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ISLAMABAD � The leader of a prominent Kashmir rebel group has rejected U.S. sanctions and vowed to continue fighting until the disputed Himalayan region is liberated from India.

Syed Salahuddin, who operates from the Pakistani-controlled portion of Kashmir, said at a news conference Saturday that Washington's decision will not impact activities of his Hizbul Mujahideen, the main militant organization fighting New Delhi's rule in the divided territory.

The State Department on Monday (June 26) designated the 71-year-old militant commander as a global terrorist. The action came hours before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his official U.S. visit.

This announcement has been made in violation of international laws and [United Nations] resolutions. This is an attempt by the Trump administration to appease Narendra Modi, Salahuddin said.

He went on to say that freedom fighters only target Indian security forces and have not conducted any operations outside Kashmir.

This [U.S. decision], God willing, has strengthened our resolve and we will continue our struggle with more energy, Salahuddin asserted.

He added that American representatives, in their speeches at U.N. meetings, repeatedly acknowledged Kashmiris' struggle for "freedom" and did not endorse what President Donald Trump has done.

The rebel chief vowed to legally counter the U.S. decision and urged Pakistan to declare a diplomatic offensive against nefarious Indian designs of trying to link the freedom movement in Kashmir to terrorism. He added that terrorist groups like Islamic State and al-Qaida do not exist in Kashmir nor will they have any place there.

The State Department, in its announcement, said that the militant commander committed, or poses "a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States."

It went on to say that in September 2016, Salahuddin vowed to block any peaceful resolution to the Kashmir conflict, threatened to train more Kashmiri suicide bombers, and vowed to turn the Kashmir valley into a graveyard for Indian forces.

Saturday Salahuddin again called for the United Nations to implement its longstanding resolutions to allow Kashmiris to exercise their right to vote on independence or merging with Pakistan.

Islamabad also has criticized the United States for declaring Salahuddin a global terrorist and defended militants fighting New Delhi's rule in Kashmir as a legitimate struggle for freedom.

"The 70-year-old indigenous struggle of Kashmiris in the Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir remains legitimate. The designation of individuals supporting the Kashmiri right to self-determination as terrorists is completely unjustified, according to the Pakistani foreign ministry.

New Delhi, which hailed Monday's decision by Washington, accuses Islamabad of fueling the 28-year-old armed rebellion in the Muslim-majority Kashmir, accusations Pakistan rejects.

India controls two-thirds of Kashmir while Pakistan controls the rest. The nuclear-armed rivals claim the Himalayan region in its entirety and have fought two of their three wars over it.

Salahuddin on Monday called for a week of resistance, including two days of strikes starting July 8, the anniversary of last year's killing of young rebel leader Burhan Wani by Indian security forces.

Wani's death provoked violent anti-India protests across the region, prompting Indian security forces to use force to suppress the uprising. The slain commander was a key member of Salahuddin's group and is credited with reinvigorating the recent wave of militancy in Kashmir.

Source: Voice of America

IBIUNA, BRAZIL � A prospect with a 94 mph fastball gets a lot of attention, no matter where he is pitching � even when that prospect is a diminutive 16-year-old from a country with little baseball tradition.

Eric Pardinho's blazing fastball has brought scouts to this city 50 miles west of Sao Paulo in soccer mad Brazil. The 5-foot, 8-inch tall right-hander could get a lot more attention July 2, when Major League Baseball teams can begin signing international players. Pardinho is No. 5 on MLB.com's list of 30 world prospects to watch.

Pretty impressive for a kid who was introduced to baseball almost by accident.

I am only here because at 6 years of age I was playing paddleball on the beach and my uncle thought my control could be good for baseball back in Bastos,'' he said.

Also throws change, slider

Bastos is a small town outside of Sao Paulo with a sizeable Japanese population. The Japanese began bringing their love of baseball and sushi to Brazil in the early 1900s.

Pardinho, whose mother's parents are Japanese, started gaining attention last year when he struck out 12 in a win over the powerhouse Dominican Republic at the under-16 Pan Am Games. In September he got two outs against Pakistan � both strikeouts � in a qualifier for the World Baseball Classic, a 10-0 win played in New York City.

The young Brazilian's changeup and slider have also earned praise from local coaches, who already see at him as a potential national star for baseball's return to the Olympics in 2020 at Tokyo. At the moment Brazil has only one player in MLB, the Cleveland Indians catcher Yan Gomes.

Since January, more and more visitors have come to watch Pardinho workout at a new MLB-sponsored training center in Ibiuna, another city influenced by baseball-loving Japanese immigrants.

Eager to sign

Pardinho is eager to sign with a team and move to the United States.

There is a lot that I will only learn when I go, said Pardinho.

The pitcher said his height should not be an issue, though his family members still hope that he will grow more in the next year.

Some time ago there was an issue with shorter players, but now there are teams that don't care. It matters more that I have a safe fastball and two more good options, including a curveball that I control well, he said.

'He destroys them all'

Other MLB hopefuls agree: facing Pardinho is a huge challenge.

Pardinho's curveball is amazing, he is more than fast. His height doesn't matter because his arm can do wonders, said third baseman Victor Coutinho, also 16.

Also a pitcher, Heitor Tokar practices with Pardinho every day and believes in his friend's future in the sport.

Pardinho doesn't feel any difference when he throws against players taller than him, he destroys them all, Tokar said.

Even Pardinho's coach, Mitsuyoshi Sato, knows the teen is headed for bigger challenges, and protects his arm. Sato pitches the soon-to-be pro no more than two innings at weekend tournaments.

Room for improvement

Pardinho's father Evandro makes the hour-plus drive from Bastos to check on his son, and Sato makes sure Pardinho is a priority for Yakult training center medics. Pardinho has the support of an orthopedist, a physiotherapist and a fitness trainer. He also has a technical trainer.

He still has to improve physically and mentally. I don't want him to do too many fastballs now because I worry about a possible injury, said Sato. No arm is prepared to pitch that fast, much less the arm of a kid.

Sato believes Pardinho has room for improvement in the control of his changeup so he can spare his arm and shoulder.

Pardinho thinks if he has success, he could change baseball in Brazil.

If I do well, maybe more and more Brazilians, not only those of Japanese heritage, will think of playing on a diamond, too.

Source: Voice of America

MULTAN, PAKISTAN � A Pakistani doctor says four more victims of last week's oil tanker fire have died, raising the death toll to 173.

Abdul Basit says the four men were among dozens of injured who were brought to a main government hospital in the city of Multan after an oil tanker overturned and burst into flames. Basit said Thursday doctors are still treating 37 others.

The June 25 highway explosion took place outside the city of Bahawalpur when the driver of the tanker lost control and crashed. The tanker burst into flames when villagers were collecting the leaking fuel, ignoring warning from police.

Source: Voice of America

PENTAGON � U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is in Brussels, where he will consult with NATO allies on troop contributions and other support for Afghanistan, before announcing his own policy plan for the war-torn country.

The Pentagon has promised a new Afghanistan plan by mid-July, and Michael O'Hanlon, a senior defense analyst at the Brookings Institution, expects the new plan will not be a repeal and replace strategy, but rather a reformation of the Obama administration's plan.

Mattis and Trump are just repairing a mistake, in effect, that I think President Barack Obama made. And it is, in a sense, more properly carrying out Obama's own strategy than Obama himself did, O'Hanlon told VOA.

The strategy will still focus on Afghan troops taking the lead on security in the country, a critical point in the Obama administration's military efforts since June 2013. But O'Hanlon explains why he thinks the past president made a mistake when he cut American military support in the country from about 100,000 U.S. troops in May 2011 to fewer than 10,000 American troops over a four-year span.

That was probably too fast and too low, so by restoring just a few thousand more, I think we can get advisers out in the field with some of the key Afghan units and hopefully really stabilize the situation, said O'Hanlon.

U.S. Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, America's top general, arrived Monday in Afghanistan with a mission to pull together the final elements of a military strategy that likely will include sending about 4,000 more U.S. troops into the country.

Mattis is expected to meet with General John Nicholson, the commander of international forces in Afghanistan, ahead of the NATO defense ministers meeting, where he will press some allies to increase their commitments to Afghanistan.

We have to think about what else they can bring to bear to help, Chief Pentagon spokesperson Dana White told VOA last week. I know everyone wants to know what's going to happen, but the secretary is being very deliberative and very thoughtful about what the commanders need and what's necessary to change the tide.

Officials say the new strategy also will need to provide the necessary resources for the American-led coalition to support Afghan forces at lower levels in the military chain of command. In addition, they say it will need to stop elements of Pakistan's government from propping up the Taliban, and it will need to stop Islamic State's local affiliate from growing.

It's not getting better in Afghanistan in terms of ISIS. We have a problem, and we have to defeat them and we have to be focused on that problem, White said.

Analysts say the group's operational capabilities have been severely stinted, despite an increase in militant numbers, due to the pressing need to defend themselves from both U.S. and Afghan attacks.

Source: Voice of America

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN � Pakistan has criticized the United States for declaring an anti-India Kashmiri rebel leader as a global terrorist and defended militants fighting New Delhi's rule in Kashmir as a legitimate" struggle for freedom.

The State Department on Monday imposed sanctions on Syed Salahuddin, the Pakistan-based chief of Hizbul Mujahideen, the main rebel group fighting Indian rule in the divided Kashmir region.

It said that the 71-year-old militant commander committed, or poses "a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States."

A Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman on Tuesday criticized the move.

"The 70-year-old indigenous struggle of Kashmiris in the Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir remains legitimate. The designation of individuals supporting the Kashmiri right to self-determination as terrorists is completely unjustified," said Nafees Zakaria.

Pakistan, he reiterated, will continue its political, diplomatic and moral support for the just struggle of the Kashmiri people.

The U.S. move came hours before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi began an official visit to Washington.

India controls two-thirds of Kashmir while Pakistan controls the rest. The nuclear-armed rivals claim the Himalayan region in its entirety and have fought two of their three wars over it.

New Delhi, which hailed Monday's decision by Washington, accuses Islamabad of fueling the 28-year-old armed rebellion in the Muslim-majority Kashmir, accusations Pakistan rejects.

Salahuddin comes from Badgam town in Indian-ruled Kashmir. Salahuddin turned to militancy after losing an election for the region's legislative assembly in 1987, which he alleged was rigged by India.

He has been mostly based on the Pakistan side since 1990 and gone back repeatedly for insurgent activities in the Indian-administered portion of the region as well for meeting his family there.

The rebel commander is seen as a hero in Kashmir and has a large following.

"In September 2016, Salahuddin vowed to block any peaceful resolution to the Kashmir conflict, threatened to train more Kashmiri suicide bombers, and vowed to turn the Kashmir valley into a graveyard for Indian forces," according to Monday's announcement by the U.S.

In a video message on Monday, Salahuddin called for a week of resistance, including two days of strikes starting July 8, the anniversary of last year's killing of young, charismatic rebel leader Burhan Wani by Indian security forces.

Wani's death provoked violent anti-India protests across the region, prompting Indian security forces to use force to suppress the uprising. Wani was a key member of Salahuddin's group and played a role in reinvigorating the militancy in Kashmir. He was actively using social media to gather support for the insurgency.

Over the past one year, the world has witnessed an intensification of the brutal policies of repression being pursued by the Indian occupation forces...Despite this relentless state terror, the Kashmiris remain undeterred and unbowed, said Pakistani spokesman Zakaria.

Source: Voice of America

Families in Pakistan began holding funerals Monday for the victims of the overturned oil tanker fire.Officials say more than 150 men, women and children were killed Sunday when they rushed to the scene to gather leaking fuel. Authorities say more than ...

Pakistan's claim this week that it shot down an Iranian drone that had crossed into its airspace is heating up tensions already on the rise over cross-border skirmishes and diplomatic rifts over alleged militancy, analysts say.

"This is an unfortunate situation as it will only increase the mistrust which already exists between Pakistan and Iran," Zubair Iqbal, an analyst at the Washington-based Middle East Institute, told VOA.

Both sides of the porous 900-kilometer (560-mile) Pakistan-Iran border have long been rife with drug smugglers, separatists and militant movements. The drone apparently went down Tuesday in violence-racked Balochistan, Pakistan's southwestern province, where insurgents and nationalists are active in launching attacks against government interests and neighboring countries.

"The drone was hit by the Pakistan Air Force as it was unidentified and flying around 3-4 kilometers inside Pakistani territory," Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

No comment from Tehran

The Iranian government remained quiet about the incident, although some Iranian media outlets have quoted Pakistani newspapers on the drone claim.

An anti-Iran Sunni Muslim militant group � Jaish al-Adl, or the Army of Justice � claimed responsibility for an attack in Iran last month that killed 10 Iranian border guards.

Iran responded by warning Pakistan it would hit militant hideouts inside the fellow Muslim country if it failed to curb militancy. Consequently, Iran and Pakistan formed a joint commission in May to secure borders and control militancy.

Iran also beefed up security measures along the boundary with Pakistan and frequently has used drones to monitor the region since the attack.

The "IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] Air and Space force has been using the early-generation drones to track drug traffickers and militant groups such as Jaish al-Adl on the eastern borders with Pakistan," Babak Taghvaee, a military expert based in Malta, told VOA.

Iqbal suggested the drone might have entered Pakistan by "mistake" because "there's a tension in the region, and all the countries are trying to enhance their intelligence capabilities."

Iran-India ties

Geopolitical developments in the region also have strained relations.

Iran's robust ties with India make Pakistan uncomfortable. Islamabad accuses Iran of allowing its soil to be used by Indian spy agency RAW to sponsor, recruit and arm separatists and insurgents in Balochistan and infiltrate Pakistan with Indian spies via the border with Iran.

Iran seems exasperated about Jaish al-Adl's alleged hideouts in Balochistan and about Pakistan's alleged role in promoting Sunni-Shi'ite proxy wars in the region.

The diplomatic rift seemed to widen further after Pakistan accepted a role in the 39-nation Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism initiated by Iran's regional rival, Saudi Arabia. Pakistan's former army chief, General Raheel Sharif, was named to lead the alliance, which Iran sees as a move against it.

While Pakistan has tried to remain neutral in the recent dispute between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and even ventured into an unsuccessful effort to negotiate a settlement, the country is seen to be leaning toward Riyadh. Security analysts point out that Pakistan didn't hesitate to gun down the Iranian drone.

"Pakistan never seemed to have any issues with Iranian drones [in the past]. Gunning down an Iranian drone might be an effort to prove loyalty to Riyadh," Taghvaee said.

Source: Voice of America