On August 8, the Taliban-run Supreme Court reported that a woman in Kandahar Province was publicly flogged and sentenced to two years and six months in prison for fleeing her home, reports Afghanistan International.
On August 8, Taliban-run Supreme Court announced that two civilians were publicly flogged with 39 lashes and were sentenced to three years in prison, in Wardak Province, reports Afghanistan International.
At least 87 civilians were killed as a result of torture in Taliban’s intelligence prisons, in the past three years, reports Afghanistan International on August 8. According to sources, the majority of the deceased were former military personnel, members of the National Resistance Front (NRF), and social activists opposing the Taliban or its activities. Reported torture methods include electric shocks, suffocation, drowning, and genital abuse
On August 8, Taliban Supreme Leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada issued an edict enforcing a strict interpretation of Islam, stating that Afghan government employees must attend mosque five times a day or face punishment, reports thenews.com.pk. He said, “The officials of the ministries and institutions of the (Taliban government) are obliged by Sharia to pray in congregation at their fixed times.”
On August 8, the interim government led by. Muhammad Yunus, along with advisers, took oath at the Bangabhaban Darbar Hall in Dhaka, four days after the resignation and departure of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed amid a mass upsurge led by students, reports The Daily Star. Advisory council members include Muhammad Yunus, (chief adviser), Syeda Rizwana Hasan (chief executive of BELA), Farida Akhtar, (women's rights activist), Adilur Rahman Khan, (founder of Odhikar), AFM Khalid Hossain, (Hefazat-e-Islam nayeb-e-ameer and Islami Andolan Bangladesh adviser), Nurjahan Begum, (Grameen Telecom trustee), Sharmeen Murshid, (freedom fighter), Bir Pratik Faruk-e-Azam, Nahid Islam (Dhaka University student and key organiser of the Anti-Discrimination Students' Movement), Asif Mahmud, Dhaka University student and key organiser of the Anti-Discrimination Students' Movement), Salehuddin Ahmed (former governor of Bangladesh Bank), Asif Nazrul (Dhaka University law professor), Hasan Arif (former attorney general and adviser of Fakhruddin Ahmed-led caretaker government), M Sakhawat Hossain, Supradip Chakma (chairman of Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board), Bidhan Ranjan Roy (director of the National Institute of Mental Health & Hospital's Department of Psychiatry), Touhid Hossain (former foreign secretary). Supradip Chakma, Bidhan Ranjan Roy, and Faruk-e-Azam were outside the capital, so they could not be sworn in on the same day.
As per the Bangladesh intel report, the blueprint for regime change in Bangladesh, which witnessed massive protests over a quota system that led to the fall of the government, was drafted in London in collaboration with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), reports India Today on August 6. Officials claimed that they have evidence of meetings between Tarique Rahman, the acting chief of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and son of Khaleda Zia, and ISI officials in Saudi Arabia.The Pakistan Army, ISI, and China reportedly aimed to destabilize the government and reinstate the pro-Pakistan BNP, ultimately forcing Hasina to flee to India.
Kuki militants reportedly exchanged heavy gunfire in the Kangvai area of Churachandpur District in Manipur around 2.30 pm on August 8, reports Imphal Free Press. Meitei villagers of Torbung Mamang Leikai under Phougakchao Ikhai Police Station in Bishnupur District, fled to safer places, fearing that the Kuki militants were targeting them. Central forces also engaged in the firefight against the Kuki militants. The gun battle lasted for about 30 minutes.
On August 7, a combined team of Security Forces (SFs), including Assam Police and Assam Rifles, dismantled a temporary transit camp belonging to the United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I) inside the Tinkopani Reserve Forest, located along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border in Tinsukia District of Assam, reports The Times of India. The joint operation was launched following credible intelligence regarding the presence of heavily armed seven-member cadres of the ULFA-I ‘commanders’ Rupam Asom and Mriganka Asom. SFs discovered several empty food packets with Myanmar tags, indicating that the militants had likely crossed into India from their bases in Myanmar.
On August 8, Assam Police arrested a Bangladeshi national, identified as Humayun Kabir (32), in Nagaon District of Assam for illegally entering India, reports India TodayNE. The Superintendent of Police (SP) said thatduring interrogation, Kabir claimed that he bribed a Border Security Forces (BSF) official and illegally entered India through the international border in Dawki in West Jaintia Hills District of Meghalaya without any valid travel document mainly for cattle trading. He also added that the arrested Bangladeshi crossed the border on August 4 and reached Borghat area in Central Assam’s Nagaon District on August 6.
Police arrested Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) ‘zonal commander’ Sitaram Rajwar alias Ramanji, who had a bounty of INR 1 million on his head from Palamu District of Jharkhand on August 8, reports etvbharat.com. Sitaram is a resident of the NTPC Police Station area in Nabinagar, Aurangabad District of Bihar. He was active in the banned organization CPI-Maoist for more than two decades and has been involved in the incidents of the killing of more than 25 soldiers in Bihar and Jharkhand.
On August 8, Delhi Police Special Cell arrested an Islamic State (IS) terrorist, identified as Rizwan Abdul Haji Ali, who is also an operative of Pune (Maharashtra) module of IS from Ganga Baksh Marg near Biodiversity Park in Tughlakabad village in South East Delhi District of Delhi, reports The New Indian Express. Delhi Police recovered one-star pistol of .30 bore, three live cartridges and two mobile phones were recovered from him. He is a resident of Daryaganj in Central Delhi District of Delhi, and he carries a reward of INR 3,00,000 declared by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for his arrest. NIA had filed a chargesheet against him in March 2024, for his involvement in Pune IS arms and explosives seizure case of July 2023.
On August 8, the Border Security Force (BSF) stated on X that the troops recovered one packet of heroin (473 Grams) in Kalia village of Punjab. The narcotics were wrapped in yellow and black adhesive tape. A metal ring and an illumination device were attached to the packet.
On August 7, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed a charge sheet against four individuals—Adil Manzoor Langoo, Ahran Rasool Dar alias Tota, Dawood, and their Pakistan-based handler Jahangeer alias Peer Sahab—in connection with the killing of two non-local civilians, identified asAmritpal Singh andRohit Mashi by Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and its offshoot, The Resistance Front (TRF) on February 7, 2024, at Karfali Mohalla, Shala Kadal in Srinagar District of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), reports NIA. According to the NIA, "The trio conspired with their handler Jahangeer to kill the innocents at Shala Kadal, Srinagar. On Jahangeer's directions, Adil and Ahran received the arms and ammunition used in the crime. Adil subsequently used the weapons to commit the murders, while Dawood assisted in destroying the evidence."
On August 7, National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed a supplementary chargesheet against two operatives of Popular Front of India (PFI) identified as, Jaffar B and Shafeekh, who were involved in a Kerala PFI radicalisation and arms training conspiracy aimed at establishing Islamic Rule in India by 2047, reports NIA. The two accused were arrested in February and March 2024, respectively. One of the accused, Jaffar B was a ‘master arms trainer’ and a member of the hit squad of PFI and the other accused, Shafeek had undergone armed training and had harboured other accused persons in the case. NIA also invoked additional charges against an accused identified as, Noushad, who was a harbourer and had participated in the conspiracy meeting held in the killing of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader Srinivasan on April 16, 2022, at Melamuri in Palakkad District of Kerala. So far, NIA has arrested 61 of the 71 identified accused and is in a hunt for the 10 absconding accused in the case.
On August 5, Indian Navy Ship (INS) Tabar conducted a maritime partnership exercise (MPX) with Sea Lynx of 3rd Squadron Naval Air Wing 5 (MFG5) of the German Navy off Kiel Canal in Germany, to reinforce the strong bilateral naval ties and the ability to work together in maritime security operations, reports pib.gov.in. The exercise involved a series of advanced maritime operations such as Ship Controlled Approaches, Winching exercises and VERTREP serials.
Militants on August 8 looted eight million rupees by attacking security company vehicle travelling on Dera Ismail Khan-Bannu road in Dera Ismail Khan District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, reports The Khorasan Diary.
The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) on August 7 arrested a most wanted Sindhudesh Revolutionary Army (SRA) cadre, identified as Muhammad Hanif alias Billu Badshah, in connection with attacks on Rangers personnel, Chinese individuals, and a Jamaat-e-Islami rally from a railway track in Nawabshah District of Sindh, reports Aaj TV. The CTD arrested Billu Badshah from a railway track, where he was allegedly planning to blow it up. Authorities recovered 460 grams of explosives, a hand grenade, three detonators, a battery, a cell phone, and cash from the cadre. Muhammad Hanif is an absconder who had previously fled while returning from an Anti-Terrorism Court in Sukkur District. According to CTD personnel, Billu Badshah admitted to receiving training at the outfit’s camp in Afghanistan. He confessed of carrying out multiple attacks on Rangers personnel, injuring six of them, as well as a Chinese citizen.