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Over 2,000 illegal migrants settled in India since Myanmar coup

The Sub-committee of the Manipur Cabinet has revealed that 2,187 individuals from Myanmar, classified as illegal immigrants, have established settlements in 41 locations across four districts. The sub-committee, led by Letpao Haokip, the Minister of Tribal Affairs and Hill Development in its report stated that Tengnoupal had the highest number of 1,147 Myanmar nationals residing, followed by 881 in Chandel, 154 in Churachandpur, and five in Kamjong.

In March and April, the sub-committee, including state Ministers Awangbow Newmai and Thounaojam Basanta, visited the tribal-dominated districts. They met with the illegal immigrants, discussing providing humanitarian relief and shelters.

Prior to the outbreak of ethnic violence on May 3, the Manipur government had planned to identify and detain the Myanmar nationals who had sought asylum in the state.

Around 5,000 immigrants, including women and children, have fled from the conflict-ridden Myanmar since the coup by Myanmar Junta in February 2021.

Interestingly, the report is presented by CSC chaired by Letpao Haokip, who himself has aligned with the Kuki causes. He along with nine other tribal MLAs, has called for a separate administration in response to the ethnic violence that occurred on May 3. Among the ten MLAs, seven, including Haokip, belong to the BJP. Recently, Chief Minister N. Biren Singh attributed the ongoing unrest in the state to infiltrators from across the border and militants, emphasizing that it are not a conflict between two communities. Manipur shares a 398 km unfenced border with Myanmar.

Illegal immigration, a reality of decades

According to an official report, illegal immigrants’ identification created a panic among them. During the identification drive, it was observed that they not only have migrated to Manipur in large numbers but also have formed their own village. Concerned by this, government proposed building shelter homes for them. But the illegal immigrants strongly objected to it, contributing to the recent outbreak of violence, as mentioned in the report.

The report also highlights the impact of the Manipur government’s ‘War on Drugs’ campaign on the poppy cultivation and narcotics business run by Myanmar nationals in the state. Influential illegal poppy cultivators and drug lords from Myanmar, who have settled in Manipur, have fueled the recent violence.

Various Kuki Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) have accused the Manipur government of harassing Indian citizens under the pretext of identifying illegal immigrants. However, illegal immigration has been the reality of Manipur. Chins from Myanmar and Kukis belong to same Tibeto-Mongoloid race and hence have linguistic and cultural similarities. This makes it difficult to differentiate between them. Kukis have also been accused of supporting illegal immigration to change the demography of the region.

Joykishan Singh, JD(U)MLA of Manipur, had earlier stated in the Manipur Assembly that between 1971 to 2001, the population of the state grown by 153.3 per cent in the hill districts. However the rise per cent bounced to 250.9% between 2001 and 2011. The valley districts saw a population growth of 94.8% and 125.4% between the same periods respectively.

So far, the state has suffered alot by ethnic violence between the Meitei community, which is predominant in the valley, and the Kuki tribe, which is predominant in the hills. The violence has claimed the lives of over 120 people and left more than 400 injured, belonging to different communities.

US escalates Middle East conflict with strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities

In a dramatic escalation of Middle East tensions, the United States on Sunday struck three key nuclear facilities in Iran. Among the targeted sites were Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan — major centers of Iran’s nuclear enrichment infrastructure.

US President Donald Trump described the assault as a “very successful military operation” and a “historic moment for the United States, Israel, and the world.” Speaking at Truth Social, Trump confirmed all aircraft involved were safely returning and warned of further action ahead.

“This marks the beginning of a broader campaign to eliminate Iran’s nuclear threat. The next wave will be far more intense,” Trump said, vowing to dismantle what he called “the world’s number one state sponsor of terror.”

Six bunker-buster bombs were deployed against Fordow, while 30 Tomahawk missiles targeted Isfahan and Natanz. The attack reportedly involved B-2 stealth bombers, the only aircraft capable of carrying the 30,000-lb GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator.

Though Israel has claimed significant progress in its Operation Rising Lion, officials in Jerusalem acknowledged that the US military’s involvement — particularly the deployment of B-2 bombers — was crucial in striking deeply buried facilities like Fordow.

Iran Condemns ‘Act of War’

Tehran strongly condemned the strikes, calling them a blatant violation of international law and national sovereignty. The Iranian government vowed retaliation and maintained that there was no radiation leak or environmental contamination at the impacted sites — a claim partially backed by independent experts.

At Isfahan, however, damage to the facility’s power infrastructure may have crippled one of the country’s most advanced centrifuge networks. The full extent of the damage remains unclear. However, Iran has said that it had already evacuated critical elements of these facilities before the attack.

IAEA Reacts

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) condemned the strikes, labeling them a breach of international agreements. The agency emphasized it would not allow political conflicts to derail what it termed the peaceful development of Iran’s “national industry,” a thinly veiled reference to its nuclear program.

Diplomatic efforts appear to have been sidelined, with many analysts warning that the US involvement marks a shift toward full-scale war in the region. What started with October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, expanded to major parts of the Middle East amd West Asia, including Israel’s classes with Hamas in Gaza, Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Pakistan inflicts pain on Pashtuns on Eid al-Adha, kills cleric, Maulana Noor Rehman

On the sacred day of Eid-al-Adha, when Muslims worldwide gather in prayer and celebration, grief descended upon the village of Muski Anzarbad in Mir Ali, North Waziristan. Maulana Noor Rehman, a respected cleric known for his peace advocacy, was gunned down by unknown assailants outside his mosque. The Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) has strongly condemned the killing, accusing the Pakistan Army of orchestrating yet another targeted assassination of a prominent Pashtun voice.

The Pashtun National Jirga, a local court and rights forum allied with PTM, issued a scathing statement on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), calling the killing a “state-sponsored crime” aimed at silencing dissent within the marginalized Pashtun community. “Instead of the joy of Eid, the state has given the Pashtun people a gift of tears and sorrow,” the statement read. “Maulana Noor Rehman, who was a wise and peace-loving person, was martyred in a targeted assassination by the state.”

‘State injustice’ will be held accountable: Pashtuns

The Jirga emphasised that this act is part of a broader pattern of systemic violence against Pashtun leaders and community figures. “The person who used to preach peace from the mihrab of the mosque, today his body was lying on the funeral pyre. This is not the first time,” the statement continued. “These targeted killings, this state injustice and continued oppression will go down in history and will definitely be held accountable.”

The PTM and affiliated groups have long accused the Pakistani establishment, particularly the powerful military, of carrying out extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, and other forms of state-sponsored repression against non-Punjabi ethnic communities, especially Pashtuns and Baloch.

This is not the first time such violence has marred religious celebrations. In previous years, both Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr have seen incidents of brutality reported in restive regions like North Waziristan and Balochistan, further fueling allegations of targeted ethnic and political oppression by state forces. The Pashtun and Baloch communities have often raised concerns over the worse than death condition of the communities on Eids.

BLA launches series of attacks, eliminates 12 Pak Army soldiers across POB

Baloch Liberation Army freedom fighters eliminated 12 occupying Pakistan Army personnel, including an agent, in four separate attacks in Noshki, Kalat, Mastung and Quetta. These attacks included IEDs and armed assaults.

BLA freedom fighters targeted a Pakistan Army vehicle in a remote-controlled IED attack near the main RCD highway in the “Do Saye” area of Noshki yesterday when enemy personnel were moving in two vehicles.

As a result of the attack, one of the occupying army vehicles was completely destroyed and all 9 personnel on board were eliminated on the spot.

In a separate attack, Baloch Liberation Army freedom fighters targeted personnel of Pak Army post situated in a college in the Mangochar area of Kalat in an armed attack when they were gathered in the said premises. Freedom fighters fired several rounds using automatic weapons as well as grenade launchers. 3 occupying Pakistan Army soldiers were eliminated on the spot and at least four others were injured.

In another attack, Baloch Liberation Army freedom fighters targeted personnel posted at the checkpoint of occupying Pakistan Army at CCM Cross in Mastung last night in a grenade attack. 3 personnel were injured in the attack. The occupying army has been humiliating the people in the name of blockade at the said location, where women and elders are detained for hours and their self-respect is violated.

On June 3, BLA freedom fighters neutralized Gulzar, son of Naseer Dehwar, a resident of Karani Road, Quetta, a key agent of occupying Pakistan Army, in an armed attack near Tariq Hospital on Sariab Road, Quetta.

Gulzar Naseer, along with informants for the Pak Army, used to recruit people for the enemy by luring and threatening them. The said agent was found to be directly involved in the enforced disappearances of Baloch youth by the occupying forces.

In November 2023, BLA freedom fighters arrested an agent of the Pak army, Maqbool Sumalani, from Quetta who was a member of BLA but later secretly surrendered to the enemy army and committed national treason. Maqbool Sumalani had assisted the Pak Army in a drone attack on the freedom fighters, but the fighters remained safe. Later, the fighters trapped the said agent again and arrested him.

During interrogation, agent Maqbool Sumalani confessed that he had come into contact with Gulzar Naseer, a resident of Quetta, who introduced him to the intelligence agencies of occupying Pakistan Army and helped plan the drone attack targeting the freedom fighters.

Due to the above actions, Gulzar Naseer Dehwar was on the hit list of Baloch Liberation Army. He was neutralized by Baloch freedom fighters.

Pakistan Army props murderous ISKP to suppress Baloch and Pashtuns

A Surprising Development
On May 25, a video titled “The Mastung incident and the conspiracy of the infidels’ was released by Islamic State-Khorasan Province [ISKP] in which this Salafi jihadist terrorist group formally declared war against armed Baloch groups fighting against the occupation army of Pakistan. Recorded in Pashto, this 36-minute video cites an alleged attack on its camp in Mustang district of Balochistan by Balochistan Liberation Army [BLA] fighters in which the ISKP claims to have lost 30 of its cadres. The video also gives other reasons for ISKP’s new-found animosity towards armed Baloch groups. It has accused them of forming an alliance with its archenemy, the Afghan Taliban, but this is not all. In the video, senior ISKP religious leader Abu Abdur Rahman has criticised the armed Baloch groups for following a secular, pro-democracy and nationalist ideology as it goes against ISKP’s perverse religious interpretations and fundamentalist ideology.

Red Flags
The Balochistan Post has reported that in this video, “The ISKP has warned civilians, especially the relatives of missing persons that they should not participate in the protests and rallies for Baloch rights because such gatherings have now become an important target for ISKP. This bestial warning of targeting grieving family members and relatives of people disappeared by Pakistani security forces is, even by ISKP’s depraved thinking, shorn of any reasoning and hence raises a red flag.

Similarly, even though it has mentioned losing 30 fighters in the three-day-long siege of its camp in Mastung, ISKP surprisingly hasn’t revealed when this incident took place, and this omission raises the question- ‘Why’? Analysts opine that this incident probably occurred in March, and ISKP’s inexplicable two-month delay in declaring war on armed Baloch groups for killing two-and-a-half dozen of its fighters raises yet another red flag.

Rawalpindi-ISKP Link
ISKP has been active in Balochistan since 2015 when anti-Shia terrorist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi [LeJ] commander and Mastung resident Hidayatullah Baloch was appointed as its head for Balochistan and this terrorist group has co-existed peacefully with armed Baloch groups for more than a decade. When the Afghan Taliban launched major operations against ISKP after seizing Kabul in 2021, this group was forced to cross the Durand Line and seek new sanctuaries in Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa [KP].

There’s credible evidence which clearly indicates that in keeping with its consummate belief in the enemy’s enemy is a friend adage, the Pakistan Army’s spy agency Inter Services Intelligence [ISI] has surreptitiously provided ISKP safe sanctuaries in Balochistan with the aim of using them as its proxies against the Afghan Taliban. Existence of the ISI-ISKP nexus has also been made several times by many, be it Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid or former US special representative to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad.

The most intriguing part is that more than half of the ISKP video is an attempt at disproving that this terrorist group is a proxy of the Pakistan Army. It wants the world to believe that it’s the lack/absence of government control in Mastung and not a covert arrangement with the Pakistan Army that has helped ISKP to establish camps on Pakistani soil in this area. Not only this, ISKP has also taken pains to include details and clips of its attacks against Pakistani security forces to buttress its claim of having no links with Rawalpindi. 

There’s another related development that unambiguously reveals that there’s much more than what meets the eye. Just two days after the ISKP video release, Islamic State Pakistan Province [ISPP] also jumped into the fray by not only endorsing ISKP’s criticism of armed Baloch groups but also equating the peaceful human rights Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement [PTM] in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) with armed Baloch groups. Armed Baloch groups and PTM suddenly becoming the common enemies of ISKP and ISPP overnight is definitely no coincidence.  

An Unconvincing Narrative
It’s completely uncharacteristic of ISKP to undertake such an extensive audio-visual image building exercise just to prove that it hasn’t cut any underhand deal with the Pakistan Army, and this glaring anomaly is what lets the cat out of the bag. Whatever doubt one may still have gets dispelled by ISKP’s presentation of its arguments in the hallmark style of the Pakistan military’s media wing Inter Services Public Relations [ISPR].

The ISKP narrative has some glaring shortcomings. One, it’s unbelievable that a hot-headed terrorist group like ISKP which believes in immediate retribution would take two months before declaring war against armed Baloch groups for having killed its cadres. Two, considering the substantial deployment of Pakistan Army and the Frontier Corps in Mastung district, it’s inconceivable that ISKP would be able to avoid the security forces’ observation and merrily establish a foothold in this area. Most importantly, ISKP and ISPP’s near simultaneously warning locals in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) against engaging in peaceful activities, gives away the plot because while these public protests are causing no problems for these terrorist groups, they are definitely severely embarrassing the Pakistan Army.

So, isn’t it surprising that while ISKP has threatened to attack locals protesting against missing persons in Balochistan, ISPP is equating the social and human rights PTM activities with that of armed Baloch groups? Is this merely a chance occurrence or a manifestation of DGISPR’s “the rules of the game have now changed” announcement made after the Jaffar Express hijacking incident?

While this abnormal behaviour defies explanation, it does rekindle a sense of déjà vu. By blindly following Gen Zia ul Haq, who by creating the Afghan mujahideen inflicted a grievous and still festering wound on the people of Pakistan, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir has in sheer desperation to salvage his tottering image has taken the dangerous decision of resurrecting the ISKP and ISPP Frankenstein to contain the burgeoning tide of violence in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. 

Refusing to Learn
Speaking at the Atlantic Council of the United States in November 2010, Gen Pervez Musharraf had admitted that “These very mujahideen groups whose orientation was Kashmir, they turned their guns inwards and they developed nexus with Taliban and Al-Qaida.  Now, this is the bigger problem area [sic], that they are involved in terrorism in Pakistan.”

Just a year later the then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also warned Islamabad “You can’t keep snakes in your backyard and expect them only to bite your neighbors. You know, eventually those snakes are going to turn on whoever has them in the backyard.” And commenting on ISKP’s revelation regarding existence of its camps in Balochistan, former US special representative to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad has rightly cautioned that “By now, everyone should have learned that playing with terrorism for tactical purposes is a disastrous ploy that inevitably backfires very, very badly.”

However, it seems that Pakistan Army Generals fail to (or rather refuse to) learn any lessons from the past, or heed to sagacious advice. But then, since none dare to question their perilous decisions, leave alone take them to task for precipitating a humongous crisis, why should the Generals worry?

BLA eliminates Pak Army’s agent Babul Hassani in Quetta

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) eliminates a key agent of the Pakistan Army and intelligence apparatus, Babul Muhammad Hassani, in a targeted operation in Quetta. According to a statement issued by BLA spokesperson Jeeyand Baloch, the group’s Special Tactical Operations Squad (STOS) executed an intelligence-based operation (IBO) targeting Hassani’s vehicle with a magnetic improvised explosive device (IED) in the Stop area on Baruri Road. The operation was reportedly based on intelligence gathered by the BLA’s intelligence wing, ZIRAB.

Babul Hassani, identified as the son of Zabar Muhammad Hassani and a resident of Kalat, was declared dead on the spot. An associate traveling with him, Nabil—son of Muhammad Ameen from Khuzdar—was seriously injured. The vehicle was completely destroyed in the explosion.

BLA described Babul Hassani as a central figure in the occupying Pakistan Army’s network in Kalat. He had direct links with Zakria Muhammad Hassani, a known death squad commander, and led an armed group involved in operations against Baloch in the region.

The statement further accused Hassani of operating torture cells under the protection of Paki forces, where Baloch youth were detained, tortured, and disappeared. His network helped in establishing military posts in the Grap area of Kalat and carried out operations in Sarkheen and Mangochar’s Kohak region, leading to the enforced disappearance of several locals.

BLA has issued a final warning to associates of Hassani collaborating with the Pakistan Army to surrender to the Baloch National Army or “face the same fate” as Babul Hassani.

This attack of BLA is a powerful reminder that the struggle for POB’s independence is not only ongoing but intensifying. With the continued violence and oppression perpetrated by the Pak Army, the BLA remains steadfast in its commitment to liberating POB.

Pakistan continues habit of fakery, plagiarises photo to deceive international community

From the photos of Saturday’s grand dinner (24 May 2025) hosted by Pakistan’s newly promoted Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir to “honour the political leadership, steadfast commitment of the armed forces, and the indomitable spirit of the people of Pakistan as demonstrated during Marka-e-Haq, Operation Bunyanum Marsoos” it appears that this formal event went off quite well.

Attended by Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif along with several top political leaders and army Generals, this event followed Sharif’s announcement that May 10 would henceforth be observed annually as the Youm-e-Marka e Haq [Day for the Battle for Truth], which has unilaterally declared an unqualified military victory by Rawalpindi.

Field Marshal Munir’s idea to present Sharif with a framed photograph of a salvo of Pakistani rockets being fired during Operation Bunyanum Marsoos was also a face saver to make up for the complete absence of photographic evidence supporting Pakistan’s claims of having wreaked massive destruction on the Indian armed forces. Remember Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khwaja Asif citing “social media” as proof of his claim that five Indian Air Force fighters had been shot down?

Unfortunately, the photograph the Field Marshal publicly presented to the Prime Minister of Pakistan turned out to be the copy of a 2019 photograph attributed to Huang Hai featuring China’s PHL-03 multiple rocket launchers being fired during a PLA military exercise. Field Marshal Munir’s embarrassing faux pas not only credibly validates the old dictum that cameras don’t lie but photographs do, but also once again exposes Pakistan’s proclivity for brazenly peddling falsehood.

However, this isn’t the first time that Islamabad has plagiarised photographs to mislead the world. Readers would recall that in September 2017, Pakistan’s then permanent representative to the United Nations, Maleeha Lodhi displayed a photograph showing the badly scarred face of a young girl whom she said was a Kashmiri injured due to pellet gun firing on protesters by Indian law enforcement agencies.

Her dramatic attempt to use the image of a badly injured girl as proof of “Indian brutality” in Kashmir to draw attention of the international community backfired as her assertion was factually incorrect. It subsequently turned out that this photograph was clicked by award-winning photographer Heidi Levine and the subject was not a Kashmiri but a 17-year-old Palestinian girl injured during an Israeli attack in 2014. Regrettably, despite this massive embarrassment Islamabad failed to learn any lessons.

The very next year, Pakistan released a set of 20 stamps titled “Atrocities in Indian-Occupied Kashmir.” One of stamps in this series carries the image of a group of protesters with the words “Missing Persons” printed on it, conveying the impression that they were protesting against missing Kashmiris allegedly disappeared by security forces. However, just like the photograph flashed at the UN by Lodhi and the one that Field Marshal Munir presented to Sharif, the image used in this stamp too was plagiarised.

 A fact-check revealed that the image on the stamp in question has been copied from a photograph credited to the Press Trust of India. It was clicked by Shirish Shete on January 19, 2014 during a peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, by Roots in Kashmir, an ethnic Kashmiri Pandit group observing the 24th anniversary of the forced exodus of this community from Kashmir Valley by Pakistan sponsored Islamic terrorists.

Even during the latest Indo-Pak standoff, Islamabad shockingly tried to pass off video game footage as actual combat recording. Commenting on ‘X’, UK Defence Journal, an independent defence news and analysis website posted the footage lifted by Islamabad from a video game and mentioned that “the official account of the Government of Pakistan has posted footage from the video game ARMA 3, claiming it shows a real military response to alleged Indian aggression.”

Repeated use of such infantile ploys raises a question- does Islamabad really believe that it can fool the international community with such dim-witted assertions? The answer is a firm ‘No’; simply because Pakistan’s diplomatic corps as well as the army’s media wing Inter Services Public Relations [ISPR] are definitely not a congregation of morons.  But if both Islamabad and Rawalpindi know that their ‘fairy tales’ don’t impress the international community, why do they persist with the same? 

It’s a well known fact that Pakistan’s disinformation programme is overseen by Rawalpindi and not Islamabad. Since Rawalpindi fiercely protects both its turf and extra-constitutional powers that it enjoys, the target audience for the army’s propaganda is not the international communitybut the very people of Pakistan. Though it may sound odd, a dispassionate analysis will definitely confirm this inference.

Daft attempts like unashamedly plagiarising photographs or lifting clips from video games and passing them off as actual combat footage may not impress world leaders. Nevertheless, it works wonders for the gullible masses in Pakistan who have been subtly conditioned to believe that any faceoff between India and Pakistan is essentially a Hindu versus Islam clash or ‘jihad’. And Field Marshal Munir’s recent rant highlighting the irreconcilable existential incompatibility between Hindus and Muslims validates this assertion.

Furthermore, during his May 11 press briefing on Operation Bunyanum Marsoos, DGISPR Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif [who is reportedly the son of a UN designated global terrorist] openly admitted that “Jihad drives us; it is not merely part of our personal belief, but central to our institutional faith and training.” He went on to say that “We have an army chief who has a strong belief in it. The leadership and his belief and commitment translates into different operations.” It is left to the reader to decide whether these revelations were meant for the international community or the domestic audience?

It’s therefore amply clear that the sole target of Rawalpindi’s perception management efforts are the gullible people of Pakistan who have already been radicalised by the heady mix of intolerant religious beliefs and hyper-nationalism fed to them over the years. For Rawalpindi, this is what matters and so, this is exactly what it ensures.

Tailpiece: All pictures may not be worth a thousand words, but this thousand word piece it has inspired proves that the photograph presented by Field Marshal Munir to Shehbaz Sharif definitely is!

World ignored Pak Army’s terrorist operations, India launched Operation Sindoor

Fountainhead of Terrorism
When he stated that “Terrorism is not something that is being conducted in dark corners of Pakistan; it’s done in broad daylight,” India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar wasn’t revealing a secret but merely stating something already known to the international community. Didn’t US President Donald Trump say the same very thing in his 2018 post on Twitter [now X] stating that “They [Pakistan’s government and army] give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan”?

But Trump isn’t the first one to expose sponsorship of terrorist groups by the Pakistan Army. Way back in 2002, President George W Bush had told media persons that, “I think it’s very important for President Musharraf to make a clear statement to the world that he intends to crack down on terror.” The then UK Prime Minister Tony Blair had also warned Pakistan that “The very strong feeling in the international community is that people want to see the circumstances brought about where dialogue
and the political process can take the place of extremism and terrorism.”

In 2017, the European Foundation for South Asia Studies [EFSAS] also confirmed that “Apart from training and funding the terrorist organizations, the ISI [Pakistan Army’s spy agency] has fundamentally altered the dimensions of the conflict in Kashmir by transforming it to a movement being carried out by foreign militants on Pan-Islamic religious terms.” Two years later, the European Union also stressed on the need for Pakistan to “continue addressing terrorism including clear and sustained actions targeting not only all UN-listed transnational terrorist groups but also individuals claiming responsibility for such attacks.”

Tokenism and Selective Approach
On the one hand, the international community’s passionate endorsement of the inescapable need for concerted action against terrorism and creation of The United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism [UNOCT] in June 2017 through a UN General Assembly Resolution to combat terrorism at the global, regional, and national levels is a reassuring development. However, while the whole world appears to be one on the need for combating terror, the international community regrettably doesn’t walk its talk.

On its part, Washington does deserve due credit for taking down several high-profile terrorists belonging to Al Qaeda, Daesh/Islamic State and other terrorist groups in the course of its global war on terror. However, its discernable selectivity while dealing with Pakistan for sponsoring and sheltering terrorists’ reeks of motivated selectivity. The fact that the US kept Islamabad completely in the dark regarding Operation Neptune Spear launched to eliminate Osama bin Laden staying in Abbottabad clearly indicates that it was aware that the ISI was complicit in arranging this ‘safe house’ for the 9/11 mastermind. Yet it didn’t take any action against Islamabad for providing refuge to the world’s most wanted terrorist.

Conversely, even after Bin Laden was tracked down to a compound just a stone’s throw from the Pakistan Military Academy, Washington continued to treat Pakistan as a “major non-NATO ally” in its war on terror. After the 2008 Mumbai attacks in which 166 persons [including six American nationals] were killed by Lashkar-e-Taiba [LeT] terrorists, Washington announced a $10 million bounty on its mastermind Hafiz Saeed under the Rewards for Justice Programme. 

This document mentions that “The United States continues to seek information on Saeed because the Pakistani judicial system has released convicted LeT leaders and operatives in the past,” and this unambiguously confirms that Washington has no faith whatsoever in the sincerity of its major ally in the global war on terror. Yet it keeps overlooking Pakistan’s unending perfidy.

An Unrepentant Terrorist Sponsor
Perhaps it’s the international community’s lack of meaningful action against states using terrorism as an instrument of foreign policy that’s emboldened Pakistan to openly accept and even flaunt its links with proscribed terrorist groups. A few examples:
* In 2009, the then President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari confessed that “Militants and extremists emerged on the national scene and challenged the state not because the civil bureaucracy was weakened and demoralised but because they were deliberately created and nurtured as a policy to achieve short-term tactical objectives.”
* In 2015 TV interview, President Pervez Musharraf admitted that in the 1990s, “Lashkar-e-Taiba and 11 or 12 other [terrorist] organisations were formed. We supported them and trained them as they were fighting in Kashmir at the cost of their lives.”
* In 2019, Pakistan’s then Prime Minister Imran Khan while on a trip to the US revealed that “when you talk about militant groups, we still have about 30,000-40,000 armed people who have been trained and fought in some part of Afghanistan or Kashmir.”
* Earlier this month, when asked about Islamabad’s long history of supporting terrorist outfits, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif while accepting the same tried to evade complicity by saying “We have been doing this dirty work for the US and the West, including Britain, for three decades.”
* Just the other day, Pakistan’s former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari confirmed Asif’s revelation by saying, “I don’t think that it’s a secret that Pakistan has a past as far as extremist groups are concerned.”

Ultimate Proof of Rawalpindi’s Perfidy
Islamabad has consistently denied any link with terrorists and rejects any evidence furnished thereof as inadequate. However, the airstrikes against nine terrorist centres/ facilities carried out by the Indian armed forces as part of Operation Sindoor has finally provided clinching evidence of Rawalpindi’s ongoing romance with terrorist groups. A few irrefutable facts that have emerged after the Operation Sindoor airstrikes on terrorist facilities:
* Abdul Rauf Azhar, the brother of Jaish-e-Mohammad [JeM] chief Masood Azhar is amongst the five high profile terrorists killed. He had masterminded the 1999 IC-814 hijack that saw the release of three terrorists including Al Qaeda operative Omar Saeed Sheikh who was subsequently involved in the kidnapping and gruesome decapitation of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in 2002.
* Photographs of this event show US-designated global terrorist and senior LeT commander Hafiz Abdul Rafiq leading the funeral prayers of the terrorists killed in the airstrikes. A large turnout of Pakistan Army officers and soldiers in uniform is clearly visible in the background.
* Coffins of the terrorists were draped with Pakistan’s national flag, a protocol reserved only for state funerals accorded to members of the armed forces and high-ranking dignitaries.
* The funeral of terrorists was attended by Lt General Fayyaz Hussain Shah, Corps Commander IV Corps, Lahore, Maj Gen Rap Imran Sartaj, Brig Mohammad Furkan Shabbir, Dr Usman Anwar, Inspector General of Police, Punjab, Malik Sohaib Ahmed Bherth, Member of Punjab’s Provincial Assembly and several other members of Pakistan Army and civilian dignitaries.

International Reaction
The international community has welcomed the end of current hostilities between India and Pakistan. However, its stoic silence on the perverse public display of solidarity exhibited by the Pakistan Army and government officials with the deceased terrorists is astonishing. But then, the counter argument is that why should the international community worry about something that isn’t directly affecting it?    

Overlooking the unabashed institutional support being provided to terrorists by the Pakistan Army is tantamount to mainstreaming terrorism, and keeping silent on this grave issue is what gives Islamabad the nerve to accord a state funeral to terrorists who have the blood of innocents on their hands.

Providential Coincidence
When the international community failed to come together and consider instituting consequential actions against Pakistan for sponsoring the terrorists who perpetrated the cold-blooded massacre of 26 tourists in Pahalgam, J&K on April 22, New Delhi decided to take things into its own hand and dispense justice by itself. Operation Sindoor, which was accordingly launched on May 7, was a total success and the Indian armed forces achieved the national objective of inflicting a telling blow to Pakistan’s terror infrastructure. May 7 also marks the birth anniversary of India’s Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, who penned down the popular patriotic song titled ‘Ekla Chalo Re’ [Walk Alone], 120 years ago. The opening line of this inspiring composition reads, “If no one responds to your call, then go your own way alone.” And India did exactly this on Tagore’s 164th  birth anniversary by singlehandedly pummeling nine terrorist facilities both in Pakistan occupied J&K [PoJK] and mainland Pakistan.   
Isn’t this a providential coincidence?

BLA says it will fight alongside India against Pakistan

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has called upon India to take decisive action against terrorist state Pakistan and offered to fight in tandem so that peace can prevail across the Indian subcontinent. “We assure India that if it makes the final decision to eliminate terrorist state of Pakistan, Baloch Liberation Army, along with the entire nation is ready to attack from western border. We will not only welcome this decision but will become its practical and military arm. We are ready to surround Pakistan from both eastern and western fronts and are eager to drown this menace in its own blood,” said Jeeyand Baloch, spokesperson Baloch Liberation Army (BLA).

BLA explained that Pakistan talks about ceasefire, peace and brotherhood only to deceive and buy time. “The history of this state (Pakistan) has been written with broken promises, backstabbing and terrorism. This is a state whose hands are stained with blood and whose every promise is soaked in it.”

BLA clarified that Baloch national resistance was not a proxy for any country and that the Baloch have been fighting for their independence since 1948. In fact, BLA has carried hundreds of attacks on the Pakistan Army across Pakistan-occupied Balochistan and have proved their supremacy when the elite Pakistani SSG (Special Services Group) commandoes surrendered to them on several occasions.

“If we receive political, diplomatic and defense support from the world—especially from India— Baloch nation can eliminate this terrorist state (Pakistan) and lay the foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and independent Balochistan. A Balochistan that will not only permanently stop the export of terrorism to the subcontinent but will also begin a new chapter of peace and prosperity in this region,” BLA said in its statement.  

Baloch, Sindhis, Pashtuns and Kashmiris in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) are eagerly waiting for the end of Pakistan Army’s brutal dictatorship. All have been eagerly following Indian attacks in the ongoing Operation Sindoor that has inflicted massive damage on Pakistani air bases.

“We tell India and other states of the region that the time has passed to believe in Pakistan’s promises. Now is the time for subcontinent and the world to take decisive action against this terrorist state. Pakistan has not only been a breeding ground for global terrorists but also a center for the state-sponsored development of deadly terrorist groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and ISIS. The ISI is the network behind this terrorism, and under its auspices, Pakistan has become a nuclear state of violent ideology, which is becoming a volcano for its own people and for the entire world,” said the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA).

Pakistan Army begs Indian army for ceasefire; India agrees for now

Pakistan’s DGMO (Director General Military Operations) made desperate call to Indian DGMO Saturday afternoon begging for a ceasefire after realizing that Pak will not be able to sustain Indian offensive for long. On the night of 9th and 10th May India had bombed several Pakistani air bases that include Nur Khan, Rahim Yar Khan, Rafiqui, Murid and Sialkot apart from bombing the radar bases. These airstrikes have badly crippled Pakistani air defence and Rawalpindi understood that if the war escalates further and Indian ground offensive begins then it will be a matter of hours before the Indian army forces Pakistani troops into another ignominious surrender.

Pakistani NSA, foreign minister and defence minister were desperately talking to US, China, Saudi Arabia to bail them out. India, on its part, had made it clear that her military actions were retaliatory and aimed to dismantle Pakistani terrorist infrastructure only. So, when Pakistani establishment said they do not want to escalate this further India on Saturday afternoon agreed to an understanding to cease military action. The announcement was made by Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri. Misri said that both the sides reached agreement after Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) called his India counterpart.

Misri said, “Pakistan’s Directors General of Military Operations (DGMO) called Indian DGMO at 15:35 hours earlier this afternoon. It was agreed between them that both sides would stop all firing and military action on land and in the air and sea with effect from 1700 hours Indian Standard Time. Today, instructions have been given on both sides to give effect to this understanding.”

He added that both military officials will again hold talks on May 12 at noon. The announcement was first made by the US President Donald Trump, who claimed of mediation. The unexpected consensus came amid heightened tensions between the countries. Earlier today, India asserted that any further terrorist acts will be considered as an act of war. The tensions soared between the neighbouring countries after Pakistan-backed terrorists, associated with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) offshoot The Resistance Front (TRF), killed 26 civilians in Pahalgam’s Baisaran valley on April 22. India took strong diplomatic measures, suspending the Indus Water Treaty (IWT). Pakistan, in response, had held all bilateral agreements, including the 1972 Simla Agreement.

On May 7, India conducted Operation Sindoor and destroyed 9 terrorist camps in Pakistan’s Punjab and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. In the strikes, India neutralised Jaish-e-Mohhammed (JeM) terrorist Masoor Azhar’s entire family and other designated terrorists, marking a major success in anti-terror ops.

Pakistan, since then, has continued attacking Indian territories with swarm drones and missiles. Meanwhile, ceasefire across the International border and LoC also intensified. Over a dozen were killed in the Pakistani ceasefire violations.

Paki Army fired over 300 Turkish drones, used civilian airlines as safety shield from Indian strikes

New Delhi— In a high-level press briefing on Friday evening, senior officials from the Indian Armed Forces and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) accused Pakistan of launching large-scale drone attacks on Indian territory while deceptively keeping its airspace open for civilian aircraft, risking international air safety.

The briefing—conducted by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh—highlighted Pakistan’s provocative military escalation, following the recent Pahalgam terror attack, which claimed 26 innocent lives.

According to the officials, Pakistan launched 300 to 400 drones targeting civilian buildings, military installations, and religious sites across northern India. Despite the scale of the operation, Pakistan did not close its civil airspace, allegedly using civilian flights as shields during its attacks.

Wing Commander Vyomika Singh said, “. . . Pakistan did not close its civil airspace despite it launching a failed unprovoked drone and missile attack on 7 May at 08:30 hours in the evening. Pakistan is using civil airliner as a shield, knowing fully well that its attack on India would elicit a swift air defence response. This is not safe for the unsuspecting civil airliners including the international flights which were flying near IB between India and Pakistan. The screenshot we just showed, it shows the data of the application flight radar 24 during a high air defence alert situation in the Punjab sector. As you have seen, the airspace on the Indian side is absolutely devoid of civil air traffic due to our declared closure. However, there are civil airlines flying the air route between Karachi and Lahore . . . Indian Air Force demonstrated considerable restraint in its response thus ensuring safety of international civil carriers.”

Colonel Qureshi detailed the scale and technical nature of the intrusion. She said, “Around 300 to 400 drones were used to attempt infiltration at 36 locations. The Indian armed forces shot down many of these drones using kinetic and non-kinetic means. The possible purpose of such large-scale aerial intrusions was to test air defence systems and collect intelligence. Forensic investigation of the wreckage of the drones is being done. Initial reports suggest that they are Turkish Asisguard Songar drones…”

In retaliation, India launched its own counter-operations.Wing Commander Vyomika Singh said, “In response to the Pakistani attack, armed drones were launched at four air defence sites in Pakistan. One of the drones was able to destroy an AD radar. Pakistan also carried out artillery shelling across the line of control using heavy-calibre artillery guns and armed drones . . . which resulted in some losses and injuries to Indian army personnel. Pakistan army also suffered major losses in Indian retaliatory fire.”

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri strongly condemned the attack and Pakistan’s attempts to distort the truth.He said, “. . . These provocative and escalatory actions taken by Pakistan last night were targeted at Indian cities and civilian infrastructure in addition to military establishments. Indian armed forces responded proportionately, adequately, and responsibly . . . The official and blatantly farsical denial of these attacks that Pakistan carried out, by the Pakistani state machinery is another example of their duplicity and the new depths, they are plumbing to . . .”

He also dismissed Pakistan’s efforts to stir communal tensions. Foreign Secretary Misri added, “. . . Instead of owning up to its actions, Pakistan made the preposterous and outrageous claims that it is the Indian armed forces that is targeting its own cities like Amritsar and trying to blame Pakistan . . .They are well-versed in such actions as their history would show… Pakistan spread disinformation that India targeted the Nankama Sahib Gurdwara through a drone attack, which is yet another blatant lie . . . Pakistan is trying desperately to impart a communal hue to the situation with an intention to create a communal discord . . . “