If government claims are to be believed, the Pakistan army has restored the state’s writ in parts of the volatile Swat valley, located in the picturesque North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan. Militants loyal to a local radical cleric, Maulana Fazlullah, are reported to be on... MORE

TURKISH ARMY ORDERS SNIPER RIFLES FOR USE ON PKK LEADERS The Turkish daily Hürriyet reports that the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) have purchased 350 Finnish “Lapua” sniper rifles at a cost of $15,000 each (November 24). The weapons are intended for use against the PKK... MORE

On the evening of November 13, a remote control bomb attached to a motorcycle was detonated at one of the entrances of the Philippine Congress in Manila, killing Congressman Wahab Akbar and three other staffers. A Philippine National Police spokesman said: “It looks like Congressman... MORE

DANISH INTELLIGENCE OFFERS HASHISH BUSINESS TO TERROR SUSPECT The Danish Security Intelligence Service (DSIS) has come under fire for its questionable approach to intelligence work. A 22-year old Muslim man of Turkish descent was offered the opportunity to purchase and resell several pounds of hashish... MORE

Maulana Fazlullah, who is now leading an extremist Islam-oriented insurgency in the valley of Swat in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan, is the son-in-law of Maulana Sufi Mohammad, founder of the Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM - Movement for the Enforcement of Islamic Laws), which he... MORE

INTERPOL ISSUES WARRANTS FOR IRANIAN BOMBING SUSPECTS On November 7 the Interpol General Assembly issued warrants for one Lebanese and five Iranians suspects in connection with the 1994 bombing of the Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) building in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people. Argentine prosecutors... MORE

Johnny Abdo, the former head of Lebanese military intelligence, recently predicted continued attacks against members of the pro-government “March 14” parliamentary coalition in the days leading up to the selection of the next president by parliament (The Daily Star, October 29). Abdo’s comments were issued... MORE

IRAN CRACKS DOWN ON BALOCHI MILITANTS Iranian Balochis crossing the border into Pakistan are reporting hundreds of Balochis arrested in the Iranian port city of Chabahar (Sistan-Balochistan province) as part of a security sweep targeting Balochi militants (Dawn, November 2). The raids were in response... MORE

Renewed fighting between Islamist insurgents and Ethiopian forces in Somalia is displacing hundreds in the capital city Mogadishu. More violence is feared after the October 29 resignation of Prime Minister of Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG) Ali Mohammed Gedi. The move, which came less than... MORE

The recent start of the Belgian Iraq terror trial of six men accused of recruiting Europe's first female suicide bomber has once again put the country’s Muslim minority in the spotlight, arousing significant levels of discomfort, concern and fear among Belgium’s Muslims (Le Soir, October... MORE