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In what looks like a bid to extend its influence in the South Asian region, so-called Islamic State (IS) militants have allegedly distributed 12-page pamphlets in the north-west of Pakistan, in Peshawar and in Afghan refugee camps based near its outskirts, it was reported in early September.

They were written in Pashto and Dari, and titled Fatah (Victory) The editor’s name, however, appears fake and their place of publication obscure. For a long time, Afghan resistance groups, including the Haqqani Network, Hizb-e-Islami Afghanistan and the Tora Bora group have published similar pamphlets, magazines and propaganda literature in Peshawar’s black markets. However this latest spread has raised fears of a possible link between IS and such militants, threatening all non-Muslims.

Consensus is emerging to begin ‘contingency planning’ to send a UN peacekeeping force to the lawless Central African Republic (CAR), the UN’s No.2 official said in mid-November.

‘The country in the heart of Africa is descending into complete chaos before our eyes and requires a capable security force on the ground’, UN Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson told the UN Security Council. The occupation: ‘must be robust and prevent what has the high potential to result in widespread atrocities’.