September 5, 2024

DG ISPR says military along with LEAs has cleared area spanning 46,000 square kilometres from terrorists Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) Lieutenant General Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry on Thursday underscored the success against terrorists and ruled out the presence of no-go areas in the country. “There is no area where terrorists are active,” the top military’s spokesperson said, adding that the army along with the law enforcement agencies (LEAs) has cleared an area spanning 46,000 square kilometres from terrorists. The DG ISPR’s statement came during a press conference at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi on Thursday to address country’s internal security, anti-terrorism measures and other issues. Today’s presser comes in the wake of increased terrorist attacks that have resulted in dozens of civilians and members of security forces and LEAs being martyred in recent weeks. Commenting on the recent unrest in Balochistan, the military’s spokesperson recalled the attacks carried out by militants on the night between August 25 and 26 in the province. “We know that there is a sense of deprivation in Balochistan [….] The perpetrators of terrorism have nothing to do with Islam or Balochistan,” Lt Gen Chaudhry said. Addressing the militants carrying out terrorist attacks in Balochistan along with those on whose behest they are being carried out, he gave a clear message that they will be dealt with iron hands. 32,173 IBOs carried out against terrorists, facilitators Briefing about the situation on terrorism, the DG ISPR said that the security forces and law enforcement agencies (LEAs) carried out 32,173 IBOs against terrorists and their facilitators across the country in the first eight months of the ongoing year — of which 4,021 were carried out in the last one month. Meanwhile, at least 90 Khawarij were sent to hell in the past 30 days in these IBOs, the military’s spokesperson added. Underscoring the ongoing efforts against terrorism, Lt Gen Chaudhry said that around 130 IBOs are carried out on a daily basis by the Pakistan Army, intelligence agencies, police and LEAs. Revealing the number of martyrs, who sacrificed their lives to defend the motherland in the last eight months, DG ISPR said that 193 officers and soldiers embraced martyrdom in the counter-terrorism operations. He also called for strengthening the country’s criminal justice system. Addressing the spike in terror incidents since the Afghan Taliban-led administration came to power in Kabul, DG ISPR said that those attempting to create discord between the two brotherly nations are “living in an imaginary world”. Army on self-accountability The press conference also addressed queries regarding the ongoing arrest and inquiry into former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lieutenant General (retd) Faiz Hamid’s Top City case pertaining land grabbing and snatching valuables from the owner of a private housing society. Commenting on the matter, Chaudhry said that the law takes its own course if a person from the Pakistan Army “works for personal gain or promotes a specific agenda”. “A petition was filed against Gen (retd) Faiz in the Top City case and a high-level court inquiry was ordered in April 2024,” the army’s top spokesperson told reporters during a press briefing held at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi on Thursday. Lt Gen Chaudhry said action will be taken against whoever is involved no matter what position or status they hold. However, he added that who is court-martialed has the right to present evidence and to appeal. The ISPR’s director-general also stressed that the military is a national army which has no political agenda, adding that the Pakistan Army believes in the process of self-accountability. “Pakistan is neither against nor in favour of any political party,” highlighted the Lt Gen, stressing there will be no compromise on national security. He added that the army’s accountability system is comprehensive and transparent and it works on concrete evidence not on allegations. Earlier during the presser, Chaudhry maintained that Pakistan Army is neither against nor in favour of any political party in the country. Source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1227275-dg-ispr-to-brief-on-security-other-matters-in-presser

Russia’s border regions began to form volunteer forces to fight Ukraine’s four week-old counter-invasion in Kursk, as Moscow continued to resist any major redeployment of forces from Ukraine to defend its own territory. Kursk governor Alexei Smirnov said last Friday that he would form a volunteer combat reserve force, and Ukrainian Kharkiv forces spokesman Vitaly Sarantsev said Russia’s Bryansk and Belgorod regions were doing the same. All three regions border Ukraine. Sarantsev estimated the strength of the three volunteer forces at just below 5,000 soldiers. Moscow appeared to have redeployed limited units to Kursk, as Al Jazeera reported last week, but it has mainly relied on a hotch-potch of existing border and internal security forces to defend Russia. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday told NBC that Moscow had diverted 60,000 soldiers from Ukraine to Kursk. A week earlier, his commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrskii, put the figure at 30,000. But they have not provided details to back up these assertions, that appear at odds with what open-source intelligence suggests. Putin downplayed the importance of the incursion during a visit to a secondary school in the Tuva region of Siberia. “We have to deal with these thugs who made it into Russia,” he told students in Kyzyl. Putin has studiously avoided launching a general mobilisation during the war. Russian defensive efforts appeared to have slowed the Ukrainian advance. Ukraine was reported to have captured one settlement during the past week, Nizhnyaya Parovaya north of Sudzha, and Russian forces managed to recapture Ulanok, southeast of Sudzha. Meanwhile Russian forces continued to press on towards Pokrovsk, a city in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region which has been their focus since they seized Avdiivka in February. They have formed a 29km (18 mile) long salient stretching to the west of Avdiivka since then and are within about 8km (5 miles) of the outskirts of Pokrovsk. During the past week, Russian forces overran Novohrodivka and entered Hrodivka, two towns east of Pokrovsk. They also claimed to be on the outskirts of Myrnohrad, a town immediately to the east of Pokrovsk. Zelenskyy has referred to the estimated 1,300sq km (502sq miles) it has taken in Kursk as an “exchange fund”, presumably intending to swap it for Ukrainian land in a peace settlement. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov quashed any such notion on Saturday during an interview with Russia Today. “Zelenskyy said… that they will need this for future exchanges. That’s why they are taking prisoners and want to seize square kilometers,” said Lavrov. “It’s so simple-minded and naive. We do not discuss our territory with anyone. We do not negotiate about our territory.” Putin took the same line in Tuva, saying the Kursk operation was doomed to failure, and when it did, Ukraine “will have a true desire — not in words, but in deeds — to move to peaceful negotiations”. Zelenskyy reshuffles cabinet Zelenskyy has said the Kursk invasion is part of his victory plan and it is achieving all of its aims. On Tuesday night he warned of a government shake-up ahead of an autumn that will be “extremely important for Ukraine”. His top priorities included increasing weapons production, speeding up “real negotiations” with the European Union and a “special interaction” with NATO Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/9/5/putin-pushes-towards-ukraines-pokrovsk-as-smaller-forces-defend-kursk

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/9/5/israels-war-on-gaza-live-thousands-flee-jenin-homes-at-gunpoint