Pakistan:
Seattle Times: Over 100 militants have attacked a Pakistani police station near Peshawar, killing six policemen, two of whom were beheaded. “Police officer Ishrat Yar says the attack near the main northwest city of Peshawar started late on Sunday night and triggered a gunbattle that lasted for several hours. The militants were armed with heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, hand grenades and assault rifles.
Yar also says 12 policemen were wounded in the attack in the small town of Matni, some 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of Peshawar.
One of the beheaded policemen was a senior official who commanded several police stations in the area.”
Reuters: Malala Yousufzai, the 14-year-old girl shot by the Taliban over her protestations against the group, has been sent to the UK for medical treatment. “An air ambulance transporting Yousufzai, provided by the United Arab Emirates, had departed from Islamabad and was heading for the United Kingdom, said the spokesman.
‘The panel of doctors recommended that Malala be shifted abroad to a UK centre which has the capability to provide integrated care to children who have sustained severe injury,’ said the spokesman in a statement.”
The News: The chairman of Difa-e-Pakistan Council (DPC) Maulana Samiul Haq and chief of Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) Hafiz Saeed Ahmad have both claimed that the attack on Malala Yousafzai is a conspiracy by America to provide justification for launching a military operation in Waziristan. “Addressing a Kashmir conference on Sunday, Samiul Haq said all children who were killed in drone attacks should be considered equally like Malala. ‘A great game is being played against Pakistan by India, America and Israel, but we will not let them succeed in their nefarious designs,’ he stated.”
Afghanistan:
The Guardian: Former cricket-star turned Pakistani politician has drawn criticism for claiming that the Taliban’s fight in Afghanistan is justified by Islamic law. “Speaking after visiting a hospital in Peshawar where Malala Yousafzai – the 14-year-old activist shot in the head by the Taliban for supporting girls’ education – was treated last week, Khan told reporters that insurgents in Afghanistan were fighting a “jihad”. Citing a verse from the Qur’an, he said: ‘It is very clear that whoever is fighting for their freedom is fighting a jihad …
‘The people who are fighting in Afghanistan against the foreign occupation are fighting a jihad,’ he added, according to a video of remarks to journalists.”
The Spec: A Canadian and an American citizen are suspected of being kidnapped by the Taliban in Maidan Wardak province, Afghanistan. “Police were first told the pair were travelling from Kabul, but after a day of searching, the information was changed to say they went missing en route to Kabul from Ghazni, in an area notorious for Taliban attacks and checkpoints, the colonel said.
‘They left Kabul and now they are missing in Sayed Abad district of Salar area,’ he said.
‘Our search and investigations are ongoing and we don’t know anything now that we can share with the media regarding their fate,’ he told the Toronto Star.
‘We also do not know if they were working for any non-government organization, or if they were tourists, working for any news agency or having any other work or task in Ghazni. We have not been told either by officials in Kabul or by coalition forces about their job.’”
Voice of America: Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said he wants more collaboration with Pakistan on counter-extremism and terrorism. “The president said in the letters that neighboring Afghanistan and Pakistan face ‘a dangerous enemy’ who seeks to doom the present and the future of their countries to ‘darkness and ignorance.’”
India:
Analysis: Arif Jamal writing for The Jamestown Foundation: The Foundation presents a profile of Iqbal Bhatkal, “co-founder of the Indian Mujahideen”. ” According to some reports, Iqbal Bhatkal and Riyaz Ismail Shahbandri (a.k.a. Riyaz Bhatkal) are now based in Karachi and run the “Karachi project” in close collaboration with the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and the LeT.”
Analysis: Shivasundar writing for Economic and Political Weekly: Questions of evidence surround the arrests of 19 Muslims, many young and educated, taken in by police between 29th August and 25th September 2012. Police “do not have any evidence or major leads to substantiate the terror charge”, and “contradictions” in police statements have raised concerns that Karnataka police may be repeating earlier examples of misconduct.
Analysis: Zainab Akhter writing for the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies: Kashmir, often “considered to be the land of Sufi saints”, has seen a rise in Wahhabi related groups, including the prominent Jamiat-i-Ahlihadees. “The failure of meaningful political engagement by moderate groups” has contributed to radicalization, while moderates’ renunciation of armed struggle has not given Muslims a substantive political alternative to violence.
