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SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 14, No. 10, September 7, 2015
Data and
assessments from SAIR can be freely published in any form
with credit to the South Asia Intelligence Review of the
South Asia Terrorism Portal
|
Censorship
by Murder
S.
Binodkumar Singh
Research
Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
On September
2, 2015, four eminent personalities, including Chittagong
District Court’s Additional Public Prosecutors Ashok Kumar
Das and Chandan Bishwas; the Vice-Chancellor of Premier
University, Chittagong, Dr. Anupam Sen; and International
Crime Tribunal’s Prosecutor Rana Dasgupta received death
threats in the form of SMS text messages from the banned
terrorist formation, Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT,
Volunteer of Allah Bangla Team).
Earlier,
on August 12, 2015, Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen (IuM,
United Council of Mujahideen), an affiliate of Tehrik-i-Taliban
Pakistan (TTP,
Taliban Movement of Pakistan), in a letter sent to online
news outlet bdnews24.com issued death threats to
19 distinguished people. The list included Education Minister
Nurul Islam Nahid; Social Welfare Minister Syed Mohsin
Ali; Awami League (AL) Member of Parliament (MP) Suranjit
Sen Gupta; ‘War Heroines’ Ferdousi Priyabhashini and Abdur
Rahman; Professor of Shahjalal University of Science and
Technology Muhammed Zafar Iqbal; Jahangirnagar University
teacher Arafat Rahman; Member of the Udichi Shilpi
Gosthi (Progressive Cultural Group, the largest cultural
organization in Bangladesh) Makbul Hossain; bloggers Arif
Jebtik, Sushanta Das Gupta, Arifur Rahman, Omi Rahman
Pial, Ananya Azad, Mahmudul Haque Munshi, Maruf Rasul,
Nirjhar Mazumder, Dr. Atik, Ashfak Anupa and Nur Nabi
Dulal. Though the list also included Niladri Chattopadhyay
Niloy aka Niloy Neel (28), who was brutally killed
at his flat in Dhaka city on August 7, 2015; the name
was struck through with a red pen. The letter contains
the threat in the form of a poem:
Death
will come one day friend, today or tomorrow. For
the sake of Almighty we will take the life of His
enemies. What is your identity if you do not cry
for insult of the Prophet? Death will come one day
friend, take the life of the enemy.
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In the
letter the IuM has labeled these people as enemies of
Islam and madrasa (seminary) education, atheists,
satanic bloggers, Hindustani brokers and munafiqs
(someone who outwardly practices Islam concealing his
disbelief).
On August
10, 2015, Ansar-al-Islam, the Bangladesh chapter
of al Qaeda in the Indian Sub-continent (AQIS), issued
a threat on its Facebook page to six activists
associated with Gonojagoron Mancha (People's Resurgence
Platform), a group demanding capital punishment for the
1971 war criminals. The post read "There are three
anti-Islamic poets & three organizers of blogs. They
are the enemy of Islam. We should do what will our aim
(sic)." The six persons have been identified as poet
Henry Swapan, sculptor Charu Tuhin, poet Syed Mehedi Hasan,
organizer of Gonojagoron Mancha in Barisal District,
Nazrul Biswas, poet Tuhin Das and Bangladesh Chhatra Union's
Barisal unit general secretary Pritom Chowdhury.
These threats
become more alarming given the fact that four bloggers
have already been killed in 2015, by suspected Islamist
terrorists. On August 7, 2015, Niladri Chattopadhyay Niloy
aka Niloy Neel (28), a secular blogger and a Gonojagoron
Mancha activist, was hacked to death at his Goran
residence in the Khilgaon area of the national capital,
Dhaka, in broad daylight; on May 12, 2015, Ananta Bijoy
Das (32), a progressive writer, blogger, editor of science
fiction magazine Jukti, and an organizer of Gonojagoron
Mancha, was hacked to death, using machetes, by four
assailants at the Subidbazar Bankolapara residential area
of Sylhet city; on March 30, 2015, another blogger and
online activist, Oyasiqur Rahman Babu (27), was hacked
to death in broad daylight in Dhaka city for his allegedly
atheist views; and on February 26, 2015, Bangladesh-born
American citizen blogger Avijit Roy (42), the founder
of the Mukta-mona.com blog, was hacked to death
in Dhaka city. Investigations into these cases later confirmed
that ABT organized the killing of these writers for their
position ‘against Islam’.
In 2013,
ABT had issued a list of 84 “atheist bloggers” on the
grounds that "All of them are enemy of the Islam
(sic)." Of the 84 atheist bloggers named in the list,
ten have been killed so far (till September 6, 2015).
In addition to the four killed in 2015, the other six
include Jagatjyoti Talukder, killed on March 2, 2014;
Mamun Hossain, on January 12, 2014; Ziauddin Zakaria Babu,
on December 11, 2013; Arif Hossain Dwip, on April 9, 2013;
Ahmed Rajib Haider, on February 15, 2013; and Jafar Munshi,
on February 14, 2013.
In a related
development, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) personnel arrested
Supreme Court (SC) lawyers’ Barrister Shakila Farzana
(39) and Mohamad Hasanuzzaman Liton (30); and Dhaka Judge’s
Court lawyer Mahfuz Chowdhury Bapon (25), from the Dhanmondi
area of Dhaka city on August 18, 2015, in connection with
financing the Shaheed Hamja Brigade (SHB), a Chittagong-based
terrorist outfit. They allegedly provided BDT 10.8 million
to SHB. Shakila deposited BDT 2.5 million and BDT 2.7
million for the outfit in two phases while Liton deposited
BDT 3.1 million and Bapon BDT 2.5 million. Attorney General
Mahbubey Alam on August 20 stated, “It will be proved
in trial whether the three lawyers are guilty or not.
No lawyers have been held over such allegations before.”
On August 23, 2015, the three lawyers gave confessional
statements before the Chittagong District Court, admitting
their involvement in financing the terrorist group.
The Sheikh
Hasina-led Awami League Government has tackled the rising
specter of Islamist extremism and terrorism in Bangladesh
with a high measure
of success. In a further initiative
to consolidate gains, on August 12, 2015, Foreign Secretary
M. Shahidul Haque disclosed, “We will take a couple more
weeks to put together amendments to the terrorism acts.
Some of the global Non-Government Organizations (NGOs)
in disguise try to get resources not for real welfare
of the people but for this kind of terrorist activities.”
Measures like this are the necessary way forward to fight
this menace, even as ongoing efforts to reverse the success
story have been intensified by radical groupings. The
succession of brutal killings of bloggers and surge of
threats to people opposing radical ideologies are instances
of such efforts. The emerging support base of these grouping
among hitherto unattached section of the society is also
worrisome.
A measure
of ambivalence, nevertheless, continues to tarnish Government
responses. Thus, regrettably, urging the bloggers not
to ‘cross the limit’ while writing on religious issues,
Inspector General of Police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Hoque,
at a press briefing at the Police Headquarters in the
capital Dhaka city on August 9, 2015, warned, "Do
not cross the limit. Do not hurt anyone's religious belief.
The ‘freethinkers’ should keep in mind that hurting someone's
religious sentiment is a criminal offence.”
A space
yielded to the extremists by the Government has the potential
to derail the success story against Islamist radicalism
and terror in Bangladesh, and could provide fertile grounds
for an extremist resurgence. Indeed, while the Government
had succeeded in minimizing the threat from strong terrorist
and extremist formations such as Jama'atul Mujahideen
Bangladesh (JMB),
Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami Bangladesh (HuJI-B),
Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT) and Hizb-ut-Towhid (HT), the subsequent
failure to rein in fundamentalist elements has led to
the growth of groups like ABT and Ansar-Al-Islam, and
the spate of murders and wider intimidation these groups
have unleashed.
Indeed,
on August 17, 2015, Tangail Superintendent of Police (SP)
Mahfuzur Rahman, observing that, since the August 17,
2005, countrywide
synchronized bombings by JMB, a new
generation of terrorists had spawned, but there had been
no change in Government tactics to deal with them. He
noted, “The JMB doesn't have the organizational strength
like that in 2005 following the arrest and execution of
its top leaders. But it doesn't mean the organization
has become very weak. The outfit is still active in different
areas under different names. We need to monitor the elements
whether they are in jails or outside, and fight them institutionally
under a coordinated mechanism.”
The emergence
of new groups demonstrate the speed with which violent
extremists adapt to even to the most extraordinary pressures
and changes in the security environment. The processes
of Islamist entrenchment have been ongoing for decades
in Bangladesh and hundreds of thousands who have undergone
various degrees of radicalization remain in the country
as a potential pool of recruitment for violent mobilization.
It is difficult to predict what could trigger a new cycle
of escalation. It is imperative, consequently, for Dhaka
to fight through any complacency that may undermine the
present resolve to wipe out extremism from the country.
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Assam:
NDFB-IKS: Caught in a Vice
M.A.
Athul
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management
On September
3, 2015, a cadre of the IK Songbijit faction of National
Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB-IKS),
identified as Bhaigo Boro alias B. Bilaigra, was
killed in an encounter with the Security Forces (SFs)
at Saumukhi Nala near Diglipara village in Kokrajhar District.
He was reportedly involved in the December 23, 2014, massacre
of Adivasis (the “tea tribes” from Central India,
who were brought into the Northeast to work on plantations
by the British prior to India’s independence) in which
69 people were killed at several places in the Chirang,
Sonitpur and Kokrajhar Districts.
Earlier,
on August 29, 2015, two NDFB-IKS militants, identified
as 'platoon commanders' N. Gwndwi and B. Jwanthi, were
killed in an encounter with SFs at Oxiguri village in
Chirag District.
On July
17, 2015, Police killed a ‘deputy commander’ of NDFB-IKS,
identified as Sijoy, at Chautara in Kokrajhar District.
He had a bounty of INR 500,000 on him. An unnamed Police
official disclosed that Sijoy had led the group of militants
which had killed Sonitpur District Additional Superintendent
of Police Gulzar Hussain on January 29 2014.
Significantly,
soon after the December 23, 2014, massacre, the Government
of India (GoI) launched Operation All Out against
the NDFB-IKS, the outfit responsible for the massacre.
According to a Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) report,
during the period from 26.12.2014 to 27.6.2015, at least
383 militants and linkmen of NDFB-IKS have been arrested
and 12 militants have been killed by SFs in this operation.
Though no further official details are available, according
to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism
Portal (SATP) another 43 NDFB-IKS militants has been
arrested and seven have been killed since June 28, 2015
(all data till September 3, 2015). Thus a total of at
least 426 NDFB-IKS militants have been arrested and 19
have been killed during the course of the ongoing Operation.
The Operation
has also succeeded in putting pressure on north-east militants
hiding in Bhutan. Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) officials,
on July 18, 2015, stated that they have been able to substantially
cut off ration supplies to militants holed up in Bhutan
because of stepped up counter-insurgency operations against
the NDFB-IKS along the international border in western
Assam. SSB officials observed, "We have information
that the cutting off of the supply line has resulted in
significant shortage of ration for leaders and cadres
taking shelter in Bhutan. There is also desperation among
the cadres to cross the border either for access to ration
or surrender." However, no such surrenders have been
reported so far.
Since its
formation on November 20, 2012, NDFB-IKS had emerged as
one of the most violent groups in Assam. Out of 221 civilian
fatalities in the State between November 20, 2012, and
December 23, 2014, NDFB-IKS was responsible for 140. The
next most violent outfit was Kamtapur Peoples Liberation
Tigers (KPLT)
with 12 fatalities. Similarly, out of 13 SF fatalities
in Assam during this period, NDFB-IKS was responsible
for five. The next most violent outfits were United Achik
Liberation Army (UALA), a Meghalaya based militant outfit,
and the Isak-Muivah faction of National Socialist Council
of Nagaland (NSCN-IM),
with two fatalities each. NDFB-IKS’ growing presence on
the ground is further evidenced by the fact that, out
of 181 militant fatalities during the same period, 65
were of NDFB-IKS alone. 27 fatalities among civilians
and one among SFs remained unattributed. More worryingly,
NDFB-IKS was responsible for two recent massacres in Assam
– the May
1-3 2014, massacre and December
23, 2014 massacre.
However,
Operation All Out has inflicted a severe blow to
NDFB-IKS. Indeed, NDFB-IKS has not been found involved
in any of the eight civilian killings in Assam in 2015,
although the lone incident in which SFs were targeted
was carried out by the NDFB-IKS. A Junior Commissioned
Officer (JCO) of Assam Rifles (AR) was killed at Sonitpur
District on January 2, 2015. 43 insurgency-related fatalities
(eight civilians, one trooper and 34 militants) have been
recorded in Assam in 2015, till date. In the corresponding
period in 2014, Assam had recorded 184 fatalities (95
civilians, five SF personnel and 84 militants), clearly
indicating the direct correlation between NDFB-IKS activities
and violence in the State.
Although
low- and mid-level cadres of NDFB-IKS have been decimated
and operational capability of the group has been sharply
contained for the present, the top leadership is relatively
safe in Myanmar and in jungles along the Indo-Bhutan border.
On April 24, 2015, it was reported that NDFB-IKS had removed
its 'president' Songbijit and its ‘interim general secretary’
B. Saoraigwra was elevated to the post. Songbijit was
reportedly sidelined when the outfit took the decision
to massacre the Adivasis. The massacre was executed under
the direction of G. Bidai, who continues to hold the position
of ‘deputy chief’ of NDFB-IKS. The current status of IK
Songbijit is unclear. According to information available
with security agencies, B. Saoraigwra is believed to be
hiding at Manas National Park, bordering Bhutan; while
Songbijit is reportedly in Myanmar.
Not surprisingly,
the threat from NDFB-IKS remains. In a worrisome development,
it was reported in April 2015 that the NDFB-IKS, along
with other militant groups such as the ‘Independent’ faction
of United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA-I),
Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO)
and Khaplang faction of National Socialist Council of
Nagaland (NSCN-K),
had formed a joint front of militant groups, called The
United National Liberation Front of Western South East
Asia (UNLFWESEA). Significantly, UNLFWSEA was responsible
for the June 4, 2015, ambush
at Parlon in Chandel in Manipur, in which 18 SF personnel
and two militants were killed. It was later known that,
after the ambush, the ‘victory photograph’, which was
widely published in the media’, was taken at the Mawku
camp belonging to militant groups, including NDFB-IKS.
The camp is situated 12 kilometres inside Myanmar.
Also, according
to an August 24, 2015, report 25 militants headed by G.
Bidai were still inside Assam and were hiding in thick
jungles near the Manas National Park. The group had narrowly
escaped on May 7, 2015, when SFs had neutralized their
camp. The group has since been on the run. According to
information available with security agencies, the group
managed to sneak into Bhutan on July 2, 2015, and stayed
there for about a month before returning to Assam.
Meanwhile,
the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which has taken
up the December 23, 2014, massacre case, stated that "It
has been established by this investigation that members
of 'Adibashi' community were specifically targeted through
these coordinated attacks on December 23, 2014, because
the senior leadership of the NDFB-IKS harboured the perception
that members of the community had been instrumental in
providing information about NDFB-IKS to SFs and that it
has resulted in significant 'losses' for the organization
in anti-terrorist operations conducted by the SFs. This
has been substantiated by the confessional statement of
an accused."
The operational
successes against the NDFB-IKS have been achieved due
to the significant role played by the Central Forces.
The Central Government has deployed about 9,000 Army and
paramilitary personnel for the Operation, but these Forces
cannot be expected to remain permanently. Eventually,
it will be the responsibility of the State Police to sustain
the gains made by the Central Paramilitary Forces (CPMFs).
Unfortunately, although Assam has a Police-population
ratio of 173 to 100,000, as against a national average
of 141 [NCRB data for 2013], the State Police is in no
shape to take charge of counter insurgency operations
in the State. The poor condition of the State Police was
documented in the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG)
year ending report (March 31, 2014), which had stated
that 26 per cent of weapons and same percentage of ammunition
with the Police Force were obsolete. It also stated that
the objective of establishing the Counter Insurgency and
anti-Terrorist Training Schools (CIAT) had not been achieved,
as the 4,769 personnel, who completed training at these
schools were not trained in various aspects of counter
insurgency such as “night training, underground firing
and jungle warfare training”.
Crucially,
gains on the security dimensions need to be quickly followed
by vigorous interventions by the civilian administration
to gain the support of the ‘contested population’ through
effective economic and social programs. Successive Governments
in Assam have been extraordinarily myopic, inefficient
and riddled with corruption, and have failed fairly comprehensively
in this regard. Most significantly, the issue of illegal
migration across the still porous borders remains entirely
unaddressed, even as the demographic destabilization and
political polarization caused by past illegal migration
– the original cause of the many insurgencies in the State
– not only continues to be ignored, but has, in fact,
become an integral part of electoral manipulations in
Assam, resulting in the polarisation of society along
ethnic lines. As long as these conditions persist, and
despite extraordinary efforts and successes by the SFs,
militancy, like a Lernaean Hydra, will refuse to die.
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Weekly Fatalities:
Major Conflicts in South Asia
August 31-September 6, 2015
|
Civilians
|
Security
Force Personnel
|
Terrorists/Insurgents
|
Total
|
BANGLADESH
|
|
Left Wing
Extremism
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
INDIA
|
|
Assam
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
Jammu and
Kashmir
|
0
|
2
|
5
|
7
|
Manipur
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
3
|
Meghalaya
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
3
|
Left-Wing
Extremism
|
|
Andhra Pradesh
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Chhattisgarh
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
Maharashtra
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
Odisha
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Total (INDIA)
|
5
|
3
|
12
|
20
|
PAKISTAN
|
|
Balochistan
|
7
|
0
|
3
|
10
|
FATA
|
6
|
1
|
47
|
54
|
KP
|
6
|
4
|
0
|
10
|
Punjab
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
3
|
Sindh
|
4
|
1
|
7
|
12
|
PAKISTAN
(Total)
|
|
|
|
|
Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
|
INDIA
UAE
detains
11
Indians
for
planning
to
join
IS:
As
many
as
11
Indian
nationals
are
under
detention
in
the
United
Arab
Emirates
(UAE)
since
early
August
on
charges
of
planning
to
join
the
Islamic
State
(IS)
and
recruiting,
financing
and
providing
logistics
to
those
willing
to
joining
the
terror
outfit.
According
to
intelligence
sources,
the
UAE
security
services
came
across
two
groups
of
people
hailing
from
India
based
in
Abu
Dhabi
and
Dubai,
who
were
involved
in
sharing
and
discussing
issues
pertaining
to
IS
on
social
media.
Times
of
India,
September
4,
2015.
NEPAL
RPP-N's
amendment
proposal
seeks
monarchy
along
with
Hindu
state:
On
September
3,
Rastriya
Prajatantra
Party-Nepal
(RPP-N)
registered
amendment
proposal
on
the
"Revised
Bill"
of
the
new
constitution
at
the
Constituent
Assembly
(CA)
Secretariat
proposing
Constitutional
Monarchy
instead
of
Republic
System.
It
also
demanded
that
the
country
be
declared
a
Hindu
state
and
sought
decentralisation
instead
of
federalism.
In
the
24-point
amendment
proposal,
the
RPP-N
defined
monarchy
as
His
Majesty,
the
dynasty
of
Prithvi
Narayan
Shah,
follower
of
Arya
culture
and
Hindu
religion.
Himlayan
Times,
August
29,
2015.
MPRF-D
Chairman
Bijay
Gachchhadar
forms
new
alliance
to
champion
Madhes
cause:
Madhesi
People's
Right
Forum-Democratic
(MPRF-D)
Chairman
Bijay
Gachchhadar
announced
a
new
alliance,
Federal
Democratic
Front
(FDF),
comprising
of
three
Madhes-based
political
parties,
at
a
press
meet
at
Singha
durbar,
Kathmandu
on
September
2.
The
alliance
has
been
formed
to
pile
pressure
against
major
political
parties
for
revising
the
draft
Constitution
to
address
the
issues
of
Madhesi
people.
Sharat
Singh
Bhandari-led
National
Madhes
Socialist
Party
(NMSP)
and
Raj
Kishor
Yadav-led
Madheshi
People´s
Rights
Forum
-Republican
(MPRF-R)
are
part
of
the
front.
My Republica,
September
3,
2015.
PAKISTAN
47
militants
and
six
civilians
among
54
persons
killed
during
the
week
in
FATA:
Security
Forces
(SFs)
on
September
2
claimed
killing
40
militants
in
air
strikes
in
the
North
Waziristan
Agency
(NWA)
and
Khyber
Agency
of
Federally
Administered
Tribal
Areas
(FATA).
At
least
six
persons,
including
one
Khasadar
personnel,
were
killed
and
56
others
were
injured
when
a
suicide
bomber
blew
himself
up
at
the
entrance
of
Political
Agent
office
in
the
Jamrud
tehsil
(revenue
unit)
of
Khyber
Agency
on
September
1.
Six
militants
were
killed
and
four
others
were
injured
in
a
US
drone
attack
on
a
house
in
the
Karwanda
village
near
the
Manzarkhel
area
of
Dattakhel
tehsil
(revenue
unit)
in
the
NWA
on
September
1.
Daily
Times;
Dawn;
The
News;
Tribune;
The
Nation;
The
Frontier
Post;
Pakistan
Today;
Pakistan
Observer,
September
1-7,
2015.
There
will
be
war
in
Indian
cities
before
Indian
army
reaches
Pakistani
borders,
threatens
JuD
'chief'
and
LeT
founder
Hafiz
Muhammad
Saeed:
Lashkar-e-Taiba
(LeT)
founder
and
Jama'at-ud-Dawa
(JuD)
'chief'
Hafiz
Muhammad
Saeed
on
September
6
threatened
war
in
Indian
cities
while
calling
the
Pakistani
rulers
to
press
India
to
grant
the
right
to
self-determination
to
the
Kashmiris.
He
said
that
in
case
India
refuses,
the
rulers
should
announce
that
Pakistan
would
stand
by
the
Kashmiris.
The News,
September
7,
2015.
Army
to
stay
in
tribal
areas
till
2019:
The
National
Assembly
Standing
Committee
on
Defence
Chairman,
Rohail
Asghar,
said
on
September
3
that
the
Army
would
stay
in
the
tribal
areas
along
the
border
with
Afghanistan
till
2019.
The
committee
was
informed
that
more
than
3,500
terrorists
had
been
killed
and
over
300
Army
officials
had
embraced
martyrdom
during
the
ongoing
Operation
Zarb-e-Azb
in
the
North
Waziristan
Agency
of
Federally
Administered
Tribal
Areas
(FATA).
The News,
September
4,
2015.
Almost
all
Uighur
militants
in
Pakistan
eliminated,
claims
President
Mamnoon
Hussain:
Almost
all
members
of
the
Uighur
militant
group,
the
East
Turkestan
Islamic
Movement
(ETIM),
have
been
eliminated
from
Pakistan,
President
Mamnoon
Hussain
said
during
a
meeting
with
Chinese
President
Xi
Jinping
in
the
Great
Hall
of
the
People
in
Beijing
on
September
2.
Stating
that
ongoing
Operation
Zarb-e-Azb
"has
been
successful
in
eradicating
terrorism
from
our
country,"
adding,
"It
has
also
been
very
helpful
in
eliminating
the
ETIM
element
from
our
country
and
I
think
almost
all
ETIM
people
in
our
country
have
been
eliminated.
If
some
of
them
were
still
there,
their
number
would
be
very
few."
Dawn,
September
3,
2015.
Haqqani
Network
'disrupted'
after
army
action,
claims
Prime
Minister's
Adviser
on
National
Security
and
Foreign
Affairs
Sartaj
Aziz:
Responding
to
United
States
(US)
concerns
that
Pakistan
remains
a
haven
for
the
Haqqani
Network,
Prime
Minister's
Adviser
on
National
Security
and
Foreign
Affairs
Sartaj
Aziz
on
August
31
claimed
that
the
infrastructure
of
Haqqani
Network
in
North
Waziristan
Agency
of
Federally
Administered
Tribal
Areas
(FATA)
has
been
disrupted.
Aziz
said
the
militants
have
been
weakened
by
an
army
offensive
and
now
operate
mostly
out
of
Afghanistan.
Daily Times,
September
1,
2015.
SRI
LANKA
TNA
leader
R.
Sampanthan
designated
as
opposition
leader
in
Sri
Lanka
parliament:
Leader
of
Tamil
National
Alliance
(TNA)
and
Trincomalee
District
parliamentarian
R.
Sampanthan
was
designated
as
the
Leader
of
Opposition
in
the
eighth
parliament
on
September
3.
Speaker
Karu
Jayasuriya
named
Sampanthan
as
the
Opposition
Leader
when
the
parliament
convened
on
September
3,
after
the
inaugural
session
on
September
1.
Earlier,
both
United
People's
Freedom
Alliance
(UPFA)
and
TNA
were
vying
for
the
opposition
leader
position.
Colombo Page,
September
4,
2015.
Sri
Lankan
Parliament
urged
to
repeal
anti-terror
Act:
The
Campaign
for
Free
and
Fair
Elections
(CaFFE)
called
upon
newly-elected
Members
of
Parliament
(MP)'s
to
repeal
the
Prevention
of
Terrorism
Act
(PTA)
in
two
months.
In
a
statement
on
September
2,
Rajith
Keerthi
Tennakoon,
Executive
Director
CaFFE,
termed
the
PTA
as
more
dangerous
than
emergency
laws
and
said
the
United
National
Front
for
Good
Governance
(UNFGG),
which
has
formed
the
new
government,
consists
of
parties
that
were
victims
of
the
law
in
the
past.
The Hindu,
September
3,
2015.
The South
Asia Intelligence Review (SAIR) is a weekly service that
brings you regular data, assessments and news briefs on
terrorism, insurgencies and sub-conventional warfare, on
counter-terrorism responses and policies, as well as on
related economic, political, and social issues, in the South
Asian region.
SAIR is a project
of the Institute
for Conflict Management
and the
South
Asia Terrorism Portal.
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