Alt-right’s radicalisation of youth and adults has moved beyond online chat forums and grassroots demonstrations to video games’ virtual reality, particularly in the western world, through avenues such as Roblox. If remained uncontained, these threats can blur the lines between radicalisation and terrorism over time. However, despite this phenomenon’s widespread chokehold, effective government-enforced sanctions and policies are predominantly absent from the public domain. This is so because efforts to dismantle a skewed sense of solidarity and kinship nurtured between gamers have still not been put into play by counter-terrorism experts and officials. Instead, while not wholly devoted, their (experts and officials) focus has primarily remained confined to radical Salafist Islamism promulgated by groups like the Islamic State (IS) and the Al-Qaeda, or Hanafi-Deobandism by the Taliban, and similar tactics previously adopted by the IS.
Consequently, incomplete counter-radicalisation strategies and policy frameworks devised by the state apparatus have provided alt-right groups and individuals sufficient leeway to gradually seep into the societal framework and normalise their efforts to dehumanise the “others” in a developing dystopian climate.
For example, reports of a video game titled Ethnic Cleansing centred around a neo-Nazi skinhead hunting down and shooting targets belonging to minority communities – Jews, Mexicans, and Africans – in an apparent race war emerged. National Alliance, a neo-Nazi organisation created the game in 2002. The virulent rhetoric promoted by its music division’s advertisement barely scrapes the layer of hatred and violent indoctrination that teenagers, particularly Americans, became subjected to over the years –
“In this game, the Race War has already begun. Your character, Will, runs through a ghetto blasting away at various blacks and spics to attempt to gain entrance to the subway system … where the jews [sic] have hidden to avoid the carnage. Then you get to blow away jews as they scream ‘Oy Vey!’ on your way to the command center.”
On the other hand, radicalised persons have virtually attempted to recreate alt-right terrorist attacks. For example, gamers playing Roblox have had opportunities to recreate the horrific mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand, which occurred in 2019, or the Walmart shooting in El Paso, Texas, during the same year. Collectively, these terrorist attacks had killed more than 70 unarmed civilians, with primary targets being Muslims in the first event and Hispanics and Latinos in the second.
Unravelling the virtual reality’s security dilemma
While constituting a minuscule sample size, these violent acts underscore the frightening security dilemma confronting the trans-Pacific community. Concurrently, they bring to the fore the lapse on the part of security and law-enforcement officials to push the policymakers to securitise the gaming arena. The former’s initiative is crucial for bringing to the governments’ attention the ramifications of unhindered leeway accorded to alt-right proponents in virtual reality. State administrations generally swamped with civil and defence-administrative matters might not otherwise accord the required attention this grave issue deserves.
The continuing surge of the pandemic and its variants have also fomented pathways for alt-right leaders to recruit people who have increasingly experienced anxiety and isolation amid the stringent restrictions imposed by their governments. They [gamers] are looking for ways to overcome the loss of close-knitted bonds and a sense of normalcy.
What is more worrisome is that officials caught amid these developments have laid out the trends that indicate a growing security threat, including in the United Kingdom (UK), which has recently witnessed a spate of terrorist attacks. Matt Jukes, the head of the UK’s Metropolitan Police’s [Met Police] Counter-Terrorism Division, has presented findings on alt-right’s recruitment through video games and the percentage of arrests on terrorist charges last year. For example, right-wing individuals represented 41 percent of counter-terrorism-related arrests in 2021.
On the other hand, until the recent changes made to Crusader Kings, a video game created by Paradox, a Swedish company, neo-Nazis were running amuck, promoting a distorted Middle Ages narrative. The second version of this game, launched in 2014, had an option to expel Jews from a homogenous Christian kingdom, militarily guarded against threats posed by non-whites. Selling at least one million copies in the initial year of its launch, it also popularised the rally crying given by Pope Urban II – Deus Vult or God Wills It – during the first crusade against the Muslims. However, until Paradox launched the preview of its third season in 2020, it laid the foundations of a virtual and utopian dystopia, aligning with the divisive agenda of the alt-right.
Since 2016, the populist and extreme alt-right wave has swept North America and Europe to varying degrees. Therefore, it has become more relevant for game makers to rein in the neo-fascist and neo-Nazi users who are manufacturing the truth to fuel domestic political violence, and disorder on which they thrive. Islamophobia and anti-Semitism target vulnerable communities that have, for centuries, been subjected to widespread tyranny and unprecedented violence.
In November 2017, Angry Goy II, a video game released by a white supremacist, Christopher Cantwell, incorporated a mission where users could break inside LGBTQ+ Agenda HQ, a gay club, and massacre everyone present.
Unsurprisingly, the virulent narrative spanning these video games is directed against women, Jews, and Muslims. These are the three categories of individuals whom the alt-right have relegated to positions of second-class citizens, only worthy of serving the “superior” race through absolute submission and erosion of their individualistic identities. Notably, most of those arrested belong to families part of mainstream society.
Moreover, forums such as Roblox and Minecraft have provided means for like-minded radicalised individuals to connect with fellow gamers and embrace the solidarity offered to lone-wolves, via interactive Nazi concentration camps-based games. The brotherhood cultivated by alt-right leaders under these circumstances provides disgruntled and isolated individuals avenues for expressing their shared grievances against a particular community or perhaps the state establishment perceived to be unjustly supporting the non-members by taking on racially-driven characters and through chat rooms. Although having been taken down a few years ago, specific profiles on Roblox flagged by a concerned mother were proactively engaged in disseminating anti-Semitic and white supremacist propaganda. One of the users had even developed an avatar of Gavin McInnes, the founder of Proud Boys – a misogynist, neo-fascist, and a politically violent American organisation, whose members participated in the Capitol Hill riots.
Jason Blazakis, a Professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, had earlier raised his concerns surrounding such games. He expressed his fearf that gamers, mainly the younger generation, could be caught in the trap of jargon and memes promoted by neo-Nazi groups as the latter advance their extremist alt-right agendas. Alex Newhouse, a professor at the same institute, has argued that “There are individuals who are actively on the lookout or people they think can be spun out into a mass shooter or a terrorist.”
Overcoming the pitfalls of gamers’ radicaliation
While several concerned users or organisations have spotlighted these profiles and urged gaming companies to take stringent action, and Roblox has hired thousands of content moderators to pursue and remove such instigators, their efforts have continued to fall short. The challenge is that private companies will continue to fall short of preventing their games from becoming hotbeds of radicalisation without equitable support from state institutions and legislation. Unfortunately, some companies also fail in this objective because of their profit-driven strategy to recruit increasing users who, under the radar, forge connections with alt-right organisations such as the British Nationalist Vanguard and The Patriotic Front.
Furthermore, close coordination and synergy between civil society cyber activists, government officials, and private industry is paramount to ensure that a bottom-up approach can compensate where a top-down strategy to counter alt-right trolls and propagandists fails.
Additionally, laws as per the advice of gaming and cyber experts to minimise opportunities for persona non grata to join and spread harmful content on such forums should be implemented gradually. Empowered nationwide specially-trained personnel must lead this change. However, the drive to institute these reforms is insufficient. Instead, a defined timeline to implement the desired transformations, backed by a gradual and simultaneous replacement of redundant measures by these overhauls, is equally pertinent.
Additionally, administrations worldwide need to work in consort with gaming psychologists and the judicial branches to constitutionally introduce policy reforms to recruit, via an undisputed mechanism, capable individuals with experience and theoretical knowledge to form a sub-section within bureaucracies. These personnel would provide lawmakers with relevant knowledge to introduce the aforementioned overhauls. Without fulfilling this gap within this institution, governments will always find it challenging to step up to this task. Moreover, educational curricula detailing the alt-right agenda and its dangers spilling into the virtual reality should be adequately disseminated across academic institutions to forewarn the upcoming generation about what the gaming world might entail.
Also, mainstream and local media have an influential role in shaping this discourse. On national and regional levels, they can relay informative stories about how impressionable youth are vulnerable to radical indoctrination by alt-right propagandists. Furthermore, personalised stories of affected families can add a human touch to the counter-response and forewarn numerous persons about being more vigilant and closely monitoring their children’s gaming activities and their manufactured ideological leanings shaped by radicalised leaders. Moreover, equipped NGOs to rehabilitate and re-assimilate affected gamers into mainstream society need to be set up at the grassroots levels.
Perhaps equally, if not more crucial, is to turn the strategy adopted by the alt-right on its head. Gaming platforms used to instigate hostility and cultivate an insular attitude among the users could also be used to fester inclusivity and accommodation.
The development of warfare cyberspace in the United States, part 7
Saman Ayesha Kidwai is a Research Analyst in the Counter-Terrorism Centre at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. Her views are personal and do not reflect those of the institute.
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As part of its 5G plan, in March 2022 the US Department of Defense awarded a three-year, 10 million dollar contract to Cubic Nuvotronics, a wholly-owned subsidiary of US-based Cubic Corporation. Under the contract, Cubic Nuvotronics will develop an ultra-high-performance, small, lightweight, low-power, dual-band wireless network communications transceiver (WNCT) for military applications. The simultaneous dual-band operation of the WNCT provides greater operational resilience and also ensures low latency for high-speed data without any interference with the US Department of Defence’s current operating scope. The Department awarded Viasat – a California-based communications company – two contracts in September 2021 to study the use and implementation of 5G networks on the battlefield, with the aim of exploring how 5G technology can improve operational capabilities. Viasat will leverage its 5G cybersecurity, network and wireless expertise to help the Department of Defense (DOD) understand how to best use 5G technology to enable multi-domain operations in future joint operational plans, including Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) capabilities.
The contract focuses on two areas: firstly, the improvement of command and control (C2) applications and services, and secondly, the implementation of the 5G-enhanced network for agile combat employment (ACE) operations in confrontation environments.
The US Space Force issued a request for information in March 2022 in the area of 5G technology research for the Space Data Transmission (SDT) programme. Technologies of particular interest to the US Space Force include: 5G multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO); mmWave in space and radio access network slicing (a network configuration that allows multiple, virtualized, independent networks to be created on a common physical infrastructure – a configuration which has become an essential component of the overall 5G architectural landscape); network section management; artificial intelligence, machine learning and deep learning; reliable autonomous networks; cybersecurity; 5G Internet of Things in Space (IoST); Multi-Tenant Edge Computing (MEC); 5G Air-Ground Networks and network topologies in space.
In September 2021 the Department of Defense also awarded Penguin Computing two contracts totalling 68 million dollars to provide two high-performance supercomputers and related capabilities for the Navy and Air Force. Funded by DOD’s High Performance Computing Modernization Program (HPCMP), the system and software will significantly improve DOD’s ability to solve the most computationally challenging and arduous problems. These advanced processing capabilities are available to all Intelligence Services’ and DOD’s agencies.
These computers will be installed in two US Army Supercomputing Resource Centers (DSRCs). Among them, the Navy’s DSRC at the John C. Stennis Space Center in Southern Mississippi will receive a system capable of providing 8.5 petaflops (a one-petaflop-per-second computer can perform one million billion floating-point operations per second); and the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Wright-Patterson at Dayton, Ohio, Air Force Base will receive 9 petaflops of computing power.
In September 2021 the National Security Agency (NSA) awarded Hewlett-Packard a two billion-dollar, 10-year contract to provide the high-performance computing power it needs for its artificial intelligence and data analysis requirements. Under the contract, Hewlett-Packard will provide a new service that includes a combination of Apollo data storage systems and a ProLiant server. The service will capture and process large amounts of data and support deep learning and artificial intelligence capabilities. This contract will provide the NSA with a secure and flexible platform to meet its growing data management needs.
The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) issued a request for information in September 2021 to search for innovative blockchain and interoperability solutions to protect highly sensitive data. The DISA wishes to explore the use of blockchain to ensure that critical data remains intact and unchanged throughout its lifecycle and to provide a warning mechanism in the event of its tampering in any way. The DISA would like to explore the issues of the industry’s ability to leverage blockchain technology in order to: 1. develop blockchain-independent schemes that are interoperable between different blockchains; 2. ensure the immutability of critical data and provide alerts on its tampering; 3. store critical data in a decentralised and distributed mode.
Engineers at the US Army’s Command, Control, Computers, Communications, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C5ISR) are leveraging blockchain technology to enable new data management capabilities at the tactical level. The new data management capability development is part of the center’s Information Trust programme and is one of several prototype technologies tested by the Army’s Network Modernization Experiment (NetModX) in May 2021.
The C5ISR says that the key to the Information Trust programme is to provide soldiers with a mathematical and verifiable way to review their data from producer to consumer and from sensor to shooter. The Army’s idea is to eliminate the so-called man-in-the-middle attacks by manipulating data transmissions before they reach end users, thus enabling commanders to make critical decisions and increasing trust in their information and intelligence.
In early 2022, interesting discoveries were made in US Army and Air Force-funded quantum computing research, including the University of Massachusetts Amherst, which found a new way to spontaneously correct errors in quantum computing to protect quantum information from hyperthermia. The impact of errors in the guidance system can be greatly improved, thus helping to reduce the load on future computers. Furthermore, Louisiana State University corrected distorted information in the quantum system composed of photons through machine learning technology, and the results of research can be used in quantum communication, quantum cryptography and quantum sensing. Finally, the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago established a new method for quantum communication by sending entangled qubits through a communication cable to connect two network nodes, thus paving the way for the use of large-scale quantum networks.
Moreover, in January 2021 the US Air Force Research Laboratory announced that the US Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), the National Research Foundation of Korea and the Korea Institute for Information and Communication Technology Planning and Evaluation (IITP) jointly launched a tender to provide three-year grants to jointly promote quantum information science and technology. The project aims to keep on providing opportunities for scientists and engineers from both countries to mutually advance emerging technologies. The areas of future collaborative research listed in the project include quantum information processing, quantum simulation, development of new qubits, etc.
In July 2021 the Department of Defense also announced the cancellation of a 10 billion dollar Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) cloud procurement contract, as it plans to use a new contract, the Joint Warfighter Cloud Capability (JWCC) that better fits the Department’s cloud needs. The new contract has a significantly shorter performance period than the JEDI contract, totalling five years, including a three-year base term and two optional one-year terms. In November 2021 the Department announced it had issued an appeal for a Joint Warfare Cloud Capability (JWCC) to Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google, Microsoft and Oracle.
The DOD Enterprise Cloud will have cross-classified (unclassified, classified, and high classification) capabilities, cross-domain integrated solutions, i.e. global availability at the tactical edge, and enhanced cybersecurity.
In August 2021 the NSA awarded AWS a secret 10 billion dollar cloud computing contract. The contract, codenamed Wild and Stormy, is the second cloud contract awarded last year by seventeen US intelligence agencies, including the NSA. The purchase appears to be part of the NSA’s attempt to modernise its main repository of classified data, the Intelligence Community GovCloud.
Four crucial issues emerge on the subject of AI entering the scene of the Ukrainian conflict:
1. the first results show the power of AI, which has made it possible, for example, to intercept communications and reconstruct dialogues, and to select and eliminate some Russian commanders (seeing images of grey hair near transmission elements as potential commanders);
2. many of these technologies are in private hands, as in the case of Primer, and this is where the public-private dilemma arises, especially in such circumstances;
3. the problem of algorithmic bias caused by poor quality or unrepresentative training data is of fundamental importance. Machine learning algorithms often operate in “opaque” ways. Intelligence agents will need to find ways to build confidence in the conclusions drawn by these programs. An incorrectly transcribed communication could obviously have deadly consequences on a battlefield, such as sending soldiers into potential high-percentage hazards or misdirecting a missile attack that could cause “friendly” fire damage;
4. the advantage of speed in planning processes is the real dilemma for all command staffs: being faster and more accurate than the enemy in drawing up the plan will be the real value added for the battle, its cornerstone. Collecting and analysing data using artificial intelligence could therefore eventually become central to operations on the battlefield, as well as the need for leadership capable of managing “agile” processes and trained on the ethical dimension.
When we talk about AI, Machine Learning, etc., we are talking about agile methodologies, as opposed to traditional waterfalls. Waterfalls envisage the linear execution of a precise sequence of phases, each of which generates an output that is used as input by the next phase (hence the origin of the term “waterfall”). In a management and decision-making process, a real change in the leaders’ mentality is required. The military is a forerunner in this respect. In the military, we talk about war rooms, for example when agile methodologies are studied. Software is neither sufficient nor powerful enough if it is not matched by a leadership structure that is clear about the big picture, i.e. the strategic goals, and at the same time has the ability to operate with the same flexibility as the software. Besides the fact that algorithms must be used, without losing the “ethical” dimension in the decision making process.
The Air Force’s organic teams, cutting-edge Silicon Valley startups, or traditional large defense contractors are not mutually exclusive. Each group brings different ideas, processes, and experiences to the range of cyber problems and the development of tools driven by each team provides timely, in-demand capabilities to the cyber forces.
Furthermore, the Air Force and Navy are working on an agreement to enable their respective software factories to share more codes and products. The key to the agreement is to enable the two services to more easily use each other’s platforms and codes, i.e. the Air Force’s Platform One and the Navy’s Black Pearl.
Platform One has a Continuity of Operations Authorization, which means that its coding environment and processes have been certified for security, and any updates to the product and platform do not require additional approval before being released, thus reducing the time it takes to enable the software.
The Navy’s Black Pearl platform is newer than Platform One, and therefore the Navy wants to draw on the Air Force’s work to provide Navy and Marine Corps personnel with a code-ready DevSecOps environment.
Developing and using emerging technologies to generate new combat capabilities is another step toward controlling cyberspace. The use of emerging technologies could become a turning point for future operations in cyberspace, thus breaking traditional and established equilibria of military power and providing other countries with special operational advantages. The United States of America and Western countries are increasing investment in emerging technologies, strengthening research, development and use of artificial intelligence, quantum physics, 5G; cloud computing, blockchain (….) and other technologies, in view of greatly improving global combat capabilities and taking the lead in future strategic confrontation. The blockchain is defined as a digital ledger whose entries are grouped into blocks, linked together in chronological order, the integrity of which is guaranteed by the use of cryptography. Although its size is expected to grow over time, it is immutable in the quantum concept. Its content, once written through a normed process, is no longer modifiable or deletable, unless the entire process is invalidated.
Meanwhile, the US Secretary of Defense, Gen. Lloyd James Austin, said last July that leadership in artificial intelligence could advance the State’s future technological and military advantages, from data-driven decision-making to human-machine collaboration, thus making the US military more effective and more agile in the near future.
The Department of Defense’s AI vision revolves around “integrated deterrence,” in which AI and related technologies will provide intelligence and operational advantages to the US military. An amount of 1.5 billion dollars will be used to fund the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) over the next 5 years.
The JAIC focused its attention on 2021, hoping to become a “central artificial intelligence library” for the military, thus enabling the intelligence services to acquire tools, models, and other software to develop artificial intelligence programs. The basis for this work is the Joint Common Foundation (JCF), with the aim of making it a place where all people can bring their data, while the JAIC can provide services such as tagging, management, and ultimately algorithmic storage and classification. The JCF reached “initial operational capability” in March 2022 and already has several users of the service. The JCF will play a central role in the JAIC and, in particular, it will be a key tool in advancing the implementation of AI across the Department of Defense (DOD).
The JAIC plans to periodically upgrade the platform to expand data hosting, coding, and other capabilities, eventually becoming a “full operational capability.”
The JAIC signed a contract in January 2022 with the nonprofit Indiana Innovation Institute to build and operate the Tradewind platform. The platform is designed to create an ecosystem that accelerates the delivery of artificial intelligence capabilities to the US military, thus enabling it to acquire and procure the best AI solutions more efficiently and effectively. Through Tradewind, the JAIC hopes to foster a “whole nation” approach to supporting AI innovation in the Department of Defense by creating a transparent environment between the institution, academia, and industry. The ecosystem has three main goals: 1. to find and acquire ethical AI; 2. to incorporate all AI development entities in business, industry, and academia; 3. to enable the Department of Defense to apply AI capabilities to operations.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is working on approximately thirty AI-focused programs and ninety AI-related programs. DARPA’s AI program covers three “waves” of AI development: 1. symbolic reasoning, in which engineers formulate rules to characterize domain knowledge; 2. applying big data-based statistical models to specific domains to provide advanced classification and predictive capabilities, such as using machine learning techniques to perform intelligence surveillance reconnaissance and predictive vehicle maintenance; 3. treating computers as actual partners.
The US Army is working with partners like Carnegie Mellon University to create shared toolkits that contain reusable algorithms, test data and development tools. The toolkit is a “universal platform” or virtual “workbench” that the Army units can leverage to develop the artificial intelligence they need without having to build it from scratch. The Army’s Artificial Intelligence Task Force has developed a working baseline version that will be validated and refined using unclassified datasets to meet the operational requirements of Multi-Domain Operations (MDO) and Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2).
The Army’s Artificial Intelligence Task Force and the JAIC will work closely to ensure that the Army’s Joint Data Platform is integrated with JAIC’s.
With specific reference to 5G, the Department of Defense has made it a key modernization priority, asking for 1.5 billion dollars in funding for 5G and microelectronics programs in its fiscal 2021 budget request. In 2020, the Department of Defence had announced a 600 million dollar investment in 5G testbeds at five US military facilities, with testing efforts focused on how the military can leverage different applications or concepts, including dynamic spectrum utilization, 5G-enabled command and control, intelligent library and logistics, and virtual and augmented reality. The first 5 sites constitute Batch 1 of the DOD’s 5G program. In 2021, the DOD awarded contracts to seven Batch 2 sites. Initiatives at these bases include wireless connectivity, use of 5G to improve aircraft mission readiness, and 5G-enabled immersive training. In both batches, each project includes a testbed, applications being demonstrated, and network enhancements or tools capable of being used to optimize 5G networks.
The US Department of Defense believes its 5G plan encompasses three driving forces: 1. acceleration, by stimulating the use of 5G technology through tests and development of advanced prototypes for dual-use applications; 2. operational penetration, through the development of technology to protect 5G and support the unsecured use of secure networks; 3. innovation, by conducting the research and development needed to get to 6G and beyond.
The program made significant progress in June with the successful demonstration of a suite of advanced 5G networks designed and built exclusively in the United States of America for logistics modernization. The prototype project, known as Smart Warehouse Technology Early Capability Demonstration, involves a total investment of 90 million dollars and uses 380 MHz of mid-band and millimeter-wave spectrum, providing high-speed downloads of 1.5 gigabits per second and latency of less than 15 milliseconds. In computer science and telecommunication, latency (or latency time) indicates – in a data processing and or telecommunication system – the time interval between the moment when the input/signal is sent to the system and the moment when its output is available. The prototype of the demonstrated system is based on the next-generation Open Radio Network standard and is compliant with the US Department of Defense’s Zero Trust Architecture specifications for local security and secure connectivity to other networks. Upon completion of the project, the prototype system will be deployed as a private network at the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany, Georgia, using up to 750 megahertz of available bandwidth for higher performance. The prototype is the first demonstration of progress in Batch 1 of 5G projects.
Taliban fighters have been engaged in fighting in three parts of Afghanistan, as hostility was amplified on the Afghan-Iranian border by Iranian troops as Iranian border guards’ vehicles drove off near the Afghan border in pursuit of smugglers.
Subsequently, military forces from both countries (Afghanistan & Iran) are stationed near the Iran-Afghanistan border and are on high alert. Iranian Zahedan forces have arrived in the region with armored tanks, which are heavily equipped with heavy weapons.
Iranian military officials, through their representative in Kabul, have informed the Taliban’s defense ministry to stop fighting. In accordance with Iran’s intelligence service secret information Pakistan, at the request of the West, wants to engage the Taliban regime in a constant war with neighboring countries.
In this regard, Iranian officials accuse Mullah Mohammad Hassan and his supporters, including the Haqqani network. In addition, Iranian political officials have telephoned the office of acting Prime Minister Mullah Baradar to urge him to take “serious action” and stop Maulvi Yaqub and his forces engaging with Iran in military conflict.
According to the Iranian officials, this war is a foreign plan implemented by a number of groups within the Taliban. Troops on both sides of the border are now ready for battle and heavy weapons have been dispatched to the area by Iranian forces, but Iranian officials are still urging the Taliban to resolve the issue through talks.
The second fierce battle took place in the deep border area of Garbiz district of Khost province when Pakistani troops tried to re-enter the house in search of TTP fighters. Garbiz is a district very close to North Waziristan and is often equipped and supplied TTP fighters from this place, and this is the home to many of the leaders of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
An intelligence source from the same area reported, last Thursday that Pakistani SSG Special Forces, with the help of Haqqani network-linked fighters within the Afghan Taliban, raided civilian homes and sought to capture TTP leaders and supporters. The Haqqani network-linked fighters were then sent from that area to Baghlan province for military operations, and a special unit from the Sangin district of Helmand province was sent to the area, to prevent the entry of Pakistani troops.
Because the Pakistani military plans to use the Haqqani network to prevent the Afghan Taliban from setting up checkpoints on the Afghan-Pakistani border.
The third battle took place at 10 pm in Kapisa province. A rebel group was being formed in Kapisa province on the orders of former police chief Gen. Farid Ahmad Mashal, but was stopped by the Taliban.
The group, which has been formed but was not yet completed, now engaged in a fierce campaign to attract fighters. However, local GDI spies received a report about the group and started to crack it down.
Moreover, because the top military leaders of the previous republican government were not encouraged to form anti-Taliban groups to weaken the Taliban, the Taliban linked the group to the resistance, but in reality, the group had nothing to do with the resistance and wanted to launch anti-Taliban military operations in 34 Afghan provinces under the guise of freedom fighters.
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