INDIA
PAKISTAN
NEPAL
BHUTAN
BANGLADESH
SRI LANKA
Terrorism Update
Latest
S.A.Overview
Publication
Show/Hide Search
HomePrint
 
  Click to Enlarge
   

SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 13, No. 30, January 27, 2015

Data and assessments from SAIR can be freely published in any form with credit to the South Asia Intelligence Review of the
South Asia Terrorism Portal


ASSESSMENT

PAKISTAN
Click for PrintPrint

Punjab: Nucleus of Terror
Ambreen Agha
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management

On January 16, 2015, at least three Shia Muslims were shot dead in Rawalpindi District while they were returning home from a religious gathering. The victims were identified as lawyer Fayyaz Hussain Shah (40), and his two nephews Mir Ghazi Shah (20) and Mir Hamza Shah (22). The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) 'spokesperson' Muhammad Khorasani claimed responsibility for the attack saying that lawyer Fayyaz Hussain Shah was active in his Shia community and was also a local leader of the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

On January 9, 2015, at least eight people were killed and another 25 were wounded in a bomb blast targeting the Aun Muhammad Rizvi Imambargah (Shia place of commemoration) located at Chittian Hattian in Rawalpindi District. Ehsanullah Ehsan, 'spokesperson' for TTP's Jama'at-ul-Ahrar (JuA) faction, claimed responsibility for the attack and vowed “to continue such attacks".

In the first 26-days of 2015, the Punjab Province has recorded 13 terrorism-related fatalities.    

Significantly, reversing the declining trend in such fatalities since 2010, overall fatalities in 2014 increased by a whopping 122.22 per cent, as compared to the preceding year. According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (STAP), Punjab recorded a total of 180 fatalities, including 132 civilians, 20 Security Force (SF) personnel and 28 terrorists in 2014, as against 81 such fatalities, including 64 civilians, seven SF personnel and 10 terrorists in 2013.

Other parameters of violence have also registered a staggering increase. As against 20 incidents of killing in 2013, the number of such incidents rose to 43 in 2014, of which eight were major incidents (each involving three or more fatalities) resulting in 129 deaths, as compared to seven major incidents (out of 20 incidents of killing) in 2013 which resulted in 40 deaths. In the worst attack of the year, on November 2, 2014, at least 60 people, including children and women, were killed and more than 150 persons were injured, when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives vest in the parking area some 500 meters from the Wagah Border, on the outskirts of provincial capital Lahore, where a daily ceremony is witnessed by large crowds on both the Pakistani and Indian side.

The Province recorded four suicide attacks in 2014, as against a single incident in 2013; the resultant fatalities stood at 83 and five respectively. At least 16 explosions were recorded in 2014, which claimed 111 lives and left more than 352 injured. In 2013, the number of bomb blasts stood at five with 14 fatalities.

An increase in incidents of sectarian violence was also recorded, from 13 in 2013 to 19 in 2014, though resultant fatalities at 23 remained lower in 2014, as against 42 in 2013.

2014, consequently, recorded an overall escalation in violence in the Province which has, for years, served as an ideological sanctuary and a recruitment ground for various terrorist formations in Pakistan. Indeed, on January 1, 2015, Awami National Party (ANP) Central General Secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain declared Punjab a “training centre for terrorists and their masterminds” and demanded that the Government initiate decisive action against the terrorist leadership and infrastructure in the Punjab. He stressed, further, that “terrorism could not be eliminated from the country until an operation began against terrorist organisations in Punjab”. Pressing for action against terrorists, Hussain remarked that “there should be no distinction between good Taliban and bad Taliban and state institutions should take an across-the-board action against terrorists.”

This dismal situation has been created primarily due to the tacit support provided to these groups by the Federal and Provincial Governments, who have been implicitly supported by the judiciary. As in past, numerous instances of such support came to the fore in 2014. On December 22, 2014, the dreaded terrorist Malik Muhammad Ishaq, the leader of the anti-Shia sectarian outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), was released after three years in jail on grounds of "lack of evidence". Officials of the Punjab Home Department, however, did not seek extension in his detention. Significantly, the United States (US) on February 6, 2014, had designated Ishaq in its list of the most wanted 'Specially Designated Global Terrorists'. Indeed, despite an apparent ban on the organisation within Pakistan since August 2001, LeJ continues to operate with a great measure of freedom and exerts significant influence in Punjab.

Similarly, the Islamabad Anti-Terrorism Court Judge Syed Kausar Abbas Zaidi hearing the November 26, 2008, Mumbai (India) terror attacks (also known as 26/11) case, granted bail to top Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) ‘commander’ Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, the mastermind of the attacks on December 18, 2014, noting "evidence against Lakhvi was deficient". After several u-turns, under intense pressure from India and the international community, Lakhvi continues to remain behind bars. 

Meanwhile, the Province continued to host LeT 'founder' and Jama'at-ud-Dawa (JuD) 'chief' Hafiz Muhammad Saeed. Through the course of the year he was allowed to propagate his ideology of hate and violence freely across the country, and including the Islamabad Capital Territory, organising and conducting rallies, in which he spit venom against India and other ‘infidel’ countries. Indeed, on December 4-5, 2014, Saeed organised a two day “National Conference” on the theme, “Pakistan’s liberty lies in the ideology of Pakistan”, at the Minar-e-Pakistan monument in Lahore, calling for the revival of the demand for the complete enforcement of Sharia'h (Islamic Law), protecting and promoting the Islamic ideology of Pakistan, jihad against the 'enemies of Islam' to uphold Muslim nationhood across the world, and liberating 'occupied Muslim territories'. At the Conference, he declared, “…To deal with the Indian atrocities we will have to adopt the course of Ghaznavi and, Ghauri... Narendra Modi should be straightforward and resolve the Kashmir dispute, and if you are not ready to resolve it, then God willing, Kashmir will be the gateway and we will wage jihad against India…” Crucially, the Pakistan Government ran two special trains free of cost to transport people to attend the congregation in Lahore, and to return them to their homes after the conclusion of the congregation.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Government declared, on January 22, 2015, that it has ‘banned’ JuD along with several other terror organistaions, including the Haqqani Network. Earlier in a lamentable act of duplicity, Pakistan’s Minister for Defence Production told Hindustan Times in an exclusive interview on January 16, 2015, “We are looking to ban terror organisations but the JuD is a charitable organisation and the Government of Pakistan has no evidence against Hafiz Saeed or the JuD.” Subsequently, however, the Pakistan’s External Affairs Ministry spokesperson stated that there was "no new ban" on JuD, in what Ajai Sahni, Editor, SAIR, described "as the same cycle of plants and denials, the same smoke and mirrors trick, reassuring gullible 'believers' without changing realities." Sahni notes, further,

Interestingly, JuD was consistently included in its list of terrorist organisations by the National Assembly since 2005, and this was used as grounds to 'take control of' many of the organisation's madrassas and institutions, especially by the Punjab Government. The actual staff and management remained very much with the same individuals who controlled these institutions before the purported 'take over', but there was now a pretext that permitted the Government to directly and generously fund their activities.

This cover was blown in 2009, when the Lahore High Court quashed proceedings against Hafiz Muhammad Saeed on the grounds that JuD was not a banned organisation, since no notification to this effect had been issued by the Ministry of Interior or by the Punjab Government.

Nevertheless, the National Assembly blithely continued to include JuD in its 'updated list' of banned organisation in 2012, even as official funding to its many madrassas and institutions flowed on.

All this is a part of Pakistan's strategy of deception, its careful calibration of policy as a 'minimal satisfier', responding reluctantly to meet the least of requirements where international - particularly US - pressure becomes unbearable, while insistently protecting the infrastructure, integrity and continuity of the many 'sarkari jehadi' groups it has long cultivated.

A December 20, 2014, Pakistani report indicated that JuD continued to remain “Enlisted under UNSCR 1267” since December 10, 2008. Despite this long 'ban' JuD and its leader Saeed - who has a USD 10 million bounty placed on his head by Washington, find no reason to disguise their activities.

Even if a ban is imposed, JuD is likely to continue to operate under another identity, even as its precursor, LeT did after its apparent ban in January 2002. JuD already has a number of other identities in place, including Tehreek-e-Hurmat-e-Rasool (Movement for defending the honour of Prophet), Tehreek-e-Azadi-e-Kashmir (Movement for the Liberation of Kashmir), Paasbaan-e-Ahl-e-Hadith (Defender of Prophetic Tradition) , Paasban-e-Kashmir (Defender of Kashmir), Al-Mansoorian (The Victorious), Idara Khidmat-e-Khalq (Establishment for the Service of Humanity), Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation (Foundation for the success of humanity), Tehreek-e-Tahafuz Qibla Awal (Movement for Safeguarding the Holy Ka'ba).

Pakistan has, unfailingly, proved to be a country where hard core sectarian and India-oriented Punjabi jihadists find widespread public and official support. According to the SATP database, there has been a considerable and increasing presence of at least 57 extremist and terrorist groups in Punjab alone. At least 28 of these outfits exist in Lahore. The situation is, in fact, even more alarming and, on January 14, 2015, Federal Minister of Interior Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, during a briefing on the status of the implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) to counter terrorism and extremism, disclosed that the number of proscribed organisations actively engaged in terrorism and extremism in the Province had reached 95.

Islamabad continues with its most dangerous friendships with purveyors of terror, even as it makes desperate efforts to contain some aspects of domestic terrorism. In a 15-minute long video released in December 2014, TTP openly exposed the past misdeeds of the Pakistan Army. A senior leader of the group, Adnan Rashid, a former Pakistan Air Force officer, accused the Pakistan Army of taking a "U-turn" and labeling jihad as terrorism and mujahedeen as terrorists, and warned

You remember when thousands of Pakistani youth fought your proxy war in Afghanistan and in Indian Kashmir.... And then you went into the dollar game and you earned millions from the proxy war in Afghanistan and you deceived the nation in the name of jihad. The Muslims have not forgotten the blood game you played in Indian Kashmir exploiting youth in the name of so called freedom...

The evidence of Pakistan's long history of malfeasance is now overwhelming, and yet, the flourishing terrorist formations in Punjab and the obvious support they receive from the state establishment, demonstrate that there is obviously insufficient international pressure for change. Indeed, US and international agencies continue to bail Pakistan's elite out with annual doses of liberal financial aid, even as Washington continues to bolster Islamabad's arsenal.

INDIA
Click for PrintPrint

Andhra Pradesh: Maoists: Waning Support
Fakir Mohan Pradhan
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management

Communist Party of India - Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres, along with a large number of armed militia members and sympathisers, attacked and destroyed an Ashram (hermitage) of a local spiritual guru, Jaggamdora Simhachalam aka Satyanarayana, at Gurramveedhi village in the G. Madugula mandal (administrative unit) of Vishakhapatnam District, Andhra Pradesh, in the night of January 17, 2015. Simhachalam was not at his Ashram at the time of the attack. Maoists beat up six persons present in the Ashram and set afire furniture, vehicles and a shed. Claiming responsibility for the incident the Korukonda 'local area committee', left pamphlets and hung a banner saying that the Ashram was attacked in retaliation to the killing of Sharath and militia member P. Ganapathi on October 19, 2014, and that Simhachalam would not be spared. 

'Divisional committee member' Sindri China Ranga Rao aka Sharath and P. Ganapathi were lynched by locals while Maoists were taking Simhachalam to a praja court ('people's court') near Korukonda Shandy, after killing G. Sanjeeva Rao on ‘charges’ of being a Police informer. Another Maoist militia member, Korra Nageswara Rao, was also believed to have been killed in this incident, but, as facts emerged later, he survived after being dumped in a nearby stream, and subsequently escaped. On November 27, he was seen talking to the media during a memorial meeting held by the Maoists in the Vishakhapatnam Agency area.

The Maoists’ revenge attack notwithstanding, the lynching incident in what was long a Maoist stronghold indicates that even the residual strength of the Maoists in Andhra Pradesh is waning. Further, on January 21, 2015, 34 Maoist sympathisers surrendered before the Police at Rajavommangi in East Godavari District. It is significant that, after a protracted political slug fest and acrimonious protests, Andhra Pradesh was officially bifurcated to create the new State of Telangana on June 2, 2014. According to the arrangement, Hyderabad will remain the joint capital for both the States for ten years, after which Andhra Pradesh will have its own capital and Hyderabad will be transferred entirely to Telangana. The residuary Andhra Pradesh has 13 Districts and Telangana has 10. Most of the Maoist affected Districts in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh have gone to Telangana.

According to South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), in the undivided Andhra Pradesh, by the end of 2013, Maoist activity appeared to have been substantially confined to Visakhapatnam and Khammam Districts, while Karimnagar, Warangal, Srikakulam, Nalgonda, Mahabubnagar, East and West Godavari Districts remained marginally affected. The residual State of Andhra Pradesh, inherited just one District, Visakhapatnam, with moderate Maoist activity and three Districts - East Godavari, West Godavari and Srikakulam – with marginal Maoist activity. However, seven mandals of the erstwhile Khammam District, which had a considerable Maoist presence, have been added to East and West Godavari District.

According to SATP data, the present (residual) Andhra Pradesh has recorded 10 fatalities, including five civilians and five Maoists, in LWE related incidents of violence in 2014, as compared to eight fatalities including six civilians and two Maoists in 2013 in the same areas. This suggests that Andhra Pradesh has sustained the advantage it had secured against the Maoists before the division of the State. While civilian fatalities remain comparable, Maoist fatalities have gone up from two to five. There were no SF fatalities in either year.

In terms of spatial distribution, fatalities in 2014 were reported from three Districts – Vishakhapatnam (three civilians and two Maoists), Prakasam (three Maoists) and East Godavari (two civilians). In 2013, fatalities were reported from three Districts of the comparable area of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh - Vishakhapatnam (four civilians and one Maoist), East Godavari (two civilians) and Nellore (one Maoist).

Two major incidents (each involving three or more fatalities) were recorded in 2014 - one in Prakasam (three Maoists killed in an encounter with SFs on June 19 and another in Vishakhapatnam (one civilian and two Maoists, on October 19). The Maoists had engineered just one major incident in 2013, killing three tribals in the Lakkavaram forest area in G.K. Veedhi mandal of Visakhapatnam District on February 19. No major incidents were reported in 2012 and 2011 in the residual Andhra Pradesh areas.

Maoists engineered one swarming attack (involving 50 or more cadres/militia members) each in 2014 and 2013. On January 27, 2014, 20 CPI-Maoist cadres accompanied by an estimated 50 militia members triggered blasts at two coffee pulping units and a godown of the Andhra Pradesh Forest Development Corporation's coffee pulping yard at Chapagedda in GK Veedhi mandal in Visakhapatnam District. Earlier on July 6, 2013, some 20 CPI-Maoist cadres along with about 70 militia members raided the house of a former chairman of the Agriculture Marketing Committee of Chintapalli mandal, Vantala Subba Rao in his native Bayalu Kinchangi village under Choudapalli Panchayat of Visakhapatnam District.

The Maoists were involved in at least two exchanges of fire, two explosions, four incidents of arson and gave calls for bandhs (general shutdown strikes) on two occasions in 2014; in 2013 they were involved in at least three exchanges of fire, one explosion, one incident of arson, four cases of assault and gave calls for bandhs on three occasions.

The Maoists held a meeting on November 27, 2014, in memory of the cadres lynched in the October 19 incident. The meeting was organised somewhere near the location of the incident, and people from 33 villages under the Balapam Gram Panchayat were asked to attend. The meeting was reportedly addressed by the party's 'east division secretary' Kailasam, and many top leaders at the State level were also present. Reports suggest that more than a hundred party functionaries attended. Kailasam announced that coffee plantations at Siribala, RV Nagar and Chapagedda would be distributed to the Girijans  (tribals) soon, since the party believed that the forest wealth belonged to the Girijans. Six coffee plantations had been 'allocated' by the Maoists to the Girijans in the past.

Overall, Maoist activities appear to have been substantially confined to Visakhapatnam District, while East and West Godavari and Srikakulam Districts remain marginally affected. However, with the transfer of seven mandals from the Khammam District of the Telangana region, close to the troubled Chhattisgarh border, to the residual Andhra Pradesh State, the East and West Godavari Districts may see an increase in Maoist activities in the foreseeable future.

On December 29, 2014, Andhra Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) J.V. Ramudu disclosed that Police had arrested 75 Naxalites (left wing extremists), while another 93 surrendered through 2014. Maoists were involved in over a dozen reported crimes during the year, including the killing of four civilians. Five Maoists were shot dead in exchange of fire in different places and the Police seized 17 weapons from their possession. However, giving an assessment of Maoist activities in Visakhapatnam District, particularly in the Agency area, Superintendent of Police (SP) Koya Praveen stated, on December 29, 2014, that a total of 83 persons had been arrested during the year, including nine extremists, 28 militia members and 46 sympathisers, as against 66 persons, including three extremists, 32 militia members and 31 sympathisers in 2013. The arrests included an active member of the CPI-Maoist Galikonda ‘area committee’, identified as Pangi Bhaskara Rao, and of the Kalimela ‘area committee’, Korra Santhi.

On August 22, 2014, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, during a discussion in the State Assembly, disclosed that 83 underground Maoist cadres from Andhra Pradesh had been identified as active, of whom 61 were known to be operating in the State, while the remaining were operating from Chhattisgarh and other States. Interestingly, while giving an assessment of Maoist numbers, Visakhapatnam Superintendent of Police Koya Praveen noted that, while it was not possible to give the exact number, it was estimated that the East Visakha Joint Division chief Chalapathi and his deputy Bakuri Venkata Ramana alias Ganesh were moving around with about 40 to 50 hardcore cadres, each. Similarly, Galikonda area committee heads Ravi and Sharat and Korukonda area committee leaders Naveen and Kiran led groups of at least 30 Maoist cadres each. Praveen added, “The figures are excluding the local militia members and sympathisers.” Further, “The weaponry depends on the rank. It is reported that leaders such as Ravi and Naveen, have at least five to six AK 47 assault rifles in their group and supported by a good number of .303 Lee Enfield rifles. They also carry landmines and claymore mines.”

Since concerns persist, Andhra Pradesh is gearing up to tackle the residual Maoist presence. A special company of armed Police is to be set up for the seven mandals of Khammam which were merged into Andhra Pradesh, and the Centre has cleared this proposal. The Government is also considering the setting up of a special Police Sub-division for these seven mandals. According to Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister China Rajappa, of the 13 Districts in the State, only eight Districts have armed battalions. West Godavari, Prakasam, Chittoor, Krishna and Srikakulam Districts do not have any armed battalions and proposals have been sent to the Centre seeking approval for five such battalions. The Centre has sanctioned two battalions with one of these to be set up at Vijayawada and another in one of the Rayalaseema Districts. Reports indicate that the State was awaiting sanction of another two battalions.

Vishakhapatnam District Police is upgrading its existing Police Stations to make them attack-proof. Superintendent of Police Praveen observed, in this connection, "At Chintapalli and GK Veedhi, about 80 per cent of the work is over. At Hukumpeta, we are midway through. They should be ready in a couple of months." Another six Police Stations have been identified for similar upgradation, and work is to commence shortly.

According to the latest available data, the Andhra Pradesh Police as on December 31, 2013, before bifurcation of the State, had a Police-population ratio of 123 per 100,000 (actual strength, National Crime Records Bureau data]. This reflected a deficit of 22,950 personnel against sanctioned strength, with 11 vacancies in the ranks of DG/ Addl.DG / IG / DIG, 142 vacancies in SSP/SP/Addl.SP/ ASP/ Dy.SP ranks (though there was a surplus of 13 in the Armed Police in these ranks), 3,172 vacancies in the Inspector, Sub Inspector and Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) ranks, and 19,625 vacancies in personnel below ASI rank.

However, DGP Ramudu, on December 22, 2014, asserted that existing numbers in the residual Andhra Pradesh State were sufficient in the officer cadres. In fact, the Department was forcing Police Stations to accommodate a higher number of Inspector rank officers than required. But the Police was facing a shortage of constables and sub-inspectors, and a proposal to recruit 8,000 constables was pending approval.

Further, the [State] Cabinet Sub-committee on the Naxalite problem, headed by Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, has recommended the raising of a tribal battalion, recruited from the Girijan youth of East Godavari, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam, exclusively to counter the Maoist insurgency along the Andhra-Odisha-Chhattisgarh border. The recommendation is aimed at discouraging discontented tribal youth from joining the Maoists. Significant tribal dislocation is expected as a result of the Polavaram project. The Indira Sagar Project is a multipurpose major terminal reservoir project located on river Godavari near the Ramayyapet village of Polavaram Mandal in West Godavari District. An estimated 44,574 residential households, involving a total population of 177,275 persons, of which around 50 per cent are tribals, are likely to be displaced by the project. According to Union Environment Minister of State (Independent Charge) Prakash Javadekar, an area of 3427.52 hectares of forest land in Andhra Pradesh alone is projected to be inundated, and 276 villages in Andhra Pradesh, four villages in Chhattisgarh and eight villages in Odisha are likely to be submerged. The Odisha State has opposed the project as it maintains that the project is likely to submerge tribal villages in Malkangiri District.

Seven months have passed since the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, with no obvious increase in Maoist activities. While this is too short a period to assess the impact of the division on the Maoist movement in the State, there is no reason to believe that there would be any radical discontinuity with the recent past. Nevertheless, concerns persist, especially in view of the administrative uncertainty regarding the location of the State's capital, which is causing some heartburn among sections of the population in the Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions. The sooner administrative issues are settled down, the better it will be for the State, and the closer the focus on the Maoist problem.


NEWS BRIEFS

Weekly Fatalities: Major Conflicts in South Asia
January 19-25, 2015

 

Civilians

Security Force Personnel

Terrorists/Insurgents

Total

BANGLADESH

 

Islamist

0
0
1
1

Total (BANGLADESH)

0
0
1
1

INDIA

 

Manipur

0
0
2
2

Left-wing Extremism

 

Chhattisgarh

2
0
1
3

Jharkhand

2
2
0
4

Total (INDIA)

4
2
3
9

PAKISTAN

 

FATA

0
4
47
51

KP

2
0
1
3

Punjab

3
0
1
4

Sindh

7
1
2
10

PAKISTAN (Total)

12
5
51
68
Provisional data compiled from English language media sources.


BANGLADESH

BTK 36,445 crore lost during last 16 days' political unrest, says DCCI President Hossain Khaled: Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) President Hossain Khaled on January 22 said that during the political unrest of the last 16 days the economy lost at least BTK 36,445 crore. The daily loss is BTK 300 crore in transport sector, 288 crore in agriculture, 250 crore in real estate and 210 crore in tourism. The wholesale and retail markets suffer losses of 150 crore while the manufacturing sector 100 crore. The figure is equivalent to 2.69 percent of the GDP. Daily Star, January 23, 2015.

Begum Khaleda Zia would have to stand for trial as a "killer" for killing innocent people in the name of movement, says Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed on January 20 told the Parliament that Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia would have to stand for trial as a "killer" for killing innocent people in the name of movement. She said, "Begum Zia's trial would be held by treating her as a killer since her movement is not for any national issue or public welfare, rather she is trying to save war criminals and herself from the graft cases and protect her spoilt son involved in killing, money laundering and corruption." Independentbd, January 21, 2015.


INDIA

Safe havens of terror in Pakistan "not acceptable" and Pakistan must punish culprits of 26/11 attack, says US President Barack Obama: United States (US) President Barack Obama on January 25 said that safe havens of terrorism within that country are "not acceptable". Obama said, "I've made it clear that even as the United States works with Pakistan to meet the threat of terrorism, safe havens within Pakistan are not acceptable and that those behind the Mumbai terrorist attack [November 26, 2008, Mumbai terrorist attacks (also known as 26/11)] must face justice must face justice." Times of India, January 24, 2015.

R&AW warns of IS radicals: India's external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) has warned that the threat from home-grown elements radicalised by the Islamic State (IS) has emerged as the topmost terror threat across the globe even as the Afghanistan-Pakistan region remains the epicentre of global terror activity. In a detailed report on the IS-inspired terrorist attacks in France, the R&AW has said that the terrorists who carried out the deadly attack had connection with jihadists in AfPak. Asian Age, January 24, 2015.

12,062 civilians have died in Naxal violence so far, says RTI query: In reply to an Right to Information Act (RTI) query, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) has revealed that a total of 12,062 civilians have been killed in Naxal-[Left-Wing Extremism (LWEs)] violence till now since 1980. While in 1980, 70 people had died in the violence, in 2010 the number was a far higher 720. The reply also mentions that 3,078 security personnel were injured in Naxal-related violence in the last 34 years. Times of India, January 21, 2015.

40,000 people trained as Maoists in 10 years, says RTI query: In the past 10 years, the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) has organised as many as 489 training camps for more than 40,000 cadres who have been taught about the use of sophisticated weapons and guerrilla warfare, according to information obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA). The information provided by the UMHA under RTI shows that while there was a year-on-year increase in the number of training camps - from 16 in 2004 to 93 in 2010, thereafter the numbers decreased to five in 2014. DNA, January 20, 2015.


NEPAL

Political parties fail to draft a new constitution before the January 22 deadline: Despite repeated attempts, the ruling Nepali Congress and its alliance partner Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) as also the main opposition Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-Maoist) and Madhesh-based parties failed to reach a consensus on issues ranging from federalism, form of government, judiciary and electoral system, which made the constitution elusive. This is a second time that the parties in Nepal failed to deliver a new constitution. The CA elected in 2008 was dissolved in May 2012 without a new charter. The second CA was elected in 2013 and at its first meeting on January 21, 2014, it resolved to draft the country's new constitution within a year, by January 22. Nepal's parties had agreed to draft a new constitution by signing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2006, which ended a 10-year-old insurgency. The Week, January 23, 2015.


PAKISTAN

47 militants and four Security Force personnel among 51 persons killed during the week in FATA: At least 35 suspected militants, an unspecified number of foreigners among them, were killed when military planes shelled their hideouts in North Waziristan Agency (NWA) of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on January 25.

At least seven militants and three soldiers were killed during a clash in the Banda area of Salarzai town in Bajaur Agency on January 19.

Five militants were killed when a US drone fired two missiles at a compound in Shahi Khel neighbourhood of Shawal in NWA on January 19. Daily Times; Dawn; The News; Tribune; Central Asia Online; The Nation; The Frontier Post; Pakistan Today; Pakistan Observer, January 20-26, 2015.

JuD not banned, only accounts frozen; clarifies Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit: Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit on January 23 said that there is no ban on Jama'at-ud Dawa (JuD) but its accounts have been frozen and movement of its members restricted as per the United Nations (UN) resolution. "We are proceeding strictly in accordance with UN resolution and Jama'at's bank accounts have been frozen, there is a ban on travel abroad of its leadership. We are moving in accordance with whatever is required under the UN resolution. I do not see much else needs to be done,'' Basit said. He also stated that the facilities of JuD have been taken over by the Government of Pakistan. Daily Times, January 24, 2015.

No record of banned outfits available, says Supreme Court: The Supreme Court on January 22 directed the Federal Government to upload the details pertaining to terrorist outfits banned by the Government on websites, adding that there was no such record and friendly countries should also be informed in this regard. A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Jawwad S Khawaja, heard the suo moto case on the errors in legal books and journals. During the hearing, the court asked its staff to check the websites of the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA), the Ministry of Law and Ministry of Interior. However, after checking these websites, nothing was found pertaining to details of banned terrorist outfits. The News, January 24, 2015.


SRI LANKA

Former Army commander Sarath Fonseka granted complete amnesty by President Maithripala Sirisena: Former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka was granted complete amnesty by the President Maithripala Sirisena on January 21. President's Media Division said, "Fonseka has been acquitted of all charges filed against him under the previous Government and has been granted complete amnesty by President Maithripala Sirisena." Accordingly, Fonseka's rank will be restored and will be entitled to all military and social privileges without any legal barrier. He will be awarded back his medals and honors. The former Army general who led the decisive war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to end the terrorism in Sri Lanka was stripped off of his ranks and rights by the previous Government. Colombo Page, January 22, 2015.

.

The South Asia Intelligence Review (SAIR) is a weekly service that brings you regular data, assessments and news briefs on terrorism, insurgencies and sub-conventional warfare, on counter-terrorism responses and policies, as well as on related economic, political, and social issues, in the South Asian region.

SAIR is a project of the Institute for Conflict Management and the South Asia Terrorism Portal.

South Asia Intelligence Review [SAIR]

Publisher
K. P. S. Gill

Editor
Dr. Ajai Sahni


A Project of the
Institute For Conflict Management



To receive FREE advance copies of SAIR by email Subscribe.

Recommend South Asia Intelligence Review (SAIR) to a friend.

 

 

 

 

 
Copyright © 2001 SATP. All rights reserved.