| |
SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 14, No. 37, March 14, 2016
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
|
FATA:
Uncertainty Persists
Tushar
Ranjan Mohanty
Research
Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
At least
21 alleged terrorists were killed in airstrikes by the
Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and in ground operations in the
Shawal Valley of North Waziristan Agency (NWA) in the
Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). The strikes
began in the night of March 7, 2016, and continued till
March 8, 2016.
Earlier,
on February 29, 2016, Security Force (SF) personnel killed
12 terrorists, including a 'commander' of the Tehreek-e-Taliban
Pakistan (TTP)-Shehryar
faction, identified as Hezbollah, in the Shawal Valley.
19 terrorists
were killed and four SF personnel, including a captain,
lost their lives during a gunbattle near the Pak-Afghan
border in the Mangroti area of Shawal Valley on February
27, 2016.
Significantly,
on February 24, 2016, the Pakistan Army launched the ‘final
phase’ of Operation Zarb-e-Azb (sharp and cutting)
to neutralise the terrorists still holed up in the strategic
valley. According to partial data compiled by the South
Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), at least 91 terrorists
and four SF personnel have been killed in the valley since
then (data till March 11, 2016).
The Director
General (DG) of Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR),
Lt. Gen. Asim Saleem Bajwa, tweeted on March 8,
2016: “Operations continue as important heights and passes
along the Pak-Afghan border are secured. The valley’s
sanitisation [is] in progress. Ground forces continue
their hunt for fleeing terrorists through chase, cordon
and search operations.”
Operation
Zarb-e-Azb
was launched in NWA on June 15, 2014, in the aftermath
of the attack on the Jinnah International Airport, Karachi,
on June 8-9, 2014, in which at least 33 persons, including
all 10 attackers, were killed. Since then, according to
partial data compiled by SATP, at least 2,551 terrorists
and 232 soldiers have been killed (data till March 11,
2016). [As media access to the areas of conflict is severely
limited no independent verification of number of fatalities
or identities of those killed is available.] However,
Lt. Gen. Bajwa claimed, on December 12, 2015, “3,400 terrorists
[were] killed, and 837 hideouts from where they were carrying
out their terrorist activities [were] destroyed... Success
came at a heavy price as 488 valiant officers and men
of Pakistan Army, FC [Frontier Constabulary] KP [Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa] and Bolan and Sindh Rangers sacrificed their
lives while another 1,914 were injured.”
Meanwhile,
overall fatalities in FATA registered a 34.26 per cent
decline through 2015 as compared to the previous year;
from 2,863 killed in 2014 to 1,882 in 2015. While civilian
fatalities declined by 15.72 per cent, fatalities among
SFs registered a sharp 45.36 per cent decline. Terrorist
fatalities also fell 34.58.
Fatalities
in FATA: 2006-2016
Years
|
Civilians
|
SFs
|
Terrorists
|
Total
|
2006
|
109
|
144
|
337
|
590
|
2007
|
424
|
243
|
1014
|
1681
|
2008
|
1116
|
242
|
1709
|
3067
|
2009
|
636
|
350
|
4252
|
5238
|
2010
|
540
|
262
|
4519
|
5321
|
2011
|
488
|
233
|
2313
|
3034
|
2012
|
549
|
306
|
2046
|
2901
|
2013
|
319
|
198
|
1199
|
1716
|
2014
|
159
|
194
|
2510
|
2863
|
2015
|
134
|
106
|
1642
|
1882
|
2016
|
21
|
19
|
190
|
230
|
Total*
|
4495
|
2297
|
21731
|
28523
|
Source:
SATP, *Data till March 13, 2016
The number
of major incidents (each involving three or more fatalities)
in the Province also decreased by 29.79 per cent in 2015
in comparison to the previous year, principally due to
the squeeze in the area of counter-insurgency operations.
The Province accounted for 139 major incidents of violence
resulting in 1,868 deaths in 2015, as against 198 such
incidents, accounting for 2,709 fatalities in 2014.
There was
a considerable decrease in incidents of explosion; in
comparison to 101 blasts resulting in 179 fatalities in
2014, 2015 recorded 72 blasts resulting in 140 fatalities.
Though
the number of suicide attacks in both these years stood
at three each, the resultant fatalities increased from
17 in 2014 to 18 in 2015. Incidents of sectarian violence
also registered an increase, with three incidents in 2015,
inflicting 32 fatalities and 72 injuries, while 2014 saw
just one such incident in which two people were killed
and 28 were injured.
TTP's attacks
on educational institutions in the region have also increased.
On December 16, 2015, the Government told the National
Assembly that 360 schools were destroyed in three agencies
of FATA during 2015. At least 166 schools were destroyed
in NWA, 139 in Khyber Agency and 55 in SWA. The official
estimate for reconstruction of these schools stood at
PKR 348.758 million. Federal Minister for States and Frontier
Regions, Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Abdul Qadir Baloch told the
National Assembly, “The areas of the [FATA] agencies which
are not accessible are being assessed/surveyed.” It was
not specified that which areas were “not accessible” and
which “are being assessed/surveyed”.
FATA has,
of course, registered relative improvement in terms of
terrorism-related fatalities. As expected, consequently,
while ordering the final phase of the Operation on February
24, 2016, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel
Sharif claimed that the deeply forested ravines of Shawal
Valley and the area beyond Datta Khel, which have been
frequent infiltration routes for terrorists between Pakistan
and Afghanistan, are now the last bastion of terrorists
left in NWA. Similarly, Lt. Gen. Bajwa claimed, on December
12, 2015, “Phenomenal successes achieved as last pockets
to Pakistan Afghan border are being cleared.”
These claims
are overstated. Journalist and author Ahmed Rashid, in
his lecture “Continuing search for stability: Pakistan
and Afghanistan” at the Pakistan Institute of International
Affairs on March 11, 2016, observed, “effectiveness
of the operation is stymied by the fact that around 1,500
terrorist leaders have crossed over to hostile territories
in Afghanistan where there is no mechanism or will to
take them to task”.
FATA continues
to remain highly insecure and has has already recorded
230 fatalities, including 190 terrorists, 21 civilians
and 19 SFs, in 2016 [till March 11]. The worst attacks
in FATA in 2016 include the January 19 strike, where 12
persons, including a journalist, were killed while 39
others sustained injuries when a suicide bomber targeted
the tribal Khassadar force in the Karkhano Market of Khyber
Agency; and the February 17 attack, where at least five
Khasadar force officials were killed when unidentified
terrorists attacked a Khasadar check post on the
Mohmand-Peshawar Highway in the Pandyali area of Mohmand
Agency.
The insecurity
overflows both from and into the area as well. In the
current year, till March 11, 2016, Pakistan had already
recorded 512 terrorism related fatalities, including 334
terrorists, 104 civilians and 74 SF personnel. The attack
on Bacha Khan University in the Charsadda District of
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), where TTP terrorists stormed
the campus and killed at least 22 persons, including 18
students and injured 35, is a reminder of the enduring
and lethal capabilities of the terrorist formations that
operate in FATA as well.
The Government,
meanwhile, has reiterated its pledge to continue the fight
against ‘all terrorist formations without discrimination’.
On February 11, 2016, President Mamnoon Hussain declared
that Operation Zarb-e-Azb would continue till the
elimination of the last terrorist from the country. Earlier,
on December 19, 2015, General Raheel Sharif reiterated
that Zarb-e-Azb would continue till the elimination
of last terrorist from the country. Similarly, Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif observed, on March 8, 2016, “Pakistan was
fighting terrorism as part of a ‘moral obligation’ to
eliminate the scourge from the country.”
But, while
operations against TTP and a few other domestic formations
demonstrate a measure of focus and political determination,
Pakistani ambivalence towards terrorist groups operating
against other states, particularly India and Afghanistan,
continues to create spaces for armed disorders that allow
domestic groups to survive as well. Unsurprisingly, despite
a long ‘dedicated operation’, Pakistan has failed to secure
its territory, raising questions over the intent and direction
of the military campaigns. The rhetoric of fighting till
the last without any discrimination among terror groups,
moreover, is impossible to reconcile with the realities
of what is happening on the ground in Pakistan.
|
Meghalaya:
Lingering Troubles
Deepak
Kumar Nayak
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management
On February 25, 2016, Meghalaya Government launched the third
phase of Operation Hill Storm (OHS) against Garo
National Liberation Army (GNLA)
militants in the Garo Hills region of the State. The Garo
Hills region comprises five Districts – West Garo Hills,
East Garo Hills, South West Garo Hills, South Garo Hills
and North Garo Hills.
In the
ongoing OHS-3, an unidentified GNLA militant was killed
on March 2, 2016, in the Rongtok Gate area in West Khasi
Hills District. Earlier, on February 28, 2016, a GNLA
cadre, identified as Enison Ch. Momin aka Vodafone,
was arrested from Adugre village under Williamnagar Police
Station limits in East Garo Hills District. On his lead,
Police recovered a huge quantity of arms and ammunitions
from the jungles near Adogre village the next day.
According
to a March 8, 2016, report, as many as four GNLA camps
have been identified and neutralized. Security Forces
(SFs) have already recovered 70 Improvised Explosive Devices
(IEDs), 1,475 electrical/non-electrical detonators and
half a kilogram of gelatine explosive materials during
the current phase of OHS.
OHS-1 had
been launched on July 11, 2014. During this phase, which
ended on December 31, 2014, SFs killed 16 militants and
injured 24. An official statement disclosed that six Policemen
were also killed and another 10 SF personnel were injured
during this period. OHS-2 was launched on April 2, 2015,
and continued till June 6, 2015, with at least 17 militant
fatalities, according to partial data compiled by the
South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP).
The declared
aims of the first two operations were also the same: to
establish a permanent Police presence in the interior
areas and to deny any ‘comfort zone’ to GNLA and other
militant outfits like United Liberation Front of Asom
(ULFA-I)
in the Garo Hills region.
Meanwhile,
according to SATP data, since January 2016, Meghalaya
has registered a total of eight fatalities, including
a civilian and seven militants (data till March 13, 2016).
In addition, the SFs have already arrested 54 militants.
During
2015, Meghalaya recorded a total of 61 fatalities, including
19 civilians, eight SF personnel and 34 militants; this
was against a total of 76 fatalities, including 23 civilians,
six SF personnel and 47 militants in 2014. Thus, overall
fatalities, which had been rising continuously since 2009,
registered a decline of 19.74 per cent in 2015, as compared
to the previous year, dropping from 76 to 61.
Crucially,
fatalities among civilians have also been on a decline
over the last couple of years. Through 2015, there were
19 civilian fatalities, as compared to 23 in 2014. In
2013 the number of such fatalities stood at 28. Significantly,
civilian fatalities had risen constantly since 2009, on
and year on year basis, before the decline set in, in
2014. In 2008 there was no civilian fatality in Meghalaya.
The State recorded one civilian fatality in 2009, increasing
to three in 2010, 11 in 2011, 27 in 2012 and 28 in 2013.
The 2013 figure was the highest for civilian fatalities
recorded in the State since 2002, when 29 civilians were
killed.
Other indices
of violence also registered a decline in 2015. The State
recorded just one major incident (resulting in three or
more fatalities), on March 10, 2015, in which four SF
personnel were killed; as against eight such incidents
in 2014, in which 28 persons were killed [six civilians,
three SF personnel and 19 militants].
Incidents
of abduction-for ransom which has long been rampant, especially
in the Garo Hills Region, also fell marginally short of
last year’s total, though the number of victims was larger
in 2015. According to SATP data, at least 44 incidents
of abduction, in which 71 persons were held, were reported
in 2015, as compared to 45 such incidents resulting in
57 abductions in 2014. [Reported incidents are likely
to be a fraction of the actual incidence of such crimes,
as families of victims often settle with the abductors
without reporting to the Police].
While SFs
succeeded in minimising the militant threat to civilian
populations, they lost more personnel through 2015 as
compared to the previous year, and at the same time killed
fewer militants. The number of SFs and militants killed
in 2015 stood at eight and 34, respectively, in 2015,
as compared to six and 47 in 2014.
SFs, meanwhile,
arrested 146 militants through 2015, adding to the 173
arrested in 2014. The mounting pressure of operations
also led to the surrender of 67 militants in 2015. Significantly,
on December 18, 2015, nine members of the Achik Matgrik
Elite Force [AMEF] surrendered with arms before Superintendent
of Police (SP) Davis Nestell R. Marak at the Rongjeng
Police Station in East Garo Hills District, purportedly
bringing the curtains down on this armed group. Inspector-General
of Police (IGP) (operations) G.H.P. Raju clarified, "The
surrendered cadres revealed that they were the remaining
members of AMEF after the surrender of their chairman
and commander-in-chief. They also claimed that with today's
surrender, the AMEF, as an organisation, would cease to
exist." Earlier, on December 9, 2015, Timut Marak,
‘chairman’ of AMEF, along with Sengjan Arengh, its ‘commander-in-chief’,
had surrendered with arms before Meghalaya Director General
of Police (DGP) Rajeev Mehta. Earlier, 796 militants had
surrendered in 2014, among whom 748 were from the two
factions of ANVC – 447 from ANVC and 301 from its Breakaway
faction (ANVC-B)
who disbanded at a function at the Dikki-Bandi Stadium
at Dakopgre in Tura in West Garo Hills District on December
15, 2014.
Nevertheless,
the increase in fatalities among SFs with a simultaneous
decline in fatalities among militants is worrying. There
are other concerns as well. DGP Mehta categorically stated
on December 31, 2015, that there were still many tasks
left to be accomplished by the State Police in bringing
about long lasting peace in Garo Hills and the rest of
the State.
The most
lethal outfit against SFs has been GNLA. It is, consequently,
not surprising that the primary declared goal of the ongoing
OHS-3 is the neutralisation of this formation.
In a statement issued to the media on August 9, 2015,
GNLA had declared that its team of ‘Eagle Hunters’ [a
seven-member ‘special operation team’] was specifically
formed to carry out attacks on Police personnel ‘anytime
anywhere’: “Our Eagle Hunters team will shoot Police personnel
dead on the spot no matter how many Police personnel are
there at the time of the incident.” An unnamed top Police
official revealed on January 12, 2016, that five close
aides of the 'commander-in-chief' Sohan D. Shira were
trying to carry out subversive activities on Shira’s instructions.
With around 80-odd cadres, GNLA is making a desperate
attempt to regroup after suffering massive
setbacks following operations launched
by SFs.
On January
25, 2016, GNLA announced that it would join hands with
other major militant groups operating in the Northeast
so as to be part of the coordination committee of the
United National Liberation Front of Western South East
Asia (UNLFWSEA),
led by ULFA-I and the Khaplang faction of the National
Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K).
The Union
Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) 2014-15 Annual Report
noted that various militant groups such as ULFA-I, the
I.K. Songbijit faction of the National Democratic Front
of Bodoland (NDFB-IKS) and the Isak-Muivah faction of
National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM),
among others, had been using the Garo Hills corridor to
sneak in and out of Bangladesh, taking advantage of the
adverse geographical conditions and the remoteness of
the area. The report also observed that groups like GNLA,
ULFA-I, NDFB-IKS and NSCN-IM had their ‘command structure’
in the Garo Hills.
Meanwhile,
on February 8, 2016, the State Government sent feelers
to GNLA militants for talks. The response from the outfit
is awaited. Earlier on August 14, 2015, the State Government
had sent feelers to the Hynniewtrep National Liberation
Council (HNLC),
but the militant outfit is yet to respond. Another outfit
operating in the State, the United A’chik Liberation Army
(UALA), which had declared on February 29, 2016, that
it would ‘soon’ be disbanded [date not specified], decided
to postpone the ceremony as the outfit reportedly failed
to mobilize its cadres. UALA had inked the “agreed text
of settlement” with Meghalaya Government at a ceremony
held at the Circuit House in Tura in West Garo Hills District
on December 18, 2015.
Despite
a sustained decline in insurgent violence in India’s Northeast
region over the years, Meghalaya continues to simmer with
the remnants of a multiplicity of insurgent formations
still active. State Home Minister Roshan Warjri asserted,
on December 13, 2015, that the State Government was determined
to crush militants who were trying to destabilize the
efforts of the Government and the citizens to ensure normalcy
in Garo Hills. Continuing SF operations need to do just
that, even as the option of surrender by the residual
insurgent formations is kept open.
|
Weekly Fatalities: Major
Conflicts in South Asia
March
7-13, 2016
|
Civilians
|
Security
Force Personnel
|
Terrorists/Insurgents
|
Total
|
BANGLADESH
|
|
Islamist Terrorism
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
INDIA
|
|
Assam
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
Jammu and
Kashmir
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
Left-Wing
Extremism
|
|
Andhra Pradesh
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Chhattisgarh
|
1
|
3
|
1
|
5
|
Jharkhand
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
Maharashtra
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
Odisha
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Total (INDIA)
|
3
|
4
|
6
|
13
|
PAKISTAN
|
|
Balochistan
|
0
|
2
|
13
|
15
|
FATA
|
0
|
0
|
21
|
21
|
KP
|
17
|
0
|
1
|
18
|
Punjab
|
0
|
0
|
5
|
5
|
Sindh
|
0
|
0
|
6
|
6
|
Total (PAKISTAN)
|
|
|
|
|
Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
|
INDIA
AQIS
operative
running
terror
Camp
in
Jharkhand
forest,
claims
Delhi
Police:
Delhi
Police
on
March
12
claimed
before
a
court
that
suspected
al
Qaeda
in
Indian
Subcontinent
(AQIS)
operative
Maulana
Abdul
Rehman
Kasmi
has
set
up
a
training
base
for
terror
activities
"somewhere
in
Jharkhand
forests"
and
the
investigators
are
ascertaining
it.
The
Special
Cell
of
Delhi
Police
informed
the
court
that
Kasmi,
who
was
arrested
on
December
17,
2015,
in
the
case
for
allegedly
radicalising
youths
and
propagating
the
terror
agenda
of
the
outfit,
had
set
up
a
training
base
which
was
yet
to
be
located.
NDTV,
March
12,
2016.
IS
threat
emanates
more
from
Bangladesh
than
Pakistan,
says
report:
The
investigations
that
are
being
conducted
into
the
various
Islamic
State
(IS)
related
cases
in
India
have
one
conclusion
and
that
this
threat
emanates
more
from
Bangladesh
than
Pakistan.
India
Intelligence
Bureau
(IB)
officials
reveal
that
if
the
threat
has
to
be
countered,
then
the
outfits
based
in
Bangladesh
are
more
worrisome
in
nature
when
compared
to
Pakistan.
The
National
Security
Advisor
(NSA)
Ajit
Doval
has
appraised
the
Prime
Minister
about
the
situation.
It
was
following
this
input
that
the
government
had
decided
to
undertake
a
major
de-radicalization
programme.
One
India,
March
8,
2016.
India
seeks
common
court
for
SAARC
to
deal
with
terror
cases,
says
report:
Justice
Sharad
Arvind
Bobde
of
the
Supreme
Court
has
suggested
setting
up
of
a
common
court
for
SAARC
member
countries
to
deal
with
cross-border
terror
attacks
and
crimes
like
smuggling
of
Fake
Indian
Currency
Note
(FICN),
drugs
and
weapons.
To
bring
to
justice
perpetrators
of
trans-border
terror
attacks
and
crimes,
a
sitting
judge
of
the
Supreme
Court
has
proposed
the
setting
up
of
a
common
court
for
South
Asia.
India
Today,
March
12,
2016.
US
and
India
agree
to
cooperate
against
LeT
and
JeM:
The
United
States
(US)
National
Security
Adviser
Susan
Rice
and
India's
Foreign
Secretary
Subramanian
Jaishankar
during
a
meeting
at
the
White
House
on
March
8
agreed
to
deepen
their
collaboration
against
Lashkar-e-Taiba
(LeT)
and
Jaish-e-Muhammad
(JeM).
According
to
the
statement
issued
after
the
meeting,
"They
also
discussed
US-India
collaboration
against
Lashkar-e-Taiba,
Jaish-e-Mohammed,
and
other
terrorist
threats."
The
News,
March
10,
2016.
NEPAL
NC
would
complete
responsibility
of
implementing
Constitution
as
it
was
promulgated
in
his
party's
leadership,
says
NC
President
Sher
Bahadur
Deuba:
Newly
elected
President
of
Nepali
Congress
(NC)
and
former
Prime
Minister
(PM)
Sher
Bahadur
Deuba
on
March
10
said
that
NC
would
complete
the
responsibility
of
implementing
the
Constitution
as
it
was
promulgated
in
his
party's
leadership.
Deuba
added
that
his
party
would
play
positive
role
to
solve
the
issues
raised
by
the
Madhes-based
parties
including
the
role
over
demarcation
of
provinces.
The
Himalayan
Times,
March
11,
2016.
Major
political
parties
should
be
united
for
effective
implementation
of
Constitution
and
post-quake
reconstructions,
says
UCPN-M
Chairman
Pushpa
Kamal
Dahal:
Unified
Communist
Party
of
Nepal-Maoist
(UCPN-M)
Chairman
Pushpa
Kamal
Dahal
on
March
8
said
that
major
political
parties
should
be
united
for
effective
implementation
of
the
Constitution
and
post-quake
reconstructions.
He
told
that
he
will
hold
talks
with
newly
elected
Nepali
Congress
(NC)
President
Sher
Bahadur
Deuba
regarding
the
formation
of
a
National
Unity
Government
(NUG).
"It
is
need
of
the
hour
for
all
political
parties
to
stand
together
for
national
unity
and
prosperity
and
implementation
of
the
constitution
and
post-quake
reconstructions,"
he
said.
Republica,
March
9,
2016.
PAKISTAN
Former
Punjab
Governor
Salmaan
Taseer's
abducted
son
Shahbaz
Taseer
recovered
from
Balochistan
after
five
years
in
captivity:
The
law
enforcement
agencies
on
March
8
recovered
Shahbaz
Taseer,
the
abducted
son
of
former
Punjab
Governor
Salmaan
Taseer,
from
Kuchlak
town
near
Quetta,
the
provincial
capital
of
Balochistan,
five
years
after
he
was
kidnapped
by
unidentified
gunmen
from
Lahore.
A
statement
released
by
the
Inter-Services
Public
Relations
(ISPR)
confirmed
that
the
intelligence
agencies
have
recovered
Shahbaz
Taseer
from
an
area
near
Kuchlak.
Shahbaz
was
kidnapped
from
Lahore
on
August
26,
2011,
near
his
company's
head
office
few
months
after
the
assassination
of
his
father.
Daily Times,
March
9,
2016.
Sindh
Rangers
DG
Major
General
Bilal
Akbar
urges
SC
to
allow
the
paramilitary
force
to
set
up
its
own
'Police
Stations'
in
Karachi:
Sindh
Rangers
Director
General
(DG)
Major
General
Bilal
Akbar
on
March
7
urged
the
five-member
bench
of
the
Supreme
Court
to
allow
the
paramilitary
force
to
set
up
its
own
'Police
Stations'
as
he
criticized
the
Police
for
its
poor
investigation.
"If
this
is
done,
obviously
after
registering
First
Information
Report
(FIR)
and
conducting
investigation,
challans
shall
be
filed
in
normal
courts
or
Anti-Terrorism
Courts
established
under
the
judicial
system
of
Pakistan,"
Major
General
Akbar
said.
Tribune,
March
8,
2016.
SRI
LANKA
Work
on
drafting
new
Constitution
would
begin
in
May
after
report
of
PRCCR
will
be
handed
over
in
April,
says
Prime
Minister
Ranil
Wickremesinghe:
Prime
Minister
Ranil
Wickremesinghe
on
March
11
said
that
work
on
drafting
the
new
Constitution
would
begin
in
May
after
the
report
of
the
Public
Representations
Committee
on
Constitutional
Reforms
(PRCCR)
will
be
handed
over
in
April.
He
said
"When
we
brought
in
the
20th
Amendment
to
the
Constitution,
everyone
was
not
in
agreement
about
the
electoral
system.
We
are
holding
discussions
with
the
main
political
parties
on
the
electoral
system.
But
we
will
consider
the
recommendations
of
the
Public
Representations
Committee
before
taking
a
decision
on
this."
Daily Mirror,
March
11,
2016.
Parliament
approves
proposal
to
change
Parliament
to
CA
which
will
consist
of
all
MPs:
Parliament
on
March
9
without
a
vote
approved
the
proposal
to
change
the
Parliament
to
a
Constitutional
Assembly
(CA)
which
will
consist
of
all
Members
of
Parliament
(MPs).
The
Parliament
said
in
a
statement
"Parliament
resolved
this
day
to
appoint
a
Committee
of
Parliament
hereinafter
referred
to
as
the
'Constitutional
Assembly'
which
shall
consist
of
all
Members
of
Parliament,
for
the
purpose
of
deliberating,
and
seeking
the
views
and
advice
of
the
People
on
a
new
Constitution
for
Sri
Lanka
and
preparing
a
draft
of
a
Constitution
Bill
for
the
consideration
of
Parliament
in
the
exercise
of
its
powers
under
Article
75
of
the
present
Constitution."
Colombo
Page,
March
10,
2016.
The South
Asia Intelligence Review (SAIR) is a weekly service that
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counter-terrorism responses and policies, as well as on
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