'India won't take anything from Pakistan lying down.'
Second part of the lecture given by Mumbai-born security expert Ashley Tellis at the National Defence University's Programme on Irregular Warfare and Special Operations Studies on the grave threat posed by the Lashkar-e-Tayiba to the world.
Though the international community first began taking notice of the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Tayiba after its spectacular coordinated bombing and shooting attacks in Mumbai, India, in November 2008, the group was established in 1987 at a time when Pakistan was in the throes of Islamic ferment.
The world saw what Lashkar-e-Tayiba was capable of during the horrific 26/11 attack in Mumbai. Post this incident, many had been speaking of the manner in which the Lashkar is positioning itself to become the next Al Qaeda. It was clear when Lashkar to boss Hafiz Saeed swore that they would have their flags flying at Washington DC, New Delhi and Tel Aviv. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has begun questioning Tahawwur Hussain Rana, the mastermind behind the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, to uncover the larger conspiracy behind the deadly strikes. Rana, who was extradited from the US, is being held at the NIA headquarters in New Delhi. The interrogation is focused on his possible connection with the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and his suspected links with the Pakistani spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
'It is typical of China's strategic deception of making virtue out of necessity,' observes Rup Narayan Das.
Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Canadian national accused of involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, has been extradited to India from the United States. Rana's interrogation is expected to shed light on the role of Pakistani state actors in the attacks, which claimed 166 lives. Indian authorities are particularly interested in his travels across India in the days leading up to the attacks, including visits to Hapur, Agra, Delhi, Kochi, Ahmedabad, and Mumbai. Rana's extradition follows a lengthy legal battle, with the US Supreme Court ultimately denying his application to challenge it. Rana is known to be associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 attacks. The investigation into the Mumbai attacks has implicated senior members of terror outfits Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Harkat-ul Jihadi Islami (HuJI), as well as officials from Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
'Fears in Washington began to intensify when it was realised that subsequent Pakistani and Indian attacks on major military facilities -- which were significant in terms of geographic scope and intensity -- could rapidly take both sides to where neither actually wanted to go.' 'The US objective was to stop the fighting as soon as possible. Everything else was secondary.'
Help of Central agencies to probe the hawala racket that helped Faizal transfer funds for the illegal activities will be taken
'Pakistan cannot sustain a war with India for more than four days. They are in such dire straits. At best they can sustain war for one week.'
Security forces on Saturday busted a Lashker-e-Tayiba module in Sopore in north Kashmir with the arrest of four militants.
'Had Haji Pir and/or Skardu been taken, the message would have gone out not just to General Asim Munir and his cohort in the Pakistan army but to the Pakistani people that every terrorist incident in India would lead to substantial loss of territory in PoK.'
'Pakistan's only concern has been while they were on the FATF watch list was to distance their State institutions and organs from any direct connection with the actual execution of militancy inside Kashmir.'
Lakhvi's reported arrest, if confirmed, speaks of the intense pressure on Pakistan from the US to act against the Lashkar. India, the US and the rest of the international community should ensure that this is not a cosmetic step like similar steps in 2002 and that the LeT infrastructure in Pakistan is dismantled and those involved in the Mumbai terrorist strike against Indians, Israelis, Americans and others are brought to justice.
"I have not seen any decrease in Lashkar-e Tayiba's strength. It continues to be a matter of great concern to us, and I've spoken on many occasions about the threat to stability in South Asia that LeT poses," the Ambassador at Large and Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Daniel Benjamin, told reporters in Washington.
Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Pakistan-born Canadian national and close associate of David Coleman Headley, is set to be extradited to India from the US. Rana was involved in the planning and execution of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, which killed 166 people, including six Americans. He assisted Headley in obtaining a visa for India, established a front company in Mumbai, and helped in reconnaissance of targets in Mumbai and New Delhi. Rana was convicted in the US for providing material support to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and sentenced to 14 years in prison. His extradition to India will allow authorities to question him about his involvement in the Mumbai attacks and potentially uncover new information about the role of Pakistani state actors.
Tahawwur Rana, accused in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, has renewed his application to the US Supreme Court seeking a stay of his extradition to India. The Supreme Court will hear the application next month. Rana, currently detained in Los Angeles, claims his extradition would violate US law and expose him to torture in India due to his health and Muslim background. The US government has denied these claims and authorized his surrender to India, citing the Extradition Treaty between the two countries. The Supreme Court's decision will determine if Rana will face justice in India or remain in the United States.
India has said it will consider engaging in development projects in Afghanistan and provide material support to the country in the health sector. The announcement came after Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri held talks with the Taliban regime's acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Dubai.
The attack, which took place near a heavily guarded complex housing All India Radio and Doordarshan Kendra near the Tourist Reception Centre, comes a day after security forces eliminated a top Pakistani commander of Lashkar-e-Tayiba in the Khanyar locality of downtown Srinagar.
The Lashkar needed to strike badly using its Southern Modules since they wanted the attention for the modules down South. When Khafa was brought into the picture, he was told that the Southern module would begin with the assasination of Narendra Modi.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has brought back Salman Rehman Khan, an alleged member of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, from Rwanda. Khan was wanted by the NIA for terror-related offences in Bengaluru. He was traced to Rwanda and returned to India on November 28, 2024. The return of Khan comes after similar operations in coordination with Interpol, where two other accused were brought back from Saudi Arabia.
The officials said Usman, who was well familiar with the Valley terrain, was a significant figure in orchestrating numerous terror attacks since his initial activity in the early 2000s.
According to intelligence reports, the terrorists entered the Akhnoor region through the Battal area, and a wireless set seized from them confirmed their association with the JeM.
Security forces eliminated two terrorists in the Redwani Payeen area in Kashmir's Kulgam district on Tuesday, May 7, 2024.
The search operation turned into an encounter after the terrorists fired on a search party of the forces, who then fired back, the official said.
The sources said that the terrorists were not expecting an action by the Indian Army and therefore were taken by surprise.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday gave its consent for jailed Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdul Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, to take oath as MP on July 5. Additional sessions judge Chander Jit Singh will pass an order on the plea on Tuesday.
The assailants believed to be Pakistani terrorists, meticulously studied the site layout before executing their plan.
A court in New Delhi on Tuesday granted two-hour custody parole to Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdul Rashid to take oath as a Lok Sabha MP on July 5.
In a significant claim, Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley on Thursday said that Ishrat Jahan -- who was killed in an alleged fake encounter in 2004 in Gujarat --was actually a suicide bomber of Lashkar-e-Tayiba terror outfit.
Top LeT bomb expert Abdul Karim Tunda was today discharged by a Delhi court in a case lodged against him in 1994 under the stringent TADA.
This was the first encounter between terrorists and security forces in Jammu and Kashmir in more than three months.
The President took the decisive move on May 27.
'The Galwan clash in 2020 resulted in a large number of troops being moved from J&K to Eastern Ladakh which caused a thinning of deployment in the Jammu area.'
Police inspector Masroor Ahmad Wani, who was critically injured when he was shot at by a Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist while playing cricket in Srinagar in October, died at AIIMS, New Delhi, on Thursday. He leaves behind his wife, who is expecting their first child.
Shoaib Ahmed Mirza alias Chhotu (35), a resident of Hubbali city in Karnataka, is the fifth person to be arrested in the case, they said.
But senior superintendent of police, operations, Lahore Syed Ali Raza told the Dawn newspaper that "Tamba is still alive but critically injured".
The security operation in the forest area of Gadole, Kokernag in Kashmir's Anantnag district, ended after seven days on Tuesday, September 19, 2023, with the killing of two Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorists.
On Thursday, the Jammu and Kashmir police said it had 'encircled' two Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorists responsible for the murders.
A massive manhunt is underway for three foreign terrorists, possibly of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, responsible for the deadly attack on pilgrims in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi that resulted in the loss of nine lives, including a two-year-old, officials involved in the investigation said on Monday.
