Pakistan's new Army Chief has begun setting the stage to act against groups like LeT and JeM
Most of the suspects behind the killing of a key aide of Jaish e Mohammed terror group chief Masood Azhar and his two associates have been arrested, the police chief of Pakistan's Punjab province said on Friday, days after the trio were shot dead at a mosque in Sialkot city.
After receiving sanction under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the NIA will name Azhar, his brother Rauf Asghar, and handlers of four terrorists -- Qashif Jan and Shaid Latif in the chargesheet to be filed soon, official sources said.
China has blocked a proposal by the US and India at the United Nations to blacklist Abdul Rauf Azhar, the brother of Jaish-e Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar and the deputy chief of the Pakistan-based terror group, in the second such move by Beijing in less than two months.
Hafiz Talha Saeed is a senior leader of the LeT and is the head of the cleric wing of the terrorist organisation.
China has put a hold on a proposal moved at the United Nations by the United States and co-supported by India to designate Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist Sajid Mir, one of India's most wanted terrorists and the main handler of the deadly 2008 Mumbai attacks, as a global terrorist.
It is learnt that China placed a hold on the proposal by India and the US to designate Mahmood as a global terrorist under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council.
In the wake of China blocking United Nations Security Council's sanctions against Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar, India has provided detailed information to it about his involvement in terror activities, and hopes Beijing would support the move. The issue figured during the talks between special representatives -- National Security Adviser M K Narayanan and Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo in New Delhi last Friday and Saturday.
The policemen were patrolling the area in view of a separatist-sponsored strike.
The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Gujranwala issued the warrant during a hearing in a terror financing case instituted by the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab police against some members of the JeM.
As Xi is due to arrive in Goa on Saturday to take part in the BRICS Summit, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said the relations between India and China made "great headway" despite some "disputes" but there was no change in in Beijing's stand on the issues of NSG and Azhar.
13 persons were picked up by the Special Cell after a late night operation on Tuesday. Of them, three -- Sajid, Sameer Ahmed, and Shakir Ansari -- have been arrested, four let off and six are still being questioned by the investigators.
Nengroo is the fifth individual to have been designated as a terrorist by the Centre in the last fortnight.
He pointed out that after air strike there were no major terrorist attacks during the Lok Sabha polls because it acted as a deterrent.
The Jammu and Kashmir authorities have already snapped mobile internet services across the valley as a precautionary measure, in anticipation of a possible a law and order problem, police said, adding that there are strict restrictions on the movement of people.
Pakistan has not yet informed India whether it has taken any action taken against JeM, believed to be responsible for the terror attack on Pathankot airbase.
Both the terrorists, equipped with suicide vests and sophisticated weapons, were killed in the encounter on Friday, averting a major suicide attack in the city.
He said the case was cracked within three days with the arrest of a 'recycled' terrorist with five more improvised explosive devices in his possession, including three ready-to-use sticky bombs.
Khalistani separatist Lakhbir Singh alias 'Rode', a designated terrorist under the Indian law, has died recently in Pakistan, where he had taken refuge after his uncle Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was killed in 1984 during an army action, officials said on Tuesday.
Terming the action by China as "surprising", External Affairs Ministry said it had expected China would have been more understanding of the danger posed to all by terrorism and would join India and others in fighting the common challenge of terrorism.
Umer Khalid was a A++ category top ranking terrorist and carried a cash reward of nearly Rs 7 lakh.
The hijackers of an Indian Airlines plane in 1999 -- Abdul Rauf Asghar, Ibrahim Athar and Yusuf Azhar -- have also been named in the list, prepared under provisions of the amended Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said, "Topmost Pakistani terrorist affiliated with proscribed terror outfit JeM, Lamboo, killed in today's encounter." The IGP said Mohammad Ismal Alvi alias Lamboo alias Adnan was from the family of JeM chief Masood Azhar.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday attached 17 properties of Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Ahmed Shah Watali in a terror funding case, the agency said.
Pakistan has formally lodged a protest with the US over its joint statement with India against the country's involvement in cross-border terrorism.
'Their (Pakistani) objective was to hit our army places. They could not and that is the bottom line'
Two terrorists carried out a 'fidayeen' attack on an Army camp in Jammu's Rajouri district in the early hours of Thursday, killing three soldiers.
About 150 terrorist entities and individuals, either based or with links to Pakistan have been blacklisted by the United Nations, with the latest addition being of Abdul Rehman Makki, the Lashkar-e-Taiba deputy chief designated by the Security Council's Al Qaeda sanctions committee.
As per one of the arrested persons, the slain terrorists were Pashto-speaking either from a village in Pakistan bordering Afghanistan or from Afghanistan itself, the Jammu police chief told reporters in Jammu in the evening.
Pakistani authorities have conveyed to New Delhi that there was no substantial evidence that could prove the involvement of Maulana Azhar in the Pathankot assault".
Modi is scheduled to visit Palli village of Samba on National Panchayati Raj Day on April 24.
The Congress accused the BJP and a section of media of deliberately twisting Gandhi's remarks.
The anti-militancy operations in the valley would continue.
The officials said they had no information other than that Azhar was undergoing treatment at an army hospital after suffering renal failure.
Seven terrorists, including terror outfit Ansar Ghazwatul Hind chief Imtiaz Ahmad Shah, were gunned down by security forces in two encounters in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian and Pulwama districts, police said on Friday.
"The killing of Abdul Rehman alias Fauji Bhai alias Fauji Baba, a Pakistani national, is a big success for security forces as he was a master in assembling improvised explosive devices for JeM," Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar told reporters in Srinagar.
The US president said that there is a lot of "dislike" (between India and Pakistan).
When asked why he himself had not taken any action against the Jaish leadership and the organisation when he was in power, the former military ruler said, "Those were different times. Our intelligence men were involved in a tit-for-tat between India and Pakistan... This was continuing at that time and amid all of this, no major action was taken against the Jaish. And I also did not insist."
'Congrats to our team @USUN for their work in negotiating JEM's Masood Azhar's #UN designation as a terrorist,' Pompeo tweeted.
At least 20 other soldiers are injured including some very seriously.
