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SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 10, No. 12, September 26, 2011
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
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J&K:
Shrinking Extremist Space
Ajit Kumar Singh
Research Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management
Security
Forces (SFs) on September 13, 2011, killed the ‘chief
operational commander’ of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT)
in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), Abdullah Uni, in an encounter
at Batpora in the Sopore area of Baramulla District. Uni,
a resident of Multan in Pakistan, was nominated as ‘chief
operational commander’ after SFs killed his predecessor,
Hafiz Nasir, on March 16, 2008.
Earlier,
on August 4, 2011, the SFs had killed LeT ‘chief’ for
the Kishtwar Sub-division, Habib Gujjar alias Salman,
and his associate, Irshad Ahmed Koli, in a gun battle
at village Nagaran in the Nagni area of Kishtwar District.
On the same day, LeT’s Pulwama 'district commander’, Shakoor
Ahmad Teli alias Saif alias Abu Bakar, was
killed in an encounter with the SFs at Khar Mohalla village
in the Putchal area of Pulwama District.
On April
23, 2011, SFs shot dead Mohammad Aiyaz Malik alias
Abu Moosa, a ‘divisional commander’ of the LeT. Moosa
had been operating in Banihal, Gool and other parts of
Ramban District for over 15 years.
According
to the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) database,
a total of 26 top militants (‘district commanders’. ‘divisional
commanders’, ‘battalion commanders’, etc.) of different
outfits operating in the State have been killed in 2011.
Prominent among these were:
August
7: An LeT ‘divisional commander’, identified as Fadullah,
was killed by SFs in Rajwar forests of Handwara in Kupwara
District.
July 15:
SF personnel killed four LeT militants in Kupwara District,
including the North Kashmir ‘divisional commander’, Saqib
alias Sohail, belonging to Kasur in Pakistan, who
had been operational in North Kashmir since 2009; Kupwara
‘divisional commander’, Hamad alias Haneef alias
Alfa Islam of Abbottabad in Pakistan; Central Kashmir
‘divisional commander’, Qari Saifullah and ‘battalion
commander’ Chotta Saad. Umair alias Hafiz, the
‘battalion commander’ of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM),
was also killed in the operation.. One Army trooper was
also, killed while five Army personnel, including a Captain,
were injured in the encounter.
July 9:
JeM’s South Kashmir ‘divisional commander’, identified
as Ahsan Bhai, and his associate, Javed Ahmad Nengroo,
were killed in a gun battle with the SFs in Hanjan Payeen
village in Pulwama District. Ahsan Bhai had been active
in the Kashmir Valley for the past 11 years.
June 28:
Two Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM)
militants, identified as ‘divisional commander’ Muzaffar
Ahmad Malla alias Chota Moulvi and his associate
Suhail Khan alias Shahid, were killed in a 12-hour
long gun-battle with the SFs in Pulwama District.
May 26:
SFs killed two JeM militants, including ‘divisional commander’
Qari Zubair, in an encounter in the Keller area of Shopian
in Baramulla District.
April 5:
A ‘divisional commander’ of HM, Sajad Ahmad Dar alias
Bale Bale, was killed by SFs during an encounter at Dadsar-Tral
in Pulwama District. A Sub-Inspector of Police, Stazin
Norboo and an Army trooper were also killed in the encounter.
March 13:
A ‘divisional commander’ of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM),
Chota Kalimullah alias Shamsher alias Talwar
Bhai, was killed in an encounter with SFs at Kralteng-Muslim
Peer area of Sopore in Baramulla District.
March 10:
Police killed Sajjad Afghani alias Qari Hamaad,
the ‘commander-in-chief’ of JeM, along with his bodyguard
Umar Bilal, in an encounter at the outskirts of Srinagar.
Sajjad Afghani hailed from the Balochistan Province of
Pakistan.
The SFs
have also arrested 164 militants, including six ‘commanders’
in 2011. In one such incident on August 24, SFs at village
Daroo in Pulwama District arrested two HM 'commanders'
and recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition from
their possession.
In addition
to targeting the top terrorist leadership, the SFs also
launched intensified operations to neutralize terrorist
hideouts and seize their weaponries. At least 131 incidents
of recovery have been recorded thus far in 2011. In one
such incident on August 21, the SFs seized more
than 5,100 rounds of ammunition from a LeT hideout in
the Sarnihal forest area of Banihal in Ramban District.
Earlier, till August 20, the Army had recovered 4,500
rounds of different types of weapons in 2011.
Mounting
of SF pressure has also forced militants to surrender.
In one such incident on August 18, four HM militants,
operating in Reasi District, reportedly surrendered before
the SFs at village Hakawas on the border of Reasi-Kulgam
Districts, falling under the jurisdiction of Damhal Police
Station of Kulgam District. The Police also claimed that
they had " achieved a major success by forcing the
surrender of longest surviving and only active militant
group of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen Pir Panchal Regiment (HMPPR)
in the State at Kulgam."
As a result
of sustained operational successes, many areas of J&K
are now free of terrorism. On January 3, 2011, Director
General of Police Kuldeep Khoda had claimed that five
out of 10 Districts of the Jammu region – Jammu, Kathua,
Samba, Reasi and Udhampur – were completely free of militancy.
Doda District had been cleared of all foreign mercenaries.
Again, on August 19, 2011, Inspector General of Police
(IGP, Jammu) Dilbagh Singh had declared that militancy
in the Reasi District had been completely wiped out. Out
of a total 153 terrorism-related fatalities in the State
in 2011, 112 – including 69 militants, 27 SF personnel
and 16 civilians – occurred in the Valley, while the remaining
41 – including 29 militants, seven SF personnel and five
civilians – were located in the Jammu Division.
The dramatic
decline of militancy is visible in available statistics.
The Ministry of Home Affairs notes that the number of
violent incidents in the first five months in 2011 stood
at 84, against 200 in 2010 for the same period. A total
of 69 SF personnel were killed through 2010, while the
number stood at 22 for 2011 (till September 24). The number
of civilians killed is more or less the same, 36 through
2010 and 32 in 2011 (till September 24). Chief Minister
Omar Abdullah thus noted, “Barring the killing of civilians
by militants, all the parameters related with militancy
are well within control.” Indeed, even the index of civilian
fatalities has declined drastically since the peak of
militancy, in 2001, when 1,067civilians lost their lives.
More significantly,
the ‘summer unrest’, massive street mobilization and stone
pelting by separatist formations, which had become a ‘routine
affair’ in the state since 2008, also failed in 2011,
despite several attempts. Potential flashpoints, such
as the alleged Kulgam Rape [charges by a woman, Rukaya
Bano, that she was abducted and raped by Army personnel
on July 19 were found to be false]; the arrest of Qurat-ul-Ain
[on July 10, after an improvised explosive device (IED)
attack on Sopore Police Station in Baramulla District
on July 6, she was released on bail on July 23]; the custodial
killing of Nazim Rashid [arrested by Army and sent to
Police custody on July 30, where he died the same night];
the ‘fake encounter’ on August 7, when SFs wrongly shot
dead an insane man claiming he was an LeT ‘divisional
commander’ Abu Usmaan in an exchange of fire in the Mehrota
area of Poonch District; and the August 21, State Human
Rights Commission (SHRC) statement that there were 2,156
unmarked graves in 38 places of the Valley, in which persons
whose identity had not so far been established had been
buried; were handled effectively by the administration.
Even when the separatists brought protestors on the road
and stones were pelted, the better prepared SFs were successful
in containing the situation. Significant efforts had been
made in the beginning of the year to retrain and equip
the SFs with non-lethal weapons. The arrest of more than
5,255 stone pelters, between January 1, 2010 and February
28, 2011 [246 are still in jail, while rest have been
released] also worked as a deterrent. Clearly, the unrest
in the past years had more to do with the Government's
‘mishandling of situation’, than with any wave of ‘spontaneous
protests’ that some analysts claimed.
In a surprising
move on August 28, 2011, Chief Minister Abdullah announced
an amnesty package for nearly 1,200 youth arrested during
the 2010 summer agitation in the Kashmir Valley. The announcement
was made hours after a Police spokesman said that around
300 miscreants riding motorcycles threw stones at the
Nowhatta (Srinagar) Police Station and also hurled two
petrol bombs at the Police. Six police men were injured
in these incidents, two of them seriously. The Police
arrested 73 agitators and seized 10 motorcycles during
the clashes, which lasted for about five hours.
While SF
and administrative successes on the ground have provided
significant relief to the State, they have provoked an
escalation in terrorist infiltration bids across the Line
of Control (LoC) and International Border (IB) with Pakistan.
According
to Government estimates, a total of 93 militants attempted
to infiltrate this year, up to July 31, 2011. On May 26,
2011, Chief Minister Abdullah confirmed that 30 to 40
militants had succeeded in entering the State in recent
infiltration attempts. An overwhelming proportion of infiltration
attempts has, however, been detected and foiled. In one
such incident on August 20, at least 12 militants and
a 26-year-old Army officer were killed in a fierce gunfight
on the LoC in Bandipora District. The terrorists, carrying
an inflatable five-man dinghy, were trying to cross the
Kishanganga in a pneumatic boat.
Most of
infiltration bids have been backed by Pakistani Rangers.
On September 20, 2011, for instance, terrorists, backed
by Pakistani Rangers, resorted to firing on a patrol party
of the Border Security Force (BSF) in the forward area
of Benglard in the Samba Sector of the Samba District,
killing a Sub-Inspector of the BSF and injuring a civilian.
On September 1, 2011, similarly, a Junior Commissioned
Officer of the Army was killed when Pakistani troops violated
the cease-fire for the second consecutive day in the Keran
Sector of Kupwara District, to provide cover to infiltrators.
The cease-fire came into effect in November 2003 and held
for just over a year, but has been repeatedly violated
since January 18, 2005. 23 cease-fire violations have
been reported till August this year. These violations
are intended to facilitate the infiltration of an estimated
2,500 militants, trained at 42 terror camps in Pakistan,
waiting at launching pads across the LoC. On September
16, 2011, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh warned,
"there is no room for complacency on the security
front in the State", as reports confirmed “cross-border
camps for terrorists being reactivated to induct fresh
batches of militants into the country”.
Meanwhile,
according to a J&K Police census, 325 militants
were currently present in J&K. Of these, 119 were
still active — the lowest number since militancy erupted
in the State in 1989. While 168 were local militants,
134 were foreign nationals. A majority of the foreign
terrorists were associated with LeT. Most of the terrorists
currently operate in North Kashmir. Despite setbacks,
HM remained the numerically largest militant outfit operating
in Kashmir, with 143 active cadres, including 15 foreign
militants. To enhance their cadre strength, the LeT and
HM, have reportedly revised compensation for ‘local guides’,
who are now offered nearly INR 150,000 for each successful
infiltration, as compared to INR 50,000 given earlier.
The terrorist
infrastructure in the State continues to retain some residual
capacities to strike. On April 25, 2011, for instance,
two Policemen were shot dead and another was injured by
militants near a Police Station in the Nowgam area in
Srinagar. On May 2, 2011, LeT militants triggered a car
bomb explosion at Birma Pul (bridge), about one kilometer
short of Udhampur town, on the Jammu-Srinagar National
Highway, targeting an Army vehicle carrying Major General
D.S. Pathania, Commandant, Northern Command Hospital.
While one civilian was killed and another seven were injured
in the attack, the targeted officer escaped unhurt.
SFs have
successfully thwarted a number of attacks as well. For
instance, an IED was defused by a Bomb Disposal Squad
of the Police along a canal on the Satwari-Belicharana
road in Jammu District on September 23, 2011.
The militants
have also sought to create social unrest by killing separatist
leaders. Ghulam Rasool Malik, president of Jamiat-e-Ahl-e-Hadith,
citing an LeT report submitted to his organistaion, stated,
on August 25, that Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF)
chief Yasin Malik was the next target for assassination,
after the killing of Jamiat-e-Ahl-e-Hadith leader Moulvi
Showkat Ahmad Shah, in a bomb attack in Srinagar on April
8, 2011. The report also claimed that Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen
(TuM)
was involved in Shah’s killing. The LeT and TuM were purportedly
involved in the ‘investigation’ process to unravel the
conspiracy behind Malik’s killing.
The Baramullah
District, and Sopore at its core, has emerged as the ideological
heartland of the surviving militancy. An unidentified
intelligence officer thus stated, “The day support for
militancy ends here, it`s finished. Sopore is the key.”
Pakistan-backed
Islamist terrorism and extremism in J&K have declined
radically over the past years, substantially as a result
of the growing domestic and international pressures on
Pakistan, and that country’s strategic priorities in Afghanistan.
Operational successes within the State have substantially
consolidated these gains, establishing an opportunity
for creating a permanent peace in J&K.
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LeJ:
Sectarian Impunity
Tushar Ranjan Mohanty
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management
On September
20, 2011, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ)
militants shot dead 29 Shias in two separate incidents
in Balochistan. In the first incident, a bus carrying
45 Shia pilgrims, travelling from Quetta, the provincial
capital, to Taftan (Iran), came under attack in Mastung.
About 10 assailants, riding on a twin-cab pick-up and
armed with AK-47 rifles and rocket launchers, intercepted
the bus, ordered all the passengers out and then opened
indiscriminate fire, killing 26 and injuring another five.
An hour after the first attack, militants killed another
three Shias, who Police said were relatives of victims
of the first incident en route to collect their
bodies, on the outskirts of Quetta. Claiming the attack,
LeJ ‘spokesperson’ Ali Sher Haideri declared that his
outfit would continue to target people from the Shia community.
Three days
later, on September 23, three Shias were killed and another
four injured in an attack on a passenger van on the outskirts
of Quetta.
On August
31, 2011, an LeJ suicide bomber had killed at least 11
Shias and injured 22 during Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations
in a Shiite mosque in Quetta.
According
to partial data compiled by the Institute for Conflict
Management a total of 2,555 sectarian attacks have
taken place across Pakistan since 1989, inflicting a total
of 3,622 fatalities.
Some of
the major attacks (involving three or more fatalities)
in 2010-11 include:
July 29,
2011: LeJ militants killed at least seven people, including
four Shias, waiting to travel to Mashhad in Iran, at a
bus terminal on Saryab Road in Quetta.
May 18,
2011: At least seven Shias, including a passerby, were
killed and six others sustained bullet injuries in an
attack near the Killi Kamalo area of Quetta.
September
1, 2010: 43 persons were killed and another 230 injured
in two suicide attacks and one grenade attack on a Shia
procession marking Hazrat Ali's martyrdom in Lahore. LeJ
Al-Alami claimed responsibility for the three attacks,
which occurred minutes apart in the Bhaati Gate locality
of Lahore.
April 17,
2010: Two burqa-clad suicide bombers targeted a crowd
of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) waiting to get
registered and receive relief goods at the Kacha Pakka
IDP camp on the outskirts of Kohat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
(KP), formerly known as North West Frontier Province (NWFP),
killing at least 44 and injuring more than 70. The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi's
Al-Aalmi faction claimed responsibility for the bombings,
and cited the presence of Shias at the IDP camp as the
reason for the attack.
April 16,
2010: A suicide bomber blew himself up in an attack inside
the Civil Hospital in Quetta, killing 11 persons and injuring
35 others. Unidentified assailants riding a motorcycle
killed Arshad Zaidi, the son of the chief of the Shia
Conference Balochistan, Syed Ashraf Zaidi. Hundreds of
supporters, including Member of the National Assembly
(MNA) Nasir Ali Shah and dozens of journalists, rushed
to the hospital where the body was lying. The suicide
bombing occurred when a large crowd had gathered at the
casualty ward. The LeJ claimed that it had carried out
the suicide bombing that also injured MNA Shah of the
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
March 12,
2010: At least 57 persons, including eight soldiers, were
killed and more than 90 persons were injured as twin suicide
blasts, moments apart from each other, ripped through
the Lahore's RA Bazaar in the cantonment area. The primary
target was a Shia Imambargah during Friday prayers. LeJ
claimed responsibility for the attack.
Rising
sectarianism in Pakistani society has emboldened militant
groups that espouse sectarian violence. The primary player,
here, is the LeJ, which was formed in 1996, when it formally
separated from Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP)
now known as Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ). The LeJ aims
to transform Pakistan into a Sunni state, primarily through
violence. Muhammad Ajmal alias Akram Lahori is
the present Saalar-i-Aala (‘Commander-in-Chief’)
of the LeJ. Lahori is currently in Police custody following
his arrest from Orangi Town in Karachi on June 17, 2002.
Although Lahori officially remains the LeJ chief, Qari
Mohammad Zafar is now believed to be the strategic ‘commander’,
while operational command is understood to have moved
to middle ranking leaders.
The LeJ
consists of eight loosely co-ordinated cells spread across
Pakistan with independent chiefs for each cell. Headed
by Maulana Abdul Khalil, a fugitive militant leader from
central Punjab, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Al-Aalmi (the ‘international’
wing) operates mostly in central parts of Punjab and the
tribal areas. The group works in close connection with
al Qaeda and its activists have been used as foot soldiers
by Arab-dominated terror groups in their plots inside
Pakistan. Asian Tigers, another LeJ cell, is dominated
by Punjabi militants, though some Pakhtoon militants of
the Mehsud tribe are affiliated with it as well. The third
cell is Junoodul Hafsa, comprising militants who aim to
exact revenge for the storming of Islamabad’s Lal Masjid
and its affiliated female seminary, Jamia Hafsa, in a
military operation in 2007. The group operates in close
coordination with the Ghazi Force, a network named after
one of the two clerics of Lal Masjid, Maulana Abdul Rasheed
Ghazi, who was killed in the operation. The outfit, led
by a former student of Lal Masjid, Maulana Niaz Rahim,
operates out of Ghaljo area of the Orakzai Agency in the
Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the adjacent
Hangu District in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and targets
military installations and personnel in parts of KP and
upper Punjab, especially Islamabad. The fourth cell affiliated
to LeJ is the Punjabi Taliban. Other small cells, which
operate under this umbrella outfit, include those commanded
by Usman Punjabi, Qari Imran, Amjad Farooqi and Qari Zafar.
These cells generally operate within Punjab.
The lethality
and operational successes of the LeJ, over the years,
are substantially attributed to its multi-cell structure,
with each maintaining limited contact with the others.
Each sub-group is responsible for carrying out activities
in a specific geographic location. Reports indicate that,
after each attack, LeJ cadres disperse and subsequently
reassemble at the various bases/hideouts to plan future
operations.
LeJ’s presence
and operations have been reported from locations as varied
as Lahore, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Multan, Islamabad,
Jhang, Khanewal, Layyah, Bhakkar, Sargodha, Rahimyar Khan,
Sahiwal, Bahawalpur and Bahawalnagar in Punjab; Orakzai
Agency, Bajaur Agency, Parachinar, Kurram Agency, South
Waziristan and North Waziristan in FATA; Bannu, Kohat,
Chitral, Gilgit and Dera Ismail Khan in KP; Karachi, Sukkur,
Hyderabad, Nawabshah, and Mirpur Khas in Sindh; and Mastung
and Quetta in Balochistan.
While Shias
remain the primary targets of the LeJ, the group has,
since 2002, broadened its focus to include other civilian,
Government and Western targets. Despite the ban on the
group since January 12, 2002, the Pakistani Government
has been unable to neutralise its operations. An intelligence
agency’s report on August 25, 2011, noted that banned
militant organisations, including LeJ, had resumed ‘full-scale
public activity’ and had begun recruiting young men from
Punjab. Another report forwarded by the Punjab Home Department
stated that LeJ had also become more active, particularly
after the release of the group’s founder Malik Ishaq in
July 2011.
One of
the prominent leaders and co-founder of LeJ, Malik Ishaq
had been charged in 44 cases, involving the murder of
70 persons, most of them Shias. He was, however, released
by the Supreme Court for lack of evidence. Ishaq was suspected
to have been involved in the March 3, 2009, attack on
the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore, but was granted
bail on July 14, 2011. Ishaq was arrested in 1997 for
a variety of crimes, most of which were of a sectarian
nature. Over the years, the cases against him faltered,
as many witnesses were too scared to testify. Ishaq was
acquitted in 34 out of 44 cases, while, in the remaining
10, including the attack on Sri Lankan cricket team, he
had already been granted bail.
Significantly,
during his stay in jail he received a stipend from the
Punjab Government and, like other key terror suspects,
was allowed to use a mobile phone. Punjab Law Minister
Rana Sanaullah confirmed the disbursement of the stipend,
but clarified that it was given to Ishaq’s family, not
to him, as per orders of the court. Further investigations,
however, revealed that there was no such disbursement
to the family, nor was there any court order pertaining
to the matter.
A US State
Department report published on August 31, 2011, observed
that Pakistan was incapable of prosecuting terror suspects.
It said that, while Pakistan maintained it was committed
to prosecuting those accused of terrorism, its Anti-terrorism
Court (ATC)’s rulings in 2010 tell a different story,
showing that the acquittal rate among suspected terrorists
was approximately 75 percent.
Meanwhile,
buoyed by his release, Malik Ishaq declared, “We are ready
to lay down our lives for the honour of the companions
of the Holy Prophet.”
Tariq Ilyas
Kyani, an officer at the Lahore Police Crime Investigation
Agency (CIA) department, rightly observed, “Terrorist
activities did not stop even when [Ishaq] was in captivity.”
However, sectarian violence has witnessed a surge since
Ishaq’s release. Out of 19 sectarian attacks in 2011,
in which 176 persons were killed, seven attacks, resulting
in 62 fatalities, have taken place after July 14.
Instead
of launching any hard initiatives against the LeJ, the
Punjab Government, on September 22, 2011, again placed
Malik Ishaq under temporary detention at his home, charging
him of stoking Sunni-Shia conflict since his release from
prison. The Punjab Government ordered that Ishaq remain
at home for 10 days.
Given Islamabad’s
lackadaisical approach towards Islamist terrorism in general,
and sectarian violence against the country’s minorities,
in particular, action against the LeJ has generally been
an eye wash, and the present steps hold no promise of
reining in the menace of sectarian terror across the country.
|
Weekly Fatalities: Major Conflicts in
South Asia
September 19-25, 2011
|
Civilians
|
Security
Force Personnel
|
Terrorists/Insurgents
|
Total
|
BANGLADESH
|
|
Left-wing
Extremism
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
INDIA
|
|
Assam
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Jammu & Kashmir
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
Nagaland
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Left-wing
Extremism
|
|
Andhra Pradesh
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
Bihar
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Jharkhand
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
Maharashtra
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
Odisha
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
West Bengal
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
Total (INDIA)
|
11
|
1
|
3
|
15
|
NEPAL
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
PAKISTAN
|
|
Balochistan
|
33
|
1
|
0
|
34
|
FATA
|
12
|
2
|
55
|
69
|
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
|
5
|
3
|
20
|
28
|
Sindh
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
Total (PAKISTAN)
|
52
|
6
|
75
|
133
|
Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
|
INDIA
Infiltration
attempts increasing
in Jammu and Kashmir,
says Army official:
General Officer Commanding
(GOC, 16 Corps) Lieutenant
General J. P. Nehra
on September 19 said
that infiltration attempts
have increased during
the past few months.
During the past one
and half months, infiltration
attempts have been increasing
in the area of White
Knight Corps but each
and every attempt was
foiled by the alert
and vigilant troops,
he said. Daily
Exclsior,
September 20, 2011.
Tripura
militants getting reorganized,
says Director General
of Police: Tripura
Director General of
Police K Saleem Ali
on September 22 said
that militants are getting
themselves re-organized
in Tripura with better
coordination among different
factions. Ali further
said that militant activities
were reported recently
to be more vigorous
than last several months
in border adjacent areas
like Kanchanpur, Chowmanu,
Gandacherra and Raishyabari.
Sentinel,
September 23, 2011.
ULFA
received a massive consignment
of arms and ammunition
from China, says intelligence
report: Citing intelligence
inputs from top intelligence
agency reports that
Anti-Talks Faction of
United Liberation Front
of Asom (ULFA-ATF) 'chairman'
Paresh Baruah received
a massive consignment
of arms and ammunition
worth USD 2.5 Million
from China as recently
as in May. The consignment,
including 1,600 pieces
of arms and ammunition,
including AK-47s, rocket
launchers, light machine
guns and 800,000 rounds
of ammunition, were
sent to Paresh Baruah
from two units of National
Ordinance Factory in
North and South China.
Deccan
Chronicle,
September 26, 2011.
HuJI
had plotted Delhi High
Court blast in Nepal,
claims intelligence
report: The conspiracy
to carry out the September
7, 2011 bomb blast at
the Delhi high court
was hatched in Nepal
by the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami
(HuJI), according to
an intelligence input
generated in Kolkata
(in West Bengal). Information
to that effect was received
from Sashastra Seema
Bal (SSB), a central
armed Police force deployed
on the borders with
Nepal and Bhutan, officials
said. Hindustan
Times,
September 22, 2011.
IM
leader Iqbal Bhatkal
is on most wanted list:
The Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI)
has added the name of
Iqbal Bhatkal, the co-founder
of Indian Mujahideen
(IM), to the recently
updated list of fugitives
most wanted by Indian
enforcement agencies.
Incidentally, Iqbal
is the first IM member
to be added in the most
wanted list. Times
of India,
September 20, 2011.
Ganapathy
and Kishanji on top
of Government's most-wanted
Maoists list: The
Centre has compiled
a most-wanted list of
top Communist party
of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist)
leaders, identifying
all members of the politburo
as well as central committee,
along with their known
addresses and photographs,
and circulated them
to all States for necessary
action. The dossier
names eight politburo
members, including 'general
secretary' Ganapathy
alias Mupalla Laxman
Rao and number 2 Kishenda
alias Prashant
Bose, besides all the
23 central committee
members. Economic
Times,
September 22, 2011.
Former
Prime Minister Bangladesh
Khaleda sheltered ULFA,
says Assam Chief Minister
Tarun Gogoi: Chief
Minister Tarun Gogoi
said that former Bangladesh
Prime Minister Khaleda
Zia gave shelter to
United Liberation Front
of Asom (ULFA) when
she was the Prime Minister.
He, however, conceded
that present Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina has helped
us apprehend the ULFA
leadership in Bangladesh.
Times
of India,
September 24, 2011.
Union
Home Minister P Chidambaram
makes fresh offer of
talks to Maoists:
Union Home Minister
P Chidambaram on September
21 made a fresh offer
to the Communist Party
of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist)
saying the Government
is ready to talk to
them if they simply
suspend violence. "You
don't have to lay down
arms. You don't have
to surrender. You don't
have to disband your
outfits. You don't have
to give up your ideology
either. You just suspend
violence and come forward
for talks...'' the Home
Minister said. Indian
Express,
September 22, 2011.
Bru
refugees' identification
begins in Mizoram:
The identification process
of Bru refugees resettled
in Mamit District started
on September 20. The
identification of the
repatriated Brus was
undertaken after a meeting
of civil society groups
and political parties
held during the day.
Times
of India,
September 21, 2011.
PAKISTAN
55
militants and 12 civilians
among 69 persons killed
during the week in FATA:
Security Forces (SFs)
on September 24 killed
14 militants and neutralised
two of their hideouts
during operations in
Orakzai and Khyber Agencies
in Federally Administered
Tribal Areas (FATA).
Two
missiles fired by a
US drone on September
23 killed six persons
in Khushali Turikhel
village in Mir Ali tehsil
(revenue unit), about
40 kilometres from Miranshah
, headquarter of North
Waziristan Agency (NWA).
In addition, four Lashkar-e-Islam
(LI) militants were
killed in Tirah Valley
of Khyber Agency after
a time device fitted
in their vehicle went
off.
A
powerful roadside bomb
targeting an anti-Tehreek-e-Taliban
Pakistan (TTP) militia
ripped through a pick-up
vehicle in Chamarkand
village of Bajaur Agency
on September 22 killing
at least five persons
and inuring another
eight.
The
beheaded bodies of three
tribesmen, abducted
by militants a month
ago, were found in Sam
Ghakay area of Khwezai
tehsil in Mohmand
Agency on September
21.
SFs
on September 20 killed
29 militants during
a search operation in
Dabori area of Orakzai
Agency.
Dawn;
Daily
Times;
The
News;
Tribune,
September 20-26, 2011.
33
civilians and one SF
among 34 persons killed
during the week in Balochistan:
Three people from the
Hazara community were
killed and three others,
including a child, sustained
injuries when a passenger
van was attacked by
unidentified assailants
on Sibi Road in Sayrab
area of Quetta on September
23.
The
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ)
militants had shot dead
29 Shia persons in two
separate incidents in
Balochistan on September
20. In the first incident,
a bus carrying 45 Shia
pilgrims, who were travelling
from Quetta to Taftan
(Iran), came under attack
in Mastung. About 10
assailants, riding on
a twin-cab pick-up and
armed with AK-47 rifles
and rocket launchers,
intercepted the bus,
ordered all the passengers
to vacate the bus and
then opened indiscriminate
firing killing 26 of
them while injuring
five others. An hour
after the first attack,
militants killed another
three Shias, whom Police
said were relatives
of victims of the first
incident en route to
collect their bodies,
on the outskirts of
Quetta. Claiming for
the attack, LeJ 'spokesperson',
who introduced himself
as Ali Sher Haideri,
said his outfit will
continue to target people
from Shia community.
Dawn;
Daily
Times;
The
News;
Tribune,
September 20-26, 2011.
20
militants and five civilians
among 28 persons killed
during the week in Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa: At
least 15 militants and
one soldier were killed
during a clash near
Kharkai hills in the
Lower Dir District in
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on
September 24.
A
suicide bomber was killed
along with two facilitators
and two terrorists were
arrested after an hour-long
search-and-cordon operation
by the Army in Malukabad
area of Mingora town
in Swat District on
September 22.
At
least five persons were
killed and 33 injured
when a powerful bomb
exploded in the busy
commercial area of Nishtarabad
Chowk along the GT Road
in Peshawar in the night
of September 19.
Dawn;
Daily
Times;
The
News;
Tribune,
September 20-26, 2011.
ISI
using Haqqani network
for 'proxy war', says
US: The US on September
21 accused the Inters
Services Intelligence
(ISI) of using the Haqqani
network to wage a 'proxy
war'. Admiral Mike Mullen,
US Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, said
that in a discussion
with Pakistan's Army
chief General Ashfaq
Parvez Kayani that lasted
about four hours, he
had pressed Pakistan
to break its links with
the group.
It
also warned Islamabad
to cut ties with the
terror group and help
eliminate its leaders
or it will act unilaterally.
The US administration
has indicated that the
US will act unilaterally
if Pakistan does not
comply, The Washington
Post reported.
Again
on September 22 he accused
Pakistan of "exporting"
violent extremism to
Afghanistan by backing
militants that attack
American and NATO troops.
"The Haqqani network,
for one, acts as a veritable
arm of Pakistan's Inter-Services
Intelligence agency,"
Mullen told the US Senate
Armed Services Committee.
Sirajuddin
Haqqani, the head of
the Haqqani Network,
during a conversation
with Reuters
said that the US will
suffer more losses (in
North Waziristan) than
they suffered in Afghanistan.
Daily
Times;
Indian Exrprss,
September
22-24, 2011.
Haqqani
Network not in Pakistan,
claims Federal Minister
of Interior Rehman Malik:
Federal Minister of
Interior Rehman Malik
on September 21 claimed
that the Haqqani Network
is not in Pakistan.
"I assured Federal Bureau
of Investigation (FBI)
Director Robert Mueller
that the Haqqanis are
not on the Pakistani
side, but if there was
any intelligence, which
was provided by the
US, we would definitely
take suitable action,"
Rehman Malik said. "The
Haqqanis are the product
of the Soviet Union
and the Afghan war,
and we were partners
and they are sons of
the soil," Malik told
reporters after a meeting
with Mueller. Daily
Times,
September 22, 2011.
Operation
against militant and
sectarian outfits will
be lunched soon in Karachi,
says Federal Minister
of Interior official:
Intelligence agencies
are learnt to have identified
as many as two dozen
extremist militant and
sectarian outfits operating
in Karachi who may face
a crackdown once the
hunt for politically-backed
target killers is over,
an unnamed senior official
of the Federal Minister
of Interior said on
September 18. The official
said that extremist
organisations will be
targeted in the next
phase. "This proposal
is under consideration,"
he added. Tribune,
September 20, 2011.
SRI LANKA
Government
to close the last IDP
camp in North: The
Government on September
20 announced that the
last of the Internally
Displaced Persons (IDPs)
camps in North will
be closed soon. Preparations
were underway to construct
a new village of 600
acres in Kombavil of
Mullaitivu District
for the IDPs currently
remaining in the Manik
Farm relief village
in Vavuniya. Accordingly,
7,394 IDPs of 2,097
families presently living
in Manik Farm relief
village will be resettled
in the Kombavil village.
Colombo
Page,
September 22, 2011.
Hundreds
of LTTE cadres likely
to be indicted:
Foreign Minister G.L.
Peiris said that all
but 3,000 of 11,500
Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam (LTTE) militants
who were either arrested
or surrendered after
end of war have been
released from military-run
rehabilitation camps
and are reintegrating
into society. He said
that of those remaining,
"less than 2,000"' hardcore
cadres were expected
to be indicted, and
that court proceedings
were likely to being
next year. Times
of India,
September 25, 2011.
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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