February 6, 2024

At least two terrorists, including ring leader Ayubullah also known as Mansoor, were gunned down by security forces on the night of February 5 and 6 in in Khyber Pakhunkhwa’s North Waziristan district, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said. In a statement released on Tuesday, the military’s media wing said that the forces conducted an intelligence-based operation on the reported presence of terrorists. “During the conduct of operation, intense fire exchange took place between own troops and terrorists as a result of which two terrorists were sent to hell including Terrorist ring leader Ayubullah @Mansoor,” the statement read. The ISPR stated that it also recovered weapons, ammunition and explosives from the killed terrorists who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities including target killing as well as extortion and abduction of innocent civilians. “A sanitisation operation is being conducted to eliminate any other terrorists found in the area,” the media wing of the armed forces said. The military added that their services for the security and protection of the district including the IBO were appreciated by the locals, who expressed their full support to eliminate the menace of terrorism. As Pakistan moves towards decisive general polls on February 8, the rising fears of the law and order situation worsening in various parts of the country continue to loom, particularly with regard to KP and Balochistan, where the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has declared numerous polling stations sensitive. At least 10 policemen were martyred and six others were injured in a late-night attack on a police station in KP’s Dera Ismail Khan district. Pakistani districts along the border with Afghanistan have seen a dramatic spike in attacks since the Taliban returned to power there in 2021. Islamabad claims Kabul is sheltering allied militants such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) allowing them to strike on its soil with impunity. According to the statistics issued by the Department of Interior and Tribal Affairs KP, the areas most affected by terrorism include Peshawar, Khyber, Bajaur, and Tank while Dera Ismail Khan and North Waziristan and South Waziristan are included in the terror-affected areas. The documents of the Home and Tribal areas revealed that a total of 1,050 incidents of terrorism took place in KP last year while 419 incidents of terrorism took place in the arranged districts, and 631 incidents in the merged districts. Source:https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1155107-security-forces-gun-down-2-terrorists-in-n-waziristan

The Turkish police have killed two people who allegedly attacked a court in Istanbul in what authorities labelled a “terrorist act”. The incident on Tuesday morning also saw six people injured, including three police officers, officials said, blaming it on the leftist armed group Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C). end of list Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on X that the shooters were killed in a gun battle after they opened fire on a checkpoint near the Caglayan court in Istanbul. The suspects, a man and a woman identified only as EY and PB, were alleged members of the DHKP-C, enlisted as a “terrorist group” in Turkey, he said. The DHKP-C has waged a campaign against the Turkish state since the 1980s. Footage from the scene in the aftermath of the incident showed a heavy police presence at the entrance to the court, with entry and exit points closed. Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said prosecutors had launched an investigation into the attack. Unrest The attack is the latest to hit Turkey as the war in Gaza spreads tensions across the Middle East. It follows closely in the wake of several other armed attacks in Turkey. Masked gunmen, purportedly members of ISIL (ISIS), stormed a church in Istanbul last month during Sunday mass and killed one person. Authorities have since arrested many people over suspecting their involvement in the attack or links to the group. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) armed group, which has also waged a bloody campaign against the Turkish government for decades, launched a suicide attack on the Ministry of Interior’s building in capital Ankara in October. Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/6/two-shooters-dead-in-turkey-courthouse-attack

Palestinian Health Ministry says at least 107 Palestinians killed by Israeli attacks across Gaza in last 24 hours. US Secretary of State Blinken visits Egypt and Qatar to push for a deal between Israel and Hamas on a truce and the release of captives in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners in Israel. “There is nothing left,” says the UN aid agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, describing leveled infrastructure in northern Gaza. UN truck carrying food supplies is hit by Israeli navy fire. At least 27,585 people have been killed and 66,978 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The death toll in Israel from the October 7 Hamas attacks stands at 1,139. Attack reported south of Yemen’s Aden: UKMTO The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency received a report of an attack 50 nautical miles (92km) south of Yemen’s Aden. Authorities are investigating the incident and no further details were provided. It remains unclear who is behind the attack. Yemen’s Houthi rebels have regularly targeted vessels in the region in a show of solidarity with Palestinians facing Israeli attacks in Gaza. Click here to share on social media 6,870 people arrested in occupied West Bank since Gaza war began Israeli forces arrested 1,236 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including 30 women and 73 children, in the past month. This brings the number of detainees in the occupied territory since October 7 to 6,870, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society says. Those arrested and their families were subjected to attacks that included severe beatings, and the use of relatives as hostages to pressure a wanted person to turn themselves in, it said. Thousands of Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons [File: Mahmoud Issa/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images] Click here to share on social media Voices from the occupied West Bank: ‘They’re forcing us into islands’ In the last instalment of Al Jazeera’s conversations with Palestinians living under occupation, respondents aired their fears and frustrations at life under what many rights organisations have classified as “apartheid”. The eldercare worker who never thought he would work in Israel. The agricultural union worker who sees an Israeli annexation plan unfolding in the occupied West Bank’s most fertile area. The interior designer whose sadness and anger threaten to overwhelm him sometimes. The proud father and grandfather who, for the first time in his life, is not sure he can provide for his family. And the communications manager who doesn’t understand why the world condemns Palestinian resistance. Together they and others in this series speak from the heart about what it means to be Palestinian. Read their stories here. Settler violence has sharply increased in the occupied West Bank since October 7 [Dylan Hollingsworth/Al Jazeera] Click here to share on social media Displaced Palestinians set up tents by Egyptian border Over the past week, some 200,000 Palestinians fled the targeted city of Khan Younis to Rafah with the population swelling to 1.4 million. Severe overcrowding of the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip led to more recent arrivals of displaced people to set up their tents right beside Egypt’s border wall. Haneen al-Athamneh, a resident of Beit Hanoon in northern Gaza, told Maan news agency she and her family had been displaced several times before reaching Rafah. “There are no services here. There is no food and only water is available through an Egyptian water line. We arrived a week ago after the Israeli army forced us to leave at gunpoint.” Palestinian children wait to receive food in Rafah, southern Gaza [Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters] Click here to share on social media Israeli far-right protesters attempt to block aid bound for Gaza Despite the Israeli army announcing the area as a closed military zone, dozens of Israeli demonstrators are attempting to prevent humanitarian aid from entering the Gaza Strip on Israel’s side of the Karam Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) border crossing. Videos posted on social media show protesters waving Israeli flags as they surround aid trucks waiting to cross. Israeli protests attempting to block aid entering Gaza have been ongoing for weeks. Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/6/israels-war-on-gaza-live-staggering-destruction-in-north-gaza-unrwa