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SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 10, No. 16, October 24, 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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HuT:
Extremist Spectre
Sanchita Bhattacharya
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management
The Hizb-ut-Tahrir
(HuT, ‘Party of Liberation’), a global Islamist organization
seeking the imposition of Shariah (Islamic Law)
across the world, is growing into a major focus of concern
in Bangladesh and Pakistan over the past years. Colonel
T.M. Jobaer, Director of National Security Intelligence
(NSI), Bangladesh, thus argues, “Of all the Islamic outfits,
Hizb-ut-Tahrir is currently the biggest threat... The
organisation is strong because it has a strong international
agenda -- it wants to establish a Khilafat (the
Islamic Caliphate) in many countries”.
On October
12, 2011, nine HuT cadres were arrested in Dhaka, the
capital of Bangladesh, while they were trying to bring
out a procession in front of the city's Baitul Mukarram,
the National Mosque, demanding the release of the outfit's
top leaders and the establishment of Khilafat rule
in the country.
On June
21, 2011, the Pakistan Army arrested Brigadier Ali Khan
at Rawalpindi over his alleged links with HuT. He had
been picked up for questioning on May 6, 2011, but the
arrest was announced on June 21. Pakistan's military spokesman,
Major General Athar Abbas, when asked to confirm, stated,
“Yes, it is correct that he is under detention over his
alleged links to the militant group Hizb-ul-Tahrir and
an investigation is going on”.
A study
conducted by the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute
claimed that HuT was slowly gaining ground and was currently
the strongest force in anti-state activities in Bangladesh.
According
to the partial data collected by the Institute for
Conflict Management, a total of 278 HuT cadres have
been arrested in these two countries since March 10, 2000
– 207 in Bangladesh and 71 in Pakistan. Some of the significant
arrests included:
September
30, 2011: Three cadres of HuT were arrested by the Rapid
Action Battalion (RAB) personnel in Dhaka, when they were
distributing leaflets in front of Baitul Mukarram.
September
14, 2011: RAB-2 personnel arrested two cadres of HuT,
identified as Towhidur Rahman (22) and Tariqul Hasan Ashiq
(18), from a house in the Hajaribagh area of Dhaka city.
July 27,
2011: RAB arrested Mahmudul Bari, adviser of HuT (Bangladesh),
from Shahjalal International Airport while he was trying
to leave for Malaysia.
July 2,
2011: 18 HuT cadres were arrested from Paltan area in
Dhaka City. RAB also arrested four from Jhikatola and
Mohammadpur in Dhaka District.
July 3,
2011: Senior HuT member, Professor Dr. Sheikh Tawfique,
was arrested in Dhaka.
June 6,
2011: RAB personnel arrested 27 cadres of HuT form Barakaw
village of the Kaliganj Sub-district of Gazipur District
in Bangladesh. They also recovered anti-State posters,
leaflets and magazines, as well as books on jihad.
April 18,
2011: Police arrested 18 HuT cadres from Qartaba Chowk
in Lahore, Pakistan. They were carrying out a protest
march criticizing the United States (US) and Pakistan
Governments.
July 8,
2010: The Detective Branch of Bangladesh Police arrested
a Professor of Dhaka University, identified as Syed Golam
Maola, who introduced the HuT into the country, from Dhaka's
Elephant Road area. Maola was accused in three cases filed
with the Uttara Police Station in Dhaka, under the Anti-Terrorism
Act, 2009.
April 20,
2010: Police arrested HuT Bangladesh ‘chief coordinator’
Mahiuddin Ahmed from the capital, Dhaka. The HuT 'second-in-command'
was also arrested by the Intelligence Wing of RAB, from
his Mohammadpur house in Dhaka.
October
19, 2009: The Margalla Police raided the HuT office in
Pakistan’s capital city, Islamabad, and arrested 35 persons.
The Police claimed to have recovered ‘sensitive’ material
from the office.
May 4,
2009: Former Commanding Officer of Shamsi Air Force Base,
Colonel Shaid Bashir, a retired Pakistan Air Force (PAF)
Squadron Leader, Lawyer Nadeem Ahmad Shah, and US-educated
mechanical engineer Awais Ali Khan were arrested for their
connections with HuT and for leaking sensitive information
to the outfit.
March 30,
2007: Police arrested 22 HuT cadres in Dhaka’s Mohammadpur
area. The arrested militants were holding a secret meeting
at a house on the third floor of a five-storied building
at Aziz Mohalla in the area. Police recovered leaflets,
posters, compact disks (CDs) and books from the house.
September
16, 2004: Three cadres of the HuT were arrested during
separate raids in Lahore. The arrested activists, identified
as Abdul Waheed, Bilal Saleem and Hakeem Yasir Rehman
Jigranvi, were reportedly accused of distributing anti-state
material.
HuT in
Pakistan and Bangladesh are parts of the global Sunni
political party, established in Jerusalem in the year
1953 by Taqi al-Din al-Nibhani, a Palestinian religious
cleric, with the aim of replacing the then colonial regime
of Jordan with Islamic rule. The current global leader
of HuT is Shaykh Ata Abu Rashta, a Palestinian civil engineer.
At the
global level, HuT has extended its presence into 45 countries.
However, it is banned in virtually all Arab nations in
the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria,
Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and in Turkey; in South
Asia in Pakistan and Bangladesh; in all the former Soviet
States in Central Asia, including Tajikistan, Uzbekistan,
Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan; and also in Russia.
In Europe, it has been banned in Germany and in the Netherlands.
The Governments of United Kingdom (UK) and Australia are
also under pressure to ban the outfit.
HuT claims
to be a non-violent organization, seeking
- to establish a community
of like-minded HuT members in its host countries
- to build public opinion
in one or more host countries to facilitate change of
Government
- to establish a new
Government based on the Shariah as a political
entity under an international Caliphate in all Islamic
and non-Islamic countries.
The HuT
in Pakistan and Bangladesh have established themselves
as well-known Islamic political outfits. As a part of
the international Islamist brigade HuT has gained widespread
support, not only from religious clerics and elements
within the military, but also among doctors, teachers,
lawyers and businessmen, on the political platform against
the prevailing ‘un-Islamic’ and corrupt political set-up.
HuT claims it seeks to establish ‘clean’ politics in these
countries, but has not been averse to provoking political
skirmishes between its cadres and other political formations.
A typical
feature of HuT is the presence of western educated cadres
in the organization, who help propagate anti-government
and pro-Islamist ideas through their writings, try to
attract young students from various colleges and universities.
In Pakistan, HuT sponsored protest activities have attracted
students of Punjab University, the University of Karachi,
and other prominent colleges and universities. HuT-Bangladesh
cadres from Dhaka University, Chittagong University, Ahsanullah
University of Science and Technology, among others, have
been involved in various anti-State demonstrations and
protests.
Notwithstanding
its claims to be a non-violent organisation, HuT does
have a clandestine violent face. In June 2001, in its
Arabic language magazine, Al-Waie, (‘Consciousness’),
published from Beirut, HuT stated clearly that it is acceptable
to carry out suicide attacks with explosive belts. In
an article on “Martyrdom Operations”, HuT gave its own
fatwa on suicide attacks:
…all
ways and means which a Muslim uses to kill unbelievers
are permitted as long as the enemy unbeliever is
killed — whether they are killed by weapons from
afar or if their ranks are penetrated; whether their
stronghold is captured and penetrated before their
eyes, or whether you blow up their planes or shoot
them down; or whether you blow yourself up amongst
their military encampments or blow yourself and
them up with a belt of explosives. All of these
are permissible means of fighting unbelievers.
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Articulating
the organisation’s wider ideological position, on December
17, 2010, HuT-Pakistan issued an open letter titled "O
Muslims! Deliver This Letter to All the Sincere Ones Whom
You Know in Pakistan's Armed Forces," accusing Pakistani
rulers of bowing before the U.S. and India. The letter
stated, "But rather than working to end the oppressive
Hindu rule, Pakistan's traitor rulers have worked to strengthen
it, for the sake of America, who seeks to woo India into
its influence, to counter China and any Khilafah that
arises.”
Similarly,
on April 3, 2010, the official website of HuT-Bangladesh
stated, “O Muslims! Sheikh Hasina is handing you over
to crusader America and polytheist India; overthrow her
treacherous government before she succeeds… Crusader America
and polytheist India reached a compromise whereby America
will instruct the rulers in the region (especially Pakistan
and Bangladesh) to solve the long standing issues with
India which will free India’s hands and then these two
enemies of Islam can develop their partnership to consolidate
their foothold in the region.”
Terrorist
connections and proclivities to armed violence are also
visible in the HuT’s global operations. On October 17,
2011, a provincial court in Tajikistan sentenced four
men to prison terms after finding them guilty of HuT membership.
The court sentenced Yakhekhon Rakhmonkhujaev and Abdunabi
Abdulkodirov, said to be leaders of the organization in
northern Tajikistan, to 20 years in prison. The two other
defendants were sentenced to 22 years in prison because
they were arrested along with weapons and narcotics. Earlier,
on February 7, 2011, eight alleged members of the HuT
had been detained in Kyrgyzstan's southern region of Osh.
It was
reported on May 14, 2010, that the Russian Federal Security
Service uncovered an underground terrorist cell of HuT,
which had links with Chechen militants.
On April
15, 2010, Golam Mostafa a Bangladeshi-born British citizen
and the UK Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI)
unit chief, was arrested in Sylhet in Bangladesh for his
involvement in financing extremist groups and attempts
to reorganize terrorist formations in the region. Later,
Mostafa admitted to interrogators that he maintained contacts
with Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami Bangladesh (HuJI-B)
and HuT leaders to inquire about funds he sent for Islamist
militancy.
On September
29, 2008, Daily Star received a fax dated September
18, 2008, sent in the name of Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh
(JMB)
that apparently acknowledged HuT as its ‘front organisation’
and asked the Government and all law enforcement agencies
to refrain from harassing its leaders and activists.
The four
Pakistani origin London subway suicide bombers of July
7, 2007, were reportedly indoctrinated in London by extremists
belonging to militant groups including Al-Mohajiroun and
HuT. Asif Mohammed Hanif, the terrorist who blew himself
up in a cafe in Tel Aviv (Israel) on April 29, 2003, and
his accomplice and would-be bomber, Omar Khan Sharif,
were British-born Muslims affiliated with HuT.
In 2003,
the HuT was accused of being involved in an assassination
attempt against former Pakistan President General Pervez
Musharraf. On August 21, 2011, Dawn quoted a former
HuT man, Majid Nawaz, as stating that the HuT does not
discount the use of violence through ‘converted’ military
men (won over by HuT ideologies) in its goal of toppling
the Pakistan Government and the military’s top leadership
to ‘establish a Khilafah state’.
The HuT
formally arrived in Pakistan and Bangladesh in the year
2000, with 9/11 and the subsequent US invasion of Afghanistan
acting as a catalyst to get a strong hold in these countries.
Pakistan’s chapter of HuT was formally founded in November
2000, although a number of Pakistanis had joined the group
outside Pakistan over the preceding decades. The founding
members of HuT-Pakistan were mostly Pakistani expatriates
from relatively successful families. According to some
reports, the founders of HuT-Pakistan, included Imtiaz
Malik, a British youth of Pakistani descent, Dr. Abdul
Wajid and Dr. Abdul Basit Shaikh. Imtiaz Malik is presently
considered to be the underground leader of HuT-Pakistan.
Naveed Butt remains the public face of the group in the
country, and is assisted by two youth, Imran Yusufzai
and Shahzad Sheikh.
HuT-Bangladesh
was established under the leadership of Syed Golam Maola,
along with Nasimul Gani and Kawsar Shahnewaz, each of
whom had a British education. Nasimul and Shahnewaz, after
returning to Bangladesh in 2000, set up an office at a
coaching centre at Dhanmondi in Dhaka, for the organisation’s
Bangladesh chapter, and launched the group’s activities
under Maola’s leadership.
Meanwhile,
HuT’s covert linkages with the Pakistani and Bangladeshi
military have also in failed efforts to orchestrate military
coups. In July, 2009, HuT-Pakistan was reported to have
been preparing a coup to topple the Government of President
Asif Ali Zardari and to establish a Caliphate under strict
Islamic code. On July 5, 2009, The Sunday Times
noted,
British
militants are pushing for the overthrow of the Pakistani
state. Followers of the fundamentalist group Hizbut-Tahrir
have called for a ‘bloodless military coup’ in Islamabad
and the creation of the caliphate in which strict
Islamic laws would be rigorously enforced. Shahzad
Sheikh, a Pakistani recruit and the group’s official
spokesman in Karachi, talked openly about persuading
the army to instigate a ‘bloodless coup’ against
the present government who, he said, were ‘worse
than the Taliban’.
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The arrests
of Armed Forces personnel in connection with HuT also
demonstrate the gradual percolation of HuT ideologies
in the Pakistani military establishment. In Bangladesh,
during the Pilkhana Mutiny of February 2009, HuT tried
to capitalise on the discontent among Army personnel caused
by the killing of 57 Army officials at the hands of Paramilitary
troopers during the mutiny. Investigators disclosed that
HuT operatives distributed leaflets bearing Jaago Muslim
Senabahini Jaago (‘Rise up the army of Muslims') slogan
in and around the Bangladesh Rifles Headquarters after
the February 25-26 mutiny.
On October
22, 2009, HuT was banned in Bangladesh by the Sheikh Hasina
Government. Home Minister Sahara Khatun stated, “The organization
(HuT) has been banned as it has been carrying out anti-State,
anti-Government, anti-people and anti-democratic activities
for long in the country”. However, since the ban followed
a bomb-blast (on October 21) in Dhaka City, there was
immediate speculation that the outfit was directly or
indirectly involved in the incident.
HuT-Pakistan
was banned on November 11, 2003, by the then President
Pervez Musharraf regime. The Interior Ministry of Pakistan
banned HuT following the attempt to assassinate General
Pervez Musharraf on December 25, 2003. The ban in Pakistan
has been under dispute for long. A petition was filed
in Lahore High Court by HuT-Pakistan spokesperson Naveed
Butt in early 2006, challenging the ban. HuT has maintained
that the notification issued against it was illegal and
should be set aside “as members of the political organisation
and their families are being harassed, detained and framed
in fake criminal cases”. The petition was to be taken
up for hearing on September 12, 2011. However, no further
details are available. Meanwhile, on August 2, 2011, authorities
in Pakistan’s Punjab province barred 23 banned organizations,
including HuT, from collecting donations for their activities.
The Punjab Government warned that those found providing
donations or aid to the banned organizations would be
charged under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
HuT is
a global Islamist organisation with strong regional linkages
in South Asia. Apart from its presence in Bangladesh and
Pakistan, it is increasingly visible in India. Surprisingly,
the major financial support for HuT in South Asia comes
from the expatriate Muslim population residing in UK.
While sustained action by the Sheikh Hasina regime in
Bangladesh appears to have stalled HuT expansion, at least
for the time being, the organization continues to flourish
in Pakistan – feeding on strong sectarian antipathies
and the cumulative radicalization of the population over
decades. In India, its roots appear to be strengthening
in the absence of political clarity and a clear mandate
to security and enforcement agencies regarding how the
group is to be tackled. HuT’s radical ideology, the propagation
of hatred against ‘infidels’ and ‘deviants’, and the flirtation
with violence and terrorism hold significant potential
dangers within the far from stable South Asian environment.
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Assam:
Splintering Threats
Veronica Khangchian
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
On September
22, 2011, Security Forces (SFs) raided and destroyed a
Karbi Peoples Liberation Tiger (KPLT) base camp in Hujunglangso
Rongkhin village under Bokajan Police Station of the Karbi
Anglong District. The camp was the operational office
of Nilip Inghi, ‘general secretary’ of KPLT, who, along
with his close cadres, was present at the time of attack.
However, they managed to escape unhurt, taking advantages
of darkness.
Earlier,
in a joint operation, State Police and Central Reserve
Police Force (CRPF) troops, on August 10, 2011, shot dead
an unidentified KPLT militant during an encounter at Kuli
Gaon under Bokajan Police Station.
KPLT was,
in fact, formed only on January 8, 2011, and came under
SF pressure almost immediately.
Six KPLT
militants have been killed and another eight have been
arrested since the group’s creation. Some of the significant
operations against KPLT include:
August
26, 2011: SFs arrested a top KPLT militant, identified
as Amar Rongpi, from Diphu in Karbi Anglong District.
July 12,
2011: SFs killed two KPLT militants, including 'commander-in-chief'
Angpang Engti and his bodyguard Ading Rangpi and injured
another militant, at Upper Deihori Rangpi Kro village
in Karbi Anglong District.
March 28,
2011: SFs killed one KPLT militant in the Koilamati locality
under Bokajan Police Station in Karbi Anglong District.
March 5,
2011: A KPLT cadre, identified as Andrew Terang, was killed
in an encounter with the SFs at Samelangso under the Dokmoka
Police Station in Karbi Anglong District.
February
13, 2011: SFs shot dead an unidentified KPLT militant
in Bokajan sub-division in Karbi Anglong District.
KPLT was
earlier the Karbi Anglong North Cachar Hills Liberation
Front – Anti Talks (KLNLF-A), which had been formed on
September 17, 2010. Several SF operations had targeted
the KLNF-A as well, including:
December
29, 2010: SFs neutralized a KLNLF-A camp south of Dalamara
in Karbi Anglong District and recovered some arms and
ammunition.
October
9, 2010: One unidentified KLNLF-A militant was killed
during an encounter with the Assam Police and the Army
at a hill top near Tarabasa of Uttarbarbil Outpost under
Howraghat Police Station of Karbi Anglong District.
September
25, 2010: An unidentified KLNLF-A militant was shot dead
in a joint operation by the Assam Police and Army at Napak
Ghat under Dakmuka Police Station in Karbi Anglong District.
The KPLT
is believed to have split towards the middle of 2011,
when some of its members formed a new group, the Karbi
National Protection Force (KNPF). This new outfit also
faced the SFs’ brunt:
October
15, 2011: SFs arrested four KNPF militants, including
‘vice president’ Mongal SingTokbi, at Diphu in Karbi Anglong
District.
October
16-17, 2011: A youth, identified as James M. Sangma, was
abducted by KNPF at Guwahati. However he was rescued by
the Police on October 17 from Diphu in Karbi Anlong District.
The SFs also arrested two KNPF militants, identified as
Sanjib Teli and Grading Mara, in connection with the case,
from Diphu. The rescue and the arrests were made on the
basis of statements by KNPF cadres arrested on October
15.
October
17, 2011: One KNPF militant, identified as Sanjay Taro,
was arrested by SFs in Borjan area in Golaghat District.
Seven KNPF
militants have been arrested so far.
KPLT, formed
with an objective of carving an Autonomous Karbi State
(AKS) out of Assam, is headed by Jing Hanse, deputy 'commander-in-chief'
and Nilip Enghi, the ‘general secretary-cum publicity
in-charge’ of the group. The KPLT, has its base in Dima
Hasao District of Assam and parts of Arunachal Pradesh,
and has pledged to fight until the AKS is formed.
The KLNLF-A
was a breakaway faction of the Karbi Longri National Liberation
Front (KLNLF),
which had laid down arms on February 11, 2010. The KLNLF,
in turn, was earlier known as United People’s Democratic
Solidarity-Anti Talks (UPDS-AT).
The UPDS had been formed in March 1999 with the merger
of two terrorist outfits in the Karbi Anglong District
– KNV and Karbi People’s Front (KPF). Karbi National Volunteers
(KNV)
had been floated in the eighties with the objective of
using violent means to secure a separate State of Karbi
Anglong. KPF was formed in 1994. Since 1995, KNV and KPF
had targeted the Citizens Rights Preservation Committee
(CRPC), an umbrella organsatioin of non-Karbi people,
including the Marwaris, Biharis, Nepalis and Bengalis,
in Assam. The ‘war’ against ‘outsiders’ started in earnest
in March 1999, when KNV and KPF merged to form UPDS. The
UPDS later raised the demand for a Karbi Anglong Territorial
Council (KATC).
UPDS signed
a cease-fire agreement for one year with the Union Government
on May 23, 2002. This led to a split in the UPDS with
one faction deciding to continue with its subversive activities
while the other commenced negotiations with the Government.
On May 16, 2004, the UPDS-Anti-Talks rechristened itself
KLNLF, and called its armed wing the Karbi Longri North
Cachar Hills Resistance Force.
The UPDS
held six rounds of peace talks with the State and Union
Government representatives between 2002 and 2006, but
on September 11, 2006, announced a suspension of talks.
However, it said that it would continue with the cease-fire.
Later, on December 23, 2010, the Union Government agreed
in principle to the UPDS demand for an ‘upgraded’ KATC
with more powers than the existing Karbi Anglong Autonomous
Council (KAAC). On October 18, 2011, UPDS agreed to sign
a peace agreement with the Centre and Assam Government
on three conditions. Firstly, the demand for statehood
to be pressed in a democratic and peaceful manner; secondly,
whenever the State Re-organization Commission (SRC) or
any commission to examine the Statehood demands of various
organisations is constituted by the Government of India,
the Karbi Anglong demand for statehood shall also be included
as one of the terms of reference; the third condition
was that, immediately after concluding this settlement,
the present KAAC would be dissolved to make way for the
UPDS to lay down arms, and its nominees would form an
interim body to manage and supervise a substantive re-organization
of the KATA within the framework of the amended Sixth
Schedule of the Constitution. Some of the key points
of the proposed agreement that was scheduled to be signed
on October 24, 2011, include:
- Present KAAC will be
replaced with a new territorial entity to be known as
Karbi Anglong Autonomous Territory (KAAT) under the
revised provisions of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
- The proposed territory
shall have three revenue and administrative Districts—
East Karbi Anglong, Central Karbi Anglong and West Karbi
Anglong, with headquarters at Koilamati, Singhason and
Hamren, respectively.
- The proposed territory
will be governed by the Karbi Anglong Territorial Authority
(KATA).
- KATA shall have 55 seats
of which 45 will be reserved for Scheduled Tribes, five
will be open, and five seats will be filled through
nominations.
However,
on October 21, both the Union Home Ministry and Assam
Government rejected the demand for dissolving the KAAC.
Later in the day, the UPDS said that it would not sign
the proposed tripartite agreement scheduled for October
24 unless the ‘agreed formula’ was ensured.
Earlier,
Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) Joint Secretary (Northeast)
Shambhu Singh had stated, on August 12, 2011, “Government
is of the view that the KLNLF should also sign the same
agreement.” KLNLF is also under cease-fire, but has not
signed any agreement on its demands, of which the core
is the formation of AKS. Singh also said that the Government
did not recognise KPLT as a representative of the Karbi
people, that the members of the outfit were indulging
in unlawful activities, and were criminals. The MHA recognized
UPDS and KLNLF as representative of the Karbi people.
Nevertheless,
KPLT has emerged as a new threat. Significantly, Jing
Hanse, on the outfit’s Foundation Day (January 8, 2011),
had declared that his party would continue subversive
activities if their demands were not met. Out of 81 fatalities
that have taken place in Assam in 2011, KPLT has been
involved in 14. Significantly, five of the 26 civilians
killed in Assam have been victims of KPLT violence, while
the number for SFs killed by KPLT cadres was three out
of a total of 14. The most significant acts of violence
engineered by the group include:
October
22, 2011: A local Congress leader, identified as Langtuk
Killing, was shot dead by suspected KPLT militants in
Karbi Anglong District.
August
13, 2011: A truck driver, Nandu Mathu, was killed and
11 others, including six Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra
Parishad (AJYCP) activists, were injured when suspected
KPLT militants opened fire on vehicles on National Highway
37 at Panbari near Kaziranga National Park in Golaghat
District.
June 7,
2011: Narendra Kiling, member of the KAAC and a Congress
youth leader, was shot dead by KPLT militants at his residence
in Diphu District.
April 26,
2011: One civilian, identified as Bordeka Kro (55), was
shot dead by KPLT militants at Karuna Singnar Gaon near
the New Life School in Karbi Anglong District.
April 2,
2011: KPLT militants killed three CRPF personnel and injured
four others in an ambush near Rongshuli village in Karbi
Anglong District.
January
27, 2011: A senior Congress leader and President of the
Karbi Jutang Chingthur Asong (KJCA), Mohen Ingti, was
shot dead allegedly by KPLT cadres, in the Bokajan sub-division
of Karbi Anglong District.
January
25, 2011: Five passengers suffered bullet injuries when
a Manipur bound inter State bus coming from Guwahati and
heading towards Imphal was attacked by cadres of KPLT
at Deopani under Golagat Police Station of Karbi Anglong
District.
The splintering
of militant groups in Assam over the issue of talks has
resulted in the persistence of violence in the State,
despite significant advances towards a negotiated settlement.
In the present case, SF operations have kept the KPLT
outfit under continuous pressure. It can only be hoped
that the scheduled signing of a peace accord between UPDS,
the State Government and the Union Government, which would
realize the KPLT’s ‘core demand’, may encourage the group
to give up the gun. KPLT had earlier promised that it
would “forgo arms if the talks between UPDS and the Government
prove successful”. If the KPLT leadership stands by its
commitment, Assam may see another major source of conflict
brought to an end.
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Weekly Fatalities: Major Conflicts in
South Asia
October 17-23, 2011
|
Civilians
|
Security
Force Personnel
|
Terrorists/Insurgents
|
Total
|
INDIA
|
|
Assam
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
Jammu & Kashmir
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
Meghalaya
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
Left-wing
Extremism
|
|
Bihar
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
Chhattisgarh
|
0
|
6
|
0
|
6
|
Jharkhand
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
Maharashtra
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Odisha
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Total (INDIA)
|
9
|
6
|
3
|
18
|
PAKISTAN
|
|
Balochistan
|
3
|
3
|
0
|
6
|
FATA
|
14
|
14
|
54
|
82
|
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
|
4
|
1
|
1
|
6
|
Sindh
|
7
|
0
|
1
|
8
|
Total (PAKISTAN)
|
28
|
18
|
56
|
102
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Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
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BANGLADESH
NIA
investigation
of Delhi High
Court blast
leads to Bangladesh
Army link:
Sources in the
National Investigation
Agency (NIA)
have revealed
that in the
interrogation
of Wasim Akram
Malik, a resident
of the Indian
State of Jammu
and Kashmir,
who emerged
as the key conspirator
of Delhi High
Court Blast
(September 7,
2011), the name
of a Bangladeshi
Army Officer
has emerged.
Major Yassir
(36), a deserter
may have been
the brains behind
the terror strike
in the Indian
Capital (New
Delhi), the
report said.
Times
Now,
October 22,
2011.
INDIA
Six
Policemen killed
in Maoist attack
in Chhattisgarh:
Six Policemen
were killed
and five others
injured in a
landmine blast
and ambush by
the Communist
Party of India-Maoist
(CPI-Maoist)
cadres in Bastar
District on
October 21.
The 16-member
Police team
was on its way
to Netanar village,
when it came
under attack,
Additional Director
General of Police
(Naxal operation)
Ramniwas said.
HindustanTimes,
October 22,
2011.
Two
Pakistani militants
carried out
High Court blast,
reveals key
arrestee:
Wasim Akram
Malik, who masterminded
the Delhi High
Court (DHC)
blast of September
7, 2011 has
revealed that
the attack was
carried out
by two Pakistanis
from Lahore
District of
Punjab Province.
According to
sources, Wasim
identified the
two DHC bombers
as Saifullah
and Bilal, both
Lahore residents.
Times
of India,
October 23,
2011.
Ambala
RDX haul was
part of larger
plan to eliminate
Congress leader
Sajjan Kumar:
Security at
the Karkardooma
court complex
in New Delhi
was strengthened
on October 19
following intelligence
inputs that
senior Congress
leader Sajjan
Kumar, who was
to appear in
court in connection
with the anti-Sikh
riots case,
was the target
of Khalistani
militants. In
fact, the RDX
haul at Ambala
in Haryana (October
12) was part
of the bigger
terror strategy
to eliminate
Sajjan by bombing
the court complex,
according to
reports. Times
of India,
October 20,
2011.
Terrorist
groups using
illegal satellite
phone services,
warns MHA:
The Ministry
OF Home affairs
(MHA) issued
a confidential
note to security
agencies in
the country
warning them
about the use
of satellite
phones of service
providers like
Thuraya, Iridium
and Inmarsat.
The one-page
'secret' fax
read: "Satellite
phone services
are not permitted
in India. However,
unauthorized
handlers of
Thuraya, Iridium
and other satphone
operators have
been found using
these connections
illegally..."
Times
of India,
October 21,
2011.
International
racket with
roots in Pakistan
circulating
FICNs in India:
While probing
the seizure
of Fake Indian
Currency Notes
(FICNs), the
Central Bureau
of Investigation
(CBI) has discovered
the involvement
of an international
racket with
roots in Pakistan.
The Directorate
of Revenue Intelligence,
which was earlier
probing the
case had arrested
two Turkish
and an Indian
national in
July 2011 along
with FICN worth
INR 10 million.
Indian
Express,
October 18,
2011.
PAKISTAN
54
militants and
14 civilians
among 82 persons
killed during
the week in
FATA: Security
Forces (SFs)
launched a targeted
operation in
Malikdinkhel
area of Bara
tehsil
(revenue unit)
in Khyber Agency
of Federally
Administered
Tribal Areas
(FATA) and killed
34 militants
on October 20.
Militants
killed Captain
Abdul Qadir
Khan and two
other military
personnel in
an attack on
a Frontier Corps
convoy in the
Shalobar area
of Bara tehsil
on October 20.
At
least six terrorists
were killed
and two hideouts
destroyed when
SFs shelled
them in the
Spearkot area
of Kurram Agency
on October 19.
At
least nine soldiers
of the Frontier
Constabulary
(FC) force and
14 militants
were killed
in an ambush
in the Akakhel
area of Bara
tehsil
in Khyber Agency
in on October
17. Dawn;
Daily
Times;
The
News;
Tribune,
October 18-24,
2011.
Pakistani
immigrant teenager
indicted in
'Jihad Jane'
terror plot
in US: A
Maryland teenager
was indicted
on October 20
on federal terrorism
charges that
accuse him of
helping the
American terror
suspect dubbed
'Jihad Jane'
with her plot
to kill a Swedish
artist. 18 years
old Mohammad
Hassan Khalid,
a legal immigrant
from Pakistan,
allegedly helped
recruit women
with passports
to further the
plot of Colleen
LaRose of Pennsylvania
and others.
Daily
Times,
October 21,
2011.
TTP
regrouping in
Balochistan,
claims intelligence
reports:
At least two
intelligence
agencies on
October 22 are
reported to
have alerted
the Federal
Government about
a reorganisation
of Tehreek-e-Taliban
Pakistan (TTP)
and other militant
organisations
in Balochistan
after the replacement
of Police with
Levies Force.
The crux of
the reports
was that the
rolling back
of Police force
in most areas
had encouraged
the militant
outfits, including
the TTP, to
re-organise
themselves,
taking advantage
of loose policing
by the Levies
which did not
have the required
training and
the will to
address such
challenges.
Dawn,
October 22,
2011.
Pakistan:
Videos on YouTube
show terrorists'
reach in North
Waziristan Agency
of FATA:
Videos of militants
believed to
be terrorising
the streets
of North Waziristan
Agency in Federally
Administered
Tribal Areas
(FATA) are available
on YouTube.
Armed militants
in black, with
patches bearing
their outfit's
name, Mujahideen
al-Khurasan,
freely roam
the streets
of one of the
biggest towns
in North Waziristan,
where the US
wants Pakistan's
military to
launch an offensive
against terrorist
groups. Terrorist
outfits like
the one in the
videos, known
as the Khurasan,
seem to operate
with impunity
there. Daily
Times,
October 20,
2011.
Islamabad
Police report
reveals terror
links between
the Ghazi Force
of Lal Masjid
and TTP militants
in FATA:
A report prepared
by the Islamabad
Police on October
18 revealed
that though
the Security
Forces were
successful in
foiling a terror
attack in Islamabad,
the information
extracted from
the arrested
terrorists pointed
towards a link
between the
Ghazi Force,
which is associated
with Ghazi Abdur
Rasheed's followers
of the Lal Masjid
(Red Mosque),
and the militants
based in the
North Waziristan
Agency of Federally
Administered
Tribal Areas
(FATA). Sheikh
Khalid, member
of the Taliban
Shura, Qari
Wali Muhammad
Tofani, Qari
Aashiq Ullah
alias
Saqib, Gul Badshah,
Waleed alias
Abdullah and
Taj Gul, a Tehreek-e-Taliban
Pakistan (TTP)
'commander',
Dildar alias
Umar Mansoor,
Colonel (r)
Tassadaq Hussain
and Maulana
Abdul Qayyum
were key players
of the Islamabad
terrorism plan,
a report prepared
by the Police
claimed. The
News,
October 19,
2011.
Dismantle
terrorist havens
in "days and
weeks", says
US Secretary
of State Hillary
Clinton:
The US on October
22 called on
Pakistan to
take action
within "days
and weeks" on
dismantling
Afghan terrorist
havens and encouraging
Tehreek-e-Taliban
Pakistan (TTP)
into peace talks
in order to
end the 10-year-old
war. Secretary
of State Hillary
Clinton appeared
to extract recognition
from Pakistan
that it could
do more in clamping
down on Afghan
militants using
Pakistani soil
to attack Americans
but it offered
no details on
how. Daily
Times,
October 22,
2011.
US
deploys troops
to hunt militants
of the Haqqani
Network along
North Waziristan
Agency in FATA:
The US has moved
hundreds of
new troops to
the Afghan area
bordering Pakistan's
militant infested
North Waziristan
Agency of Federally
Administered
Tribal Areas
(FATA) along
with heavy artillery,
helicopter gunships
and sealed movement
on the border.
US forces deployed
to new positions
in the border
areas facing
Ghulam Khan
in Pakistan
between October
15 and October
16 night. Times
of India;
The
News,
October 18,
2011.
SRI LANKA
Dutch
court jails
five Sri Lankan
Tamils:A
Dutch on October
21 convicted
and sentenced
five Dutch citizens
of Sri Lankan
Tamil origin
accused of extorting
money from other
Dutch Tamils
to fund the
terrorist activities
of Liberation
Tigers of Tamil
Eelam (LTTE).
The Hague District
Court in Netherlands
sentenced the
five persons
to prison terms
of up to six
years charged
of financing
an international
criminal and
terrorist organization
responsible
for suicide
bombings, assassinations
and murder of
thousands by
blackmailing
and threatening
the Sri Lankan
Tamil Diaspora
in the country.
Colombo
Page,
October 22,
2011.
TNA
protests against
new Sinhala
majority settlements:
The Tamil National
Alliance (TNA)
on October 17
staged a protest
in Vavuniya
town to highlight
alleged new
Sinhala majority
settlements
being pushed
by the Government
in the country's
northern and
eastern regions.
The sit-in protest
was also to
bring to focus
other land related
issues concerning
the Tamil minority
community in
the two areas.
PTI,
October 18,
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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