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At least eight Afghan Taliban fighters were killed and 16 others injured in the early hours of Saturday (September 7) when Pakistani forces retaliated against unprovoked cross-border firing from Afghanistan’s Pilwasin area. According to Geo News, sources linked with border security personnel confirmed two “key commanders” of the Afghan Taliban, Khalil and Jan Muhammad, were killed in the exchange of fire. “Afghan Taliban opened fire towards Pakistani check-posts using advanced weaponry in Pilwasin on the morning of September 7.” Besides a spike in terrorist activities within the borders, Pakistan has witnessed a significant surge in cross-border attacks from the neighbouring country targetting security forces in recent months. pak afghan border firingPlay Video Islamabad has time again called on the interim Afghanistan government to prevent its land from being used by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militant organisations for carrying out attacks against Pakistan. Earlier this year, the government introduced a major policy shift under a decision to stringently enforce international laws at its borders with Afghanistan, to restrict the influx of militants and smuggled goods into the country. Afghanistan does not recognise the Durand Line, the border between the two countries, arguing it was created by the British to divide ethnic Pashtuns. The 2,640-kilometre border was established in 1893 through an agreement between British-ruled India and Abdur Rahman Khan, then ruler of Afghanistan. Both countries share 18 crossing points, with Torkham and Chaman being the most frequently used for trade and movement of people. These crossings connect Balochistan province to Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province. In 2017, Pakistan started fencing the border with Afghanistan to contain terrorist cross-border movement, a move condemned by Kabul. Last month, three Pakistani soldiers embraced martyrdom in a gun battle with terrorists who were trying to infiltrate Pakistan via the Afghanistan border near Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) district Bajaur, the Inter-Service Public Relation (ISPR) said. “Own troops effectively engaged and thwarted their attempt to infiltrate. Resultantly, five Khwarij of Fitna al Khwarij were sent to hell, while four Khwarij got injured,” the ISPR said. The nation has been reeling under rising violent attacks since the Taliban rulers returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021, particularly in the bordering provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. More recently, a series of deadly terror attacks hit Balochistan in a single day, which claimed the lives of 50 people, including 14 security personnel. In response to these attacks, security operations were intensified across the region. In 2023, there were at least 170 militant attacks killing 151 civilians and 114 security personnel in Balochistan, as per the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies. Against this backdrop, the federal cabinet in June this year approved Operation Azm-e-Istehkam, a reinvigorated national counter-terrorism campaign following the Central Apex Committee’s recommendations under the National Action Plan to root out terrorism. Source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1228327-eight-afghan-taliban-fighters-killed-in-retaliatory-fire-along-pak-afghan-border

Torrential rains have caused havoc, landslides and a bridge collapse, and swept a bus into a torrent. At least 59 people have been killed in Vietnam amid landslides and floods triggered by Typhoon Yagi, according to state media reports. The typhoon was Asia’s most powerful storm this year and made landfall on Vietnam’s northeastern coast on Saturday, after causing havoc in China and the Philippines. Among the victims were six people, including a newborn baby and a one-year-old boy, who were killed in a landslide in the Hoang Lien Son mountains of northwestern Vietnam. Their bodies were discovered on Sunday, a local official told the AFP news agency. Other victims included a family of four who were killed after heavy rain caused a hillside to collapse onto a house in mountainous Hoa Binh province in northern Vietnam, state media reported. On Monday morning, a passenger bus carrying 20 people was swept into a flooded stream by a landslide in mountainous Cao Bang province. Advertisement Rescuers were deployed, but landslides blocked the path to where the incident took place. In Phu Tho province, rescue operations were continuing after a steel bridge over the engorged Red River collapsed. Reports said 10 cars and trucks, along with two motorbikes, fell into the river. Three people were pulled out of the river and taken to hospital, but 13 others were missing. The Vietnamese government said the storm disrupted power supplies and telecommunications in several parts of the country, mostly in Quang Ninh and Hai Phong in the northeast. The weather agency on Monday warned of more floods and landslides, noting that rainfall had ranged between 208mm and 433mm (8.2 inches to 17 inches) in several parts of the region over the past 24 hours. “Floods and landslides are damaging the environment and threatening people’s lives,” the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting said in a report. Yagi weakened to a tropical depression on Sunday, but several areas of the port city of Hai Phong were under half a metre (1.6 feet) of water and there was no electricity. At Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage Site about 70km (43 miles) up the coast from the city, the disaster management authority said 30 vessels sank after being pounded by strong wind and waves. The typhoon also damaged nearly 3,300 houses, and more than 120,000 hectares (296,500 acres) of crops in the north of the country, the authority said. Before arriving in Vietnam, Yagi tore through southern China and the Philippines, killing at least 24 people and injuring dozens of others. Typhoons in the region are now forming closer to the coast, intensifying more rapidly, and staying over land for longer due to climate change, according to a study published in July. Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/9/9/at-least-24-dead-in-vietnam-after-typhoon-yagi-triggered-landslides-floods

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/9/9/israels-war-on-gaza-live-school-year-starts-without-60000-gaza-students

Ukraine appears to be calling on a fleet of fire-spewing “dragon drones” in its war with Russian invaders, putting a modern twist on a munition used to horrific effect in both world wars. A series of videos posted on social media, including on Telegram from the Ukrainian Defense Ministry on Wednesday, show the low-flying drones dropping torrents of fire – actually molten metal – onto Russian-held positions in tree lines. The white-hot mixture of aluminum powder and iron oxide, called thermite, burns at temperatures up to 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,200 degrees Celsius). It can quickly burn off trees and vegetation giving cover to Russian troops, if not killing or disabling the troops outright. As it falls from the drone, the thermite resembles the fire coming from the mouth of the mythical dragon, giving the drones their nickname. “Strike Drones are our wings of vengeance, bringing fire straight from the sky!” a social media post from Ukraine’s 60th Mechanized Brigade said. “They become a real threat to the enemy, burning his positions with an accuracy that no other weapon can achieve,” the post continued. “When our ‘Vidar’ works – the Russian woman will never sleep,” it added. Vidar is the Norse god of vengeance. Creating that kind of fear is likely the main effect of Ukraine’s thermite drones, according to Nicholas Drummond, a defense industry analyst specializing in land warfare and a former British Army officer. “It is very nasty stuff. Using a drone to deliver it is quite innovative. But used in that way its effect will have been psychological more than physical,” Drummond told CNN. “I understand that Ukraine only possesses a limited capacity to deliver a thermite effect, so this is a niche capability rather than new mainstream weapon,” he said. But he acknowledges the terror thermite can create. “I would not have liked to have been on the receiving end,” Drummond said. Incendiary weapons in war Thermite can easily burn through almost anything, including metal, so there’s little protection from it. It was discovered by a German chemist is the 1890s and was originally used to weld railroad tracks. But its military potency soon became apparent, with the Germans dropping it from zeppelins as bombs over Britain in World War I, according to a history from McGill University in Montreal. Both Germany and the Allies used thermite aerial bombs in World War II, and they also utilized it to disable captured artillery pieces, putting thermite into the breech and melting the weapon shut from the inside. According to Action on Armed Violence (AOAV), a British anti-war advocacy group, Ukraine has previously used thermite dropped from drones to permanently disable Russian tanks. The thermite is dropped “directly through the hatches, where the intense heat quickly ignites and destroys everything inside,” an AOAV report says. Related articleVideo footage appears to show Russians killing surrendering Ukrainian soldiers “This precision, combined with the drone’s ability to bypass traditional defenses, makes thermite bombs a highly effective tool in modern warfare,” it says. Thermite is just one type of incendiary weapon, with others including napalm and white phosphorus. The United Nations Office for Disarmament says incendiary weapons can cause massive destruction and environmental damage. “The fires produced by the weapon itself or ignited by it are difficult to predict and to contain. Therefore, incendiary weapons are often described as ‘area weapons’ due to their impact over a broad area,” it says on its website. The United States used napalm to burn much of Japan’s capital to the ground in World War II’s infamous Tokyo fire raids. US forces also used it extensively in Vietnam. The US military has also used thermite in grenades, with the US Army’s Pine Bluff Arsenal producing the weapons from the 1960s through 2014 and then resuming production again in 2023. What thermite does to humans Under international law, thermite is not banned for military combat, but its use on civilian targets is prohibited because of the horrible effects it can have on the human body. In a 2022 report on incendiary weapons, such as thermite, Human Rights Watch called them “notorious for their horrific human cost,” including inflicting fourth- or fifth-degree burns. “They can cause damage to muscles, ligaments, tendons, nerves, blood vessels, and even bones,” HRW said. Treatment can last months and require daily attention. If victims survive, they are left with physical and psychological scars, HRW said. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Moscow’s initial push into Ukraine was stopped far short of capturing the capital of Kyiv, and the sides have fought over much of the same territory for most of the war. Ukraine’s forces, outnumbered and outgunned by Russia, have proven adept at innovating with small drones to hammer Moscow’s troops and equipment. A Ukrainian incursion into Russian territory near Kursk in August surprised Putin and has boosted Ukrainian confidence that it can prevail in the war. Kyiv has accused Russian forces of using unspecified incendiary munitions on civilian targets earlier in the war, including on a village outside of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, in May 2022. CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh went through that village, Cherkaski Tyshky, shortly after a Russian attack and described a scene of “homes, fields, even the air itself, torched.” Ukrainian officers also accused Russia of using incendiaries in attacks on the city of Bakhmut last year. Those uses of incendiaries haven’t led to quick victory for Russia, and Drummond doesn’t think they are a battlefield game changer for Ukraine either. “If Ukraine wants to achieve real impact, it needs sufficient mass to force a proper breakthrough as it has in Kursk. This is what victory looks like,” Drummond said. But thermite does give Russian troops another reason to be fearful of Ukrainian drones, he said. “We have seen instances where Russian forces attacked by multiple drones have deserted their positions. The more Ukraine can instill a fear of drones the better its chances of success,” he said. “Thermite keeps up the pressure.” Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2024/09/07/europe/ukraine-thermite-dragon-drones-intl-hnk-ml/index.html

Security personnel killed a group of suicide bombers in Mohmand district as they tried to attack a Frontier Corps Headquarters, the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Saturday. The military’s media wing said thwarting attack on the FC Headquarters, all four khwarij terrorists were neutralised in the wee hours on Friday. “The attempt to enter the camp was effectively thwarted by the security forces personnel, and resultantly the khwarij, all four suicide bombers, were sent to hell before they could cause the intended damage,” it said. The ISPR said sanitisation operation was being conducted to eliminate any other terrorist found in the area. “Pakistan security forces stand valiant, with the sheer determination and resolve, to wipe out the menace of terrorism from the country,” the military’s media wing said. On the other hand, five terrorists were killed in an exchange of fire with security forces in Surkhab refugee camp in Pishin district. According to a spokesman of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) on Saturday, a huge cache of arms and ammunition was recovered from the den of the killed terrorists. Addressing a ceremony held at the General Headquarters (GHQ), Rawalpindi, in connection with the Defence Day, Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Friday reaffirmed his government’s unwavering commitment to combating terrorism. On this occasion, he pledged to continue the ongoing operation against Fitna-al-Khwarij until their complete eradication. “All our armed forces and law enforcing agencies will continue their operation for which there is a national consensus,” he had said. Source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1227895-security-personnel-kill-four-terrorists-in-mohmand-ispr

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/9/7/israels-war-on-gaza-live-israeli-attacks-kill-dozens-in-gaza-west-bank

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

NATO-member Poland has scrambled aircraft as Russia launched air strikes on Ukraine‘s western city of Lviv close to its border. Polish and “allied” aircraft were scrambled overnight on Tuesday as Russia launched a major attack on Lviv, according to Reuters news agency. It was the third time in eight days that the NATO member’s defences had been activated since Russia stepped up its bombardment across Ukraine. At least seven people are reported to have been killed in Lviv, with many more injured in drone and missile attacks that saw historic buildings destroyed in the heart of the city, according to regional officials. Andriy Sadovyi, the mayor of Lviv city, said three children were among the dead. In a video posted on the Telegram messaging app that showed the mayor among the debris of a destroyed building, he said more than 50 structures, from schools to homes and clinics, most of them in the heart of the city, had been damaged. The operational command of Poland’s armed forces said on X platform that “Polish and allied aircraft” had been scrambled due to the Russian attack in western Ukraine. “This is another very busy night for the entire air defence system,” the post read. Russia also hit Kyiv and several other regions with missiles on Wednesday morning, but no immediate damage was reported. Moscow has been pounding Ukraine with hundreds of missiles and drones over the past two weeks. Russian military bloggers claim that the step up in air strikes is a response to Kyiv’s incursion into its territory in Kursk. The deadliest single attack this year was seen on Tuesday, as a military institute in the central town of Poltava was hit. The strike, by a pair of ballistic missiles, killed more than 50 and wounded hundreds. Russia has yet to comment on the attack on Poltava or Wednesday’s strikes on Lviv and Kyiv. It has long insisted that its strikes only aim at military, energy and transport infrastructure targets, not civilians. Poland beefing up defence On Tuesday, Warsaw announced new military deals worth $520m, the latest move in a drive to beef up its defence prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Poland currently spends 4 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defence – the highest ratio of any NATO member – and hopes to boost the number to 4.7 percent next year. Last month, Warsaw signed a $10bn deal to buy 96 Apache attack helicopters from US manufacturer Boeing. They will replace outdated Russian Mi-24 helicopters. Warsaw has also announced a deal to buy hundreds of AIM-120C AMRAAM air-to-air missiles, as well as a contract for 48 launchers for US-designed Patriot air defence systems. Poland’s army has 200,000 soldiers, making it NATO’s third largest after the United States and Turkey, and the biggest in the European Union. Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/9/4/poland-scrambles-planes-as-russia-strikes-western-ukraine