India's top anti-terror body, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), is probing whether Kashmiri militants used a "sticky bomb" on Friday to target a bus carrying Hindu pilgrims. The attack killed four people and injured 24. The Jammu and Kashmir Freedom Fighters, a lesser-known militant outfit, claimed responsibility for the assault, saying the bus was targeted with a sticky bomb, a type of Improvised Explosive Device (IED). These bombs can be attached to a vehicle and detonated remotely. The use of a sticky bomb by Kashmiri militants is a relatively new phenomenon. In February 2021, Indian security forces seized dozens of such bombs during raids in India-administered Kashmir. These bombs were regularly used by militants in Afghanistan against NATO forces. Indian security officials say their presence in the insurgency-marred valley doesn't augur well for the region. Indian military officials also say that they have found more weapons that have American stamps on them. … [Read more...] about How NATO weapons from Afghanistan are impacting Kashmir’s militancy
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Will the ‘Islamic State’ benefit from the Ukraine war?
In the middle of last month, the extremist group known as the "Islamic State" issued a threat. The group announced "a blessed campaign to take revenge" after their leader was killed in a US military raid in Syria in February. At the same time, the extremist group, which controlled around a third of Syria and Iraq at the height of its powers, also called on supporters to take advantage of opportunities presented by the war in Ukraine . While "infidel" Western nations were preoccupied, "Islamic State" supporters could attack, the message suggested. Meanwhile, a magazine openly supporting al-Qaeda — another similar extremist organization that the IS group distanced itself from in 2013 — proposed that its supporters somehow get hold of weapons being handed out to civilians in Ukraine, then use them against Europeans. As yet the idea of launching terrorist attacks while the West is distracted by Ukraine does not appear to have caught on in Europe . The IS group has around a … [Read more...] about Will the ‘Islamic State’ benefit from the Ukraine war?
What future awaits ‘Islamic State’ after its leader’s death?
Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi never left the house. He was the only high-ranking leader of the terrorist organization "Islamic State" (IS) who never released video or voice messages. He feared being detected in his nondescript house in Atmeh in the province of Idlib in northwestern Syria, not far from the border with Turkey. The region is dominated by the rival Islamist militia Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an offshoot of al-Qaida, so the neighbors would surely never have guessed who the man next door actually was. He seems to have been planning an IS comeback. But the US secret services found him first. Even though his late predecessor Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had also gone into hiding in the region, few had expected this of al-Qurayshi too — until a US military strike in early February, during which he reportedly blew himself up, killing several members of his family as well. What consequences could his death have. How significant is IS today? For years, IS has waged a … [Read more...] about What future awaits ‘Islamic State’ after its leader’s death?