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SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 12, No. 35, March 3, 2014
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
|
Sindh:
Year of Horror
Ambreen Agha
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management
We
were going shopping for our sister’s wedding when
my cousin suddenly stopped the car in the alley
where our house was located. I saw two men standing
at the entrance of the lane and a group of eight
to ten people, including young men aged 17-18 years
approaching us, loading their guns.... I had never
seen this kind of ferocity on the streets in India...
my cousin, whose place I was visiting in Karachi,
pleaded to me to be quiet and not to get into any
argument with them. He referred to them as Balochi
gangsters and exclaimed, "These are Balochis
and you should not utter a word, just surrender
and give whatever you have." They held my two
sisters at gunpoint and put a sharp knife on my
chest, making it bleed. Each of us gave whatever
possessions we had. My cousin lamented, "This
is the drudgery of our daily lives here. We live
in fear..."
------ Interview to SATP on condition of
anonymity
|
At least
13 Policemen were killed and 58 persons were injured in
a suicide blast targeting a bus carrying 50 Police officers
near the gate of the Razzakabad Police Training Centre
in the Shah Latif Town of Karachi, the provincial capital
of Sindh, on February 13, 2014. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan
(TTP)
'spokesman' Shahidullah Shahid claiming responsibility
for the attack, declaring, "We carried out the attack
against the Police because they are killing our people."
On January
7, 2014, TTP terrorists had killed six people near the
Sufi shrine of Ayub Shah Bukhari in Gulshan-e-Maymar area
of Gadap Town in Karachi. Two of the victims were beheaded,
while the rest had their throats slit. The Police found
a bloodstained knife and note, written by the TTP, which
read, “Stop visiting shrines — from the Pakistani Taliban.
People visiting shrines will meet the same fate.”
On January
2, 2014, three gangsters were shot dead in an ambush by
a rival group in the Ilyas Goth area of Liaquatabad Town,
Karachi. The deceased were involved in murders, gang wars,
abduction-for-ransom, extortion and other criminal activities
in Landhi and Malir Towns of Karachi District.
These incidents
are only a few of the proliferating manifestations of
the violence that flourishes in Sindh, because of an intricate
relationship between terrorist outfits, violent political
organisations and criminal gangs. According to partial
data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal
(SATP), Sindh has already recorded 273 fatalities, including
180 civilians, 46 Security Force (SF) personnel, and 47
terrorists in the first two months of year 2014, and remains
the second worst terrorism affected region across Pakistan
in terms of fatalities [the Federally Administered Tribal
Areas (FATA) rank first, with 290 killed, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
(KP) is third, with 187 dead]. Sindh, however, continued
to hold the dubious distinction of recording the highest
number of civilian fatalities, at 180, over this period,
followed by 120 in KP, 92 in Balochistan, 20 in Punjab
and 20 in FATA.
Terrorist
attacks, sectarian and political violence and gang wars
were the three indices that made Sindh, which recorded
1,668 fatalities in 2013, second among the most violence-afflicted
Provinces in Pakistan [after FATA, which saw 1,716 killed
during the year]. Even in 2013, however, Sindh held the
first position in terms of civilian fatalities, by far,
with 1,285 killed, distantly followed by KP, where 603
civilian fatalities were recorded. 156 SF personnel, and
227 terrorists were killed in the Province in 2013. In
2012, these numbers stood at a total of 1,553 fatalities,
including 1,318 civilians, 118 SF personnel and 117 terrorists.
Fatalities among SFs and terrorists increased by 32.2
per cent and 94.01 per cent, respectively, between 2012
and 2013. The rise in fatalities in these two categories
is primarily due to escalating confrontations between
the two sides, as the worsening law and order situation
forced the Government to launch limited operations.
Terrorism
related fatalities in Sindh: 2010-2014
Years
|
Civilians
|
SFs
|
Militants
|
Total
|
2010
|
777
|
61
|
158
|
996
|
2011
|
1082
|
61
|
68
|
1211
|
2012
|
1318
|
118
|
117
|
1553
|
2013
|
1285
|
156
|
227
|
1668
|
2014
|
180
|
46
|
47
|
273
|
Total*
|
4642
|
442
|
617
|
5701
|
Source:
SATP, *Data till March 2, 2014
|
Though
civilians continued to face the brunt of terror through
2013, there was a marginal decline of 2.50 per cent in
fatalities in this category, as compared to 2012. According
to SATP data, of 1,285 civilians killed in 2013, 151 died
in 91 sectarian attacks, as compared to 122 killed in
92 such attacks in 2012.
Other parameters
of violence registered significant increase. Incidents
of killing in 2013 increased to 1,215, from 1,105 in 2012.
Major incidents (each involving three or more fatalities)
and resultant fatalities increased to 56 and 282, respectively,
as compared to 38 and 149, respectively, in 2012. Incidents
of bomb blast and resultant fatalities in 2013 increased
to 122 and 193, respectively, from 77 and 42 in 2012.
Karachi
was the worst hit among all 23 Districts of the Province.
Of the total of 1,668 killings in Sindh, 1,638 (98.2 per
cent) took place in Karachi alone. Of 1,285 civilians
killed in the Province in 2013, 1,270 civilian killings
(98.83 per cent) occurred in Karachi alone, followed by
six in Hyderabad District, three in Kashmore District,
two each in Khairpur and Shikarpur Districts, and one
each in Jacobabad and Sukkur Districts.
Karachi’s
descent into anarchy has been enormously accelerated as
a result of the influx of TTP cadres from the country's
tribal areas. According to a January 20, 2014, threat
report by security agencies, a further influx of TTP operatives
into Karachi is likely, to avenge the deployment of military
troops in the Waziristan areas of the FATA. The report
said that thousands of TTP operatives are already living
in Karachi, adding to the numbers of local operatives
of various other active and defunct organisations.
Adding
to the problem are a wide range of sectarian-terrorist
outfits operating in the city. These prominently include
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ),
Sipah-e-Sahaba-Pakistan (SSP),
Jandullah, Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM),
Sunni Tehreek (ST) and Sipah-e-Muhammad Pakistan (SMP),
among many others. Unsurprisingly, barring one fatality
in Jacobabad District, all 150 killings in 90 sectarian
attacks in Sindh Province occurred in Karachi alone.
Political
killings have also become the order of the day. Activists
of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), the Muttahida Qaumi
Movement (MQM) and the Awami National Party (ANP) have
been the principal targets. A total of 345 activists of
these parties, including 191 of the MQM; 98 of the ANP,
and 56 of the PPP, have been killed since 2011. 176 of
these, including 124 MQM, 36 ANP and 16 PPP activists
were killed in 2013 alone.
Turf
wars between two prominent criminal
gangs, the Uzair Baloch-led People’s Amn Committee (PAC,
People's Peace Committee) and the Ghaffar Zikri-led Lyari
gang, and their local wings, continuously exacerbate violence.
Despite being banned, these criminal formations continue
to operate with the support of their political patrons.
The PAC is alleged to be supported by PPP and the Zikri
group thrives with the support of the MQM.
A Report
by Foreign Policy in September 2013 termed Karachi
“the most dangerous megacity” in the world. The Report
cited a murder rate of 12.3 per 100,000 residents, “some
25 per cent higher than any other major city”.
The epidemic
of violence is worsened by an endemic extortion racket,
making the environment extremely volatile for the business
community. Predicting 2013 as “a record year for extortion
in Karachi”, the chief of the Citizen-Police Liaison Committee
(CPLC), Ahmed Chinoy stated, “The extortion racket has
blown out of all proportion with the previous year.” According
to the figures collected by Chinoy’s committee, there
were more than 630 extortion complaints registered in
Karachi from January 2013 to mid-June 2013, compared to
589 in the whole of 2012. Most cases were registered by
people who had refused to pay. However, the Police claim
that the actual number of incidents is many times higher,
since the vast majority of extortion demands go unreported,
as victims usually decide to pay. Kutchi Rabta Committee
(KRC) leader Haji Adam, while speaking of the menace of
extortion on July 5, 2013, complained, "The situation
of Lyari is worse than that of Waziristan," and added,
“miscreants were free to operate in the area.”
Fearing
a spill-over into other parts of the Province, Sindh Chief
Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, on February 24, 2014, cautioned,
“Karachi-like terrorism must not hit other parts of Sindh.
Terrorism should not make its way into the interior of
Sindh with the intensity witnessed in Karachi.”
Significantly,
the Hyderabad and Sukkur Districts had each witnessed
one major incident in 2013. On November 26, 2013, in a
targeted attack on the Police, unidentified terrorists
shot dead four Policemen and injured another three, while
the Police unit was on mobile duty in the Latifabad area
of Hyderabad District. A major incident occurred in Sukkur
District on July 24, 2013, when suicide bombers and armed
militants mounted an attack on the local office of Inter-Services
Intelligence (ISI) in the high security zone of the Sukkur
Barrage Colony in Sukkur town. Eight persons were killed,
including four terrorists, three ISI officials and a civilian,
and another 50 were injured. It was combined attack by
the Mohmand Chapter of TTP and the Punjab Chapter of the
Taliban (Punjabi Taliban). An unnamed ‘commander’ of the
outfit claimed responsibility for the attack. These attacks,
and a range of lesser indicators, suggest the gradual
penetration of the TTP in other parts of Sindh, potentially
creating a far greater challenge for a state apparatus
that has, thus far, not been able to combat the ongoing
groundswell of terrorist, sectarian and criminal violence
in Karachi, the core area of militant activities, despite
the tall claims of “successful operations.”
The crisis
in Karachi - indeed, the crisis in Pakistan - is that
the state, its agencies, and the political forces that
control these, are unwilling to relinquish extremist Islam
and terrorism as instruments of policy and of domestic
political management. Whatever limited action that has
been taken against particular terrorist or organised criminal
gangs has been fitful, selective and, in most cases, half-hearted.
In the meanwhile, armed extremist formations have consolidated
their own independent bases of power, even as the regime
of collusion with elements within the establishment continues.
Under the circumstances, the challenge in Karachi - and
potentially across wider areas in Sindh - can only become
more intractable with the passage of time.
|
Nagaland:
Fresh Challenges
Veronica Khangchian
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
On February
27, 2014, at a meeting sponsored by the Forum for Naga
Reconciliation (FNR) in Dimapur, 31 Naga organisations
extended their full support to the Naga reconciliation
process and urged the FNR to continue strengthening and
pursing the task of Reconciliation at a time of deep crisis.
The Naga bodies also implored all Naga tribe and civil
society organizations to consciously work towards reconciliation
in the spirit of forgiveness, towards a shared future:
“Recognizing that reconciliation is a continuous process,
we urge all Naga political groups to join Naga reconciliation
and to unitedly pursue the Naga political and historical
rights for the common good of all.” FNR was formed in
May 2008.
On October
8, 2013, amidst increasing factional killings and other
forms of violence in Naga areas, FNR had observed that,
if the reconciliation process was to continue with credibility,
the Naga militant organizations would have to immediately
stop violence perpetrated in any form. The FNR had then
urged the leaders of the Naga underground groups to demonstrate
their statesmanship by putting aside factional politics
and work for the common Naga cause of justice and peace.
It is useful to recall, here, that on March 23, 2013,
Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak-Muivah
(NSCN-IM),
NSCN-Khole-Kitovi (NSCN-KK) and Naga National Council/Federal
Government of Nagaland (NNC/FGN) functionaries had held
another round of meetings on reconciliation at Chiang
Mai, Thailand.
Even as
the efforts for reconciliation amongst the Nagas continued,
fresh challenges have emerged, besides the well known
factional clashes between Naga rebel groups. When Rengma
Nagas and the Karbis clashed in Assam in December 2013,
the effect was felt in Nagaland. On December 27, 2013,
at least four persons, the village headman and three women,
all belonging to Rengma Naga community, were shot dead
by Karbi People's Liberation Tiger (KPLT)
militants in Khowanigaon, under the Borpathar Police Station
in the Karbi Anglong District of Assam. Sources indicated
that KPLT militants had issued an ultimatum to Rengma
Nagas to leave the District by December 25. On the same
day [December 27], a Naga militant outfit, Rengma Naga
Hills Protection Force (RNHPF), had retaliated and launched
a counter–attack on the KPLT militants, killing two of
them. Further on December 29, 2013 Security Forces recovered
the bullet-riddled, decomposed bodies of two aged women,
suspected to have been killed by KPLT cadres, at Rengma
Mouza, Bokajan in Karbi Anglong District.
There was
a standoff between the NSCN-IM and the Sumi Nagas following
an incident in December 2013. The tension started when
four armed NSCN-IM cadres allegedly molested two Sumi
women and assaulted two men travelling to Zunheboto at
Aghuyito village near Zunheboto District on December 21,
2013. The incident triggered mass resentment among the
Sumi community, triggering a massive rally on December
22, where it was resolved that the errant NSCN-IM cadres
should be handed over to the District administration within
three days, failing which a call for non-cooperation with
NSCN-IM would be initiated. When the Sumi Hoho (the apex
organisation of the Sumi community) asked the outfit to
hand over its cadres, it refused.
On December
28, hundreds of Sumis, angered by the December 21 incident,
marched towards the NSCN-IM’s designated camp at Mukalimi
village under Pughoboto Subdivision in Zunheboto District,
where they were fired on, allegedly by NSCN-IM cadres,
leading to the death of two persons and injuries to six
others. On January 2, 2014, the Sumi Hoho in Nagaland
declared December 28 as "Martyrs' Day" to honour
the two Sumi volunteers who died during the three-day
siege of the NSCN-IM's camp at Mukalimi in Zunheboto District.
The NSCN-IM vacated the Mukalima camp On December 30,
after much persuasion by the Centre and State Government.
An NSCN-IM source claimed that the cadres vacated the
camp on their own, but sources disclose that they did
so only after much discussion with the Government. A Sumi
general public meeting held under the aegis of the Sumi
Hoho at Zunheboto on January 7, 2014, further resolved
that the NSCN-IM would not be permitted to establish its
designated camps within Sumi-inhabited areas and thereby
decided to sever all ties with NSCN-IM.
The beginning
of 2014 has brought no relief. In the night of January
3, 2014, highly decomposed bodies of nine persons, blindfolded,
their hands tied and shot from close range, were recovered
from a gorge in the Pachaspura area, Chumekedima, in Dimapur
District in Nagaland. On January 6, Nagaland Police disclosed
that all the nine dead bodies were ethnic Karbis from
the Karbi Anglong District of Assam, and included a missing
Karbi Students Association (KSA) leader, Harlongbi Engti.
The incident was purportedly in retaliation against the
killing of Rengma Nagas in Assam in December 2013. The
RNHPF claimed responsibility for the Dimapur killings.
There were also reports that the RNHPF was floated under
the patronage of the NSCN-IM for protection of the Rengma
Naga people living in Karbi Anglong. On January 4, 2014,
the Nagaland Government constituted a three-member High
Power Enquiry Committee (HPEC) to probe the recovery of
the nine bodies. The Nagaland Home Department asserted
that the HPEC had been constituted alongside the Police
investigation by a Special Investigation Team (SIT), which
had alleged that another seven NSCN-IM cadres were behind
the Dimapur killings. Cease Fire Monitoring Group (CFMG)
Chairman Lt. Gen (Retd.) N.K Singh also stated that the
involvement of NSCN-IM had come to light with the arrest
of three alleged accused in this incident. The arrest
date was unspecified.
A January
6, 2014, report indicated that over 3,000 people from
the Karbi and Rengma Naga tribes had been taking shelter
in relief camps in the Bokajan area of the Karbi Anglong
District since December 27, 2013, due to violent clashes
between the KPLT and the RNHPF. Karbi Anglong Superintendent
of Police Mugdhajyoti Mahanta disclosed that, as on January
6, 2014, 3,131 people were taking shelter in nine relief
camps. Of them, 1,683 were Rengma Nagas and 1,448 were
Karbis. On February 1, 2013, the Rengma Naga organisations
in Karbi Anglong District reiterated their demand for
the creation of a Rengma Hills Autonomous District Council
(RHADC) , with its headquarters at Bokajan, through the
separation of the Rengma Hills from Karbi Anglong, on
the basis of the original boundary of the Hills and Rengma
Mouzas (an earlier nomenclature for a revenue collection
unit). Later on February 4, the RNHPF declared that peace
could return to Karbi Anglong District only if the Rengma
Nagas were given constitutional protection or a political
identity separate from the Karbis.
Despite
these fresh challenges, fatalities in Nagaland dropped
dramatically from 61 [six civilians and 55 militants]
in 2012 to just 32 [11 civilians and 21 militants] in
2013, according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal
(SATP). Internecine clashes within the State also declined
from 43 incidents in 2012, resulting in 53 persons killed
and 23 injured, to 18 incidents in 2013, resulting in
12 killed and 11 injured. 2012 had witnessed intense factional
killing between NSCN-K and NSCN-KK, which visibly slowed
down in 2013. In one major factional clash during the
year, three NSCN-K cadres were killed and one was injured
by NSCN-KK cadres at Sikiu 'A', under the Shamator Sub-division,
Tuensang District.
Factional
killings amongst the Nagas had spiked after the formation
of NSCN-KK on June 7, 2011, and the
Zeliangrong United Front
(ZUF), a Manipur based outfit, on
February 25, 2011. Outside Nagaland, SATP recorded seven
incidents of fratricidal clashes [resulting in nine killed
and two injured] between Naga militant groups in 2013,
as against such 13 incidents [resulting in 27 killed and
10 injured] in 2012. Fatalities in Nagaland registered
an upward trend, till they peaked at 145 in 2008, but
fell drastically in 2009 and 2010. The dramatic drop in
fatalities in 2009 and 2010 came in the aftermath of the
signing of the Covenant
of Reconciliation in mid-2009. However,
this emerging trend was dramatically reversed after the
emergence of ZUF and NSCN-KK in 2011.
Insurgency
related killings: 2005-2014
Years
|
Civilians
|
SFs
|
Militants
|
Total
|
2005
|
9
|
0
|
31
|
40
|
2006
|
10
|
1
|
81
|
92
|
2007
|
20
|
0
|
88
|
108
|
2008
|
42
|
2
|
101
|
145
|
2009
|
7
|
0
|
11
|
18
|
2010
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
3
|
2011
|
7
|
0
|
8
|
15
|
2012
|
6
|
0
|
55
|
61
|
2013
|
11
|
0
|
21
|
32
|
2014
|
10
|
0
|
1
|
11
|
Total*
|
122
|
3
|
400
|
525
|
Source:
SATP, *Data till March 2, 2014
|
Arms smuggling
remains an issue in Nagaland, with at least 25 arms dealers
arrested in 11 incidents through 2013. The arrestees included
at least three NNC and two NSCN-IM cadres. On November
12, 2013, seven arms smugglers, including two NSCN-IM
cadres, were arrested by the Assam Rifles in Dimapur District,
and a huge cache of arms was seized from them.
In a significant
breakthrough, on August 30, 2013, the NSCN-IM arms supplier,
identified as Wuthikorn Naruenartwanich alias Willy
Narue, was arrested by Bangkok Police while arranging
for the supply of Chinese arms to the NSCN-IM. Naruenartwanich
has been accused of buying nearly 1,000 assault rifles
and an unspecified number of rocket-propelled grenades
to be sold to the outfit. Naruenartwanich, a Thai national,
was reportedly picked up at India's request. On September
22, the Thai gunrunner revealed "key information"
about the supply chain for smuggling arms from China to
the Northeast through Bangladesh. An official source disclosed
that preliminary questioning of the accused by Thai authorities
had revealed that Naruenartwanich, along with NSCN-IM
, had hatched a plan to send a huge consignment of arms
and ammunition from China to the Northeast. The official
stated, "Willy had told Thai Police that the arms
consignment was to start from Beihei port in South China
Sea near Vietnam to Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh. On the
high seas, the consignment was to be shifted to small
fishing trawlers to reach Bangladesh, and then to the
Northeast."
Naruenartwanich
was reportedly the main interlocutor of Anthony Shimray,
the chief arms procurer of NSCN-IM, who was arrested from
Patna (Bihar) in October 2010. He had brokered a USD 2
million deal involving supply of some 1,000 firearms,
including 600 AK-47s and ammunition, with Chinese arms
dealers. The deal, according to the National Investigation
Agency (NIA) chargesheet, was renegotiated to USD 1 million.
The Chinese arms dealer is one of the four accused charge-sheeted
by the NIA following Shimray’s arrest.
Further,
the SATP database recorded the arrest of 146 militants
in 2013, in 69 incidents. These included 26 NSCN-IM, 23
NSCN-K, 22 NSCN-KK and 11 of the IK Songbijit faction
of National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB-IKS). 93
militants were arrested in 2012.
SATP also
recorded 10 incidents of abduction, in which 12 persons
were abducted, as against three such incidents in 2012.
In the worst such incident in 2013, two bodies, suspected
to be that of a driver and a cleaner, were recovered from
Sakhaba village in Kohima District on February 3, 2013.
Suspected NSCN-K militants had abducted drivers and cleaners
of four trucks from Manipur, near Kohima, on the grounds
that the truck owners had not heeded their extortion demands.
A 'tax' of INR two million each had been demanded from
the owners.
Eight incidents
of explosion were recorded in 2013. Two civilians were
killed in two of these incidents. 2012 recorded only two
incidents of explosion, injuring two persons.
Nine incidents
of extortion were reported in 2013, as against 11 such
incidents in 2012 [the incidence is likely to have been
much higher, as most victims comply without reporting
the demands to the Police].
2013 also
saw the formation of the Action Committee Against Unabated
Taxation (ACAUT) in Dimapur. The ACAUT was formed by several
organizations under the aegis of Naga Council in May 2013,
in an effort to check the rampant imposition of ‘illegal
tax‘on the people, especially the business community,
by various organizations, particularly including Naga
underground outfits. On October 31, 2013, several thousand
persons from all sections of society showed up to express
support and solidarity with the campaign spearheaded by
ACAUT. After the rally, however, NSCN-declared that ACAUT
had no authority to 'dictate the people'. Earlier, on
June 8, 2013, during a meeting with ACAUT, NSCN-IM leaders
had asserted that, as a people-mandated revolutionary
group, they had the 'right to tax' people.
Interestingly,
a November 11, 2013, report observed that NSCN-IM had
officially revealed, for the first time, that it had hundreds
of members and several offices in foreign countries. Reiterating
its stand on 'taxation', the group had asserted that it
had to collect 'tax' from the Naga-inhabited areas of
Nagaland, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Myanmar,
to support its members in foreign countries. The outfit
also warned ACAUT, claiming that the organization was
hand-in-glove with NSCN-IM's adversaries, and sought to
undermine Naga nationalism, which would never be tolerated.
NSCN-IM
continues to maintain a base in Bangladesh from where
arms are supplied to the outfit's camps in the region.
According to a November 11, 2012, report, NSCN-IM had
four camps out of the 51 still in existence of Northeast
militant groups still present in Bangladesh. It also has
offices in the United States, Germany, Netherlands, China,
Thailand, Japan, the Philippines and the United Kingdom.
According to intelligence sources, the outfit spends thousands
of dollars to maintain its network abroad. According to
intelligence sources, the outfit's annual budget has increased
manifold as a result of heavy recruitment and procurement
of arms from foreign countries, to over INR 1 billion
per year. There are an estimated 25,000 NSCN-IM cadres,
each receiving a salary ranging between INR 2,000 and
INR 15,000, according to 'rank'.
Meanwhile,
talks between the Government of India (GoI) and the NSCN-IM
have been going on without
any concrete progress. The negotiation
process faced a further setback with the Centre's interlocutor,
R.S. Pandey resigning on December 16, 2013, after announcing
that he would be contesting the 2014 Lok Sabha
polls. A top official of the Union Home Ministry,
on February 14, 2014, disclosed that the Government would
announce the name of the new interlocutor after the Parliament
session.
On January
26, 2014, Nagaland Governor Nikhil Kumar expressed his
regret on the failure to settle the Naga political issue
before the State Assembly elections. Addressing the Republic
Day (January 26) celebration in the State capital, Kohima,
Kumar appealed to all sections of the Nagas to continue
working for a peaceful settlement. On October 10, 2012,
Union Minister of Home Affairs, Sushil Kumar Shinde, had
reportedly hinted that a ‘solution’ to the ‘Naga issue’
was likely before March 2013, when Assembly polls in Nagaland
were due.
Meanwhile,
the ceasefire between GoI and NSCN-K was extended for
a year on April 22, 2013. On April 26, 2013, the ceasefire
agreement between GoI and NSCN-KK was also reviewed and
extended for a year, with effect from April 28, 2013.
2013 also
saw a renewed agitation for the creation of a separate
State by the "Eastern Nagaland People's Organisation”
(ENPO) following the decision of the Congress working
committee to carve out the Telengana State from Andhra
Pradesh. In a symbolic move to intensify the demand
for separate statehood – ‘Frontier Nagaland’ – the six
tribes of Eastern Nagaland, under the aegis of ENPO, observed
a “Black Day” on August 15, 2013. ENPO took the decision
as “a practical message” to the GoI, to demand the 'immediate
declaration' of Statehood with a special status within
the Indian Constitution, based on the distinctive and
different historical and geo-political background of Eastern
Nagaland - comprising the four Districts of Mon, Tuensang,
Kiphire and Longleng. The demand has already been turned
down by both the Centre and the State Government. The
demand was first raised in the year 2010. ENPO has also
rejected the State Government’s offer of an autonomous
council, regional council and economic package, in lieu
of ‘Frontier Nagaland’.
The promise
of a 'solution' to the vexed 'Naga issue' has long been
belied, and though the peace process has stemmed the force
of India's longest insurgency, it is yet to give a real
peace to the people of the State. The uncertainty, the
jockeying for power, the regimes of illegal 'taxation'
and intimidation, the continuing sway of armed non-state
groups, and the exacerbating inter-tribal tensions, keep
the situation at a constant simmer, boiling over into
violence from time to time. Unless a settlement of the
issue is achieved, and one that is perceived as just by
all affected parties, it is unlikely that things will
change dramatically in Nagaland.
|
Weekly Fatalities: Major
Conflicts in South Asia
February 24
- March 2, 2014
|
Civilians
|
Security
Force Personnel
|
Terrorists/Insurgents
|
Total
|
BANGLADESH
|
|
Islamist Terrorism
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
INDIA
|
|
Jammu and
Kashmir
|
0
|
0
|
7
|
7
|
Meghalaya
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
Left-wing
Extremism
|
|
Andhra Pradesh
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Chhattisgarh
|
0
|
5
|
0
|
5
|
Jharkhand
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
4
|
Odisha
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
Total (INDIA)
|
3
|
5
|
11
|
19
|
PAKISTAN
|
|
Balochistan
|
4
|
3
|
10
|
17
|
FATA
|
1
|
12
|
42
|
55
|
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
Sindh
|
23
|
0
|
0
|
23
|
Total (PAKISTAN)
|
|
|
|
|
Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
|
INDIA
JeM
'chief'
to
send
suicide
bombers
to
political
rallies
in
India,
alerted
IB:
Intelligence
Bureau
(IB)
reports
have
informed
that
the
militant
outfit
Jaish-e-Mohammed
(JeM)
led
by
Maulana
Masood
Azhar
is
planning
a
series
of
suicide
attacks
on
political
rallies
in
India
when
the
Lok
Sabha
(the
lower
house
of
parliament)
campaign
gathers
steam.
According
to
intelligence
reports,
Azhar
speaking
at
a
rally
in
Pakistan-occupied
Kashmir's
(PoK)
Muzaffarabad
said,
"There
are
313
fidayeen
in
this
gathering
and
if
a
call
is
made,
the
number
will
go
up
to
3,
000."
Truth
Drive,
February
25,
2014.
IB
warns
Andhra
Pradesh
of
terror
attacks
by
LeT
and
IM,
says
report:
The
Intelligence
Bureau
(IB)
alerted
Andhra
Pradesh
about
possible
terror
strikes
by
Indian
Mujahideen
(IM)
and
the
Lashkar-e-Toiba
(LeT),
during
the
2014
election
campaign.
Following
the
confessions
of
arrested
IM
Indian
operations
'chief'
Yasin
Bhatkal
and
his
aide
Asadullah
Akhtar
that
several
terror
modules
of
the
IM
are
operating
in
the
country
and
inputs
that
LeT
is
planning
attacks,
the
security
agencies
are
on
alert.
Deccan
Chronicle,
February
28,
2014.
IM
harbored
plans
to
create
new
hideouts
in
Tibet,
Nepal
and
Azerbaijan,
says
report:
Indian
Mujahideen
(IM)
harboured
plans
to
create
new
hideouts
in
Tibet,
Nepal
and
Azerbaijan.
It
also
planned
to
free
its
operatives
lodged
in
various
by
ramming
bulldozers
to
bring
down
jail
walls.
The
277-page
National
Investigation
Agency
(NIA)
chargesheet
filed
against
Yasin
Bhatkal
says:
"Yasin
informed
Riyaz
[Riyaz
Bhatkal]
that
he
had
learnt
to
operate
bulldozer.
It
drinks
200
litres
per
day,
but
can
be
used
to
break
wall
of
the
jail."
Times
of
India,
March
1,
2014.
60
militant
groups
operating
in
Manipur,
says
Governor:
Manipur
Governor
V.
K.
Duggaltold
State
Legislative
Assembly,
on
February
24,
that
Manipur
has
been
affected
by
insurgent
activities
spread
over
a
period
of
over
four
decades
where
more
than
60
militant
outfits,
including
factions,
are
operating.
Shillong
Times,
February
24,
2014.
Terrorists
in
Jammu
and
Kashmir
and
North-East
and
Naxalites
in
central
India
indulging
in
gross
violation
of
human
rights,
says
US
State
Department
report:
The
United
State
(US)
state
Department
said
in
its
Congressional
mandated
annual
report
on
human
rights
2013
that
the
terrorists
in
Jammu
and
Kashmir
(J&K)
and
North-East
and
Naxalites
[left
Wing
Extremists]
groups
in
central
India
are
indulging
in
gross
violation
of
human
rights.
"Separatist
insurgents
and
terrorists
in
Jammu
and
Kashmir,
the
Northeastern
states,
and
the
Naxalite
belt
committed
numerous
serious
abuses,
including
killings
of
elected
political
leaders,
armed
forces
personnel,
police,
government
officials,
and
civilians,"
said
the
report
which
was
released
by
US
Secretary
of
State
John
Kerry.
Business
Standard,
February
28,
2014.
Tripura
militants
abduct
72
persons
in
last
three
years:
Chief
Minister
(CM)
Manik
Sarkar
on
February
24
said
that
altogether
72
persons
were
abducted
and
three
others
were
killed
during
the
past
three
years
in
insurgency
related
incidents.
Sarkar
said
the
insurgency
was
on
the
wane
as
none
was
killed
by
the
militants
in
2013
and
10
persons
were
abducted
during
the
time,
but
all
of
them
had
returned.
In
the
last
three
years
92
insurgents
of
different
underground
groups
have
surrendered,
he
said.
Shilong
Times,
February
25,
2014.
Incidents
of
CPI-Maoist
violence
has
come
down,
says
Union
Minister
of
Home
Affairs
Sushilkumar
Shinde:
The
Union
Minister
of
Home
Affairs
(UMHA)
Sushilkumar
Shinde
on
February
26
said
incidents
of
Communist
Party
of
India-Maoist
(CPI-Maoist)
perpetrated
violence
have
come
down
in
the
country
in
the
past
one
to
two
years.
He
said
the
documents
circulated
by
the
CPI-Maoist
were
proof
of
the
decrease
in
their
activities.
Zee
News,
February
27,
2014.
NEPAL
Prime
Minister
Sushil
Koirala
assures
a
new
constitution
within
a
year:
Prime
Minister
Sushil
Koirala
on
February
28
assured
that
the
country
will
have
its
new
constitution
within
a
year.
Koirala
said
that
the
Government's
main
priority
is
to
draft
and
promulgate
the
new
constitution
within
a
year.
Nepal
News,
March
1,
2014.
PAKISTAN
42
militants
and
12
SFs
among
55
persons
killed
during
the
week
in
FATA:
In
response
to
the
militant
attack
on
a
polio
team
in
the
Lashora
area
of
Jamrud
tehsil
(revenue
unit)
in
Federally
Administered
Tribal
Areas
(FATA)
which
left
at
least
13
persons
dead
on
February
1,
Security
Forces
(SFs)
launched
a
assault
on
February
2-morning
on
militant
hideouts
in
parts
of
Bara
tehsil
and
killed
five
militants.
At
least
three
militants
were
killed
and
three
others
were
injured
in
an
exchange
of
fire
between
SFs
and
militants
in
Shalobar
area
of
Khyber
Agency
on
February
27.
Pakistani
fighter
jets
and
gunship
helicopters
bombarded
hideouts
of
Tehreek-e-Taliban
Pakistan
(TTP)
militants
in
the
North
and
South
Waziristan
Agencies
on
February
25
killing
at
least
30
militants.
Asmatullah
Shaheen
Bhittani,
a
senior
'commander'
of
TTP
and
supporter
of
peace
talks
with
the
Government,
was
killed
along
with
his
three
accomplices
on
February
24
in
Darga
Mandi
village
near
Miranshah
in
North
Waziristan
Agency.
Daily
Times;
Dawn;
The
News;
Tribune;
Central
Asia;
The
Nation;
Frontier
Post;
Pakistan
Today;
Pakistan
Observer,
February
25-March
3,
2014.
TTP
announce
one-month
'unconditional'
ceasefire
in
'national
interest',
says
TTP
'central
spokesman'
Shahidullah
Shahid:
The
Tehreek-e-Taliban
Pakistan
(TTP)
on
March
1
announced
a
month-long
'unconditional'
ceasefire
in
'national
interest'.
"Following
a
positive
response
from
the
Government,
an
appeal
from
religious
scholars,
in
honour
of
the
representative
committee
and
in
the
greater
interest
of
Islam
and
Pakistan,
we
have
decided
not
to
carry
out
any
activities
for
one
month,"
TTP
'central
spokesman'
Shahidullah
Shahid
said
in
a
statement.
Meanwhile,
the
Federal
Government
on
March
2
announced
to
suspend
airstrikes
in
the
tribal
areas
that
have
left
more
than
100
terrorists
dead
so
far.
"After
the
positive
announcement
yesterday
[March
1]
by
the
TTP,
the
Government
has
decided
to
halt
the
air
strikes
which
were
continuing
for
the
past
few
days,"
Nisar
Ali
Khan
said
in
a
statement.
However,
he
warned,
"Government
and
the
Army
reserve
the
right
to
effectively
respond
to
any
act
of
violence."
Daily
Times,
March
1-2,
2014.
TTP's
popularity
is
on
the
rise
in
Pakistan,
claims
TTP
'spokesman'
Shahidullah
Shahid:
The
Tehreek-e-Taliban
Pakistan
(TTP)
on
February
26
claimed
that
its
popularity
is
on
the
rise
in
Pakistan.
"An
ever
increasing
number
of
Pakistanis
are
joining
hands
with
us
adding
more
and
more
firepower
to
our
jihadist
capabilities.
The
graph
of
our
popularity
is
going
north",
Shahid
said
in
a
statement.
"We
are
dying
to
see
the
"glorious"
results
of
a
"grand"
onslaught
that
the
"valiant"
armed
forces
of
Pakistan
are
preparing
to
launch
against
us",
he
said,
adding,
"Instead
of
pulling
the
"trigger",
if
the
government
of
Pakistan
focuses
on
removing
the
"triggers"
of
this
war
the
TTP's
anti-state
activities
will
reduce
drastically".
The
News,
February
27,
2014.
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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