Latest news with #PakistaniChristians
News18
02-05-2025
- Politics
- News18
Same Target, Different Tactics
Last Updated: May 02, 2025, 13:00 IST Two deadly terror organisations, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), are led by deadlier commanders with distinct tactics and two different ideologies. While Rauf Azhar of JeM believes in high-intensity attacks, Sajid Jatt of LeT prefers sustained insurgency under the guidance of the ISI, posing a long-term threat to regional stability. Rauf Azhar is the mastermind behind some of the deadliest attacks in India, including the 2001 Parliament attack, the 2016 Pathankot airbase assault, and the 2019 Pulwama bombing that resulted in the death of 40 CRPF personnel. He also orchestrated the 1999 Kandahar hijacking, which led to the release of Masood Azhar. Rauf Azhar embodies JeM's sectarian radicalism and high-risk operations. On the other hand, Sajid Jatt represents LeT's insurgency, closely aligned with the ISI. While Rauf's attacks have immediate devastating impacts, Jatt's adaptive insurgency presents a prolonged challenge to regional peace. CNN-News18 delves into the operational methods of both terrorists. The commanders of Jaish and Lashkar share similar goals but differ in ideologies and tactics. Rauf Azhar, from the Deobandi sect, emphasises strict Sunni orthodoxy and violence against Shias and other minorities. His leadership has led to internal splits within JeM, with members rebelling against Masood Azhar for prioritising Kashmir over global jihad. Historically, Rauf Azhar's faction has targeted Pakistani Christians and state symbols, including assassination attempts on Pervez Musharraf. Sajid Jatt, influenced by the Ahl-e-Hadith sect followed by LeT, aligns with Salafism and focuses on Kashmir-centric jihad while avoiding direct confrontation with the Pakistani state. Unlike JeM, LeT maintains close ties with the ISI. Post-2019, TRF, a proxy of LeT, was created to portray terrorism as a local Kashmiri movement, thereby avoiding international scrutiny. Rauf Azhar masterminded major attacks like the 2001 Parliament strike, the 2016 Pathankot assault, and the 2019 Pulwama bombing, escalating tensions between India and Pakistan. He relies on encrypted devices and public rallies in Pakistan to incite violence, as seen in his 2017 speech threatening an attack bigger than Pathankot. Sajid Jatt manages TRF operations under a domestic front disguise, using drones for weapon drops and encrypted apps like Telegram and WhatsApp for recruitment and propaganda. Recent attacks, such as the 2025 Pahalgam massacre, involved checking victims' IDs to target Hindus and spare Muslims, aiming to incite communal tensions. JeM has splintered into factions like Jamaat-ul-Furqan (JuF) due to internal dissent against Masood Azhar's loyalty to Pakistan. Rauf Azhar's leadership is marked by alliances with Al-Qaeda and internal conflicts. Jaish operates like a family enterprise, with Rauf Azhar and his brother Masood Azhar centralizing control, resulting in operational rigidity. LeT maintains a structured hierarchy under Hafiz Saeed, with TRF acting as a deniable proxy. Sajid Jatt coordinates with senior LeT leaders and ISI handlers. LeT fighters are trained in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan and associated with Al-Qaeda. They are suspected of procuring encrypted technology through ISI-China networks.
News18
02-05-2025
- Politics
- News18
Same Target, Different Tactics: How Commanders Of Jaish And Lashkar Operate
Last Updated: While Rauf Azhar of JeM believes in high-intensity attacks, Sajid Jatt of LeT prefers sustained insurgency with help from ISI, posing a long-term threat to regional stability. Two deadly terror organisations, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), are led by deadlier commanders with distinct tactics and two different ideologies. While Rauf Azhar of JeM believes in high-intensity attacks, Sajid Jatt of LeT prefers sustained insurgency under the guidance of the ISI, posing a long-term threat to regional stability. Rauf Azhar is the mastermind behind some of the deadliest attacks in India, including the 2001 Parliament attack, the 2016 Pathankot airbase assault, and the 2019 Pulwama bombing that resulted in the death of 40 CRPF personnel. He also orchestrated the 1999 Kandahar hijacking, which led to the release of Masood Azhar. Rauf Azhar embodies JeM's sectarian radicalism and high-risk operations. On the other hand, Sajid Jatt represents LeT's insurgency, closely aligned with the ISI. While Rauf's attacks have immediate devastating impacts, Jatt's adaptive insurgency presents a prolonged challenge to regional peace. CNN-News18 delves into the operational methods of both terrorists. The commanders of Jaish and Lashkar share similar goals but differ in ideologies and tactics. Rauf Azhar, from the Deobandi sect, emphasises strict Sunni orthodoxy and violence against Shias and other minorities. His leadership has led to internal splits within JeM, with members rebelling against Masood Azhar for prioritising Kashmir over global jihad. Historically, Rauf Azhar's faction has targeted Pakistani Christians and state symbols, including assassination attempts on Pervez Musharraf. Sajid Jatt, influenced by the Ahl-e-Hadith sect followed by LeT, aligns with Salafism and focuses on Kashmir-centric jihad while avoiding direct confrontation with the Pakistani state. Unlike JeM, LeT maintains close ties with the ISI. Post-2019, TRF, a proxy of LeT, was created to portray terrorism as a local Kashmiri movement, thereby avoiding international scrutiny. Rauf Azhar masterminded major attacks like the 2001 Parliament strike, the 2016 Pathankot assault, and the 2019 Pulwama bombing, escalating tensions between India and Pakistan. He relies on encrypted devices and public rallies in Pakistan to incite violence, as seen in his 2017 speech threatening an attack bigger than Pathankot. Sajid Jatt manages TRF operations under a domestic front disguise, using drones for weapon drops and encrypted apps like Telegram and WhatsApp for recruitment and propaganda. Recent attacks, such as the 2025 Pahalgam massacre, involved checking victims' IDs to target Hindus and spare Muslims, aiming to incite communal tensions. JeM has splintered into factions like Jamaat-ul-Furqan (JuF) due to internal dissent against Masood Azhar's loyalty to Pakistan. Rauf Azhar's leadership is marked by alliances with Al-Qaeda and internal conflicts. Jaish operates like a family enterprise, with Rauf Azhar and his brother Masood Azhar centralizing control, resulting in operational rigidity. LeT maintains a structured hierarchy under Hafiz Saeed, with TRF acting as a deniable proxy. Sajid Jatt coordinates with senior LeT leaders and ISI handlers. LeT fighters are trained in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan and associated with Al-Qaeda. They are suspected of procuring encrypted technology through ISI-China networks. LeT, co-founded by Osama bin Laden, prioritises Kashmir over global jihad to retain ISI support. The organisation receives funding and political cover from Pakistan, with leaders like Hafiz Saeed operating openly. JeM aims to provoke military retaliation from India to internationalise the Kashmir issue, as seen after Pulwama. Jaish also targets Shias and Christians within Pakistan, complicating its relationship with ISI. Lashkar focuses on sustained warfare in Kashmir, using TRF to maintain a low-intensity conflict while avoiding Financial Action Task Force (FATF) blacklisting. LeT exploits social media to glorify militancy and recruit youth, presenting TRF as a resistance movement. Get breaking news, in-depth analysis, and expert perspectives on everything from geopolitics to diplomacy and global trends. Stay informed with the latest world news only on News18. Download the News18 App to stay updated! First Published: May 02, 2025, 12:58 IST
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
AI-generated video of Trump pledging to 'bring Pakistani Christians to US' spreads online
"I will bring Pakistani Christians to America," reads text over a video of Trump giving a speech shared on Facebook on March 20. The clip featuring the BBC logo in its top-left corner has been viewed more than 130,000 times. It shows Trump apparently saying, "I know that Christians in Pakistan are living very difficult lives. False blasphemy accusations are made against them. "Christian girls are forcibly converted to Islam and they are called derogatory names like esai (Christian) and chura (janitor). If the Pakistani government does not put an end to these injustices, I will bring all Pakistani Christians to America." Christians make up around two percent of Pakistan's population and are frequent targets of blasphemy allegations -- which carry the death sentence -- and often face mob violence (archived link). Human Rights Watch warned in March 2024 that "Pakistan's blasphemy law has long been used abusively to carry out personal vendettas or prosecute members of minority religious communities" (archived link). The same video spread elsewhere on Facebook, YouTube and TikTok. But keyword searches of White House records of Trump's remarks found he did not talk about Christians in Pakistan (archived link). A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the clip found it was taken from a longer video of Trump's October 10, 2024 message for the people affected by Hurricane Milton in Florida (archived link). Trump begins his address by saying: "Melania and I are praying for you as you face the aftermath of Hurricane Milton." He goes on to praise Floridians for their ability to weather disasters before pledging better treatment if he is elected as president again. At no point in the video does he mention Pakistan or its treatment of Christians. There is also no record on the BBC website of Trump talking about Christians in Pakistan. The altered video features the old BBC logo -- the British broadcaster adopted a new logo in October 2021, making the three blocks containing the letters slightly further apart (archived link). Digital forensics firm GetReal Labs told AFP on April 9 that the clip's audio was AI-generated, given the "quality of the manipulated video clip is purposefully bad to make it more challenging to detect the lip-sync deepfake" (archived link).
AFP
15-04-2025
- Politics
- AFP
AI-generated video of Trump pledging to 'bring Pakistani Christians to US' spreads online
"I will bring Pakistani Christians to America," reads text over a video of Trump giving a speech shared on Facebook on March 20. The clip featuring the BBC logo in its top-left corner has been viewed more than 130,000 times. It shows Trump apparently saying, "I know that Christians in Pakistan are living very difficult lives. False blasphemy accusations are made against them. "Christian girls are forcibly converted to Islam and they are called derogatory names like esai (Christian) and chura (janitor). If the Pakistani government does not put an end to these injustices, I will bring all Pakistani Christians to America." Christians make up around two percent of Pakistan's population and are frequent targets of blasphemy allegations -- which carry the death sentence -- and often face mob violence (archived link). Human Rights Watch warned in March 2024 that "Pakistan's blasphemy law has long been used abusively to carry out personal vendettas or prosecute members of minority religious communities" (archived link). Image Screenshot taken on April 9, 2025 of the false Facebook post The same video spread elsewhere on Facebook, YouTube and TikTok. But keyword searches of White House records of Trump's remarks found he did not talk about Christians in Pakistan (archived link). A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the clip found it was taken from a longer video of Trump's October 10, 2024 message for the people affected by Hurricane Milton in Florida (archived link). Trump begins his address by saying: "Melania and I are praying for you as you face the aftermath of Hurricane Milton." He goes on to praise Floridians for their ability to weather disasters before pledging better treatment if he is elected as president again. Image Screenshot comparison of the altered video (left) and the X video (right) The altered video features the old BBC logo -- the British broadcaster adopted a new logo in October 2021, making the three blocks containing the letters slightly further apart (archived link). Image Screenshot comparison of the logo in the altered video (left) and in the BBC live broadcast (right) Digital forensics firm GetReal Labs told AFP on April 9 that the clip's audio was AI-generated, given the "quality of the manipulated video clip is purposefully bad to make it more challenging to detect the lip-sync deepfake" (archived link).
