There are reports in Pakistan Urdu media that Army is interested to talk to BLF leader Dr.Allah Nazar Baloch. In this regard army said they will arrange logistics to pick up and drop rebel leader before and after talks.
Baloch advisors warned Dr.Allah Nazar and reminded history. They said not to fall in trap as Baba Nowroz Khan did.
More to come........
August 21, 2017, 12:05 am
by Jed Babbin
Come hell or Blackwater, nothing is about to change — unless…
About a month ago, President Trump met with his national security team — Defense Secretary James Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and National Security Advisor Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster — to review their proposed strategy for the war in Afghanistan. Trump rejected it, heatedly, because it proposed continuation of what we’ve been doing for nearly sixteen years.
On Friday, Trump met with them again. This time, Vice President Mike Pence was in attendance as well. Trump hinted that they had reached some sort of agreement. What it is, he didn’t say.
In between those meetings Erik Prince, former head of Blackwater, the high-end training and security force company that had extensive service in Iraq, was marketing a plan. It called for an end to U.S. troop presence but substituted a new mercenary force of about five thousand men — presumably the former special forces troops that had made up Prince’s Iraq force — as well as a private air force contingent of about one hundred aircraft, all under the control of a “viceroy” that would operate against Taliban and other terrorist forces in Afghanistan.
A similar plan is being marketed to the administration by investor Stephen Feinberg. A third similar option is, according to a source in the Afghanistan/Pakistan region, being offered by Prince Ali Seraj, a member of what was Afghanistan’s royal family, who fled when the Soviets arrived in 1979.
Also, according to my source, Seraj is actively seeking face-to-face meetings with Trump or high-ranking people on his national security team. Seraj wants to offer a force of Afghan tribal fighters (which will never be more effective than the Afghan army, which is to say minimally at best).
Prince’s plan was disparaged by almost everyone in government. Afghanistan commander Gen. John Nicholson, reportedly refused to even meet with Prince.
Gen. Nicholson had asked for about five thousand more troops for a mini-surge in Afghanistan to ensure security. Also pushing for more troops were Stephen Hadley, formerly national security advisor to president George W. Bush and evidently the Washington Post.
A Post editorial stated that we couldn’t withdraw from Afghanistan. “The point,” it said, “is to show the Taliban that it can’t topple the central government, and coax the Taliban, if possible, toward negotiations. Maybe the Taliban will not agree, but a continued U.S. effort is preferable to Afghanistan falling apart.”
It is impossible to misstate our goals in Afghanistan more perfectly.
Since 2001, we have fought the Taliban to stabilize Afghanistan, not to defeat it. We have failed. The Taliban control at least ten percent of the country and the rest — aside for the areas in which U.S. and coalition troops are present at the moment, is up for grabs. Taliban attacks on U.S. and coalition forces, as well as civilian targets, have increased about twenty percent in the past year.
The Afghan government under Ashraf Ghani is about as riddled with corruption as that of his predecessor, Mohammed Karzai. Efforts to establish security wax and wane as does the effectiveness of Afghani forces.
ISIS has a large presence in Afghanistan. When the Air Force dropped the “mother of all bombs” against a target in Afghanistan in April, it destroyed a big ISIS camp dug into caves.
Many of the problems we face in Afghanistan have been the same since before the British withdrew in 1842 after their first Afghan War. The society, such as it is, remains tribal. The Soviets invaded in 1979 to support their puppet government and withdrew in 1989 having learned that they couldn’t defeat the mujahedeen, the pre-Taliban Islamic forces that they encountered almost everywhere. (The mujahedeen were helped enormously by U.S. money and munitions which allowed them to pay fighters and shoot down Soviet helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.)
The mujahedeen, like the Taliban, were also aided substantially by their co-religionists in Pakistan. Pakistan, though formally our ally, has undermined our efforts at every turn. They hid Osama bin Laden for years until the CIA found him in Abbottabad and the SEALs flew in to kill him, a mission that wasn’t disclosed to the Pakistanis until it was almost over.
Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence agency (ISI) has enabled the Taliban to operate freely. In addition, ISI is also supporting, and giving safe haven, to terrorist networks such as Laskar e-Taiba (which conducted the massive Mumbai terrorist attack in India in 2008) and Jamaat ud Dawa (JuD). Both are designated terrorist groups by the U.S.
A source in the Afghanistan/Pakistan area has informed me about some of what ISI is doing in Afghanistan.
One example he points out is a massive terrorist training camp in Pakistan’s Balochistan province in Koh i Sabz (“green mountain”) outside the city of Panjgur. He theorizes that it is either Saudi-funded or supported as a Pakistani proxy group.
Another example is a man named Muneer Mullazai. He is, according to the source, a high-ranking and key ISI asset in Afghanistan. He lives in three locations in Afghanistan and Pakistan, one in Quetta City in Pakistan, from which the infamous Taliban “Quetta shura” has operated for many years. My source says that Muneer works closely with ISI and is always guarded by armed men. He publishes and oversees distribution in Afghanistan of an Islamist pamphlet called “the Jarrar,” and one of his associates, “Saifullah,” runs media accounts in Afghanistan for JuD.
It’s reasonable to conclude that the biggest problem in Afghanistan is Pakistan. It’s also reasonable, and essential, to conclude that the reason Pakistan is doing so is its adherence to the Salafist Islamic jihadi ideology, which brings us to the point that many faithful readers have come to expect from this column.
The reason we cannot defeat the Taliban is twofold: first, we have never defeated their ideology, and second, nuclear-armed Pakistan has supported our enemies — Taliban, LeT, JuD, al-Qaeda and the rest — while still pretending to be our ally.
Whatever the president decides, if he fails to engage and defeat the Islamist ideology we will lose the war. If he fails to deal decisively with Pakistan, we cannot defeat the terrorist networks it sponsors.
McMaster will never allow the ideological war crucial to winning this or any other anti-Islamic terrorist conflict to begin despite the president’s promise to do so. McMaster has, for years, insisted that terrorism is “un-Islamic.” While he is on Trump’s team we cannot deal with either the Islamist ideology or Pakistan.
Our ground and air forces have done all that we have asked of them except to defeat the Taliban. It is time to pull them out and leave a residual force — either a US/NATO force or one of the mercenary forces — that is aimed solely at accomplishing the only goal we ever had: to defend American interests in Afghanistan.
Though it is remotely possible that a mercenary force could do as well as a US/NATO force, it is vastly more desirable to have any residual force under an American (or NATO) commander than any profit-seeking “viceroy.”
Those interests are exclusively to prevent Afghanistan from returning to its pre-9/11 status as a central safe haven for terrorists wishing fervently to attack American people and assets both here and abroad.
Unless and until we defeat the Salafist-Islamist ideology, the war in Afghanistan will go on indefinitely until we withdraw altogether. Then, Afghanistan will return to its pre-9/11 form. If the president chooses any of the options he has — withdrawal, a residual U.S. force aimed at terrorist suppression, or one of the three mercenary army proposals — he will do no more than continue to play “whack-a-mole” in Afghanistan for the remainder of his presidency.
And we will continue to spend lives and treasure in indefinite amounts for the rest of our national existence.
ANI | London [U.K.] Aug 19, 2017 10:07 AM IST
A delegation of the Free Balochistan Movement along with the Khan of Kalat, Mir Suleman Daud, met with American Congressman Dana Rohrabacher in London on Thursday and discussed American foreign policy, Islamic terrorism and Balochistan issue including the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The Congressman, who was on a visit to London, met with several political figures including the founder of the Wikileaks, Julian Assange.
The FBM delegation also delivered a message of the leader of the Free Balochistan Movement, Hyrbyair Marri, to the American Congressman.
Mir Suleman Daud and FBM delegation emphasised that the U.S. approach towards the Afghanistan issue should be geopolitical-centric, and instead of chasing shadows, Americans should focus their attention on Pakistan which is training, financing and facilitating the Taliban and other religious extremist groups.
The delegation hoped that the administration of President Donald Trump changes the American foreign policy towards Afghanistan and puts pressure on Pakistan to stop supporting the Jihadist groups that have been disturbing the peace in Afghanistan for last several decades.
The Baloch delegation told Rohrabacher that the sudden withdrawal of the American troops from Afghanistan will create a vacuum only to be filled by the Taliban, the ISIS and other Pakistan-backed Jihadist extremist groups.
They said that the U.S.A. should support the Baloch freedom struggle and other secular nations like the Sindhis and Pashtuns, who are striving against Pakistan.
"The Baloch, like the Kurds, are natural allies of the United States and rest of the civilised world in the war against religious terrorism," the FBM delegation said.
This is because the Baloch believe that they share many values with the western world. The belief that one must respect other people and their culture is one that is deeply embedded in the Baloch social fabric.
The FBM delegation also said that the Chinese presence and its growing expansionist designs in the region, especially, at the Gwadar port are a threat for the Baloch people. As they are working with the occupiers of Balochistan and have no regard for the Baloch people and threaten their very existence. The Chinese projects in Balochistan will also be harmful towards the interests of America in the long run.
The Khan of Kalat and the FBM delegation also raised the issue of ongoing human rights violations by the Pakistani forces in Balochistan and appreciated Dana Rohrabacher's efforts to highlight Balochistan's issue and Islamabad's atrocities against the Baloch people.
Congressman Rohrabacher, a supporter of Free Balochistan cause, vowed to continue his efforts to raise Balochistan issue at all forums in the U.S.A. and elsewhere. The Baloch delegation thanked him for his time and effort and look forward progress and future meetings on this subject
https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/finland_at_elevated_threat_level_after_barcelona_attack/9784220
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Finland's Security Intelligence Service (Supo) says the agency has not received any indication which would lead them to believe that Thursday's terror attacks in Spain had any links to individuals in Finland. The agency also says it has not raised Finland's threat assessment level following the attacks.
File photo of crowds alongside the Aura River in Turku during July's Tall Ships Races. Image: Kalle Mäkelä / Yle
Following the terror attacks in Spain on Thursday, the security service Supo said on Friday that Finland's threat assessment level remains at level two, meaning that according to the agency there continues to be an "elevated" risk of a terror attack in the country.
The security agency uses a four-tiered terror threat level assessment scale:
1. Low
2. Elevated
3. High
4. Severe
Pekka Hiltunen, a research specialist at Supo, says the agency uses three main factors in determining the level of danger posed to the country.
"Our assessment of the threat level is always based on three factors: the operative information we have, how radicalised elements view Finland, and current trends in terrorist incidents," Hiltunen explained.
"At the moment we do not see a change which would make it necessary for us to change our overall assessment," he said.
On the other hand - pointing to this week's terror attacks in Spain which claimed 13 lives and injured more than one hundred - Hiltunen says that the threat posed to Europe as a whole remains acute.
He said the terrorists in those incidents were aimed at targets similar to attacks in the recent past; such as places filled with tourists and large public events.
Hiltunen says that Spain has long had a relatively high threat level. In 2004, train bombings in Madrid killed 192 people.
Too early to draw conclusions
"The country has been attacked before. It's also been widely known that threats have been directed towards tourist destinations," he said.
Hiltunen said that people should not be making any far-reaching assumptions about the attacks at this time.
"We still don't know if the [attackers] were from two different groups - where one group's [attempted] attack was triggered by the other attack, or they may have attacked earlier than originally planned. Or they may have been coordinated attacks," he said.
The terror group IS has claimed responsibility for the attacks in Spain, but Hiltunen said that Spanish officials need to complete their investigation before any conclusion that the group was actually behind the attacks
Finland's Security Intelligence Service, better known as Supo, says in its annual report that Finnish politicians and decision-makers are under pressure from foreign intelligence agencies at ever-younger ages.
Supo only mentions Russia once in the report, at the start, where it says that "especially Russia sees Finland as an interesting intelligence target but also other major powers find our country important".
The agency says young people in Finland in particular are the target of foreign intelligence recruiters, especially those that are expected to rise to prominent positions in commerce and politics.
"This is an example of state-run intelligence activity having long-term horizons," according to the Supo report. Supo noted that it had "been forced to interfere" in the activities of certain intelligence agencies.
In a step-by-step guide to recruiting agents, Supo explains that intelligence officers first carry out a thorough analysis of their needs, after which they select a target with access to information. Next, that person is assessed according to their strengths and weaknesses to determine the likelihood that he or she could be persuaded to work for the benefit of a foreign state. When this stage is completed, they establish contact and build up a friendship, leading to the last phase: recruitment.
Pelttari would not comment on how many cases of this kind there have been in recent years.
"I won't take a position on the details, but it is an on-going operation on the part of intelligence services of foreign governments," he told Yle.
There have been no espionage convictions in Finland for years, nor have any spying investigations been conducted - as far as anyone knows.
Supo's 2016 Yearbook also devotes a chapter to the spread of cyber espionage, noting a "sharp increase" in visible activity against Finland's foreign and security policy, comprehensive espionage priorities and the abuse of Finnish data networks in espionage targeting third countries. The agency says the most observations were linked to the APT28/Sofacy attack, which made no effort to cover its tracks. They say more "key people" are also at risk in Finland of illegitimate intelligence gathering.
The leading newspaper Helsingin Sanomat reported more on the Sofacy connection, saying that the report was the first time the Finnish Security Intelligence Service had of its own initiative spoke of Russian cyber espionage directed at Finland.
Sofacy also operates under the names Fancy Bear and Strontium, and the APT28 software Supo names is the same that was found in the US Democratic Party networks in May 2016 ahead of the presidential elections. The emails and voicemails that were retrieved – most of which dealt with the Clinton campaign – were then forwarded to Wikileaks.
Systematic cyber espionage via APT28 has been linked by US intelligence to Russian interference in the elections in the US, along with the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats and additional sanctions on Russian intelligence services, says HS.
Although there have been no terrorist attacks in Finland, Supo says structures supporting terrorist activity have emerged in Finland, and breaking the links to young potential movers and shakers is one way to prevent this.
The agency reports that over 80 adults and dozens of children travelled to conflict zones in Syria and Iraq in 2016, and this problem too is expected to grow, as jihadist fighters from Finland have given the radical Islamists a better knowledge of Finland.
The tabloid Iltalehti reports on Friday about one specific incident of targeting, as young Finns Party firebrand Sebastian Tynkkynen responded to a Suomen Kuvalehti story in which he said he was "very aggressively pursued" by Russian intelligence.
He clarified for the tabloid that he never specifically said that the foreign country applying the pressure was Russia, and asked the SK reporter Pekka Ervasti to correct his Thursday story accordingly.
"When I saw the story, I asked that the error be corrected before it was published, but he refused to fix it. I don't know why; perhaps he had such a strong preconceived notion about what country it could be. It feels wrong that he put the words in my mouth," Tynkkynen said.
A former Finns Party youth branch chair, Tynkkynen told SK that he attended an Arctic camp organised by Russia a few years ago.
"We were in Tver [northwest of Moscow], and I was the only participant from Finland. There were plenty of others from Sweden, Norway, the US and Canada. We discussed topics like the future of the Arctic Sea, and the pros and cons of oil drilling in the region," he said.
He would not confirm to Iltalehti if his trip to Russia was connected to the supposed foreign connections he discussed with Supo. He was tight-lipped about the Supo encounter in general, but praised Finland's intelligence agency for the work it does.
"I'm worried about how weak Supo's operational resources are in light of what they could be doing, especially when we know that there have been attempts to influence Finland's youth politics. Supo has done extraordinarily good work for the amount of resources it has," Tynkkynen told the tabloid
Radical Islamic networks have an increasingly strong presence in Finland, Jyri Rantala, the head of communications at the Finnish Security Intelligence Service (Supo), estimates in an interview with Talouselämä.
“We could even say that a ‘jihadist underworld’ is emerging in Finland. These networks have ties to all key terrorist organisations,” he said.
Supo estimates in its official terrorist threat assessment that the risk of an individual attack carried out by a lone-wolf terrorist or a small jihadist organisation has increased in Finland. Rantala reveals that the risk has risen partly as a consequence of the so-called foreign fighter phenomenon, which has contributed to the country’s recognisability among terrorist organisations.
Supo has urged decision-makers to enhance the ability of security authorities to obtain information crucial for preventing possible attacks.An estimated 80 people are believed to have travelled from Finland to conflict-ridden regions in Iraq and Syria, primarily to participate in the hostilities. More than a dozen of them have later returned to Finland, according to Supo.
Rantala reminded on Thursday that while international intelligence co-operation also yields information concerning Finland, activities concerning the country are not the top priority for any other country.
He concedes that in spite of the efforts to combat terrorism, identifying and arresting individual suspects is extremely difficult. The so-called Islamic State, for example, has instructed its sympathisers to resort to measures that do not require painstaking planning or preparations, such as the lorry and knife attacks that have recently occurred around Europe.
*This is June Report,*


Supo raises terror threat level in Finland
FINLAND CREATED: 15 JUNE 2017

Finland remains one of the safest countries in the world despite the heightened terror threat, reminded Antti Pelttari, the director of the Finnish Security Intelligence Service (Supo).
DOMESTIC
The Finnish Security Intelligence Service (Supo) has raised its terror threat level to the second lowest level of elevated.
Supo on Wednesday estimatedthat the threat of a terrorist attack is higher than ever before in Finland due to the country’s increased visibility in jihadist propaganda and the ever-closer ties of counter-terrorism persons of interest to terrorist activities.
The threat, it reminded, continues to be posed primarily by lone-wolf terrorists and small terrorist groups influenced by radical propaganda or larger terrorist organisations.
Supo said it has identified approximately 350 individuals as counter-terrorism persons of interest, a number that represents an increase of roughly 80 per cent since 2012 and that is projected to continue growing as a consequence of radicalisation and the emergence and detection of new terrorist networks.
Such persons of interest are believed to have more direct and serious links to terrorist activities and include a growing number of people who have either participated or expressed a willingness to participate in armed conflicts, or participated in terrorist training.
Supo’s updated threat assessment indicates that some of the people who have left Finland to participate in armed conflicts in Iraq and Syria have risen to influential positions in, especially, the so-called Islamic State.
Supo also revealed that is has become aware of more serious terrorism-related plans and projects in Finland.
Finland’s position has changed substantially, Pekka Hiltunen, a special researcher at Supo, summarised in a press conference according to Helsingin Sanomat.
The country, he pointed out, was previously regarded as neutral and remained relatively unknown among terrorist organisations. Today, however, it is portrayed in jihadist propaganda, which is also disseminated in Finnish, as a country that is hostile towards the so-called Islamic State – a fact that has increased the likelihood of an attack in Finland.
Another factor contributing to the heightened threat level is the fact that terrorist organisations have widened the range of their possible targets. “Efforts are made to direct attacks against all states and groups that are regarded as hostile. This increases the threat of attacks in Finland,” writes Supo.
The new four-tier terrorist threat scale was adopted to reflect the continuing changes in the operating environment of counter-terrorism, told Antti Pelttari, the director of Supo. The new scale, which measures the threat of a terrorist attack on a scale ranging from low to severe, will according to him enable Supo to inform people of the current threat level more clearly than before.
“Finland remains one of the safest countries in the world. We’re doing everything we can to make sure the situation stays unchanged,” he reminded on Wednesday.
Supo issued its previous terrorist threat assessment in November, 2015. It at the time estimated that the threat of an isolated violent attack had increased but that the threat of an organised attack by a terrorist organisation remained low.
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