Drone Success | Assam: Troubling Remnants | South Asia Intelligence Review (SAIR), Vol. No. 11.2
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SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 11, No. 2, July 16, 2012

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


ASSESSMENT


PAKISTAN
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Drone Success
Tushar Ranjan Mohanty
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management

Continuing it’s highly controversial but indisputably successful covert drone operations in Pakistan’s tribal area, the US, in one of its deadliest drone strikes, killed 24 suspected terrorists and injured another 10 at the Gorwaik village of the Dattakhel area in the North Waziristan Agency (NWA) of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), on July 6, 2012. Datta Khel is considered to be a stronghold of Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a Taliban ‘commander’ accused of sending fighters across the border to fight NATO troops in Afghanistan. Unlike the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Hafiz Gul Bahadur has a secret deal with Islamabad not to attack Pakistani Security Forces (SFs) and, in lieu, has freedom to operate from Pakistan. 

Earlier, on July 1, 2012, eight terrorists were killed in a US drone attack on a compound in the Kund Ghar area of the Shawal tehsil (revenue unit), 50 kilometres southwest of Miranshah, the NWA headquarters. The attack also killed cadres loyal to Gul Bahadur, and included some foreign militants belonging to the Turkmenistan Islamic Movement (TIM).

With Pakistan continuing to provide support and safe haven to a range of Islamist terrorist formations, including a number of factions operating against International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) troops in Afghanistan, the US opted for drone operations way back in 2004, with the first such attack launched on June 18, 2004, at Wana, the regional headquarters of the South Waziristan Agency (SWA). The South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) database has, thus far, recorded 244 such attacks, in which at least 2,303 persons have been killed (all data till July 15, 2012).  

Drone attacks in Pakistan: 2004-2012
Years
Incidents
Killed
2004
1
5
2005
1
1
2006
0
0
2007
1
20
2008
19
156
2009
46
536
2010
90
831
2011
59
548
2012
28
312
Total*
245
2409
*Data till July 15, 2012

Crucially, a number of top terrorists have been killed in drone strikes, including: 

June 4, 2012: Abu Yahya al-Libi, the ‘second-in-command’ of the al Qaeda, reportedly killed in Hisokhel, in the east of Miranshah. Though White House spokesman Jay Carney on June 6, 2012, stated that “our Government has been able to confirm al-Libi’s death,” two al Qaeda-linked websites, Ansar and Alfidaa, on June 10, 2012, claimed that Libi was alive. Another 14 terrorists were killed in the attack.

February 9, 2012: Badr Mansoor, a Pakistani citizen who served as al Qaeda's Pakistan chapter ‘commander’ and a key link to the Taliban and Pakistani jihadi groups, was killed near Miranshah. 

October 13, 2011: Jan Baz Zadran, top aide to the Haqqani Network leader Sirajuddin Haqqani, was killed in a US drone attack on a militant outpost on a hill in Zeba Mountain, close to the Afghan border in SWA.

September 11, 2011: Abu Hafs al Shahri, a senior al Qaeda leader who served as the ‘operations chief for Pakistan’, was killed in the Hisokhel village of NWA.

August 22, 2011: Atiyah Abd al Rahman, a senior al Qaeda leader who served as Osama bin Laden's chief of staff and a top ‘operational commander’, was killed in Mirkhunkhel area near Mir Ali in NWA. 

June 11, 2011: Ilyas Kashmiri, the leader of al Qaeda's Lashkar al Zil and the ‘operational commander’ of Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) was killed in a US drone strike in Wana Bazaar area of SWA. He was a member of al Qaeda's external operations council.

February 14, 2010: Abdul Haq al Turkistani, the "overall leader" of the East Turkistan Islamic Party (ETIP), was killed in the Mir Ali town of NWA.

September 14, 2009: Najmiddin Jalolov, the leader of the Jama'at al-Jihad al-Islami, a breakaway faction of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) and affiliated with al Qaeda operations in Central Asia and Russia, was killed in the Mir Ali area of NWA.

August 27, 2009: Tahir Yuldashev, the founder of the IMU, was killed in the Kaniguram area in Laddha, SWA.

August 5, 2009: Baitullah Mehsud, the chief of the TTP, was killed in a drone attack on his father-in-law’s house in Zangara village of the Laddha sub-division, SWA.

January 1, 2009: Osama al Kini aka Fahid Mohammed Ally Msalam, al Qaeda's operations chief for Pakistan, who was also wanted for the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, was killed in the Karikot area of Wana, SWA.

November 19, 2008: Abdullah Azzam al Saudi, a teacher and mentor of Osama bin Laden, who also liaised between al Qaeda and TTP, was killed in SWA.

October 31, 2008: Abu Jihad al Masri, the leader of the Egyptian Islamic Group and the chief of al Qaeda's intelligence shura, was killed in Wana, SWA. Al Masri also directed al Qaeda's external operations in Egypt.

September 8, 2008: Abu Haris, the al Qaeda chief in Pakistan, died of injuries in a drone attack in Miranshah, NWA.

July 28, 2008: Abu Khabab al Masri, the chief of al Qaeda's weapons of mass destruction program and a ‘master bomb maker’, was killed in a compound in SWA near the Afghan border.

Evidently, the effectiveness of the drones is beyond question, particularly in view of the fact that Pakistani SFs have failed to eliminate any significant top leader of terrorist groups operating from their soil into the neighbourhood, and even as the Pakistani establishment continues to deny the presence of these various terrorist formations. Crucially, moreover, the recent killing of al-Libi has once again reconfirmed the fact that Pakistan’s tribal areas continue to serve as sanctuary for the top leadership of al Qaeda and Afghan Taliban. Indeed, John Brennan, the US Deputy National Security Advisor, referring to al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri’s presence in FATA, stated, on April 30, 2012, "We believe he (Zawahiri) is in that region of the world, as well as other al-Qaeda leaders that continue to borough into areas of... the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. We're not going to relent until they're brought to justice one way or the other."

Interestingly, Pakistan has resisted mounting US pressure to launch an offensive in NWA, arguing that its Forces are too overstretched in the fight against the local Taliban (TTP) to take on an enemy that poses no threat to Pakistan. On June 1, 2011, for instance, then-Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani had stated, “We are not fond of any military action and we want to have an exit strategy”, adding further that the Government would “take action when its writ is challenged”. Evidently, the prevailing conditions, in this interpretation, do not constitute a ‘challenge’ to the Pakistan Government’s writ.

Despite the tremendous success of the drone strikes, these have come under severe criticism from both within and outside Pakistan. Pakistan has, of course, vehemently opposed the attacks, arguing that they are unlawful, against international law and a violation of sovereignty. On April 1, 2012, Gilani thus argued that US drone attacks violated Pakistani sovereignty and created a “negative impact”, giving rise to deep misgivings between the Pakistani people and the US.

Elements within the ‘international community’ have also criticized the drone campaigns on the grounds that they have claimed many innocent lives. According to a report compiled by the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ), published on February 6, 2012,  260 strikes by Predator and Reaper drones have been recorded since President Barack Obama took office in 2009, in which between 282 and 535 civilians, respectively, including over 60 children, had been ‘credibly reported’ killed. American officials claimed that the number cited by BIJ was “too high”, though they acknowledged that “at least several dozen civilians” had lost their lives “inadvertently” in strikes aimed at militant suspects. They questioned the accuracy of the higher claims, alleging that accounts might be concocted by militants or falsely confirmed by residents who feared extremist retaliation.

Nevertheless, on July 2, 2012, BIJ observed that fewer civilians had died in US drone strikes in Pakistan, so far, in 2012, than in any other comparable period in the last four years. It noted that between three and 24 civilians were reported killed by drones in Pakistan from January to June 2012. Reported civilian casualty rates have not been this low since the first half of 2008, when between 12 and 21 civilians reportedly died in attacks ordered by then US President George W. Bush. Civilian fatalities this year were also a marked decline against the 62 to 103 civilians reported killed by drone strikes in Pakistan in the first six months of 2011. According to the report, between 2,496 and 3,202 persons had been reported killed by drones in Pakistan since 2004. Among them were 482 to 832 civilians, 175 of them children. Significantly, President Obama, on January 30, 2012, had stated that US drone attacks in Pakistan had “not caused a huge number of civilian casualties.”

The impact of the drone attacks within Pakistan has, however, been politically devastating. A report by the Washington-based PEW Global Survey claimed that about 74 per cent of Pakistanis now consider the US an enemy, up from 69 percent last year [2011] and 64 percent three years ago. According to the report, Barack Obama is held in exceedingly low regard by Pakistanis, and civilian casualties in drone attacks are one of the major reasons for this.

The US, nevertheless, has justified the use of drones on grounds of necessity. Terming the drone attacks on Pakistani soil as ‘self defence’, US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta on June 6, 2012, thus noted,
We have made it very clear to Pakistani leaders that we will continue to defend ourselves... This is about our sovereignty as well… The leadership of those that were involved in planning (the 9/11) attacks located (themselves) in Pakistan...

Further, on June 7, 2012, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton implicitly defending Washington's use of drone strikes, said,
We will always maintain our right to use force against groups such as al Qaeda that have attacked us and still threaten us with imminent attack. In doing so, we will comply with the applicable law, including the laws of war, and go to extraordinary lengths to ensure precision and avoid the loss of innocent life.

Significantly, the July 6, 2012, drone strikes took place just two days after the first NATO truck entered Afghanistan through Pakistan after a break of more than seven months, reaffirming the US intent to continue with drone attacks, ignoring Pakistani objections and resentment over the issue. Indeed, discontinuation of the drone strikes was one of the major preconditions Pakistan had articulated for reopening the NATO supply routes.  On July 3, 2012, Pakistan agreed to reopen its border to NATO supply convoys into Afghanistan after the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offered an apology for the loss of life in NATO’s aerial attack on the Salala border check-post in FATA on November 26, 2011, which killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

John Brennan, President Barack Obama’s Counterterrorism Adviser, stressing that targeted drone strikes in other countries were legal, stated, on April 30, 2012, that “as a matter of international law, the United States is in an armed conflict with al Qaeda, the Taliban, and associated forces, in response to the 9/11 attacks, and we may also use force consistent with our inherent right of national self-defence.” US President Barack Obama, moreover, had ordered a ‘sharp increase’ in drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal areas in recent months, Bloomberg quoted two US officials as disclosing on June 9. The US officials were further quoted as saying that Obama’s decision to increase drone attacks reflected the “mounting US frustration with Pakistan over a growing list of disputes”.

The US has remained rightly adamant on its policy of continuing covert drone operations in terrorist safe havens on Pakistani soil, though its campaigns have come under severe challenge on grounds of the civilian fatalities inflicted. With greater emphasis on the credibility of intelligence flows and the precision of attacks, it should be possible to address the legitimate concerns in this regard, though Pakistan’s perverse support to terrorist formations operating in the neighbourhood from its soil will ensure that domestic opinion is constantly whipped up against the US operations.

 

INDIA
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Assam: Troubling Remnants
Giriraj Bhattacharjee
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management

On June 23, 2012, Security Forces (SFs) killed four militants, including three Dimasa National Revolutionary Front (DNRF) and one Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak Muivah (NSCN-IM) cadres, in an encounter at Milubra village, 16 kilometers from Lungting in north of the Dima Hasao District and 51 kilometers from its administrative headquarters, Haflong. A cache of arms, including four AK-47 rifles, 236 rounds of ammunition and two Chinese grenades; mobile handsets and a number of NSCN-IM receipt books meant for extortion were recovered. SFs also arrested one NSCN-IM militant following the encounter.

The incident occurred after the Seven Sister’s Post reported, on June 22, that the Police, based on concrete reports of NSCN-IM activities in Dima Hasao, had registered a case and started an operation to flush out the militants. Significantly, the last major incident (involving three or more fatalities) in the District took place on February 15, 2011, when the Dimasa National Democratic Front (DNDF) 'commander-in-chief', Bihari Dimasa, and another two militants of the group, were killed in an encounter with the SFs.

NSCN-IM & NSCN-Khaplang (NSCN-K) appear to be attempting to revive the insurgency in the District, following the decimation of smaller groups, as well as the engagement of larger Dimasa formations in peace talks. The NSCN-IM was known to supply of arms and ammunition and provide training to Dima Hasao based militant outfits over the years, commencing with the initiators of the Dimasa rebellion, the Dimasa National Security Force (DNSF). DNSF ‘chairman’ Bharat Langthasa and a large number of cadres, however, surrendered on November 17, 1994. However, remnants of the group formed the Dima Halam Daogah (DHD), which was also supported by the NSCN-IM. Relations between DHD and NSCN-IM subsequently soured as a result of NSCN’s efforts to consolidate ‘Greater Nagalim’ and DHD’s demand to incorporate Nagaland’s commercial capital, Dimapur, into its proposed ‘Dimaraji State’. The NSCN-IM subsequently shifted support to the breakaway Black Widow (BW) aka Jewel Garlosa faction of the DHD (DHD-J). The truncated DHD was thereafter known as DHD-Nunisa (DHD-N).

2009 had seen a renewal of the active involvement of both Naga factions – NSCN-IM and NSCN-K – in the State after a gap of many years, even as it witnessed the polarization of the majority Dimasa and other tribesmen in the District. In early 2009, the Zemi Naga-Dimasa ethnic clashes resulted in the loss of at least 70 lives, with more than 37 persons sustaining injuries, while 614 houses were set ablaze in clashes that began on March 19 that year. The immediate provocation was apparently the killing of four Zemi Naga tribals in the Mahur Sub-division of the District between March 19 and 23, 2009. The NSCN factions and BW/ DHD-J were thought to be responsible for the clashes.

Another controversial move that added fuel to the fire was the constitution of a Group of Ministers (GoM) Committee under D.P. Goala on September 9, 2009, to look into the renaming of the then North Cachar (NC) Hills District, as demanded by DHD-J. The GoM Committee submitted its recommendations on February 5, 2010, giving approval, in principal, to the change in nomenclature. The District was renamed Dima Hasao on April 1, 2010. The decision aggrieved the non-Dimasa tribesmen in the District.

This polarization over the renaming of the District and the Zemi-Dimasa clashes led to the formation of the NSCN-IM – backed Hills Tiger Force (HTF). HTF opposed the renaming and took up the cause of bifurcation of the Autonomous Council. HTF, an outfit mainly drawn from Zemi, Kuki and Hmar tribesman, also carried out two attacks against Dimasa villagers and several attacks on the railway infrastructure in the District. The group, however, suffered major reverses following SF operations, and has since maintained a low profile. HTF denied its collaboration with NSCN-IM, though recent reports have demonstrated that it received support from both the NSCN-IM and its rival NSCN-K. HTF has been involved in just two incidents [including one allegedly carried out jointly with NSCN-K] since the arrest of its top leaders in 2011.

Meanwhile, a number of small Dimasa militant formations, created by deserters of the parent outfits [According to a February 8, 2012, report, 27 militants from DHD-J and seven from DHD-N had fled their ‘designated camps’ since 2010.], in many cases supported by Naga militants, have emerged in the District, after the en masse surrender of DHD-J in 2009, to occupy the vacated space. The short lived- DHD-James was the first to emerge and to surrender, followed by DNDF, the latter led Janata Maramsa alias Bihari Dimasa, earlier a member of DHD-J. Sustained SF operations led the group to give up arms on August 3, 2011.

A little-known National Dimasa Protection Army (NDPA), formed on December 2011, is currently present in the District. Curiously, the NDPA ‘headquarters’ are located at Dimapur. The NSCN-IM – backed DNRF was also formed when fifteen former militants of the DHD-N reportedly joined hands with the Naga militant outfit in 2010, with both groups agreeing to carry out a joint extortion drive in the District, while NSCN-IM provided arms training and support to DNRF cadres and shelter to the DNRF militant leadership.

The DNRF with an estimated cadre strength of 30, is led by R.J. Dimasa alias Arje Dimasa, Soten Dimasa and Jensingh Dimasa. Both DHD-N and DHD-J have clarified that they have never heard of this leading trio, though an unnamed DHD-N source suggested that they could have adopted new names. Some news reports suggest that the group was formed in 2011 and was led by its 'chairman' Hasong Dimasa and 'finance secretary' Diamond Dimasa. According to 'publicity secretary' Black Dimasa, the aim of the outfit is to "ensure safety and security of the Dimasa people living in the region, and all-round development of Dima Hasao District." He also claimed that DNRF was concerned about the demand raised by the NC Hills Indigenous Students Forum (NCHISF) to bifurcate the Dima Hasao District: "We oppose the demand for bifurcation at all costs. We can't allow the district to weaken geographically by dividing it further in the name of any community or group of people."

However, DNRF on July 4, 2012, suffered a major setback when SFs arrested its top leaders, identified as ‘deputy commander-in-chief’, Manjit Phanglo alias Main Dimasa and ‘vice-chairman’ Nilesh Thousen alias Thairing Dimasa. SFs have also arrested eight DNRF cadres since the formation of the group.

Dima Hasao District is a sparsely populated area of 4,890 square kilometers, and a population of 213,529. It is home to as many as 18 Hill tribes, and has extensive unguarded borders with the insurgency-affected States of Manipur and Nagaland. In the absence of any inter-state border outposts, the border has turned into a free corridor for militants.

Joint Secretary (Northeast), Shambhu Singh, of the Union Ministry for Home Affairs (UMHA), on January 8, 2012, expressed his concern over the extortion activities in various Assam Districts and conceded that, according to information available with his Ministry, rampant extortion was ongoing in areas such as Kokrajhar, Udalguri, Baksa [all three are in Bodoland Territorial Council], Darrang, Dima Hasao, Karbi Anglong, etc.

According to Police sources, NSCN-IM militants recently started issuing notices to villages of Khetra, Didamora, Tivik, Prasademik, and Khepre in Dima Hasao District, lying along the Assam-Nagaland border, asking them to pay ‘taxes’ at the rate of INR 200 per household. Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) SS Panesar stated that the Police were aware of the problem, and had filed cases of extortion. He asserted that the issue of demand notes in the Hill District would soon be stopped. Recent forays into the District by the NSCN factions could also be linked to two National projects there, the INR 4073.50-crore Lumding-Silchar Jiribam-Badarpur-Kumarghat broad gauge conversion project, and the multi-million Mahasadak (East West corridor) Project, which could be potentially lucrative extortion targets.

The extortion networks extend well into the District Headquarters, Haflong, with NSCN-IM rebels demanding substantial amounts from businesspersons in the town.

The revival of militant activities in the District is visible in the continuous of arrests of cadres. According to the South Asian Terrorism Portal database, since 2009, the SFs have arrested 16 NSCN-IM militants and 3 NSCN-K militants in the District, though there were no arrests in the preceding few years. The two DHD factions – Nunisa and Jewel groups – were also the biggest violators of ceasefire rules in the State, with 462 militants from these groups arrested on charges of extortion, abduction and other crimes. 82 weapons were also seized from them.

Despite continuing troubles in the District, on June 12, 2012, the Union Government signed a draft Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) with the DHD-N, while an agreement with the rival DHD-J had also reportedly been prepared. The draft MoS has been sent to the State Government for approval by the State Cabinet. The draft MoS was signed following a prolonged deadlock over incorporation of over 90 villages spread across the neighbouring Karbi Anglong, Cachar and Nagaon Districts, into the existing Dima Hasao District. The important points of the proposed draft MoS include the incorporation of a few contiguous Dimasa inhabited villages with the existing Dima Hasao District, a financial package worth some INR 2 billion to INR 2.5 billion for the next five years, and recruitment of about 1,500 surrendered militants and other able bodied youth from the District into the State Police, Central Paramilitary Forces, Assam Rifles and the Army. On the issue of Dimasa living in Nagaland, DHD-N has reportedly demanded that the Central Government should include a special provision for them as and when it signed any agreement with the NSCN-IM leadership.

The signing of an interim accord between the DHD-N and Central Government is a step towards the possible mellowing of the Dimasa insurgency. However, the sentiments and interests of non-Dimasa tribals living in the District may act as a drag on the peace process, even as continuous violation of ceasefire rules and the spillover of militant (principally extortion) activities from and into the neighbouring districts, continue to undermine the prospects of an enduring and comprehensive peace. Crucially, as long as the NSCN factions in neighbouring Nagaland continue to breach ceasefire rules with impunity, simmering difficulties in the contiguous areas of Assam will persist.


NEWS BRIEFS

Weekly Fatalities: Major Conflicts in South Asia
July 10-16, 2012

 

Civilians

Security Force Personnel

Terrorists/Insurgents

Total

INDIA

 

Assam

1
0
3
4

Meghalaya

2
0
0
2

Nagaland

0
0
1
1

Manipur

0
0
1
1

Jammu and Kashmir r

0
0
1
1

Left-wing Extremism

 

Jharkhand

1
0
0
1

Odisha

1
0
0
1

Total (INDIA)

5
0
6
11

PAKISTAN

 

Balochistan

40
1
0
41

FATA

1
2
16
19

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

4
1
0
5

Punjab

3
17
0
20

Sindh

31
2
0
33

Total (PAKISTAN)

80
22
16
118
Provisional data compiled from English language media sources.


INDIA

LeT planning major terror attacks in J&K and elsewhere in India, says arrested LeT operative Abu Jundal: One of the handlers of the November 26, 2008 (26/11) Mumbai terrorist attacks' gunmen and arrested Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operative Syed Zaibuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal told interrogators that the LeT is planning major terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and elsewhere in India. "They (militants) are planning big strikes in Kashmir," a source said, citing Jundal's interrogation. Jundal also told his interrogators that the group was planning to push hundreds of trained gunmen and weapons into Kashmir. Times of India, July 14, 2012.

11 religious places in Maharashtra on terror radar, says Maharashtra Government: The Maharashtra Government told the State Assembly on July 9 that several places of religious importance in the state are on the terror hit-list. The State Government said that Indian Mujahideen (IM) is believed to be behind the terror plan. Zee News, July 10, 2012.

Malda District fast becoming centre for Poppy Cultivation, says NCB report: Malda District of West Bengal is fast becoming the prime destination for illicit poppy cultivation, according to Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB) reports for 2011-2012. The agency has destroyed poppy crops cultivated in 714 acres of land in West Bengal. Of this, 711 acres of land was located in Malda and three acres in Hooghly and Burdwan Districts. Malda is already known for illegal cross-border trade and being the entry point of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICNs) to India from Bangladesh. Indian Express, July 14, 2012.

Threat of terrorism remains in Punjab, says Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram: Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on July 13 said the threat of terrorism remains in Punjab but expressed confidence about the government's ability to tackle any attempt to thwart peace in the state. He commented, ''Punjab is by no means free of all terrorism-related activities. We are keeping a watch. We have inputs that some individuals and groups are busy trying to revive terrorism in Punjab. Nine arrests were made in 2011 and 47 in 2010." Times of India, July 14, 2012.

No troop reduction in Jammu and Kashmir, says Army: A senior Army official on July 9 said there was no move to reduce the number of troops deployed in the Jammu and Kashmir as it might lead to problems for security forces engaged in counter terrorist operations. He commented, "No, there is no such proposal... We have to carry on the pressure on terrorists. If you let anything loose, then we may have problems". Times of India, July 10, 2012.


NEPAL

Gyanendra Shah wants to be king again: Nepal's last monarch Gyanendra Shah has said he wants to be the king again. Shah expressed his desire in an interview to a private television channel. Shah's claim rests on what he says was a private agreement with the leaders of political parties on April 24, 2006, the final day of the People's Movement. On that night, after 19 days of street protests, the king conceded that sovereignty lay with the people, not the crown, and accepted the roadmap of the political parties to bring about peace and democracy. The Constituent Assembly (CA) had abolished the monarchy at its first sitting in May 2008.. The Hindu, July 11, 2012.


PAKISTAN

40 civilians and one SF among 41 persons killed during the week in Balochistan: At least eight persons were killed and 22 others injured in a bomb blast during a political rally organised by the Awami National Party (ANP) in Kuchlak area of Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, on July 13.

The Balochistan Levies on July 12 found the bodies of seven coal miners who were abducted on July 7, in the Degari area, some 28 kilometres from Quetta. Daily Times; Dawn; The News; Tribune; Central Asia Online; The Nation; The Frontier Post; Pakistan Today; Pakistan Observer, July 10-16, 2012.

31 civilians and two SF among 33 persons killed during the week in Karachi: 13 persons, including Police and Navy personnel and a Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) activist, were killed on July 14 in the incidents of target killing in the provincial metropolis of Sindh, Karachi.

Six persons were killed in Karachi on July 11.

Five persons were killed in separate incidents of target killing in Karachi on July 10.

Former office bearers of Awami National Party (ANP), along with three other persons were killed in the separate incidents of target killing in Karachi on July 9. Daily Times; Dawn; The News; Tribune; Central Asia Online; The Nation; The Frontier Post; Pakistan Today; Pakistan Observer , July 10-16, 2012.

17 SFs and three civilians among 20 persons killed during the week in Punjab: Militants on July 12 shot dead nine Police and prison staff and wounded three others after storming a building in Ichra area of Lahore in Punjab where they were sleeping.

Three persons, including a female, were shot dead by unidentified assailants inside their home at Tajpura Scheme area under Ghaziabad Police Station Lahore District on July 10.

Unidentified militants killed eight security personnel at an Army camp near Wazirabad town in Gujranwala District on July 9, officials said, hours after a protest march of the Difa-e-Pakistan Council (DPC) passed through the area. Daily Times; Dawn; The News; Tribune; Central Asia Online; The Nation; The Frontier Post; Pakistan Today; Pakistan Observer, July 10-16, 2012

Militants' polio ban puts 240,000 Pakistani children at risk: Officials, on July 13, warned that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ban on polio would put 240,000 children at risk in Waziristan Agencies of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), if a vaccination campaign didn't start by the coming week. THE TTP and Hafiz Gul Bahadur group banned polio vaccinations in the Waziristan to protest against US drone attacks. Daily Times, July 14, 2012.

Supreme Court orders FC general to recover 30 missing persons within 10 days: Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry on July 13 ordered Balochistan Frontier Corps commander Major General Obaidullah Khattak to produce 30 people in court, saying there was evidence troops were involved in their disappearance. Chaudhry ordered Khattak to produce the missing before the court in Quetta on July 24. The 30 people were allegedly abducted in Tutak area of Khuzdar District in February 2011. Dawn, July 14, 2012.

Every third missing person in Balochistan abducted by FC, says Supreme Court: Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Choudhary on July 9 said that every third missing person in Balochistan was picked up by the Frontier Corps (FC). He said the issue of missing persons needed to be addressed to solve the problem of Balochistan. Daily Times, July 10, 2012.

Urgent need to launch an operation against terrorists in NWA, says FATA law and order secretary: The Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) law and order secretary Shakeel Qadir while briefing the Senate Standing Committee on States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) on July 11 said that there was an urgent need to launch an operation against terrorists in North Waziristan Agency (NWA) as they were getting hold of the area and government was losing its writ day by day. He said that Security Forces were engaged in operation against terrorists in Upper Orakzai while situation was under control in Lower Orakzai area. Daily Times, July 12, 2012.


SRI LANKA

President Mahinda Rajapaksa calls on diplomats to counter threats from pro-LTTE Diaspora: President Mahinda Rajapaksa on July 7 said that despite the country having a concise foreign policy the threat of the pro-Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Diaspora in the West remains to be a massive challenge and asked the country's diplomatic envoys to counter them. The President said the Sri Lankan diplomats in overseas missions, especially in countries where, the pro-LTTE Diaspora is active, to be aware of the relentless campaign carried out by them to discredit Sri Lanka. ColomboPage, July 9, 2012.

NPC elections in September 2013, says President Mahinda Rajapaksa: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa said that elections to Northern Provincial Council (NPC) will take just over a year from now. "We want to hold elections in September 2013. We are working towards it [the elections] in a systematic manner," the President said. The Hindu, July 11, 2012.


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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