Syria
Reuters: Bomb Blast Kills Several People At Shrine Near Damascus, Syrian State Media Report
“A bomb planted in a vehicle exploded outside the Sayeda Zeinab shrine city south of the Syrian capital Damascus on Thursday, killing several people and wounding others, Syrian state media reported. A reporter for Syrian state television said a preliminary death toll indicated as many as six people may have died. The station broadcast footage of the charred front of a car. One resident told Reuters he heard a loud blast around 5:30 p.m. (1430 GMT), after which security forces sealed off the area. It was the second attack this week at the shrine. Two people were wounded in a separate blast on Tuesday. It is high season for the shrine as Shi'ite Muslims flock there to mark the mourning period of Ashura.”
Iraq
Al Arabiya News: War Crime: Iraq Arrests Suspect In 2014 ISIS Massacre Of 1,700 Cadets
“Iraq has arrested a suspect in one of the most notorious war crimes of the ISIS group, the 2014 massacre of up to 1,700 captive cadets, authorities said Thursday. After overrunning the air force academy at Camp Speicher where thousands of cadets were being trained, the extremists of ISIS separated the group by sect and religion and gunned them down one by one before dumping their bodies in mass graves or in the nearby Tigris River. The interior ministry identified the suspect as Abdelkhalek Khazaal Soltan and said he had been arrested in a joint operation by the federal intelligence services and counter-terrorism police in Sulaimaniyah, the second city of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region. Ministry spokesman General Saad Maan alleged that after joining ISIS in 2013, Soltan ‘took part in several operations targeting the security forces... and participated in the Camp Speicher massacre of which he was one of the perpetrators.’”
Turkey
Anadolu Agency: Police Nab 16 Daesh/ISIS, Al Qaeda Terror Suspects In Istanbul
“Turkish security forces arrested 16 foreign nationals for their alleged links to the Daesh/ISIS and al-Qaeda terrorist organizations, security sources said on Thursday. Istanbul police anti-terror teams launched an operation to apprehend suspects linked to Daesh/ISIS and al-Qaeda, the sources said, requesting anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media. Turkish police raided 15 addresses in eight districts across the city to arrest the suspects identified as ‘foreign terrorist fighters,’ the sources added. In 2013, Türkiye became one of the first countries to declare Daesh/ISIS a terrorist organization. The country has since been attacked by the terror group multiple times, with over 300 people killed and hundreds more injured in at least 10 suicide bombings, seven bomb attacks, and four armed attacks. In response, Türkiye launched anti-terror operations at home and abroad to prevent further attacks.”
Daily Sabah: Turkish Intelligence Eliminates Top PKK Terrorist In Iraq's North
“Ahigh-ranking member of the PKK terrorist group was ‘neutralized’ by Turkish intelligence, security sources said Friday. Photos shared on media outlets showed a charred car in which the target was apparently traveling in Iraq's north. The National Intelligence Organization (MIT) determined that Zagros Cekdar, code-named ‘Mesut Celal Osman,’ forcefully recruited young people in Syria and directed attacks on Turkish security forces, and in 2018 he crossed over from Syria to Iraq, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media. According to the sources, Osman, one of the PKK's so-called provincial commanders in Sinjar, Iraq, was assigned by the terrorist group to seek support as it was losing power in the region, the sources added. Osman was ‘neutralized’ while attending a meeting of the terrorist group in Sinjar, it added. Turkish authorities use the term ‘neutralize’ to imply the terrorists in question surrendered, or were killed or captured. PKK terrorists often hide out across the border in northern Iraq to plot attacks. In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the U.S. and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.”
Pakistan
Samaa: Punjab CTD Arrests 10 Suspected Terrorists During IBO Across Province
“According to the spokesperson, among the 10 terrorists apprehended, 7 were arrested for their involvement in spreading hateful content on social media. All of the suspects belong to banned organizations and were nabbed from different locations including Lahore, Multan, DG Khan, and Attock. During the operation, the authorities also seized explosive materials, detonators, and weapons from the arrested terrorists. Further investigations are underway to gather more information about the apprehended individuals and their activities.”
Arab News: Three Militants Killed In Shootout In Pakistan’s Restive Northwest — Military
“Three militants were killed in a shootout with Pakistani security forces during an operation in the country’s restive northwest, the Pakistani military said on Sunday. The shootout took place while the security forces were conducting an intelligence-based operation in Kulachi area of Dera Ismail Khan district, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing. ‘The killed terrorists remained actively involved in various terrorist activities against security forces, police and innocent civilians,’ the ISPR said in a statement. ‘They were also highly wanted for conducting a raid on a Police CP (checkpost) in Kulachi on 11 April 2022, which resulted in Shahadat (martyrdom) of five brave police constables.’ Officials also recovered weapons and ammunition from the scene, the military said.”
Middle East
The Times Of Israel: Senior PA Security Official: Hamas, PIJ Recruiting Youth ‘With Nothing To Live For’
“The Palestinian Authority faces an uphill battle in its attempt to curb terror in the West Bank, where Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have been recruiting impoverished youth to carry out attacks, a senior officer in the PA’s Preventive Security Service revealed in a meeting this week, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told The Times of Israel. Brigadier General Hassan Asfour, who serves as director of central operations in the Preventive Security Service, told members of the Palestinian diaspora in the US that the PA has intensified its arrests of Hamas and PIJ fighters in the West Bank in recent months. While interrogating those suspects, the Preventive Security Service learned that many of them are from the poorest segments of society with ‘no food to eat’ and ‘nothing to live for,’ Asfour said, according to the source, who requested that the exact time and location of the meeting in the US not be shared in order to protect his identity. Asfour held several recent meetings with Palestinian diaspora communities in Virginia and Chicago and posted pictures from the latter gathering on Sunday.”
Nigeria
AFP News: Jihadists Kill 32 In Northeast Nigeria Attacks
“Suspected Islamic State-affiliated jihadists have killed 32 people, including 25 herders, in two attacks in northeast Nigeria's Borno state, anti-jihadist militia told AFP Thursday. The attacks happened on Tuesday in the Lake Chad area, where the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) controls swathes of territory. In the first attack, ISWAP fighters riding in pairs on more than a dozen motorcycles killed 25 Fulani herders who were grazing their cattle in Gudumbali forest, 95 kms (60 miles) from the regional capital Maiduguri, the sources said. ‘The terrorists... left without taking anything’ from the dead herders, said militia leader Babakura Kolo. The jihadists had ordered them to vacate the area, accusing them of passing information about militant activities to the military, Kolo said.”
Africa
The National: Sudan Conflict Allows Terrorist Groups To Find Foothold, Says Kenyan Official
“Kenya's top security official has warned that the war in Sudan, which has now gone on for more than 100 days, is creating a power vacuum that may allow terrorist groups to gain a foothold in the country. ‘When you have this level of fragility, there is also a huge risk of extremism and a multiplication of bands and criminal groups,’ Kenya’s National Security Adviser Monica Juma told The National. The war, which broke out on April 15, has pitted the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces – loyal to Gen Mohamed Dagalo – against the Sudanese military, led by Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan. The power struggle between the rival generals ignited a conflict that has spread throughout the country.”
India
The Times Of India: Doctor From Pune's Kondhwa Arrested By NIA For 'Sheltering ISIS Members'
“The National Investigation Agency on Wednesday arrested a medical practitioner from Kondhwa in connection with the ISIS Maharashtra module case on the charge of promoting violent activities of the proscribed terrorist group. Adnanali Sarkar (43), the fifth person arrested in the case the National Investigation Agency (NIA) registered on June 28, holds an MBBS and MD (anaesthesia) degree. He was attached to several hospitals in the city as a practising anaesthetist, the Kondhwa police said.vThe NIA had earlier arrested four people in the case during simultaneous raids in Mumbai, Thane and Pune on July 3. The agency identified them as Zubiar Noor Mohammed Shaikh alias Abu Nusaiba from Pune, Tabish Nasser Siddiqui from Mumbai, and Sharjeel Shaikh and Zulfikar Ali Barodawala from Thane.”
India TV News: Al-Qaeda Shaping Regional Affiliate AQIS In Indian Subcontinent To Spread Operations Into J-K: UN Report
“Terrorist outfit Al-Qaeda is shaping AQIS, its regional affiliate, to spread its operations into Jammu and Kashmir, Bangladesh and Myanmar, according to a United Nations report. The 32nd report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team of the 1267 ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council, released this week, noted that ‘one Member State assessed that Al-Qaeda is shaping AQIS (Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent) to spread its operations into neighbouring Bangladesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Myanmar.’ The report said that Member State also noted that certain limited elements of AQIS are ready to either join or collaborate with ISIL-K (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant- Khorasan). The Al-Qaeda core in Afghanistan is unmoved at 30 to 60 members while its fighters are estimated to be around 400, which may reach 2,000 if the family members and supporters are included, in the country. Whereas in the Indian subcontinent, Al-Qaeda has nearly 200 fighters whose emir is Osama Mehmood.”
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