella and Alexander, the twins have been stopped from being taken for walks in the park or any other outdoor activity as there is apparently a "bounty on their heads". The kids have been taken to a safe place and reportedly not even the extended family is told of their whereabouts. George addressing this matter at the Hollywood Reporter's Awards Chatter podcast said, "It's the kind where going to a ballgame and sitting out with the gang isn't really possible - it's distracting for everybody else, and not necessarily fun for me.” He went on to add, "I miss some of that. My wife and I wanted to walk our kids in Central Park, and that's just not possible. We tried, but we walk out the door and everybody surrounds them. And there's a bounty on my kids' head for a photo, so that's something that we are very conscious of. Everything changes when you have two kids on how you have to protect them. My wife is taking the first case against IS to court, so we have plenty of issues - real, proper security issues - that we have to deal with on a fairly daily basis." The superstar father expressed how difficult it is to be in this situation and said, "We don't really want our kids to be targets, so we have to pay attention to that. But, you know, we also live our lives. We don't hide in corners." The Clooney family has now hired a number of bodyguards with Secret Service or CIA backgrounds. They are with the family 24 hours in a day and even keep their schedules on lock-down from friends and relatives. As for how this started, Amal is currently pursuing legal action against the religious extremists who have brutalised their way through Syria and Iraq in the last five years. She aims at prosecuting the group for genocide against the Yazidi people in northern Iraq, who have been subjected to death, rape, torture and sex slavery as IS fundamentalists cut them off from contacting the outside world. The case is set to go through the French courts later this year. She had earlier spoken around the same theme at the United Nations’ Security Council last month, in which she urged UN countries to demand justice.

Bodyguards, secret schedule & no outdoors; this is how George and Amal Clooney are protecting their kids from Islamic State

The first Kashmiri man to have joined terror group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has surrendered and is in the custody of US forces in Syria, according to his Srinagar-based family.

The father of Adil Ahmad, an MBA graduate, said that they received a voice note from him in March in which he says that the US-led forces in Syria have surrounded the&nbsp;group and are asking them to surrender. "I want to return back and the US army has told us that if we surrender, we will be sent back to our countries," Adil is further heard saying in the March 25 voice note, according to his father.

Otherwise shy, Adil, did his MBA from Queensland University in Australia and that's where his family believes&nbsp;he got radicalised and later travelled through Turkey to Syria.

"We have been surrounded by US forces. I am performing Istikhara (special prayer by Muslims when in need of guidance) and we have decided to surrender with the family," he told his father Fayaz Ahmad Wada in the last voice note.

According to his family, Adil married a Dutch national and had a five-year-old son, who died during a battle due to starvation. They say his wife is in a refugee camp with Shamima Begum, a British-born woman, who left the UK in February 2015, to join the ISIS.

"He kept us in dark initially. He always told us that he joined for an NGO purportedly working with Syrian refugees. But we developed a suspicion in 2013," said Wada.

Sources in the National Investigations Agency (NIA) believe that Adil travelled to Jordan from Turkey and finally landed in Syria joining Al Nusra Front in 2013.

His family and mother are shattered with the news and are now running pillar to post to bring him back. "We have written to several agencies for his release and we are hopeful. We appeal to Narendra Modi and administration to bring our children back," said Adil's mother as tears rolled&nbsp;down her cheeks.

The first Kashmiri man to have joined terror group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has surrendered and is in the custody of US forces in Syria, according to his Srinagar-based family.

The first Kashmiri man to have joined terror group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has surrendered and is in the custody of US forces in Syria, according to his Srinagar-based family. The father of Adil Ahmad, an MBA graduate, said that they received a voice note from him in March in which he says that the US-led forces in Syria have surrounded the group and are asking them to surrender. "I want to return back and the US army has told us that if we surrender, we will be sent back to our countries," Adil is further heard saying in the March 25 voice note, according to his father. Otherwise shy, Adil, did his MBA from Queensland University in Australia and that's where his family believes he got radicalised and later travelled through Turkey to Syria. "We have been surrounded by US forces. I am performing Istikhara (special prayer by Muslims when in need of guidance) and we have decided to surrender with the family," he told his father Fayaz Ahmad Wada in the last voice note. According to his family, Adil married a Dutch national and had a five-year-old son, who died during a battle due to starvation. They say his wife is in a refugee camp with Shamima Begum, a British-born woman, who left the UK in February 2015, to join the ISIS. "He kept us in dark initially. He always told us that he joined for an NGO purportedly working with Syrian refugees. But we developed a suspicion in 2013," said Wada. Sources in the National Investigations Agency (NIA) believe that Adil travelled to Jordan from Turkey and finally landed in Syria joining Al Nusra Front in 2013. His family and mother are shattered with the news and are now running pillar to post to bring him back. "We have written to several agencies for his release and we are hopeful. We appeal to Narendra Modi and administration to bring our children back," said Adil's mother as tears rolled down her cheeks.

Kashmir man who joined ISIS surrenders, claims family; hopeful of return

A team of National Investigation Agency (NIA) has reached <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/sri-lanka-navy-puts-its-vessels-on-alert-after-reports-of-is-terrorists-setting-off-to-india-221922">Colombo in connection with two ISIS related cases</a> being investigated by the agency.

The two-member team is in the Sri-Lankan capital to find out any possible links between the terrorist modules and the terrorists involved in the deadly Easter Sunday bombings in Sri-Lanka.NIA had on April 29 arrested Riyas Aboobacker in connection with Kasargod ISIS terror module case.

According to the investigating agency, Aboobacker was allegedly planning suicide attacks at international tourist destinations in Kerala. He was arrested from Palakkad.

In 2017, the NIA had registered a case against five people from Valapattanam in Kannur district for their alleged IS links.

The investigation revealed Riyas` link with the ISIS.

According to NIA, Riyas revealed during interrogation that he was in contact with an absconder in the case Abdul Rashid Abdulla alias Abu Isa and was following his audio clips, in which he was heard instigating others to carry out attacks in India.

Riyas also disclosed that he was in contact with Abdul Khayoom alias Abu Khalid, an accused in Valapattanam ISIS case.

Khalid is believed to be in Syria now. In 2016, as many as 15 persons disappeared from Kasargod and allegedly migrated to Afghanistan and Syria to join the ISIS.

A case was registered in the matter, which is being investigated by the NIA.&nbsp;

A team of National Investigation Agency (NIA) has reached Colombo in connection with two ISIS related cases being investigated by the agency. The two-member team is in the Sri-Lankan capital to find out any possible links between the terrorist modules and the terrorists involved in the deadly Easter Sunday bombings in Sri-Lanka.

A team of National Investigation Agency (NIA) has reached Colombo in connection with two ISIS related cases being investigated by the agency. The two-member team is in the Sri-Lankan capital to find out any possible links between the terrorist modules and the terrorists involved in the deadly Easter Sunday bombings in Sri-Lanka.NIA had on April 29 arrested Riyas Aboobacker in connection with Kasargod ISIS terror module case. According to the investigating agency, Aboobacker was allegedly planning suicide attacks at international tourist destinations in Kerala. He was arrested from Palakkad. In 2017, the NIA had registered a case against five people from Valapattanam in Kannur district for their alleged IS links. The investigation revealed Riyas` link with the ISIS. According to NIA, Riyas revealed during interrogation that he was in contact with an absconder in the case Abdul Rashid Abdulla alias Abu Isa and was following his audio clips, in which he was heard instigating others to carry out attacks in India. Riyas also disclosed that he was in contact with Abdul Khayoom alias Abu Khalid, an accused in Valapattanam ISIS case. Khalid is believed to be in Syria now. In 2016, as many as 15 persons disappeared from Kasargod and allegedly migrated to Afghanistan and Syria to join the ISIS. A case was registered in the matter, which is being investigated by the NIA.

NIA team in Colombo to probe Islamic State related cases

ISIS eyes India moves closer to the neighborhood and hopes to gain ground in Tamil Nadu and Kerala

Gravitas: The Rise of ISIS in South Asia

An attack took place in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka in Malibagh Area. A Van of Dhaka police force attacked there. Islamic States took responsiblity for this attack. Three people were hurted in this attack.

Gravitas: Powerful Explosion Rocks Dhaka, ISIS Claimed Responsiblity

Sri Lanka is still healing from explosion of Easter. There is a intelligence report after a month of bombings which claimed ISIS terrorists travelling to Lakshadweep by boat. Following this Kerala Coast is on high alert.

Gravitas: 15 Terrorists Head To Lakshadweep

The <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/monsoon-likely-to-be-slightly-delayed-will-arrive-over-kerala-on-june-6th-imd-218999">Kerala coast</a> has been put on high alert following intelligence reports that boats allegedly carrying 15 Islamic State Terrorists had set off from Sri Lanka to the Lakshadweep islands, police said Saturday.

According to highly places sources in the police department, the coastal police stations and coastal district police chiefs have been alerted.

"Such alerts are usual practice but this time we have a piece of specific information about the number.

We have alerted the coastal police stations and the police chiefs of coastal districts to be on alert in case of any sighting of suspicious vessels," a top police source told PTI.

The coastal police department said it was on alert since May 23, the day the alert came from Sri Lanka.

"We were on alert since the Sri Lankan attack took place. We have also alerted the fishing vessels and others venturing into the sea to be cautious of suspicious activities," coastal department sources confirmed to PTI.

After the serial bomb blasts in Sri Lanka, Kerala was on alert, especially after NIA investigations revealed that IS operatives had planned attacks in the State.

Intelligence agencies believe that a considerable number of Keralites are still with the ISIS which was recently wiped out from Iraq and Syria.

Sri Lanka witnessed a deadly terror attack on April 21 when eight blasts rocked the Island nation killing over 250 people.

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the incident.&nbsp;

The Kerala coast has been put on high alert following intelligence reports that boats allegedly carrying 15 Islamic State Terrorists had set off from Sri Lanka to the Lakshadweep islands, police said Saturday.

The Kerala coast has been put on high alert following intelligence reports that boats allegedly carrying 15 Islamic State Terrorists had set off from Sri Lanka to the Lakshadweep islands, police said Saturday. According to highly places sources in the police department, the coastal police stations and coastal district police chiefs have been alerted. "Such alerts are usual practice but this time we have a piece of specific information about the number. We have alerted the coastal police stations and the police chiefs of coastal districts to be on alert in case of any sighting of suspicious vessels," a top police source told PTI. The coastal police department said it was on alert since May 23, the day the alert came from Sri Lanka. "We were on alert since the Sri Lankan attack took place. We have also alerted the fishing vessels and others venturing into the sea to be cautious of suspicious activities," coastal department sources confirmed to PTI. After the serial bomb blasts in Sri Lanka, Kerala was on alert, especially after NIA investigations revealed that IS operatives had planned attacks in the State. Intelligence agencies believe that a considerable number of Keralites are still with the ISIS which was recently wiped out from Iraq and Syria. Sri Lanka witnessed a deadly terror attack on April 21 when eight blasts rocked the Island nation killing over 250 people. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the incident.

Kerala coast on high alert after IS boat reportedly sets off from Sri Lanka

A Sri Lankan parliament official was among six people arrested for their alleged links to the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/india-offers-support-to-sri-lanka-to-deal-with-terror-219502">banned Islamist extremist group</a>, National Thawheed Jammath (NTJ), which carried out the deadly suicide attacks on Easter Sunday, a senior police official said on Monday.

Nine suicide bombers carried out a series of devastating blasts that tore through three churches and three luxury hotels on the Easter Sunday, killing more than 250 people. The ISIS claimed the attacks, but the government blamed <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/sri-lanka-terror-group-linked-to-easter-bombings-has-over-rs-140-mn-cash-rs-7-bn-worth-assets-police-216553">NTJ for the bombings</a>.

Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara told the media that initially three suspects had been apprehended after an NTJ training facility was discovered at a coconut estate upon a tip-off received by the Kurunegala Police.

Gunasekara said the suspects, which included the landowner, were arrested on May 9 and have been remanded until May 24 after being produced before a court.

Details pertaining to two more individuals including that of a Kurunegala hospital staffer had emerged following questioning of the three suspects.

Gunasekara said several cheques had been discovered in the possession of the hospital staffer. Investigations had also revealed that cash deposits had been made to the suspect's bank account from various places.

Following the questioning of the two suspects, police arrested an individual in the Alawathugoda area last Saturday. This suspect was identified as an employee of the Parliament Hansard Department, Gunasekara said.

The man had been employed at parliament over the last 12 years. He has been found to be a main preacher of the NTJ and had conducted NTJ preaching all over the island, he said.

The northwestern Kurunegala police arrested him and a detention order for 90 days was obtained for his questioning, he added.&nbsp;

The 42-year-old suspect is a father of two children and a resident of Alawatugoda in the central district of Kandy.

Sri Lanka banned the NTJ after the deadly attacks and arrested over 100 people in connection with the Easter blasts, which killed over 250 people including foreigners.

The opposition JVP said on Monday that they would be moving a parliamentary motion of no trust against the government over its failure to prevent the Easter attacks.&nbsp; 
"The government failed in its duty to protect the people despite the availability of intelligence on the possibility of the attack," JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake said.&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

A Sri Lankan parliament official was among six people arrested for their alleged links to the banned Islamist extremist group, National Thawheed Jammath (NTJ), which carried out the deadly suicide attacks on Easter Sunday, a senior police official said on Monday.

A Sri Lankan parliament official was among six people arrested for their alleged links to the banned Islamist extremist group, National Thawheed Jammath (NTJ), which carried out the deadly suicide attacks on Easter Sunday, a senior police official said on Monday. Nine suicide bombers carried out a series of devastating blasts that tore through three churches and three luxury hotels on the Easter Sunday, killing more than 250 people. The ISIS claimed the attacks, but the government blamed NTJ for the bombings. Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara told the media that initially three suspects had been apprehended after an NTJ training facility was discovered at a coconut estate upon a tip-off received by the Kurunegala Police. Gunasekara said the suspects, which included the landowner, were arrested on May 9 and have been remanded until May 24 after being produced before a court. Details pertaining to two more individuals including that of a Kurunegala hospital staffer had emerged following questioning of the three suspects. Gunasekara said several cheques had been discovered in the possession of the hospital staffer. Investigations had also revealed that cash deposits had been made to the suspect's bank account from various places. Following the questioning of the two suspects, police arrested an individual in the Alawathugoda area last Saturday. This suspect was identified as an employee of the Parliament Hansard Department, Gunasekara said. The man had been employed at parliament over the last 12 years. He has been found to be a main preacher of the NTJ and had conducted NTJ preaching all over the island, he said. The northwestern Kurunegala police arrested him and a detention order for 90 days was obtained for his questioning, he added. The 42-year-old suspect is a father of two children and a resident of Alawatugoda in the central district of Kandy. Sri Lanka banned the NTJ after the deadly attacks and arrested over 100 people in connection with the Easter blasts, which killed over 250 people including foreigners. The opposition JVP said on Monday that they would be moving a parliamentary motion of no trust against the government over its failure to prevent the Easter attacks. "The government failed in its duty to protect the people despite the availability of intelligence on the possibility of the attack," JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake said.

Lankan Parliament official among six arrested for alleged links with NTJ

The University of Sindh in Pakistan has cancelled the admission of a 22-year-old woman student, who received weapons training from the ISIS in Syria and was part of a failed plot to carry out a suicide attack on a church in Lahore.

Naureen Leghari, a second-year student of the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS) in Jamshoro, Sindh, went missing in February 2017 from his native town of Hussainabad, a suburb of Hyderabad. She was arrested after two months from Lahore following an encounter in which her associate Ali was killed by security forces.

After her arrest, LUMHS cancelled her admission. She then got admission in the English Department of the University of Sindh in November 2018 but when the varsity got knowledge of her background, it cancelled her admission, the News reported.

Her father Dr Abdul Jabbar Leghari is working at the University as a professor in Dr MA Kazi Institute of Chemistry.

Naureen and her father have approached Sindh High Court filing a joint constitutional petition against the University of Sindh, praying that according to article K-25 of Constitution, the University management could not deny her right of education.

Vice Chancellor Fateh Burfat told the media that University management is verifying the facts that why Naureen was expelled from LUMHS and after getting verification from law enforcement agencies, it will decide about her.

University Spokesman Nadir Ali Mugheri said that she concealed facts about the cancellation of her previous admission while applying at Sindh University.

"When the administration of the University came to know about the facts regarding the annulment of her admission at LUMHS, it cancelled her admission," he said.

Naureen at the time of her arrest had confessed to her involvement in terrorist activities.

In a confessional statement which was played during a press conference by Pakistan's Military spokesman Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor here, Naureen said that she was to be used by the Islamic State as a suicide bomber on an attack to be conducted on a church on Easter Sunday.

She said they were given two suicide jackets, four grenade and some bullets by the ISIS to carry out the mission. However, their mission was foiled by the security forces who killed one militant and arrested two others, including Naureen.&nbsp;

The University of Sindh in Pakistan has cancelled the admission of a 22-year-old woman student, who received weapons training from the ISIS in Syria and was part of a failed plot to carry out a suicide attack on a church in Lahore.

The University of Sindh in Pakistan has cancelled the admission of a 22-year-old woman student, who received weapons training from the ISIS in Syria and was part of a failed plot to carry out a suicide attack on a church in Lahore. Naureen Leghari, a second-year student of the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS) in Jamshoro, Sindh, went missing in February 2017 from his native town of Hussainabad, a suburb of Hyderabad. She was arrested after two months from Lahore following an encounter in which her associate Ali was killed by security forces. After her arrest, LUMHS cancelled her admission. She then got admission in the English Department of the University of Sindh in November 2018 but when the varsity got knowledge of her background, it cancelled her admission, the News reported. Her father Dr Abdul Jabbar Leghari is working at the University as a professor in Dr MA Kazi Institute of Chemistry. Naureen and her father have approached Sindh High Court filing a joint constitutional petition against the University of Sindh, praying that according to article K-25 of Constitution, the University management could not deny her right of education. Vice Chancellor Fateh Burfat told the media that University management is verifying the facts that why Naureen was expelled from LUMHS and after getting verification from law enforcement agencies, it will decide about her. University Spokesman Nadir Ali Mugheri said that she concealed facts about the cancellation of her previous admission while applying at Sindh University. "When the administration of the University came to know about the facts regarding the annulment of her admission at LUMHS, it cancelled her admission," he said. Naureen at the time of her arrest had confessed to her involvement in terrorist activities. In a confessional statement which was played during a press conference by Pakistan's Military spokesman Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor here, Naureen said that she was to be used by the Islamic State as a suicide bomber on an attack to be conducted on a church on Easter Sunday. She said they were given two suicide jackets, four grenade and some bullets by the ISIS to carry out the mission. However, their mission was foiled by the security forces who killed one militant and arrested two others, including Naureen.

Pakistan's Sindh University cancels admission of woman with ISIS background

The Indian subcontinent is obviously high on the Islamic State (IS) agenda. Ever since the Sri Lanka suicide bombings, IS statements, some genuine and others probably false, are focusing much on the subcontinent and India in particular.&nbsp;

Geo-strategically it makes a lot of sense to a strategic observer; the Indo-centric nature of the subcontinent does ensure that nations on the periphery are linked socially and economically. Besides, that IS hopes to exploit the presence of Muslims across the length and breadth of the country through attempts at radicalisation. Its initial efforts at drawing recruits from India largely failed. &nbsp;

The Rohingya issue in Myanmar and Bangladesh is looked upon as one with great trigger potential. It is something the IS has not been able to exploit. Little realised is also the fact that South Asia is the home to almost 500 million followers of Islam, the biggest regional entity the faith has anywhere in the world. Syria and Iraq had the emotive appeal for the so-called Caliphate due to proximity to the main Islamic shrines, with money and territory available by different means. Similarly, it should be the Indian subcontinent that should attract the next priority simply on the basis of religious affiliation and large strength of Muslims within the subcontinent.

The attempts to penetrate Pakistan and Afghanistan failed due to the lack of space and none of the other radical extremist groups willing to yield ground. The IS obviously has succeeded in ensuring trust deficit with other radical groups affiliated to Islam. It now appears to have changed its strategy of a direct entry to the heart of the subcontinent and possibly decided to enter it in right earnest through the periphery; Sri Lanka’s territory and vulnerable minority Muslim population facilitate this entry to the southern region of India. Indian intelligence agencies have been warning for some time that areas in Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been witnessing increasing radicalisation. The IS was also probably keeping its eyes and ears open particularly due to the large footprint of expatriates in the Gulf. &nbsp;

Selecting Sri Lanka as the peripheral area seems to have been fully borne out because the relative ease with which the IS managed its operations. However, a lot of thought probably went into the selection of locations and the modus operandi. It was probably aware that the focus of Sri Lanka’s intelligence and security services was entirely on the Tamil and Sinhala threats; the Muslim issue was a sideshow which emerged once in a while with the eight per cent (less than two million) Muslims of the island.&nbsp;

The Sri Lanka intelligence services were fed enough intelligence, of the impending action, by India and the US but they could not get their act together. Political and bureaucratic rivalries may have contributed to that but there is no doubt that it was the IS innovative modus operandi which also made the difference to its success. With intelligence bias focused on Tamils and Sinhala, a &nbsp;Sri Lanka Muslim network with Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamath (TNTJ) remained under the radar; the National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ) of Sri Lanka is the chief suspect for the entire carnage. Even more than that, the system of radicalisation and networking was nothing short of brilliant. The IS returnees had set up cells which were based upon a few families instead of spreading them wide with a large array of individuals. Efforts were focused upon radicalising a whole family so that chances of information leakage were minimised. In January 2019, police had discovered a cache of explosives and detonators in Colombo and could not link it with anything. The phenomenon of radicalising families to take on bombings was also witnessed in Indonesia.&nbsp;

The selection of suicide bombers as weapons of destruction rather than simply placing improvised explosive devices (IEDs) at target locations was a deliberate choice. The social impact of suicide bombers on a society being addressed for greater radicalisation is much higher.&nbsp;

The choice of targets was made for maximum impact. High profile hotels in Colombo’s central district would mean foreign tourists, especially at breakfast time on a holiday, Easter. Congregations were simultaneously gathering at churches which were the other targets elsewhere; that made coordination so much easier. Foreign tourists in body bags meant an international furore and message of IS capability to hit at will.

“Sri Lanka is a developing country with divided politics and weak institutions. The same has happened in countless countries, many of them wealthy and with highly skilled intelligence services”, wrote the New York Times in an elaborate post-event report, referring to the inability of the Sri Lankan intelligence services to prevent the carnage despite adequate intelligence. &nbsp;Why is this important for us in India? The arrests that have taken place in Sri Lanka, some genuine and some on mere suspicion do not reflect the busting of the network which perpetrated the suicide blasts. Handlers and potential suicide bombers appear to be yet on the loose considering the assessment of the numbers. In India’s southern region where the support base exists for the networks in Sri Lanka, the authorities have arrested Rias Abu Bakr who allegedly was planning suicide attacks in Kerala. The mindless politics of Kerala and the extent of radical penetration in the southern region should worry India’s intelligence services who have had a creditable record in the anti-terror domain particularly since 26/11. The long drawn general election period of 2019 in India has taken its toll on intelligence and police services which have been stretched.&nbsp;

If the IS really has the intent of penetration into India it would have exploited this period and would be planning several decoys. One among them is the focus it has managed to draw to the southern region while something devious could be under planning for potential targets elsewhere in the country. One of the major challenges for the next government at the Centre would be the dilution of divisiveness a phenomenon promoting potential IS effectiveness. The political community does not realise the immense harm it is doing to the internal security and laying an open invite to devious entities such as IS to exploit.&nbsp;

(This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-sri-lanka-and-islamic-state-2750250">original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

The Indian subcontinent is obviously high on the Islamic State (IS) agenda. Ever since the Sri Lanka suicide bombings, IS statements, some genuine and others probably false, are focusing much on the subcontinent and India in particular.

The Indian subcontinent is obviously high on the Islamic State (IS) agenda. Ever since the Sri Lanka suicide bombings, IS statements, some genuine and others probably false, are focusing much on the subcontinent and India in particular. Geo-strategically it makes a lot of sense to a strategic observer; the Indo-centric nature of the subcontinent does ensure that nations on the periphery are linked socially and economically. Besides, that IS hopes to exploit the presence of Muslims across the length and breadth of the country through attempts at radicalisation. Its initial efforts at drawing recruits from India largely failed. The Rohingya issue in Myanmar and Bangladesh is looked upon as one with great trigger potential. It is something the IS has not been able to exploit. Little realised is also the fact that South Asia is the home to almost 500 million followers of Islam, the biggest regional entity the faith has anywhere in the world. Syria and Iraq had the emotive appeal for the so-called Caliphate due to proximity to the main Islamic shrines, with money and territory available by different means. Similarly, it should be the Indian subcontinent that should attract the next priority simply on the basis of religious affiliation and large strength of Muslims within the subcontinent. The attempts to penetrate Pakistan and Afghanistan failed due to the lack of space and none of the other radical extremist groups willing to yield ground. The IS obviously has succeeded in ensuring trust deficit with other radical groups affiliated to Islam. It now appears to have changed its strategy of a direct entry to the heart of the subcontinent and possibly decided to enter it in right earnest through the periphery; Sri Lanka’s territory and vulnerable minority Muslim population facilitate this entry to the southern region of India. Indian intelligence agencies have been warning for some time that areas in Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been witnessing increasing radicalisation. The IS was also probably keeping its eyes and ears open particularly due to the large footprint of expatriates in the Gulf. Selecting Sri Lanka as the peripheral area seems to have been fully borne out because the relative ease with which the IS managed its operations. However, a lot of thought probably went into the selection of locations and the modus operandi. It was probably aware that the focus of Sri Lanka’s intelligence and security services was entirely on the Tamil and Sinhala threats; the Muslim issue was a sideshow which emerged once in a while with the eight per cent (less than two million) Muslims of the island. The Sri Lanka intelligence services were fed enough intelligence, of the impending action, by India and the US but they could not get their act together. Political and bureaucratic rivalries may have contributed to that but there is no doubt that it was the IS innovative modus operandi which also made the difference to its success. With intelligence bias focused on Tamils and Sinhala, a Sri Lanka Muslim network with Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamath (TNTJ) remained under the radar; the National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ) of Sri Lanka is the chief suspect for the entire carnage. Even more than that, the system of radicalisation and networking was nothing short of brilliant. The IS returnees had set up cells which were based upon a few families instead of spreading them wide with a large array of individuals. Efforts were focused upon radicalising a whole family so that chances of information leakage were minimised. In January 2019, police had discovered a cache of explosives and detonators in Colombo and could not link it with anything. The phenomenon of radicalising families to take on bombings was also witnessed in Indonesia. The selection of suicide bombers as weapons of destruction rather than simply placing improvised explosive devices (IEDs) at target locations was a deliberate choice. The social impact of suicide bombers on a society being addressed for greater radicalisation is much higher. The choice of targets was made for maximum impact. High profile hotels in Colombo’s central district would mean foreign tourists, especially at breakfast time on a holiday, Easter. Congregations were simultaneously gathering at churches which were the other targets elsewhere; that made coordination so much easier. Foreign tourists in body bags meant an international furore and message of IS capability to hit at will. “Sri Lanka is a developing country with divided politics and weak institutions. The same has happened in countless countries, many of them wealthy and with highly skilled intelligence services”, wrote the New York Times in an elaborate post-event report, referring to the inability of the Sri Lankan intelligence services to prevent the carnage despite adequate intelligence. Why is this important for us in India? The arrests that have taken place in Sri Lanka, some genuine and some on mere suspicion do not reflect the busting of the network which perpetrated the suicide blasts. Handlers and potential suicide bombers appear to be yet on the loose considering the assessment of the numbers. In India’s southern region where the support base exists for the networks in Sri Lanka, the authorities have arrested Rias Abu Bakr who allegedly was planning suicide attacks in Kerala. The mindless politics of Kerala and the extent of radical penetration in the southern region should worry India’s intelligence services who have had a creditable record in the anti-terror domain particularly since 26/11. The long drawn general election period of 2019 in India has taken its toll on intelligence and police services which have been stretched. If the IS really has the intent of penetration into India it would have exploited this period and would be planning several decoys. One among them is the focus it has managed to draw to the southern region while something devious could be under planning for potential targets elsewhere in the country. One of the major challenges for the next government at the Centre would be the dilution of divisiveness a phenomenon promoting potential IS effectiveness. The political community does not realise the immense harm it is doing to the internal security and laying an open invite to devious entities such as IS to exploit. (This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

Islamic State is focusing on subcontinent and India in particular

Even though <a href="https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-uds-cse&amp;cx=006054055338965708568:09spwrlibei&amp;q=https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/unsc-sanctions-terror-group-isis-south-asia-branch-218883&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjXqYvox5_iAhUv63MBHbOiA2wQFjABegQIEBAC&amp;usg=AOvVaw2S8KL3seMJmxEklmpKHpxA">ISIS</a> has been defeated in the Syria-Iraq region, <a href="https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-uds-cse&amp;cx=006054055338965708568:09spwrlibei&amp;q=https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-has-isis-set-up-a-camp-in-india-218802&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjAs9n3x5_iAhUBqI8KHbS9C60QFjACegQIDhAC&amp;usg=AOvVaw2HsawG8Y25ShkU9MDhucL-">ISIS </a>affiliates around the world remain a significant terrorist threat, said US State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said in an official release.

Furthermore, on behalf of the US, she welcomed the United Nations Security Council's (UNSC) designation of ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K) which is responsible for carrying out multiple terror attacks in Afghanistan.

With the UNSC 1267 ISIL and al-Qa'ida Sanctions Committee's latest decision, ISIS-K became the first ISIS affiliate to be designated by the UN.

"This action is a necessary step in the global fight to defeat ISIS. Despite the complete liberation of ISIS-held territory in Iraq and Syria, ISIS-K and other ISIS affiliates around the world remain a significant terrorist threat, and the international community must work together to deny them the resources they seek," Ortagus said.

The responsibility for last month's deadly terrorist strikes in <a href="https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-uds-cse&amp;cx=006054055338965708568:09spwrlibei&amp;q=https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/lankan-court-orders-dna-test-to-verify-death-of-easter-bombings-mastermind-217506&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjAs9n3x5_iAhUBqI8KHbS9C60QFjAJegQIBRAC&amp;usg=AOvVaw1y6SGrhutUuWa3abmWWXCC">Sri Lanka was taken by the Islamic State</a>, even though its last stronghold was destroyed by the US and its affiliated sources in the Syrian region, leading to the end of the self-declared 'caliphate'.

This UN designation obligates all member states to implement a travel ban, arms embargo, and asset freeze on ISIS-K, actions that will cut the group off from the resources it needs to continue its terrorist activities.

Previously, the US had designated ISIS-K as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order 13224 in September 2015, and as a Foreign Terrorist Organization under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act in January 2016.

Even though ISIS has been defeated in the Syria-Iraq region, ISIS affiliates around the world remain a significant terrorist threat, said US State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said in an official release.

Even though ISIS has been defeated in the Syria-Iraq region, ISIS affiliates around the world remain a significant terrorist threat, said US State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said in an official release. Furthermore, on behalf of the US, she welcomed the United Nations Security Council's (UNSC) designation of ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K) which is responsible for carrying out multiple terror attacks in Afghanistan. With the UNSC 1267 ISIL and al-Qa'ida Sanctions Committee's latest decision, ISIS-K became the first ISIS affiliate to be designated by the UN. "This action is a necessary step in the global fight to defeat ISIS. Despite the complete liberation of ISIS-held territory in Iraq and Syria, ISIS-K and other ISIS affiliates around the world remain a significant terrorist threat, and the international community must work together to deny them the resources they seek," Ortagus said. The responsibility for last month's deadly terrorist strikes in Sri Lanka was taken by the Islamic State, even though its last stronghold was destroyed by the US and its affiliated sources in the Syrian region, leading to the end of the self-declared 'caliphate'. This UN designation obligates all member states to implement a travel ban, arms embargo, and asset freeze on ISIS-K, actions that will cut the group off from the resources it needs to continue its terrorist activities. Previously, the US had designated ISIS-K as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order 13224 in September 2015, and as a Foreign Terrorist Organization under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act in January 2016.

ISIS affiliates remain a significant terrorist threat: US

The UN has sanctioned ISIS' South Asia Branch, a terrorist group formed in 2015 by a Pakistani national and a former commander of the TTP, for its links with al-Qaeda and involvement in several deadly attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan that killed over 150 people.

The United Nations Security Council's 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee on Tuesday sanctioned Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant - Khorasan (ISIL-K), which is also known as 'ISIS' South Asia Branch, ISIL Khorasan, Islamic State's Khorasan Province' and 'South Asian Chapter of ISIL'.

The listing comes two weeks after the Sanctions Committee designated Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as "global terrorist" on May 1, capping a decade-long effort by India and its allies including the US, the UK, France to sanction the mastermind of several attacks in India, including the 2001 Parliament attack and the February 14 Pulwama terror attack which killed 40 CRPF soldiers.

The group is now subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo.

The Sanctions Committee said in a statement that ISIS-K was formed on January 10, 2015, by a former Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander and was established by former Taliban faction commanders "who swore an oath of allegiance" to ISIS and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

ISIS-K has claimed responsibility for numerous attacks in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The Sanctions Committee said the group was listed as being associated with ISIS or al-Qaida for "participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing or perpetrating" acts or activities by supplying, selling or transferring arms and related material.

It said the group engaged in "other acts or activities indicating an association with al-Qaeda, ISIS, or any cell, affiliate, a splinter group of al-Qaeda in Iraq". 
The group had announced its formation in an online video in January 2015.

ISIS spokesman Abou Mohamed al Adnani had announced its expansion into the area historically known as Khorasan, by acknowledging ISIS K leader's pledge of allegiance to al-Baghdadi and claiming the leader of the Islamic State had accepted his pledge and appointed him as governor of the Khorasan Province.

The Sanctions Committee said ISIS-K had carried out numerous attacks since its formation that have killed more than 150 people.

In November 2016, the group carried out a suicide bombing at a Sufi shrine in Quetta, Pakistan that killed at least 50 people and injured over 100 people, it said.

In December 2017, the outfit claimed multiple suicide bombings at a Shia cultural centre and news agency in Kabul, Afghanistan that killed more than 41 people, including women and children, and injured over 84 people, it added.

In July 2018, the group claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing outside a polling station in Quetta, Pakistan that killed at least 31 people and injured over 24 people.

According to leading Washington-based think tank for defence and national security Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), in 2014, Pakistani national Hafiz Saeed Khan was chosen to spearhead ISIL-K province as its first "emir".

Khan, a senior TTP commander, "brought along other prominent TTP members including the group's spokesman Sheikh Maqbool and many district chiefs - when he initially pledged allegiance to al-Baghdadi in October 2014," the CSIS, a nonprofit policy research organisation, noted on its website.

The website said the group's "early membership included a contingent of Pakistani militants who emerged in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province around 2010, just across the border from the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan".

It also said many of these militants were "estranged members" of TTP and Lashkar-e Islam, who had fled Pakistan to escape from the security forces.

According to Combatting Terrorism Center, an academic institution at US Military Academy in New York, as of 2017, some members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, the Haqqani Network and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) had also "defected" to ISIS-K.&nbsp;

The UN has sanctioned ISIS' South Asia Branch, a terrorist group formed in 2015 by a Pakistani national and a former commander of the TTP, for its links with al-Qaeda and involvement in several deadly attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan that killed over 150 people.

The UN has sanctioned ISIS' South Asia Branch, a terrorist group formed in 2015 by a Pakistani national and a former commander of the TTP, for its links with al-Qaeda and involvement in several deadly attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan that killed over 150 people. The United Nations Security Council's 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee on Tuesday sanctioned Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant - Khorasan (ISIL-K), which is also known as 'ISIS' South Asia Branch, ISIL Khorasan, Islamic State's Khorasan Province' and 'South Asian Chapter of ISIL'. The listing comes two weeks after the Sanctions Committee designated Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as "global terrorist" on May 1, capping a decade-long effort by India and its allies including the US, the UK, France to sanction the mastermind of several attacks in India, including the 2001 Parliament attack and the February 14 Pulwama terror attack which killed 40 CRPF soldiers. The group is now subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo. The Sanctions Committee said in a statement that ISIS-K was formed on January 10, 2015, by a former Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander and was established by former Taliban faction commanders "who swore an oath of allegiance" to ISIS and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. ISIS-K has claimed responsibility for numerous attacks in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Sanctions Committee said the group was listed as being associated with ISIS or al-Qaida for "participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing or perpetrating" acts or activities by supplying, selling or transferring arms and related material. It said the group engaged in "other acts or activities indicating an association with al-Qaeda, ISIS, or any cell, affiliate, a splinter group of al-Qaeda in Iraq". The group had announced its formation in an online video in January 2015. ISIS spokesman Abou Mohamed al Adnani had announced its expansion into the area historically known as Khorasan, by acknowledging ISIS K leader's pledge of allegiance to al-Baghdadi and claiming the leader of the Islamic State had accepted his pledge and appointed him as governor of the Khorasan Province. The Sanctions Committee said ISIS-K had carried out numerous attacks since its formation that have killed more than 150 people. In November 2016, the group carried out a suicide bombing at a Sufi shrine in Quetta, Pakistan that killed at least 50 people and injured over 100 people, it said. In December 2017, the outfit claimed multiple suicide bombings at a Shia cultural centre and news agency in Kabul, Afghanistan that killed more than 41 people, including women and children, and injured over 84 people, it added. In July 2018, the group claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing outside a polling station in Quetta, Pakistan that killed at least 31 people and injured over 24 people. According to leading Washington-based think tank for defence and national security Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), in 2014, Pakistani national Hafiz Saeed Khan was chosen to spearhead ISIL-K province as its first "emir". Khan, a senior TTP commander, "brought along other prominent TTP members including the group's spokesman Sheikh Maqbool and many district chiefs - when he initially pledged allegiance to al-Baghdadi in October 2014," the CSIS, a nonprofit policy research organisation, noted on its website. The website said the group's "early membership included a contingent of Pakistani militants who emerged in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province around 2010, just across the border from the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan". It also said many of these militants were "estranged members" of TTP and Lashkar-e Islam, who had fled Pakistan to escape from the security forces. According to Combatting Terrorism Center, an academic institution at US Military Academy in New York, as of 2017, some members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, the Haqqani Network and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) had also "defected" to ISIS-K.

UNSC sanctions terror group ISIS' South Asia Branch

ISIS Announces Establishment Of A Province In India. What Is It?

Gravitas: ISIS Claims India Branch; The Wilayah Of Hind

Investigations Hint At The Growing Presence Of ISIS In India.

Gravitas: Has ISIS Set Up A Camp In India?

ISIS Is No Longer Just A Terror Group. Its Making It's Presence Felt In Different Parts Of Asia.

Gravitas: Shadow Of ISIS Looms Large Over South Asia

The Islamic State Is On The Ropes, But There Are Fears That The Group May Make A Comeback.

Gravitas: ISIS' Ever-Evolving Modus Operandi

On May 19, 2009, then president of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa, clad in his traditional white sarong and shirt, solemnly averred before the Parliament: “The writ of the state now runs across every inch of our territory … we have completely defeated terrorism.” &nbsp;&nbsp;

Photographs of the corpse of rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran flashed across the local newspapers on the same day, signalling the end of a long and internecine civil war, which had pitted the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) against the security forces of the government of Sri Lanka since 1983.

Nearly a decade since then, Sri Lanka is in ferment again following the Easter Sunday bombings that killed over 250 people giving rise to concerns about the Islamic State’s expansion into South Asian and re-emergence after its near-total decimation in Iraq and Syria. &nbsp;

The message that the destruction of the physical caliphate does not extinguish the ideological threat of Islamic terrorism, must not be lost on anyone, as radical Islam is no longer a fringe element seen as an outlier of the Muslim world. &nbsp;

As per reports, the Lankan government has ordered complete prohibition on all types of face covers including burqas, which followed a social media blackout for fear of provocation and a call for retribution. &nbsp;

The entire Muslim community in Sri Lanka — constituting just about 10 per cent of the population — are fearful of becoming easy targets of reprisals in an atmosphere of paranoia and distrust. &nbsp;

The Mawalagatta Jama Masjid, for instance, held prayers and put out hoardings saying,”There is no place in Islam for extremism”.

As the authorities suspect members of two little-known groups —National Thawheedh Jamaath (NTJ) and Jammiyathul Millathu Ibrahim — of carrying out those attacks, with Islamic State claiming responsibility, it is clear that the attacks were primarily directed against Christians. &nbsp;

With the rise of such incidents, the real danger is the popular tendency to classify Muslims based on Islamophobic jargon: “moderate” Muslim as against Muslims, who are possibly violent and “radical”.

The perception that moderate Muslims feel a reflexive and religiously-mandated solidarity with other Muslims, no matter how barbaric their commitments, get firmed up by their silence, perhaps out of fear.

Sam Harris in a book titled “Islam and the Future of Tolerance: A Dialogue”situated the Muslims in several concentric circles with groups like the Islamic State, al-Qaeda, al-Shebab and the Boko Haram at the centre, who are eager to “kill infidels and apostates” and be “martyred in the process”. &nbsp;

It is circumscribed by a larger circle of Islamists who are more politically motivated, but appear less eager “to kill and be killed”. &nbsp;It is encircled by a wider circle of Muslims who probably support jihad and Islamism —“financially, morally, or philosophically” — but are careful not to sully their hands. &nbsp;

All the three circles are encompassed by a much larger circle of so-called moderate Muslims, who possibly do not subscribe to the view of the Islamic State, who may not be quite secular, but who want to live by modern values. &nbsp;

Millions of truly secular Muslims bear the brunt of the social opprobrium for not raising a voice against the excesses of Islamic terrorism and not expunging violent interpretations of the Koran and thus are complicit in the crime of their radical co-religionists.

The IS had recruited thousands of youth from South Asian nations such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka who, hunted down from Iraq and Syria, are now returning to their home countries. &nbsp;

Today, radical Islam’s war has spanned throughout the world, not just against Christians and Jews in the West, but also against Hindus, Buddhists, indeed all non-Muslim ‘infidels’. &nbsp;

The radical Islamists have been attacking other denominations within Islam itself. The long list of Islamist organisations includes some with memberships of just a few dozen and others that count thousands of adherents. &nbsp;

Such movements exist in virtually every Muslim country, and they often either draw inspiration from or are linked to one another.

While the rest of the world is held hostage to fear, a great religion becomes the handmaiden of a puritanical and jihadist-Salafism. &nbsp; 
&nbsp;

(This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-islam-has-become-handmaiden-of-jihadist-salafism-2748685">original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)&nbsp;

 
&nbsp;

On May 19, 2009, then president of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa, clad in his traditional white sarong and shirt, solemnly averred before the Parliament: “The writ of the state now runs across every inch of our territory … we have completely defeated terrorism.

On May 19, 2009, then president of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa, clad in his traditional white sarong and shirt, solemnly averred before the Parliament: “The writ of the state now runs across every inch of our territory … we have completely defeated terrorism.” Photographs of the corpse of rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran flashed across the local newspapers on the same day, signalling the end of a long and internecine civil war, which had pitted the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) against the security forces of the government of Sri Lanka since 1983. Nearly a decade since then, Sri Lanka is in ferment again following the Easter Sunday bombings that killed over 250 people giving rise to concerns about the Islamic State’s expansion into South Asian and re-emergence after its near-total decimation in Iraq and Syria. The message that the destruction of the physical caliphate does not extinguish the ideological threat of Islamic terrorism, must not be lost on anyone, as radical Islam is no longer a fringe element seen as an outlier of the Muslim world. As per reports, the Lankan government has ordered complete prohibition on all types of face covers including burqas, which followed a social media blackout for fear of provocation and a call for retribution. The entire Muslim community in Sri Lanka — constituting just about 10 per cent of the population — are fearful of becoming easy targets of reprisals in an atmosphere of paranoia and distrust. The Mawalagatta Jama Masjid, for instance, held prayers and put out hoardings saying,”There is no place in Islam for extremism”. As the authorities suspect members of two little-known groups —National Thawheedh Jamaath (NTJ) and Jammiyathul Millathu Ibrahim — of carrying out those attacks, with Islamic State claiming responsibility, it is clear that the attacks were primarily directed against Christians. With the rise of such incidents, the real danger is the popular tendency to classify Muslims based on Islamophobic jargon: “moderate” Muslim as against Muslims, who are possibly violent and “radical”. The perception that moderate Muslims feel a reflexive and religiously-mandated solidarity with other Muslims, no matter how barbaric their commitments, get firmed up by their silence, perhaps out of fear. Sam Harris in a book titled “Islam and the Future of Tolerance: A Dialogue”situated the Muslims in several concentric circles with groups like the Islamic State, al-Qaeda, al-Shebab and the Boko Haram at the centre, who are eager to “kill infidels and apostates” and be “martyred in the process”. It is circumscribed by a larger circle of Islamists who are more politically motivated, but appear less eager “to kill and be killed”. It is encircled by a wider circle of Muslims who probably support jihad and Islamism —“financially, morally, or philosophically” — but are careful not to sully their hands. All the three circles are encompassed by a much larger circle of so-called moderate Muslims, who possibly do not subscribe to the view of the Islamic State, who may not be quite secular, but who want to live by modern values. Millions of truly secular Muslims bear the brunt of the social opprobrium for not raising a voice against the excesses of Islamic terrorism and not expunging violent interpretations of the Koran and thus are complicit in the crime of their radical co-religionists. The IS had recruited thousands of youth from South Asian nations such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka who, hunted down from Iraq and Syria, are now returning to their home countries. Today, radical Islam’s war has spanned throughout the world, not just against Christians and Jews in the West, but also against Hindus, Buddhists, indeed all non-Muslim ‘infidels’. The radical Islamists have been attacking other denominations within Islam itself. The long list of Islamist organisations includes some with memberships of just a few dozen and others that count thousands of adherents. Such movements exist in virtually every Muslim country, and they often either draw inspiration from or are linked to one another. While the rest of the world is held hostage to fear, a great religion becomes the handmaiden of a puritanical and jihadist-Salafism. (This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

Islam has become the handmaiden of jihadist-Salafism

How did a small, fringe Wahhabi splinter group, led by a fiery speaker with a sixth-grade education, known mainly for defacing Buddhist symbols, carry out a coordinated and sophisticated terrorist attack on Easter Sunday in Sri Lanka?

The answer is, it didn’t, not without external support, both direct and indirect.

The Sri Lanka attack reinforces the notion that the Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the attack, is more a brand around which forces with overlapping goals coalesce to exploit local or regional opportunities than an entity.

The events in Sri Lanka were soon followed by the propaganda video reappearance of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who, acknowledging defeat in Syria and specifically citing the Sri Lankan attack, exhorted his followers to expand the fight.

Defeat in Syria has triggered a diaspora of Islamic State fighters either to their native lands or to targets of opportunity such as the thriving extremist networks in South Asia.

The instigators of that extremism and operating continuously in the background are the global promoters of austere and often intolerant forms of Islam such as Wahhabism-Salafism, financed either by wealthy individuals or nation-states that offer forums for radicalisation and sources for potential jihadi recruits.

The main group behind the Sri Lankan bombings, the National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ), is an ideological offspring of the rapidly growing, Saudi-funded Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamath (TNTJ), which has a headquarters in Chennai, India. The TNTJ, a Wahhabi-based organisation, helped establish the Sri Lanka Thowheed Jamath, from which the NTJ emerged as a splinter.

It is a now well-known fact that some Islamic clerics and preachers play a significant role in the radicalisation of young Muslims and their recruitment for terrorist attacks.

As the late Singaporean leader Lee Kuan Yew said about preventing terrorist attacks:&nbsp;

“You must use force. But force will only deal with the tip of the problem. In killing the terrorists, you will only kill the worker bees. The queen bees are the preachers, who teach a deviant form of Islam in schools and Islamic centers, who capture and twist the minds of the young.”

Today, drug trafficking not only provides funding for terrorism, but there is a growing use of the organisational and logistical capabilities of criminal cartels to support terrorist operations, some of which contribute to the geopolitical ambitions of nation states.&nbsp;

In the South Columbo Muslim area of Dehiwala, a drug trafficker named Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, who was designated by the US Department of Treasury as a terrorist supporter in 2003, reportedly set up a distribution hub. In 2018, authorities seized 736 kilograms of Dawood’s heroin.

According to one article, Dawood’s D-Company cartel obtains opium from Afghanistan, where production is overseen by the Taliban. &nbsp;From there, logistics and transportation are arranged by Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence agency (ISI), which provides protection for Dawood in his Karachi base and stipulates the distribution of a portion of the profits to various jihadist and militant groups.

There is much concern about the growth of the Islamic State in Afghanistan. There are reports that Islamic State jihadis, who fought in Syria and Iraq, are migrating to Afghanistan, joining disaffected Taliban fighters seeking greater Islamic purity.

Although Afghanistan offers a potential power vacuum, which the Islamic State can fill, a far more fertile ground for expansion is in Pakistan.

It is a little-known fact that the Islamic State now operating in Afghanistan, originated in Pakistan.

Members of the Pakistani Taliban, the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan or TTP began migrating to Afghanistan’s Nangarhar Province as “refugees” in 2010 after Pakistani military operations against the TTP in Orakzai and Khyber Agencies of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

It was those “refugees” who provided a foundation for the Islamic State. That base support was augmented by thousands of Pakistanis who fought for the Islamic State in Syria and returned starting in 2013.

In January 2015, the Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP) was declared with former TTP commander Hafiz Saeed Khan of Orakzai as the leader, whose twelve-member Shura had nine Pakistanis.

It is the growing level of extremism and intolerance in Pakistan that should be of concern, which has been a threat to Afghanistan and will be the main contributor to instability in South Asia.

It is the direct result of official Pakistani policy and the activities of Pakistan’s ISI.

The “Islamisation” programme initiated by Pakistani President Muhammad Zia ul Haq in the late 1970s, which involved the proliferation of Islamic schools, “madrasas” and the promotion of Islamic law “Sharia,” was specifically designed to create national unity by suppressing ethnic separatism and religious diversity.

Not surprisingly, radical groups have proliferated in Pakistan, becoming increasingly more extreme and intolerant.

The Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), a Deobandi anti-Shia organisation was created, in the wake of the Iranian revolution to counter Shia influence in Pakistan. The rapid spread of fundamentalist Deobandi ideology in Pakistan has been widely attributed to funding from Saudi Arabia.

When the SSP proved insufficiently militant for its growing population of zealots, the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) was formed as a splinter group of the SSP.

In the search for ever purer forms of Islam, the ever more violent and intolerant Lashkar-e-Jhangvi al-Alami (LeJ-A) was created out of the LeJ which, over the last two years, has claimed responsibility for several bloody atrocities in Balochistan, Pakistan’s southwest province. It has been reported that elements of the LeJ-A now comprise the senior cadres of the Islamic State in Pakistan.

Another so-called Islamic State affiliate operating in western Balochistan out of the city of Turbat, also known as a center for drug trafficking, is Laskar-e-Khorasan, a group accused of killing religious minorities.

Saudi support gradually shifted from the Deobandi to the more radical Ahle-Hadith movement, the Pakistani equivalent of Wahhabism. It is a small ideological step from Ahl-i-Hadith to the Islamic State, which explains the growth of its affiliates in Pakistan.

Among such Sunni-supremacist groups, believed to have received Saudi funding, is Jaish al-Adl which has carried out attacks on Iran from safe havens in Pakistan and reportedly has links to the Islamic State.

While downplaying the Islamic State threat in Afghanistan, US officials have virtually ignored the explosive potential of Islamic State influence in Pakistan, which will only accelerate in the expected power vacuum left after a US withdrawal. 
 
(This article was originally published on <a href="https://nationalinterest.org/feature/next-islamic-state-battlefield-will-be-south-asia-55687">The National Interest)</a> 
 
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

How did a small, fringe Wahhabi splinter group, led by a fiery speaker with a sixth-grade education, known mainly for defacing Buddhist symbols, carry out a coordinated and sophisticated terrorist attack on Easter Sunday in Sri Lanka?

How did a small, fringe Wahhabi splinter group, led by a fiery speaker with a sixth-grade education, known mainly for defacing Buddhist symbols, carry out a coordinated and sophisticated terrorist attack on Easter Sunday in Sri Lanka? The answer is, it didn’t, not without external support, both direct and indirect. The Sri Lanka attack reinforces the notion that the Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the attack, is more a brand around which forces with overlapping goals coalesce to exploit local or regional opportunities than an entity. The events in Sri Lanka were soon followed by the propaganda video reappearance of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who, acknowledging defeat in Syria and specifically citing the Sri Lankan attack, exhorted his followers to expand the fight. Defeat in Syria has triggered a diaspora of Islamic State fighters either to their native lands or to targets of opportunity such as the thriving extremist networks in South Asia. The instigators of that extremism and operating continuously in the background are the global promoters of austere and often intolerant forms of Islam such as Wahhabism-Salafism, financed either by wealthy individuals or nation-states that offer forums for radicalisation and sources for potential jihadi recruits. The main group behind the Sri Lankan bombings, the National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ), is an ideological offspring of the rapidly growing, Saudi-funded Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamath (TNTJ), which has a headquarters in Chennai, India. The TNTJ, a Wahhabi-based organisation, helped establish the Sri Lanka Thowheed Jamath, from which the NTJ emerged as a splinter. It is a now well-known fact that some Islamic clerics and preachers play a significant role in the radicalisation of young Muslims and their recruitment for terrorist attacks. As the late Singaporean leader Lee Kuan Yew said about preventing terrorist attacks: “You must use force. But force will only deal with the tip of the problem. In killing the terrorists, you will only kill the worker bees. The queen bees are the preachers, who teach a deviant form of Islam in schools and Islamic centers, who capture and twist the minds of the young.” Today, drug trafficking not only provides funding for terrorism, but there is a growing use of the organisational and logistical capabilities of criminal cartels to support terrorist operations, some of which contribute to the geopolitical ambitions of nation states. In the South Columbo Muslim area of Dehiwala, a drug trafficker named Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, who was designated by the US Department of Treasury as a terrorist supporter in 2003, reportedly set up a distribution hub. In 2018, authorities seized 736 kilograms of Dawood’s heroin. According to one article, Dawood’s D-Company cartel obtains opium from Afghanistan, where production is overseen by the Taliban. From there, logistics and transportation are arranged by Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence agency (ISI), which provides protection for Dawood in his Karachi base and stipulates the distribution of a portion of the profits to various jihadist and militant groups. There is much concern about the growth of the Islamic State in Afghanistan. There are reports that Islamic State jihadis, who fought in Syria and Iraq, are migrating to Afghanistan, joining disaffected Taliban fighters seeking greater Islamic purity. Although Afghanistan offers a potential power vacuum, which the Islamic State can fill, a far more fertile ground for expansion is in Pakistan. It is a little-known fact that the Islamic State now operating in Afghanistan, originated in Pakistan. Members of the Pakistani Taliban, the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan or TTP began migrating to Afghanistan’s Nangarhar Province as “refugees” in 2010 after Pakistani military operations against the TTP in Orakzai and Khyber Agencies of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. It was those “refugees” who provided a foundation for the Islamic State. That base support was augmented by thousands of Pakistanis who fought for the Islamic State in Syria and returned starting in 2013. In January 2015, the Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP) was declared with former TTP commander Hafiz Saeed Khan of Orakzai as the leader, whose twelve-member Shura had nine Pakistanis. It is the growing level of extremism and intolerance in Pakistan that should be of concern, which has been a threat to Afghanistan and will be the main contributor to instability in South Asia. It is the direct result of official Pakistani policy and the activities of Pakistan’s ISI. The “Islamisation” programme initiated by Pakistani President Muhammad Zia ul Haq in the late 1970s, which involved the proliferation of Islamic schools, “madrasas” and the promotion of Islamic law “Sharia,” was specifically designed to create national unity by suppressing ethnic separatism and religious diversity. Not surprisingly, radical groups have proliferated in Pakistan, becoming increasingly more extreme and intolerant. The Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), a Deobandi anti-Shia organisation was created, in the wake of the Iranian revolution to counter Shia influence in Pakistan. The rapid spread of fundamentalist Deobandi ideology in Pakistan has been widely attributed to funding from Saudi Arabia. When the SSP proved insufficiently militant for its growing population of zealots, the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) was formed as a splinter group of the SSP. In the search for ever purer forms of Islam, the ever more violent and intolerant Lashkar-e-Jhangvi al-Alami (LeJ-A) was created out of the LeJ which, over the last two years, has claimed responsibility for several bloody atrocities in Balochistan, Pakistan’s southwest province. It has been reported that elements of the LeJ-A now comprise the senior cadres of the Islamic State in Pakistan. Another so-called Islamic State affiliate operating in western Balochistan out of the city of Turbat, also known as a center for drug trafficking, is Laskar-e-Khorasan, a group accused of killing religious minorities. Saudi support gradually shifted from the Deobandi to the more radical Ahle-Hadith movement, the Pakistani equivalent of Wahhabism. It is a small ideological step from Ahl-i-Hadith to the Islamic State, which explains the growth of its affiliates in Pakistan. Among such Sunni-supremacist groups, believed to have received Saudi funding, is Jaish al-Adl which has carried out attacks on Iran from safe havens in Pakistan and reportedly has links to the Islamic State. While downplaying the Islamic State threat in Afghanistan, US officials have virtually ignored the explosive potential of Islamic State influence in Pakistan, which will only accelerate in the expected power vacuum left after a US withdrawal. (This article was originally published on The National Interest) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

The next Islamic State battlefield will be in South Asia

Sri Lankan police on Sunday discovered a 10-acre camp in the eastern town of Kattankudy, where Islamist militants linked to the deadly Easter attacks are believed to have practiced shooting and bombmaking.

Sri Lanka police discover suspected training camp for Islamist militants

Pakistan's interior ministry has asked the provincial governments to ensure that the ban on outlawed groups, including Jaish-e-Mohammed, LeT and Jamaat-ud-Dawa, from collecting donations was strictly enforced during the month of Ramazan, a media report said Sunday.

The ministry issued instructions to the provinces on Saturday to keep banned and under-observation organisations under strict surveillance, the Express Tribune reported.

The provincial governments have started monitoring these outfits, it said.

Citing sources, the paper said that the ministry directed the provincial governments to ensure that the ban on outlawed outfits from collecting Zakat, alms or donations was strictly enforced during the month of Ramazan.

The provincial governments have been instructed to inform the public that under the Anti-terrorism Act 1997 and UN Security Council Act 1948, banned organisations could not be provided with any support or financial assistance as it was a crime punishable by imprisonment between five and 10 years and fine, the paper said.

According to reports, people in Pakistan donate up to $4.5 billion annually, mostly in the Muslim holy month of Ramazan, to help the poor and needy in the name of charity.&nbsp;

The government often claims that it is cracking down on banned groups, but many continue to raise money and collect Zakat or donations.

Last year, the authorities announced a programme to prevent banned militant groups from getting hands on billions of rupees in public donations and charities.

The dozens of banned groups include Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, al-Qaeda, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, East Turkmenistan Islamic Movement, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, ISIS, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation and Pak-Turk international CAJ Education Foundation.&nbsp;

According to the ministry, the government has taken 589 madrassas, schools, dispensaries, hospitals and ambulances belonging to banned groups into its custody.&nbsp;

Pakistan's interior ministry has asked the provincial governments to ensure that the ban on outlawed groups, including Jaish-e-Mohammed, LeT and Jamaat-ud-Dawa, from collecting donations was strictly enforced during the month of Ramazan, a media report said Sunday.

Pakistan's interior ministry has asked the provincial governments to ensure that the ban on outlawed groups, including Jaish-e-Mohammed, LeT and Jamaat-ud-Dawa, from collecting donations was strictly enforced during the month of Ramazan, a media report said Sunday. The ministry issued instructions to the provinces on Saturday to keep banned and under-observation organisations under strict surveillance, the Express Tribune reported. The provincial governments have started monitoring these outfits, it said. Citing sources, the paper said that the ministry directed the provincial governments to ensure that the ban on outlawed outfits from collecting Zakat, alms or donations was strictly enforced during the month of Ramazan. The provincial governments have been instructed to inform the public that under the Anti-terrorism Act 1997 and UN Security Council Act 1948, banned organisations could not be provided with any support or financial assistance as it was a crime punishable by imprisonment between five and 10 years and fine, the paper said. According to reports, people in Pakistan donate up to $4.5 billion annually, mostly in the Muslim holy month of Ramazan, to help the poor and needy in the name of charity. The government often claims that it is cracking down on banned groups, but many continue to raise money and collect Zakat or donations. Last year, the authorities announced a programme to prevent banned militant groups from getting hands on billions of rupees in public donations and charities. The dozens of banned groups include Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, al-Qaeda, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, East Turkmenistan Islamic Movement, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, ISIS, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation and Pak-Turk international CAJ Education Foundation. According to the ministry, the government has taken 589 madrassas, schools, dispensaries, hospitals and ambulances belonging to banned groups into its custody.

Keep banned groups in check during Ramazan: Pakistan interior ministry to provinces

More than 250 innocent victims lost their lives in the carnage on the Easter day and hundreds more were maimed in Colombo recently in synchronised terrorist attacks on churches and hotels in Sri Lanka. The horrible incident has once again exposed the vulnerability of a democratic society to fanatics ‘motivated’ by distorted interpretation of religion and ‘inspired’ by nightmarish vision of hatred against the ‘enemy’- the ‘other’ who must be eliminated.&nbsp;

Every time such shocking events occur senseless violence is condemned and questions are legitimately raised about failure &nbsp;of intelligence. In the moment of national grief and human suffering the priority is providing relief to the victims and to ensure that the spiral of violence doesn’t spin out of control triggering a communal backlash of revenge and retribution.

Sri Lankan government has responded swiftly and most sensibly. While the officers at the helm responsible for defence and policing &nbsp;have resigned the campaign to trace and eliminate moles in their burrows continues silently.&nbsp;

The country has suffered for decades from acts of terrorism during the long drawn civil war. LTTE that had started as an organisation leading a separatist movement for the establishment of &nbsp;Eelam (an independent Tamil state) carved out of northern provinces soon uncared its claws and fangs as a brutal terrorist organisation led by a ruthless megalomaniac. Prabhakaran self proclaimed protector of oppressed minority turned in to a sadistic bloodthirsty predator. LTTE had established links with terrorists of different hues all over the world. The Tamil insurgency was put down only after brutal use of force that at times didn’t spare innocent civilians. Old wounds take time to heal have suddenly been reopened painfully.&nbsp; 
 
What is &nbsp;most alarming is that ‘links’ that are emerging connecting perpetrators of the barbaric acts in Sri Lanka with like minded coreligionists in Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Much before the tragedy in Colombo irrefutable evidence had surfaced about growing menace of proselytising Islamic zealots in these southern states. Unfortunately, no one had the courage to expose the nexus between corrupt police officers, opportunist politicians and anti social criminals who abused religion as a protective shield. In a secular democratic state it becomes almost impossible to identify a member of the minority community as a prime ‘suspect’ involved in terrorist activities. Intelligence gathered or received fro friends and allies is of little use unless its actionable. &nbsp;

India can not remain a silent spectator to terrorist threats in its neighbourhood as they impinge directly on its own security. Strategic analysts have been warning us that faced with imminent defeat in battlefields of West Asia the dreaded ISIS is likely to shift&nbsp;its attention to South and South East Asia.&nbsp;

The USA and China blinkered by their own strategic interests have let Pakistan transform itself into a sanctuary for terrorists belonging to the aggressive and intolerant Wahabi sect of Islam. Over the years, the home grown Taliban have been outnumbered by mujahideen and fedayeen. Flush with funds provided by the Saudis forces of fundamentalist dogmatic Islam have struck deep roots in Pakistan from where they have&nbsp;spread their tentacles to India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives. With both the brainwashed cadres of the ISIS and the Wahabi proteges of Saudi Arab waging a war for the hearts and minds of young Muslims right here where we live is confronting us with complex challenges- both in diplomatic arena and in domestic politics. &nbsp;

It is almost impossible to ensure 100&nbsp;per cent protection against attacks launched &nbsp;by a suicidal lone wolf or a pack of rabid canines. Not even the all powerful USA and Israel always on combat ready retaliatory alert have been able to do so. Nor can one prescribe that to reduce the chances of a terrors strike we covert an open society to a police state. Viewing all members of a minority (or for that the some among the dominant matter majority) with suspicion can only be counter productive.&nbsp;

Some analysts are suggesting that rich and well educated terrorists who appear to have replaced the cannon fodder recruited from hopeless slums may well be suffering from serious psychiatric disorders- suicidal tendencies and one shouldn’t hasten to draw wrong conclusions about their religious identities. The attack on a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand &nbsp;was the work of a white, Christian racist and the bloody assault on a Synagogue in New York can’t be blamed on the ‘Jehadis’. We feel that empathy and compassion should be saved for the victims. 
 
Humane criminology can only cloud our vision distract us from the task of killing cancerous cell before they spread to vital organs and disease becomes incurable. There is no time to be lost.&nbsp; 
 
 
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)&nbsp;

More than 250 innocent victims lost their lives in the carnage on the Easter day and hundreds more were maimed in Colombo recently in synchronised terrorist attacks on churches and hotels in Sri Lanka.

More than 250 innocent victims lost their lives in the carnage on the Easter day and hundreds more were maimed in Colombo recently in synchronised terrorist attacks on churches and hotels in Sri Lanka. The horrible incident has once again exposed the vulnerability of a democratic society to fanatics ‘motivated’ by distorted interpretation of religion and ‘inspired’ by nightmarish vision of hatred against the ‘enemy’- the ‘other’ who must be eliminated. Every time such shocking events occur senseless violence is condemned and questions are legitimately raised about failure of intelligence. In the moment of national grief and human suffering the priority is providing relief to the victims and to ensure that the spiral of violence doesn’t spin out of control triggering a communal backlash of revenge and retribution. Sri Lankan government has responded swiftly and most sensibly. While the officers at the helm responsible for defence and policing have resigned the campaign to trace and eliminate moles in their burrows continues silently. The country has suffered for decades from acts of terrorism during the long drawn civil war. LTTE that had started as an organisation leading a separatist movement for the establishment of Eelam (an independent Tamil state) carved out of northern provinces soon uncared its claws and fangs as a brutal terrorist organisation led by a ruthless megalomaniac. Prabhakaran self proclaimed protector of oppressed minority turned in to a sadistic bloodthirsty predator. LTTE had established links with terrorists of different hues all over the world. The Tamil insurgency was put down only after brutal use of force that at times didn’t spare innocent civilians. Old wounds take time to heal have suddenly been reopened painfully. What is most alarming is that ‘links’ that are emerging connecting perpetrators of the barbaric acts in Sri Lanka with like minded coreligionists in Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Much before the tragedy in Colombo irrefutable evidence had surfaced about growing menace of proselytising Islamic zealots in these southern states. Unfortunately, no one had the courage to expose the nexus between corrupt police officers, opportunist politicians and anti social criminals who abused religion as a protective shield. In a secular democratic state it becomes almost impossible to identify a member of the minority community as a prime ‘suspect’ involved in terrorist activities. Intelligence gathered or received fro friends and allies is of little use unless its actionable. India can not remain a silent spectator to terrorist threats in its neighbourhood as they impinge directly on its own security. Strategic analysts have been warning us that faced with imminent defeat in battlefields of West Asia the dreaded ISIS is likely to shift its attention to South and South East Asia. The USA and China blinkered by their own strategic interests have let Pakistan transform itself into a sanctuary for terrorists belonging to the aggressive and intolerant Wahabi sect of Islam. Over the years, the home grown Taliban have been outnumbered by mujahideen and fedayeen. Flush with funds provided by the Saudis forces of fundamentalist dogmatic Islam have struck deep roots in Pakistan from where they have spread their tentacles to India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives. With both the brainwashed cadres of the ISIS and the Wahabi proteges of Saudi Arab waging a war for the hearts and minds of young Muslims right here where we live is confronting us with complex challenges- both in diplomatic arena and in domestic politics. It is almost impossible to ensure 100 per cent protection against attacks launched by a suicidal lone wolf or a pack of rabid canines. Not even the all powerful USA and Israel always on combat ready retaliatory alert have been able to do so. Nor can one prescribe that to reduce the chances of a terrors strike we covert an open society to a police state. Viewing all members of a minority (or for that the some among the dominant matter majority) with suspicion can only be counter productive. Some analysts are suggesting that rich and well educated terrorists who appear to have replaced the cannon fodder recruited from hopeless slums may well be suffering from serious psychiatric disorders- suicidal tendencies and one shouldn’t hasten to draw wrong conclusions about their religious identities. The attack on a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand was the work of a white, Christian racist and the bloody assault on a Synagogue in New York can’t be blamed on the ‘Jehadis’. We feel that empathy and compassion should be saved for the victims. Humane criminology can only cloud our vision distract us from the task of killing cancerous cell before they spread to vital organs and disease becomes incurable. There is no time to be lost. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

Facing imminent defeat in Syria and Iraq, ISIS shifts its attention to South Asia

The fugitive Islamic State leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, has appeared in a propaganda video for the first time in five years, in which he recognises the terror group’s defeat in the Syrian town of Baghuz.

ISIS Chief Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi appears in a video after 5 years

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