Navy chief warns of terror strikes through sea

New Delhi, March 5 (IANS): Underlining that India is facing state-sponsored terrorism, Indian Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba on Tuesday said there are reports of terrorists being trained to carry out attacks through various ways including via the sea route. Addressing the Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue, Admiral Lanba without taking names hit out at Pakistan for abetting terrorism in the region. He said that the Indo-Pacific region has witnessed multiple forms of terrorism in recent years, and few countries in this part of the world have been spared by this scourge. “The global nature which terrorism has acquired in recent times has further enhanced the scope of this threat. India, however, faces a far more serious version of terrorism -- state-sponsored terrorism,” Lanba said as he cited the example of February 14 Pulwama attack in which at least 40 paramilitary troopers were killed. “This violence was perpetrated by extremists aided and abetted by a state, which seeks to destabilise India. We also have reports of terrorists being trained to carry out attacks with varying modus operandi, including through the medium of sea,” he said. “We have seen how quickly terrorist groups evolve across the globe and this particular ‘brand’ of terror may well become a global problem in the near future,” he added. The Navy chief said that the Indian security establishment is continuously working to address this menace, and stressed that it is “imperative” that the global community acts to contain and eliminate terrorism, in all its forms. “As maritime economic endeavour increases across the region, there is need to enhance maritime security, both individual and collective. Given the wide range of threats at sea, from piracy and crime to maritime terrorism, it is important that all stakeholders work together,” he said. He said that enhancing regional security cooperation will “allow us to optimally coordinate efforts to counter common challenges”, optimise responses to shared situations and continuously learn from each others’ best practices. In a related development, Pakistan on Tuesday said that it thwarted an attempt by an Indian submarine to violate Pakistani territorial waters. However, the Indian Navy refuted the allegations, saying its deployment is to “protect national maritime interests”.  

JeM chief’s son, brother among 44 taken into preventive detention

[caption id="attachment_237039" align="alignleft" width="300"] Pakistani Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Afridi, right, and Pakistan’s Interior Secretary Azam Suleman Khan give a press conference at Islamabad in Pakistan on Tuesday.[/caption] Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar’s son and brother were among 44 members of the banned militant outfits taken into “preventive detention”, Pakistan said on Tuesday, amid mounting pressure from the global community on it to rein in the terror groups operating on its soil. “It was decided (at a meeting) to speed up action against all proscribed groups. In compliance, 44 under observation members of proscribed organisations, including Mufti Adbul Raoof and Hamad Azhar, have been taken in preventive detention for investigation,” the interior ministry said in a statement. Later at a press conference here, Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Khan Afridi confirmed that 44 people have been taken into custody as part of crackdown on militant groups. Ministry of Interior Secretary Azam Suleman Khan said Hamad Azhar and Mufti Abdul Raoof were among those detained. Hamad is the son of Masood Azhar while Raoof is his brother. Khan said a dossier shared by India with Pakistan last week also contained names of Raoof and Hamad. “It does not mean that action is being taken against only those individuals who are mentioned in the dossier,” he added. The crackdown came amid tensions with India following a suicide attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on February 14 by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group that killed 40 CRPF soldiers. India last week handed over the dossier to Pakistan to take action against the JeM, as pressure mounted on Islamabad to take action against individual and organisation listed by the UN Security Council as terrorists. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi last week admitted that the JeM chief is in Pakistan and is “very unwell”, but said the government can act against him only if India presents “solid” and “inalienable” evidence that can stand in a court of law. “He is in Pakistan, according to my information. He is unwell to the extent that he can’t leave his house, because he’s really unwell,” Qureshi told CNN in an interview. Afridi, however, said the action was not taken due to any pressure. “This is our own initiative...We won’t allow the use of our soil against any country,” he said. Interior Secretary Khan said the action would be taken against all the proscribed organisations under the National Action Plan, which was formulated after an attack on an army school in Peshawar in 2014 that killed nearly 150 people, mostly children. “This is across the board - we don’t want to give the impression that we are against one organisation,” he said. He said the crackdown will continue for two weeks and actions against the arrested members will be taken on the basis of evidence. Responding to a question, Khan said Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud-Dawa and its charity wing Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation would be banned within 24 hours. On February 21, Pakistan government had announced that it had banned the JuD and FIF. However, according to the website of the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NCTA), which was updated on Monday, JuD and FIF are still under watch list. The interior ministry statement also said that a high-level meeting was held on March 4 to implement National Action Plan (NAP). It said that actions against extremists will continue, as per the decisions taken in National Security Committee (NSC). The move came a day after Pakistan on Monday promulgated a law to streamline the procedure for the implementation of the UN sanctions against individuals and organisations. Interpreting the order, Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said the order means that the government has taken over the control of assets and properties of all banned outfits operating in the country.