Tag: ISIS

  • Pakistani doctor jailed in US for attempting to aid ISIS

    Pakistani doctor jailed in US for attempting to aid ISIS

    Muhammad Masood, a 31-year-old licensed Pakistani doctor living in the United States on a work visa, has been sentenced to 18 years in jail for attempting to provide material support to terrorist organisation ISIS, according to court documents.

    “A Rochester man was sentenced today to 216 months in prison, equivalent to 18 years, followed by five years of supervised release for attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization,” a press release issued by the US Department of Justice stated.

    The court documents revealed that Masood was previously employed as a research coordinator at a medical clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, under an H-1B visa.

    As per the official statement, Masood’s activity from January 2020 to March 2020 depicted his attempts to become a part of the militant outfit and provide material support in carrying out terrorist acts in the US.

    “Between January 2020 and March 2020, Masood used an encrypted messaging application to facilitate his travel overseas to join a terrorist organization,” the statement added.

    It further stated that the Pakistani man made multiple statements about his desire to join ISIS and also pledged his allegiance to the designated terrorist organisation and its leader.

    “Masood also expressed his desire to conduct ‘lone wolf’ terrorist attacks in the United States.”

    On February 21, 2020, he bought a plane ticket from Chicago, Illinois, to Amman, Jordan, with plans to travel to Syria from there.
    However, his travel plans changed on March 16, 2020, as the borders were closed by Jordan under coronavirus travel restrictions.

    He then decided to fly from Minneapolis to Los Angeles, where he would meet a person who he believed would help him with travel via a cargo ship to deliver him to the territory claimed by ISIS.

    On March 19, 2020, Masood traveled from Rochester to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) to board a flight bound for Los Angeles, California.

    However, he was eventually arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) upon arrival at the airport.

    Masood pleaded guilty last year on August 16 to attempting to provide material support to Daesh.
    Senior Judge Paul A. Magnuson sentenced him to 18 years in prison on Friday, after the completion of investigations by the FBI’s JTTF.

  • After backlash, Islamophobic film ‘The Kerala Story’ changes figures from 32,000 to just three women

    After backlash, Islamophobic film ‘The Kerala Story’ changes figures from 32,000 to just three women

    Indian director Sudipto Sen’s upcoming film ‘The Kerala Story’ has attracted widespread backlash for claiming to represent the stories of 32,000 women from the state who were lured into converting to Islam by Muslim men and then taken to Afghanistan to join militant outfit Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

    The trailer for the movie debuted online on November 3 last year. It opens with the story of Fathima Ba (played by Adah Sharma), who is a Hindu Malayali nurse and claimed to be one of the 32,000 Hindu and Christian women who were abducted and sent to Afghanistan. Since then, the film has been criticized by Indian politicians such as Congress leader and Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan for spreading misinformation that would only further marginalise the Muslims living in India:

    “The film is a bundle of lies. It says 32,000 women were converted and sent to Islamic State-held areas. Its trailer gave enough hints of its content. It is intended to defame the state and community and Sangh Parivar outfits are behind this.”

    Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan released a statement on 30 April where he slammed Sen for pushing the so-called claim of ‘love-jihad’ through the film, a conspiracy theory pushed by Hindutva members which alleges that Muslim men lure Hindu and Christian women through seduction or kidnapping to convert them into Islam. He further accused the filmmaker of threatening religious harmony by “sowing the seeds of communalism” through the debunked claim that 32,000 women were kidnapped from India and handed over to ISIS.

    “In the movie trailer, we see a hoax that 32,000 women in Kerala were converted and became members of the Islamic State. This bogus story is a product of the Sangh Parivar’s lie factory.”

    The central controversy surrounding the film was it’s claim that 32,000 women were forcibly converted to Islam in Kerala and were sent to ISIS, which has been debunked by several credible publications to be untrue. But speaking to India Today, the producer of the film, Vipul Shah, said that the focus was not the numbers, but the fact that forced conversions are still happening throughout India:

    “We don’t want to get into the debate on the numbers, we want to talk about the issue. We want to bring notice to the human tragedy happening in Kerala and in India.”

    Actor Adah Sharma also defended the movie’s false pretext, by telling India Today that she had spoken to the women who inspired the story:

    “I spoke to some of these women. There will be testimony from those who will be brave enough to come in front of cameras.”

    Politicians like Shashi Tharoor have also slammed the filmmakers for spreading misinformation regarding the 32,000 figure, and addressed it in a lengthy Twitter post where he also said that his 2021 tweet was not proof that the allegations of the filmmakers were real:

    “Many are spreading this 2021 tweet of mine as if it undermines my present objections to the trailer & publicity for “The Kerala Story”. Yes, I was approached then by three Kerala mothers and was aware of a fourth, and I was open about my concerns about their daughters’ radicalisation. But four cases are a far cry from the 32,000 that the film-makers are alleging. If there really were so many ISIS female members from Kerala, that would mean double the number when you count their husbands, whereas even Western intelligence sources says the number of ALL Indians in ISIS does not approach three figures. This gross exaggeration and distortion of the Kerala reality is what I am objecting to.”

    In a tweet posted on Monday, Tharoor offered Rs1 crore to anyone who would be able to prove that 32,000 women had been forcibly converted and sent to ISIS.

    ALT News, in an investigative piece, revealed that the director Sudipto Sen had first mentioned the figure on a Youtube channel ‘The Festival Of Bharat” where he talked about how he calculated the final number, with the help of a speech delivered by the former Kerala CM Oommen Chandy:

    “In 2010, former Kerala CM Oommen Chandy put a report in front of Kerala assembly. In front of my camera, he denied that anything had happened. But in 2010, I documented a case where he (Chandy) said that every year approximately 2,800 to 3,200 girls were taking up Islam. Just calculate it for the following 10 years, and the number is around 32,000.”

    When the publication spoke to Sen on the phone, the author Shinjinee Majumder writes, the director claimed that he picked the number up from an article published by ‘The Times Of India”:

    “This figure (32,000) is not mine. It was a piece of news in The Times of India… one thing I can tell you is that Oommen Chandy, the chief minister of Kerala, had placed this number in the state assembly. So this is not my number, I have got all the documents with me.”

    However, no publication quoting such a large number has come to light. But ALT News reports that in 2012, India Today reported the Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy informing the state minister about how 2,667 young women had converted to Islam between 2006 to 2012. Especially, Chandy had said that there was no evidence of forced conversions in the state, and the fears of ‘love jihad’ were baseless.

    When ANI news shared this report with Sen, his response was:

    “Let the intolerance reach a crescendo. I’ll share my data after the film is released. Why should I defeat the cause of my film?”

    Similarly, Kerala Police had also refuted the claims that 32,000 women had been sent to Syria as “totally baseless”.

    While a report published in 2020 by the United States Department of State’s Country Reports on Terrorism said that there were only 66 known Indian-origin fighters associated with ISIS in 2020, of which 34 terrorism cases were related to ISIS and NIA arrested 160 people by the end of September.

    Moreover, The Hindu reported in June 2021 that four Indian women were traced in an Afghanistani prison, who had travelled with their husbands to join the Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP), and it was unlikely that they would come back to India.

    As a response to the growing backlash, the film trailer has now changed the title description from 32,000 women to just three young girls, as shared by several Twitter users.

    With the film set to release on 5 May and despite calls to authorities to ban the film on grounds of hate speech and misinformation, NDTV reported today that the Indian Supreme Court had refused to entertain a petition to seek a stay on the release of ‘The Kerala Story’ because it had been cleared by the censor board:

    “There are varieties of hate speeches. This film has got certification and has been cleared by the board. It’s not like a person getting on the podium and starts giving uncontrolled speech. If you want to challenge the release of the movie, you should challenge the certification and through appropriate forum”.

  • UN Security Council condemns ‘heinous and cowardly’ terrorist attack in Peshawar

    The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) condemned the “heinous and cowardly” terrorist attack in Peshawar at a mosque on Friday (March 4). The attack was claimed by the Islamic State-Khurasan (IS-K).

    The statement on Sunday said that the UNSC members expressed their deepest sympathy and condolences to the victims and the Pakistani government.

    “I condemn the horrific attack on a mosque in Pesh­awar during Friday prayers. My condolences to those who lost loved ones, and my solidarity with the people of Pakistan,” UN Secretary Gene­ral António Guterres tweeted on Friday.

  • ‘Didn’t want to sell Pakistan out’: Karachi street criminal who turned FBI spy

    ‘Didn’t want to sell Pakistan out’: Karachi street criminal who turned FBI spy

    Kamran Faridi, United States (UN) Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) valued secret agent, has been sentenced to seven years in jail, reports Murtaza Ali Shah for The News.

    Judge Cathy Seibel of New York’s Southern District Court condemning Faridi said, “perhaps the most difficult sentencing I have ever done.”

    Faridi eventually grew close to PSF’s Najeeb Ahmed, then a well-known student leader

    “Faridi, who is currently serving time in a New York jail, was born and grew up in Block 3 of Karachi’s Gulshan-e-Iqbal area. He joined the Peoples Students Federation (PSF) — the student wing of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)— when he was a Grade-9 student at the Ali Ali School and started hanging out at the National College, Karachi University, and NED University. Faridi eventually grew close to PSF’s Najeeb Ahmed, then a well-known student leader.”

    “As he lived in an area dominated by the rival Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), it soon became difficult for him to operate from home ground. Najeeb helped Faridi shift where he joined other PSF activists living in the apartment complex.”

    “Local police and the Crime Investigation Department (CID, now known as the CTD) soon had arrest warrants out against Faridi. At the same time, MQM activists were hunting him down. Aware of the danger, Faridi’s family paid off a human smuggler and arranged for him to travel to Sweden. In Sweden, however, Faridi was unable to keep a low profile and soon got into fights with the local Albanian and Bangladeshi gangs. He was arrested a few times by local police, and in 1992, Swedish authorities blacklisted him and refused to give him a visa due to his bad conduct,” says the reporter who met with Faridi.

    “Now an illegal immigrant, Faridi went into hiding at an island, where he was allegedly helped by Greenpeace activists. A local human rights activist, according to Faridi, arranged a fake passport for him to travel to Iceland, from where he went to America and started a life in New York City. He later moved to Atlanta, Georgia, in 1994 and bought a gas station in a violent neighbourhood called Bankhead Highway.”

    “According to Faridi, Atlanta police used to hustle him regularly for bribes. Fed up of their harassment, he reported them to the FBI. This is how Faridi first came into contact with the federal agency.”

    FBI saw value in Faridi’s fluent command of Urdu, Punjabi, and Hindi, and in 1996 he became a full-time informant and agent

    “The FBI agents he was in contact with, Faridi claimed, told him that they would help him, but only if he would help them first. They wanted him to infiltrate a local Urdu-speaking Pakistani gang that had been causing difficulties for local law enforcement. The FBI saw value in Faridi’s fluent command of Urdu, Punjabi, and Hindi, and in 1996 he became a full-time informant and agent.”

    “Faridi did so well in helping the FBI’s investigations that he was offered assignments with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Drugs Enforcement Agency (DEA), UK’s MI6, French intelligence, Austrian federal police, Thailand’s Federal Police, and the Malaysian National Police. Faridi’s feats included several high-profile terrorism-related operations. He also reportedly played a key role in obtaining information from some of the world’s deadliest groups and persons.”

    It was through Faridi’s efforts that the US learned about Abu Jafar and other al-Qaida members planning to attack the US and foreign maritime vessels with explosives

    “In May 2011, Faridi began supporting an FBI investigation into the notorious South Asian criminal network, D-Company. In 2015, Faridi maintained a joint safe house with Walid Al-Agha, a Daesh supporter, and leader based in Turkey, and facilitated the travel of other ISIS supporters between Syria and Turkey. In November 2015, Al-Agha was ultimately convicted in Turkey and the US government credited Kamran Faridi for playing a lead role in the conviction. “

    “In March 2018, he travelled to South America, where he identified a support network that was facilitating the travel of terrorist operatives. It was through Faridi’s efforts that the US learned about Abu Jafar and other al-Qaida members planning to attack the US and foreign maritime vessels with explosives off the coasts of Djibouti and Europe. When Abu Jafar received scuba-diving training in Malaysia and Thailand, Faridi accompanied him, and based on Faridi’s reporting and assistance, the FBI placed Abu Jafar on its Most-Wanted list.”

    “The FBI also deployed Faridi to Southeast Asia several times in 2016, and again in 2019, to interact with senior terrorist figures. In February 2019, Faridi’s assistance led to the arrest of two al-Qaida operatives in Malaysia, according to the US government.”

    “It was due to Faridi that Karachi businessman Jabir Motiwala was arrested in London in August 2018 on suspicion that he was a top lieutenant of underworld kingpin Dawood Ibrahim and was involved in running drugs, extortion, and money laundering on behalf of D-Company, the criminal network run by Ibrahim. While Motiwala was in Wandsworth prison in London — contesting but waiting for his almost certain extradition to the US — the FBI revoked Faridi’s contract in February 2020.”

    “I did not want to sell Pakistan out on a false basis. I say it on oath that I was asked to lie in my statements by my bosses and I refused to lie,” Faridi

    “Faridi said he was asked by the FBI to falsely testify against D-Company, Dawood Ibrahim, Chhota Shakeel, Anees Bhai, and Anees Tingu in Jabir Motiwala’s case to link them to the charges against Jabir Motiwala. He was also allegedly told to sign false testimony linking these individuals to the procurement of nuclear technology on behalf of a leading Pakistani spy agency.”

    Faridi claimed he, “did not want to lie” because he “had no evidence” and he “did not want to submit a false testimony for money”.

    “I did not want to sell Pakistan out on a false basis. I say it on oath that I was asked to lie in my statements by my bosses and I refused to lie. They said if I lie the evidence will become stronger, but I refused,” he said.

    Faridi “felt betrayed” by the FBI because his wife, Kelly

    After his contract was suddenly revoked, Faridi emailed and texted multiple death threats on February 17 and 18, 2020, to his former FBI handlers.

    “Faridi had felt betrayed by the FBI because his wife, Kelly, had just been diagnosed with cancer, and news of his termination worsened the blow. The US government also informed the court that Faridi had helped “enemies of the US” when he asked his wife to alert at least four or five suspects that they were under surveillance.”

    The judge said that while she did agree that Faridi had obstructed the work of law enforcement, but “the value of this defendant’s incredible work for the United States is immense” and that “the work that Mr Faridi did for the United States is at the very top to me of valuable source work”.

    The judge added: “[…] even if the [US] government gave it the back of the hand, I don’t give it the back of the hand. Incredible work of immense value over many years, in the riskiest of circumstances, and, you know, I think it would be hard to understate (sic) the value of it.”

    “The benefit that the defendant gave this country is tremendous and the damage he did […] didn’t wipe it out completely, but it did a tremendous amount of harm.” She sent him to jail for a seven-year term.

    “I served the US wholeheartedly, but I have been rewarded a jail sentence and removed from long service because I refused to lie about Pakistan”- Faridi

    “Faridi now hopes that the judge will take a considerate look at his case and contributions and reduce the sentence. That is the only hope he has right now. He told this reporter that he will leave for Pakistan as soon as his sentence is over. “

    “I served the US wholeheartedly, but I have been rewarded a jail sentence and removed from long service because I refused to lie about Pakistan.”

  • ‘Money is a big player, money lies in India, so basically, India controls world cricket now’: PM Khan

    ‘Money is a big player, money lies in India, so basically, India controls world cricket now’: PM Khan

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan on Monday in an interview with the Middle East Eye, said, “Money is a big player now,” he said. “For the players, as well as for the cricket boards. The money lies in India, so basically, India controls world cricket now.”

    “I mean, they do, whatever they say goes. No one would dare do that to India because they know that the sums involved, India can sort of produce much more money,” PM Khan added. 

    PM Imran Khan while speaking to David Hearst and Peter Oborne of Middle East Eye, discussed a wide range of topics, including the current situation in Afghanistan, relations with the United States (US), India’s role in occupied Kashmir, allegations against China regarding the treatment of Uighurs, and cricket.

    Reconciliation with TTP

    PM Imran Khan said Islamabad is trying to speak to elements within the Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) who can be reconciled “because it’s from a position of strength”.

    “I always believed all insurgencies eventually end up on the dialogue table, like the IRA [Irish Republican Army] for instance,” he explained.

    “We now have to talk to those we can reconcile with [and persuade] to give up their arms and live as normal citizens,” he added.

    The prime minister said the Taliban had assured Islamabad that the TTP would not launch attacks into Pakistan. He accused India of instigating terrorism in Pakistan via Afghanistan, during the Ashraf Ghani-led government. 

    ‘International community must engage with Afghanistan’

    “The world must engage with Afghanistan,” he said as he warned of the consequences of not doing so. “There must be hardliners within the group [and] it can easily go back to the Taliban of 20 years ago. And that would be a disaster.”

    “Yet, the government is clearly trying to get international acceptability so it wants an inclusive government, talks about human rights and not allowing its soil to be used for terrorism by anyone,” he said.

    “It would be a total waste, what will the US have to show after 20 years? Therefore, a stable Afghanistan government which can then take on ISIS, and the Taliban are the best bet to take on ISIS, that is the only option left.”

    PM Khan said that isolating and imposing sanctions on Afghanistan would result in a massive humanitarian crisis.

    “If they are left like this, my worry is that [Afghanistan] could revert back to 1989 when the Soviets and Americans left,” he said, adding that over 200,000 Afghans died in that chaos.

    ‘Pakistan expected a bloodbath in Afghanistan’

    When asked about Pakistan’s point of view after the Taliban takeover, the prime minister said: “We have been so relieved because we expected a bloodbath […] it was a peaceful transfer of power.”

    PM Imran added that the US had to “pull itself together” from the shock it had suffered after the withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan.

    “I don’t think they have found their feet as yet,” he said, adding that Pakistan would also suffer as a result of chaos in Afghanistan.

    Taliban should be incentivised to walk the talk:

    Pressed on the lack of inclusiveness in the new government setup, the prime minister acknowledged that it was not present “right now” but hoped it would be in the future, adding that it was needed because Afghanistan was a diverse society.

    Similarly, on the issue of women’s rights, he said the Taliban should be incentivised to “walk the talk” — pointing out that the group had said it would allow women to work and get educated.

    ‘All insurgencies end up on dialogue table’

    When asked about the banned TTP posing a problem for the country, the prime minister said, “They called us collaborators, started attacking us and calling themselves the Pakistani Taliban, which we didn’t have before joining the alliance. At one point there were 50 different groups calling themselves the Taliban [and] attacking us.”

    “We are no longer collaborators because we are not allying ourselves with anyone fighting the Pakhtuns so the motivation has gone down. Now we are trying to talk to those who can be reconciled because it is from a position of strength. I believe that all insurgencies eventually end up on the dialogue table,” the premier said.

    Relations with the US

    The prime minister spoke about US President Joe Biden, saying that he is yet to speak to arguably the most powerful person in the world. 

    When the interviewer told him he found that “absolutely astonishing” that the two heads of state had not yet spoken, PM Khan said: “Well, you know, it’s up to him. It’s [US] a superpower.”

    He said he had warned US officials back in 2008 about the futility of a military solution to the Afghan issue and potentially creating a “bigger quagmire than Iraq”.

    “Unfortunately, I think they were led by the generals and you know what they always say: give us more troops and time.”

    Relation with China

    Describing relations between Pakistan and China, PM Imran said the relationship was 70-years-old and had “stood the test of time”. “In all our ups and downs, China has stood with us,” he pointed out.

    Asked about his silence on the treatment of Uighurs in China, the premier said that Pakistan had spoken to China about the Uighur issue and had been provided with an explanation. “Our relationship with China is such that we have an understanding between us. We will talk to each other, but behind closed doors because that is their nature and culture.”

    Indian role in occupied Kashmir

    The premier questioned why there was no criticism of Indian actions in occupied Kashmir or its treatment of Muslims and minorities.

    He said the Muslim world was subject to turmoil and that the government wanted to highlight the Kashmir issue and human rights violations in the occupied valley.

    “Let the world take notice of that first, then we will talk about other violations of human rights.”

    Cancellation of NZ, Eng cricket tours

    PM Imran was also asked about his reaction to the decision to cancel the England team’s tour to Pakistan, to which he responded, “I think there is still this feeling in England that they do a great favour by playing for countries like Pakistan.”

    The premier said that no one would “dare do that to India” due to the power and financial resources of the Indian cricket board. “I didn’t say anything, but I think England let themselves down because I expected a bit more from them.”

    He said that the England and New Zealand cricket teams had let themselves down by cancelling the tours based on “something which we know was fake news initiated by some Indian through Singapore”.

  • New Zealand: Multiple people injured in knife attack by an ISIS-inspired man

    New Zealand’s Prime Minister  Jacinda Ardern has said in an official statement that at least six people were hurt in a knife incident at a supermarket in Auckland, Al Jazeera has reported. The attacker was killed within 60 seconds after beginning the attack, she said. Ardern further added that the had been inspired by the ISIS group.

    “It was hateful, it was wrong. It was carried out by an individual, not a faith,” Ardern said. She described the attacker as a Sri Lankan national who arrived in New Zealand in 2011. “He alone carries the responsibility for these acts.”

    Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said the man was acting alone and police were confident there was no further threat to the public, Reuters has reported.

    “We were doing absolutely everything possible to monitor him and indeed the fact that we were able to intervene so quickly, in roughly 60 seconds, shows just how closely we were watching him,” Coster said.

    Videos of panicked people in the shopping mall after the attack has gone viral on social media.

  • More Afghans killed from American firing than blast at Kabul airport: Reports

    More Afghans killed from American firing than blast at Kabul airport: Reports

    A recent report by BBC has revealed that a significant number of those killed during the attack on Kabul airport were shot dead by the US forces in the panic after the blast.

    The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant- Khorasan (ISIL/ISIS-K) group’s suicide attack on the Kabul airport on Thursday killed around 175 Afghans and 13 United States (US) troops.

    Journalist Secunder Kermani of BBC, sharing his special report on Twitter, wrote: “Many we spoke to, including eyewitnesses, said significant numbers of those killed were shot dead by US forces in the panic after the blast.”

    https://twitter.com/SecKermani/status/1431517279859224579

    In the video, an eyewitness said, “It was doomsday for us, I saw American soldiers and some Turkish soldiers, the fire came from the bridges, and towers from the soldiers.”

    Another eyewitness holding the identity card of his relative said, “He has served the US army for years, he wasn’t killed by Taliban, he wasn’t killed ISIS. He died from the shelling.”

    “How can you be so sure?” questioned Secunder.

    “Because of the bullet, it went right through his neck, he doesn’t have an injury.”

    American forces launched a drone strike in Kabul on Sunday targeting a suicide bomber in a vehicle who was aiming to attack the airport, US officials said, as the US nears the end of its military presence in the city.

    The strike is the second carried out by US forces in Afghanistan since a militant Islamic State (IS) group’s suicide bomber struck the airport on Thursday.

    US President Joe Biden was briefed on the rocket attack at the Hamid Karzai Airport in Kabul and was informed that operations at the airport were not interrupted, the statement said.

    “National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Chief of Staff Ron Klain have briefed the President on the rocket attack at Hamid Karzai International Airport,” it added.

    As many as five rockets were fired at Kabul’s international airport but were intercepted by a missile defense system, a US official told Reuters earlier.

    US and allied forces are hurrying to evacuate their remaining citizens and at-risk Afghans before completing their own withdrawal by Tuesday to meet a deadline agreed between the Taliban and Washington.

  • US launches drone attack, killing ‘ISIS-K planner’ in Afghanistan

    US launches drone attack, killing ‘ISIS-K planner’ in Afghanistan

    The United States announced it carried out a drone attack in eastern Afghanistan against a “planner” of an Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant- Khorasan (ISIL/ISIS-K) group, after the attack outside Kabul’s airport that killed at least 175 Afghans and 13 US troops.

    “US military forces conducted an over-the-horizon counterterrorism operation today against an ISIS-K planner,” Captain Bill Urban, spokesperson for the US Central Command, said in a statement.

    “The unmanned airstrike occurred in the Nangarhar province of Afghanistan. Initial indications are that we killed the target. We know of no civilian casualties,” read the statement.

    The announcement did not identify the targeted individual but indicated that this could be the first of many counter-attack at the ISIS-K targets for Thursday’s terrorist attacks at the Kabul airport.

    The ISIS group had claimed responsibility for the attack, the group’s Amaq News Agency said on its Telegram channel.

    US President Joe Biden vowed to retaliate against Thursday’s attack in Kabul, saying that he will hunt down those responsible and make them pay.

    Biden confirmed in a speech from the White House that the bombings were carried out by the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, ISKP (ISIS-K), ISIL’s affiliate in Afghanistan.

    “To those who carried out this attack, as well as anyone who wishes America harm, know this: We will not forgive; we will not forget,” Biden said.

    “We will hunt you down and make you pay. I will defend our interests in our people with every measure at my command.”

  • ‘We will hunt you down and make you pay’: Biden reacts to 85 killed in Kabul blasts

    ‘We will hunt you down and make you pay’: Biden reacts to 85 killed in Kabul blasts

    Two suicide bombers and gunmen attacked crowds of Afghans at Kabul’s airport, transforming a scene of desperation into one of horror for those fleeing the Taliban takeover.

    At least 85 people were killed and dozens of others were wounded in the blasts on Thursday.

    Among the dead were 72 civilians and 13 United States (US) service members.

    One of the bombers struck Afghans standing knee-deep in a wastewater canal, throwing bodies into the fetid water.

    The second blast was at or near Baron Hotel, where many people, including Afghans, Britons, and Americans, were told to gather in recent days before heading to the airport for evacuation.

    The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL /ISIS) group, has claimed responsibility for the attack, the group’s Amaq News Agency said on its Telegram channel.

    US President Joe Biden vowed to retaliate against Thursday’s attack in Kabul, saying that he will hunt down those responsible and make them pay.

    Biden confirmed in a speech from the White House that the bombings were carried out by the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, ISKP (ISIS-K), ISIL’s affiliate in Afghanistan.

    “To those who carried out this attack, as well as anyone who wishes America harm, know this: We will not forgive; we will not forget,” Biden said.

    “We will hunt you down and make you pay. I will defend our interests in our people with every measure at my command.”

    Biden added that the US will continue the evacuations of American citizens and US allies despite the attack. “We will not be deterred by terrorists; we will not let them stop our mission. We will continue the evacuations,” he said.

  • PM says ‘neighbour instigating sectarian terrorism’, asks Hazara victim families to bury loved ones

    PM says ‘neighbour instigating sectarian terrorism’, asks Hazara victim families to bury loved ones

    Prime Minister Imran Khan has said asked Hazara victim families to bury their loved ones who were killed in a terrorist attack on Sunday by the Islamic State, aka Daesh.

    His tweet came in response to the demand of the Hazara protesters who asked the PM to visit their protest camp and assure them of security. The protesters have said that they will not bury their dead unless the PM listens to them in person.

    The PM, however, says that his government is taking “steps to prevent such brutal attacks” that are being instigated by the country’s “neighbour to instigate sectarian terrorism”.

    “I want to reassure the Hazara families who lost their loved ones in a brutal terrorist attack in Machh that I am cognisant of their suffering & their demands. We are taking steps to prevent such attacks in the future & know our neighbour is instigating this sectarian terrorism,” he tweeted.

    The PM also promised the Hazara community that he would visit them “very soon to offer prayers and condole with all the families personally”.

    “I share your pain & have come to you before also to stand with you in your time of suffering. I will come again very soon to offer prayers and condole with all the families personally. I will never betray my people’s trust. Please bury your loved ones so their souls find peace,” he added.

    At least 11 Hazara miners were shot dead by the Islamic State in Mach, Bolan, on Sunday. After the killings, the mourners have been staging a sit-in in Quetta for the past four days.