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US military official has confirmed that an American drone strike targeted Mullah Fazal Ullah   Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Mullah Fazal Ullah has been reportedly killed in targeted drone strikes conducted by the United States, a US military official informed the Voice of America (VOA). Army lieutenant colonel Martin O'Donnell told VOA that counterterrorism strikes were carried out on June 13 in Kunar province which lies close to Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Further, Pentagon officials refused to comment on whether the strike was successful. The officials further said that Mullah Fazal Ullah had directed numerous high-profile attacks against the US and Pakistan. He had also conducted many other deadly attacks including December 2014 attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar that claimed lives of 151 people, out of which 130 were children. The US further underscored that it was Mullah Fazal Ullah who had ordered the 2012 attempted assassinat...

Joint statement issued after visit vows action against Pak-based LeT, JeM and D-Company Current Affairs   : India and the US today vowed to strengthen cooperation against terror outfits like Jaish-e- Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Taiba and D-Company, while urging Pakistan to ensure that its soil is not used for terror strikes against other nations. In a joint statement released after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump, the two nations also called on Islamabad to "expeditiously bring to justice the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai, Pathankot, and other cross-border terrorist attacks perpetrated by Pakistan- based groups." Briefing reporters on the meeting, Foreign Secretary, S Jaishankar said counter-terrorism was a major issue that was discussed between Trump and   Modi Trump Meet   during the day. ALSO READ:   In meet with Trump, Modi vows to destroy terror hideouts, tackle extremism On the reference to Pakistan, he...

The IG ATS Aseem Arun confirmed that the slain terror suspect was an active member of the ISIS A suspected terrorist believed to be part of a group that was planning a major terror attack in Uttar Pradesh was killed early Wednesday morning after nearly 12 hours of anti-terror operation in Lucknow. According to police sources, the target of the operation was a house in Haji Ali Colony in Thakurganj, on the outskirts of Lucknow. The standoff began early Tuesday evening, hours after at least ten people were injured in a blast on the Ujjain Express. Previously there were reports of two terrorists being holed up in the room, however, as it turned out, only one suspect was found dead along with weapons. "After opening the doors of the house (where the terrorist was holed up), the force went inside and found the suspect dead along with weapons," Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Daljit Chaudhary said. Chaudhary said that the operation "stands clo...

At the same time, he, however, said the Pakistani government had no role in the attack Pakistan's former national security adviser Mahmud Ali Durrani today said the   26/11 Mumbai attack   was carried out by a terror group based in Pakistan and called it a "classic" example of cross-border terror. At the same time, he, however, said the Pakistani government had no role in the attack. Durrani was speaking at a conference on combating terrorism at the Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis. 26/11 Mumbai strike, carried out by a terror group based in Pakistan, was a classic trans-border terrorist event, he said.   Read more

Through 'Jan Jan Ki Baat,' Modi asked 10 questions to gauge the mood of nation post demonetisation After ‘Mann Ki Baat’, the   Narendra Modi   government is experimenting with ‘Jan Jan Ki Baat’ to get people’s feedback on burning issues. Within an hour of the Prime Minister asking citizens of the country to rate his latest initiative—demonetisation —on his narendramodi app, there were 3,700 retweets and 7,900 likes on his Twitter handle. Soon, Jan Jan Ki Baat was trending on social media with ‘’cashless India’’ stopping to give its feedback on the banning of big notes. It is not known yet how many have taken time out to assess the latest initiative of the government, but the questions asked are pointed. With several state elections lined up through 2017, the PM wants to be sure how people have responded to demonetization as a step to eliminate black money. It’s a 10-step survey, beginning with a simple question—do you think there’s black money in India. Then it goes ...

Azhar argues that organisations like his JeM can achieve victory for Pakistan in Kashmir and avenge the 1971 defeat Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) head   Masood Azhar   has called on the Pakistani government to "shows a little courage" and allow jihadist organisations a free hand in escalating their attacks in India, in order to "resolve" the Kashmir dispute, the   Indian Express   reported on Thursday. According to the report, Azhar, alleged to have masterminded the Pathankot attack in January this year, was addressing the Pakistani establishment in the current issue of the JeM weekly magazine   al-Qalam . Quoting Azhar, the national daily's report said: “If the government of Pakistan shows a little courage... The problem of Kashmir, as well as the dispute over water, can be resolved once and for all right now. If nothing else, the government simply has to open the path for the mujahideen. Then, god willing, all the bitter memories of 1971 will be dissolved i...

Surgical strikes achieve tactical closure, not strategic detente: Former NATGRID CEO Military power is never about the number of troops, tanks, ships or aircrafts. If military power was all a country needed to establish superiority, America would not have been beaten by Vietnam, the Soviet Union would not have been routed by Afghan tribes and the juggernaut that is the   Indian Army   would not have been held at bay by a few thousand Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka. A country’s military power is actually determined by a combination of economic realities, governance frameworks, national will and strategic thinking – which work together to deliver a punch worthy of its weight. Comparing India’s military power to Pakistan’s from this perspective actually yields a startling conclusion. In 1999, Pakistan’s army chief at the time was mid-air when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif decided to sack him.   Surgical Strikes   Denied permission to land in Pakistan and faced with...

Surgical strikes: How the world conducts them and how India did it Indian armed forces conducted   surgical strikes   in the early hours of Thursday across the Line of Control (LoC), involving not more than 100 commandos, in what is seen as a paradigm shift in how this government plans to deal with terrorist camps across the border. The term "surgical strike" has been prevalent in the international media since the days of the Gulf War, and it came to typify operations conducted by the US thereafter. Going by the generally accepted definition offered by experts, a surgical strike comprises a swift, intelligence-driven attack on a specific target or targets with minimum collateral damage to structures, infrastructure or civilians in the target's vicinity. The operation can involve special forces units on the ground, strikes conducted by military aircraft or vessels.   Read More How India conducted its strikes How the big hitters do it Article Source : ...

Nawaz Sharif's UNGA speech: Top 10 things he said and India's rebuttals to his accusations Pakistan Prime Minister   Nawaz Sharif   raked up the Kashmir issue at the UN General Assembly on Wednesday and tried to burnish his country's credentials as an opponent of global terrorism. His speech, which also referred to the prevailing situation in Europe and the Middle East, attempted to paint India as an uncooperative neighbour which had rebuffed Sahrif's overtures for peace. His speech came days after suspected Pakistan-based terrorists attacked an Indian army camp in Uri, in Kashmir, and killed 18 Indian soldiers. The four terrorists who participated in the attack were also eliminated by the security forces during the attack. ALSO READ:   Pak PM Sharif should have talked about Balochistan not Kashmir: Baloch activist India for its part reacted very strongly to the Pakistani prime minister's speech, calling it an act of "self-incrimination" on t...

Pak's Sole Competitive Advantage Is Exporting Terror, Says PM Modi In a fresh jibe at Pakistan, Prime Minister   Narendra Modi   today said there is "one country in our neighbourhood" which "produces and exports" terror as he called on the international community to isolate and sanction "this" instigator. "There's one country in our neighbourhood whose competitive advantage rests solely in producing and exporting terrorism," he said in his address at the   East Asia Summit , without naming Pakistan. "This export is reducing space for peace and increasing space for violence, and, putting at risk peace and prosperity of all," he told the gathering that had US President Barack Obama and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in attendance. "The time has come to isolate and sanction this instigator," Modi added. The Prime Minister's fresh jibe directed at Pakistan came four days after he called on other BRICS members...

PM leads fight against safe havens at G20 The   G20   leaders on Monday committed to roll back protectionist measures by end-2018 to boost free trade but the Summit, held in the shadow of Britain's vote to exit the European Union, fell short of taking concrete measures in defence of globalization and against isolationism. On the concluding day of the two-day summit, Prime Minister   Narendra Modi   asked fellow G20 leaders to act decisively to eliminate safe havens for economic offenders, unconditionally extradite money launderers and end excessive banking secrecy. In a reference to Pakistan, Modi said "one single nation in South Asia" was spreading terror in the region. In another of the thematic sessions at the Summit, the PM spoke about India's support to a trade facilitation agreement (TFA) for services, a move that will help in movement of professionals. In his meeting with UK PM Theresa May, their first after the Brexit vote, Modi said her country'...

Dhaka hostage crisis ends with 20 hostages, 6 terrorists dead Twenty foreigners were brutally hacked to death by   ISIS   militants inside a restaurant popular with expatriates here in the high-security diplomatic zone before commandos launched an assault today killing six attackers and capturing one alive, ending Bangladesh's worst terror attack. Director of Military Operations Brigadier General Nayeem Ashfaq Chowdhury said the militants slaughtered 20 hostages before the joint operation led by the armed forces began. Most of those killed were found with their throat slit, he added. "Army Para commando Unit-1 led the operation and killed six terrorists within 13 minutes," Chowdhury told reporters. The mission codenamed 'Operation Thunderbolt' was launched after the Prime Minister ordered the army to intervene to end the hostage crisis, he said. All 20 hostages killed were foreigners, with most being Italian or Japanese. Two senior police officers we...