Pakistan:
Zee News: A Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader who was to run in the upcoming polls, has been shot dead in Sindh. “The gunmen escaped after the attack. No group claimed responsibility for the killing.
Islam had filed nomination papers to contest polls to both the Sindh Assembly and the National Assembly or lower house of parliament.”
Washington Post: The Pakistani military is shifting towards a population-centric counterinsurgency strategy in the tribal areas. “After battling Taliban militants in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan for over a decade, the Pakistani military is engaged in a new fight, aiming to win over a population who are returning to their homes in the region after years living as refugees in their own country and who harbor a longstanding mistrust of the central government.
The military is rebuilding infrastructure and setting up economic and job projects for the population in South Waziristan, one of the seven tribal regions along the border with Afghanistan. It’s a classic counterinsurgency tactic similar to that used by the U.S. military — with mixed results — in Iraq and Afghanistan. The aim is to decrease support for militants and bring peace to a troubled region — in this case, tribal areas that have long been sanctuaries for the Taliban and other militant groups fueling instability in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.”
Afghanistan:
BBC News: Afghanistan is proportionally the most drug-addicted country in the world. “Afghanistan produces 90% of all opiate drugs in the world, but until recently was not a major consumer. Now, out of a population of 35 million, more than a million are addicted to drugs – proportionately the highest figure in the world.”
Long War Journal: Afghan Army officers have stated that the Taliban are “still dreaming” of a return to power in an interview with Bill Ardolino.
India:
The Hindu:India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) has announced a reward for information on Indian Mujahideen and Maoist operatives.
“The National Investigation Agency on Wednesday announced rewards for those passing on information about operatives of the 12 outlawed Indian Mujahideen and five top leaders of the CPI (Maoist). An amount of Rs. 10 lakh is on offer for information leading to the arrest of each of the IM operatives.They include Hyderabadi Mohsin Ismail Chaudhary alias Syeed of Saroornagar (currently living in Maharashtra), Mohammad Riyaz alias Riyaz Bhatkal, his brother Mohammad Iqbal alias Iqbal Bhatkal and Ahmed Siddibappa alias Yasin Bhatkal, last three being from Karnataka.”
Bangladesh:
Zee News: Two youths were arrested on Wednesday for making anti-Islamic remarks amid an escalating row between Islamists and secularists on a new anti-blasphemy law in Bangladesh.
“The detention of the youths brought the total number of arrests on charges of blasphemy in the Muslim majority nation of 153 million people to six this month. ‘Two youths have been detained for their alleged derogatory remarks made through Facebook against Islam and Hazrat Mohammad,’ Sakhawat Hossain, police chief in Sylhet, told Xinhua.
He said communal tension in the Biswanath sub-district of Sylhet, 241 km northeast of Dhaka, eased after the detention of the youths — Partha Das Pappu and Bijoy Chandra.”
Nepal:
Nepal News: Multiple bomb explosions in the District Police Office have destroyed a store room and damaged riot costumes, weapons and various logistics of police stored inside it.
Police said an IED and other explosives (gelatin) collected during the Maoist insurgency and stored in the room exploded at 11 pm in the night and damaged the make-shift store room completely. However, there was no casualties or injuries in the incident.
Himalayan Times: CPN-UML senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal today said holding the Constituent Assembly polls by mid-July was not possible.
“There is no doubt that the three big political parties including the United Democratic Madhesi Front and Chairman of the Interim Election Council Khil Raj Regmi had agreed on holding polls by mid-July,” he said, adding, “They have also agreed on the possibility that if the elections could not be held in July, then November is a suitable time.”
Hitting out at the Unified CPN-Maoist leaders, Nepal said it was meaningless to talk about conducting elections in July.
Sri Lanka:
Colombo Page: Sri Lanka on Wednesday held the Indian government responsible for the island’s protracted war with the Tamil Tiger terrorist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) .
In the early stages of LTTE’s armed struggle then India’s government led by Indira Gandhi funded the terrorist outfit and trained its militants.
Defence Secretary said India could never absolve itself of the responsibility for creating terrorism in the island and some of those subverting Sri Lanka and blaming the Rajapaksa administration for the plight of Tamil speaking people were directly involved in protracting the conflict.
He was responding to former Indian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Hardeep Singh Puri’s call for an investigation into specific allegations of war crimes during the last 100 days of military operations in Sri Lanka.
