"We believe the suicide bomber was disguised as a guest," it was reported from the capital Kabul. "The situation in Jalalabad is very volatile. You have both the Taliban and ISIL present there. The two groups are not only fighting the government, but also each other." Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the group was not responsible for Sunday's attack.
An Afghan policeman drugged and shot dead 10 of his comrades in the central province of Uruzgan early on the 26 Jan 16. Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. "The policeman who had connections with armed militants first poisoned his comrades and then shot all of them during the night in a checkpoint," Dost Mohammad Nayab, a spokesman for the governor of Uruzgan said. Weapons and ammunition were missing from the checkpoint and a police vehicle was burned following the attack. A convoy of police heading for the checkpoint on Tuesday repelled a Taliban attack with no casualties sustained, he said. So-called "green-on-blue" attacks, when Afghan soldiers or police turn their guns on international troops or colleagues, have been a major problem during NATO's long years fighting alongside Afghan forces. The killings have bred fierce mistrust among local and foreign forces even as the rate of such incidents has dropped in recent years.
Afghanistan – At least 17 people were killed and 25 wounded when a Taliban suicide bomber blew himself up trying to enter a police building in Afghanistan's capital Kabul, a senior police source said on the 1 Feb 16. The attack happened at about 1400 hrs local time. The suicide bomber blew himself up in front of a civil order police building in the centre of the city. The attack was five days before another scheduled round of peace talks in the presence of Afghan, Pakistan, Chinese and US officials. Kabul was hit by a series of suicide attacks last month, including one that killed seven journalists from a private television station, as the Taliban stepped up its campaign against the Western-backed government. The attacks coincided with renewed efforts to revive a peace process with the armed group that stalled last year.
India/ISIS – The arrested persons alleged to be connected to the ISIS had formed an outfit with a proper hierarchy. They were operating on behalf of the ISIS under the name of Janood-ul-Khilafa-e-Hind. This was a name that they had given the outfit to avoid the heat of the intelligence bureau it was reported on the 28 Jan 16. If one looks at the manner in which the ISIS functions in India, it becomes clear that the authorised name of the group is Ansar-ul-Tawhid. This outfit which is headed by Shafi Armar a Bhatkal (Karnataka) resident is the official recruiting agency for the ISIS in India.
The structure:
Investigations being conducted by the National Investigating Agency has found that these 14 youth who were arrested last week had a proper structure. The chief was known as the Ameer-e-Hind. The Ameer-e-Hind of the outfit has been identified as Mudabbir Mushtaq Shaikh. A resident of Malwani in Mumbai, Rizwan was given the title Naib Ameer which means deputy chief. Ameer-e-Askari or head of combat operations was a title given to Najmul Huda, a resident of Bajpe in Mangalore. Nafees Khan a resident of Hyderabad was appointed as the head of logistics. While this was the hierarchy structure in India, the emir or the overall chief was Shafi Armar. His brother, Sultan Armar who floated the Ansar-ul-Tawhid after breaking away from the Indian Mujahedeen had officially been declared as the emir. The declaration of Sultan as the Emir was done by Abu Bakr al-Bhagdadi, the chief of the ISIS in a video. This video was in circulation two years back and had been posted on an ISIS website. Sultan however died in Syria a few months back following which his brother is said to have taken over the Ansar-ul-Tawhid.
Indonesia – A letter warns Denpasar and Singaraja could be next, with members of the Islamic State (ISIS) already there and "ready to blow up these cities in the name of Allah" it was reported on the 19 Jan 16. It's believed the letter, which threatened to attack shopping centres, offices and tourist hotspots, was delivered to a local government office in Buleleng by a middle aged man on a motorbike. Buleleng police Chief Heri Heriyadi told Fairfax Media the police are taking witness accounts and scanning CCTV footage as part of their investigation. Mr Heriyadi said:"Regardless of whether the letter is serious or not, we always take it seriously. "When the letter was opened by administration staff the situation turned quite chaotic. "It was a threatening letter, one of our team was there, saw the letter and the ruckus, they immediately took the letter and witnesses to police station, so we can do an immediate follow up." Daily patrols are now taking place between four and five times a day as Bali remains on its highest alert for possible terror attacks.
Pakistan – At least 10 people have been killed by a suicide bomber riding a motorbike close to a police checkpoint in north-western Pakistan, police said on the 19 Jan 16. About 20 people were also injured in the blast, which took place in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) on the outskirts of Peshawar. There has been fierce fighting in the region between security forces and the Pakistani Taliban. No-one has yet said they carried out the attack. At least five policemen were among the dead. Their vehicle was targeted by the bomber, officials said. The bomb went off near Peshawar's Karkhano Market.
Pakistan – At least 20 people have been killed, including students and a professor, as gunmen attacked a university in northwest Pakistan, a provincial minister said on the 20 Jan 16. The assault began on the morning of the 20 Dec 16 morning at the Bacha Khan University in Charsadda, about 140km from the capital Islamabad. Provincial Minister for Health and Information Shaukat Yousafzai added that over 50 people had been injured. Police officials have confirmed that six gunmen had been killed. One faction of the Pakistan Taliban, the Dara Adma Khel splinter group, claimed responsibility for the attack. However, chief of the Pakistan Taliban, Fazlullah, condemned the attack in a statement, adding that those using the group's name will be brought to justice. The university has over 3,000 enrolled students and was hosting an additional 600 visitors on the 20 Jan for a poetry recital on the death anniversary of the Pashtun activist Abdul Ghaffar 'Bacha' Khan, the vice chancellor said. A splinter group of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on the 20 Jan 16 claimed responsibility for the attack on the university in the country's northwest district of Charsadda, which has reportedly killed 19 people and wounded over 50 others.