|
|
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
|
Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa: The Persistence of Strife
Tushar Ranjan Mohanty
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management
At least
17 persons were killed and over 20 others injured when
a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden vehicle
into a hospital under construction in the Pas Kalay
area of Hangu District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP, formerly
known as North West Frontier Province) on December 10,
2010. Local officials said the hospital, Al-Zohra, was
run by a private Shia trust, which also operated a nearby
Shia mosque and seminary.
Again,
on December 14, three caretakers of the Ghazi Baba shrine,
identified as Mohammad Ali, Ghazi and Aslam Khan, were
shot dead by militants in the Badbher area of Peshawar,
the Provincial capital of KP.
These
were far from isolated incidents. According to partial
data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP),
a total of 1,204 persons, including 597 civilians,
511 militants and 94 Security Force (SF)
personnel, were killed in 213 incidents of killing in
2010 (all data till December 31). This, however, represented
a dramatic decline in fatalities as against 2009, when
5,497 persons, including 3,797 militants, 1,229 civilians
and 471 SF personnel were killed in 351 such incidents.
This reflected a decline of 51.42 per cent in civilian
killings, 80.04 per cent in SF killings and 86.54 per
cent in terrorists killed in 2010, as against 2009.
Fatalities
in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: 2009- 2010
|
Year
|
Civilians
|
SFs
|
Militants
|
Total
|
|
2005
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
4
|
|
2006
|
60
|
13
|
27
|
100
|
|
2007
|
393
|
221
|
372
|
986
|
|
2008
|
868
|
255
|
1078
|
2201
|
|
2009
|
1229
|
471
|
3797
|
5497
|
|
2010
|
597
|
94
|
511
|
1202
|
Source:
SATP Database Data: Till December 31, 2010
The year
witnessed 86 major incidents (each resulting in three
or more killings) in 2010, as against 183 in 2009. Prominent
among the major incidents of 2010 were:
December
8: A suicide bomber blew up a passenger van at a bus
stand in Tirah bazaar (market) of Kohat in the
Lower Orakzai Agency, killing 19 persons and injuring
32.
September
21: More than 42 militants were killed in ongoing operations
against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in the
Frontier Region of Peshawar.
April
19: At least 24 people, including a child and Police
official, were killed, and 49 were injured, in twin
bombings, hours apart, at a school and a crowded market
in Peshawar.
April
17: Two burqa (veil)-clad suicide bombers targeted
a crowd of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) waiting
to get themselves registered and receive relief goods
at the Kacha Pakka IDP camp on the outskirts of Kohat,
killing at least 44 and injuring more than 70
April
5: At least 45 persons were killed and over 100 sustained
injuries when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a
public meeting of the Awami National Party at the Timergara
Rest House in Lower Dir District.
January
1: At least 90 persons were killed when a suicide bomber
detonated an explosives-laden pickup truck in the middle
of a volleyball game in the Shah Hasan Khel village
of Lakki Marwat District in the Bannu Division of KP.
On December
8, 2010, KP Information Minister Iftikhar Hussain disclosed
that 647 citizens and 298 Police personnel, and 157
terrorists were killed through 2010. He noted, further,
that about 3,600 people had been killed and 1,200 had
been injured, since 2007.
KP, like
Pakistan’s three other Provinces (Balochistan, Sindh
and Punjab), and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas
(FATA), continued to experience rampant suicide
and sectarian
attacks. According to SATP data, a total of 489 persons
were killed and 767 were injured in 26 suicide attacks
in 2010, as compared to 503 persons killed and 1,221
injured in 47 incidents of suicide attacks in 2009,
suggesting a significant surge in the lethality of such
attacks. Pakistani Terrorism expert Amir Mir, on December
29, 2010, claimed that the year 2010 had proven to be
the bloodiest, since 2001, for the people of Pakistan,
in terms of suicide attacks, and this was true of the
people of KP as well. Of the 1,271 persons who lost
their lives in suicide hits in Pakistan in 2010, the
largest number, 416, that is, 34 per cent of the total
dead, were killed in KP in 25 attacks [Mir’s data].
These figures were confirmed by the report of the Federal
Investigation Agency’s Counter-Terrorism Wing on November
28, 2010, which also disclosed that the Province had
recorded a total of 141 bomb blasts during the year.
The Province,
which has an extended history of sectarian violence,
witnessed 139 fatalities in 12 incidents of sectarian
attack, as compared to 108 fatalities in such attacks
in 2009. The sectarian attacks included a mix of suicide
attacks. Data on fatalities in sectarian violence over
the past five years indicates a near continuous escalation,
with the exception of 2007.
Though the number of such attacks has fluctuated, fatalities
have grown consistently over this period.
Worryingly,
the Government seems to have lost the plot in tackling
sectarian violence. On December 8, 2010, the KP Government
declared almost half of the Province ‘sensitive’ and
approved added security measures, involving deployment
of the Army and helicopter gunships, to maintain law
and order during Muharram (the mourning period
observed by the Shias, commemorating the tragedy of
Karbala). According to the Muharram Security Plan, 12
Districts were declared sensitive, requiring extraordinary
security arrangements to be put in place. The Minister
of Information, Mian Iftikhar Hussain stated that special
measures were being taken to protect mosques and Imambargahs
(Shia place of worship). In addition to the Police,
he added, 109 platoons of the Frontier Reserve Police,
39 platoons of the Elite Force and 800 retired Army
personnel were deployed in the sensitive areas. Similarly,
41 platoons of Frontier Constabulary and 1,500 personnel
each of the Frontier Corps and Pakistan Army were deployed
in the province according to the Plan. Despite all these
arrangements, however, a suicide bomber blew up a passenger
van at a bus stand in the Tirah bazaar incident
of December 8, which left 19 dead. Within the span of
a week, there were another three incidents of sectarian
attack in different parts of KP, in which 24 persons
lost their lives and 35 suffered injuries, making a
mockery of the Government’s efforts to prevent sectarian
violence.
While
almost all the 24 Districts of the Province remain terrorism
affected, it was the Swat
and Peshawar Districts which bore the brunt of attacks.
The fight against TTP terrorism in the Swat Valley is
the principal element of the Pakistan Army’s offensive
in KP. Since 2007, TTP terrorists, initially under the
command of Maulana Fazlullah (he was eventually killed
on May 26, 2010) had established effective control of
Swat Valley. On April 26, 2009, the Pakistani Army started Operation
Black Thunderstorm, with the aim of retaking Buner,
Lower Dir, Swat and Shangla Districts in KP, from the
TTP. On June 14, the operation was declared over, with
the Army claiming it had ‘regained control’ of the region.
Pockets of TTP resistance, nevertheless, remained, and
the military continued with ‘mopping up’ operations.
On October 8, 2009, General Officer Commanding (GOC)
Major General Ashfaq Nadeem once again declared victory,
claiming that peace had been restored to "95 per cent
areas" of the District. On March 17, 2010, KP Minister
of Information Mian Iftikhar Hussain ruled out the possibility
that the TTP would reorganise in Swat: "The militants
cannot dare reorganise. Their network has been smashed."
However, Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) General Ashfaq Kayani,
while on a visit to the valley on December 21, 2010,
declared that the Army would stay on in Swat until the
people’s confidence was restored. This is indicative
of the fact that the valley, the epicentre of terror
in KP, is still out of the reaches of the SFs, belying
the often repeated false claims of the Government Forces.
Significantly, the official ‘peace’ notwithstanding,
at least 234 persons, including 194 militants, 35 civilians
and five SF personnel lost their lives in 68 incidents
of killing in 2010. This, however, was significantly
lower than the 2,196 fatalities, including 1,913 militants,
190 civilians and 93 SF personnel in 175 incidents of
killing in 2009. Meanwhile, a Government survey on January
6, 2010, reported that up to 8,000 houses were damaged
in the Swat District during the preceding two years
of militancy and military operations.
Peshawar,
the provincial capital, recorded at least 135 fatalities
in 35 incidents of killing in 2010, as compared to 434
fatalities in 49 incidents of killing in 2009. Of these,
the April 17 suicide bombing at the Kacha Pakka IDP
camp outside Kohat was the worst incident, leaving at
least 44 dead. The city witnessed six suicide attacks,
46 incidents of explosion and 12 sectarian attacks.
The tourism
sector in KP was badly affected by terrorism, and the
Province suffered an estimated loss of USD 400 million.
Worse, the damage caused by massive flooding in July-
August was still to be fully assessed. Since the Federal
Government earned 70 per cent of its revenue from the
tourism sector in this province, they needed to pay
out 50 million dollars per year to cover the loss in
the Province. However, the Federal Government has failed
to do so, according to KP Provincial Minister for Tourism,
Culture and Sports Syed Aqil Shah. The floods
in Pakistan began in July following heavy monsoon, and
submerged wide swathes of territory in KP, Sindh, Punjab
and Balochistan, affecting the entire Indus River basin.
At one point, nearly a fifth of the country’s landmass
was under water.
The violence
in KP has had a disastrous impact on education. An October
6, 2010 media report quoted official sources as saying
that 700 schools, most of them for girls, were targeted
and damaged in different parts of KP over the preceding
two years. Militants destroyed some 400 schools in the
Swat Valley alone. Partial data compiled by the SATP indicates
that at least 52 schools – 25 for Girls
and 27 for boys – were destroyed in 33 incidents in
2009; while 37 – 18 for girls and 19 for boys – were
destroyed in 30 such incidents in 2010. Such is the
fear that at least 205 primary schools for girls have
been shut down in different parts of KP, sources in
the Elementary and Secondary Education (E&SE) disclosed.
These included 21 in Peshawar, 36 in Thor Ghar, 54 in
Swat, 16 in Bannu, 56 in Shangla, 16 in Hangu, five
in Dera Ismail Khan and one in Kohat. The closure of
these schools has deprived thousands of girl students
of education in a region where women suffer multiple
and crushing disadvantages. Significantly, a wider campaign
was also launched by the extremists to destroy institutions
that propagated any ideas opposed to the Maulana Fazalullah
led TTP in Swat. Unsurprisingly, TTP militants targeted
schools across KP.
Ominously,
there is visible evidence of linkages between the militants,
sections of the wider population and Government officials.
29 officials in the KP Education Department were sacked
for their alleged links with militants on January 22,
2010. Another 68 suspected officials were being investigated
for their alleged involvement in such activities. On
January 26, 2010, the KP Government had sacked 55 employees
for their links with the TTP. Again, on March 3, 2010,
the KP Education Department terminated the services
of five teachers in Lower Dir for their alleged links
with the TTP.
On January
7, 2010, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani had unveiled
a relief package for the militancy-affected areas of
KP, announcing tax concessions, rebates in duties and
relief in utility bills – in addition to allocating
an additional one per cent share to the Province from
the Federal Divisible Pool. Under the relief package,
the province was to be divided into three categories:
areas ‘worst affected’, ‘affected’ and ‘least affected’
by militancy. Malakand, Swat, Buner, Shangla, and Upper
and Lower Dir from PATA; and Hangu, Bannu, Tank, Kohat
and Chitral from settled areas, were categorised as
the worst affected areas. The Federal Government announced
an exemption from income tax, until June 30, 2011, for
areas falling in ‘the worst affected’ and ‘affected’
categories. The Chief Minister (CM) Ameer Haider Hoti,
on February 4, 2010, approved the creation of an institutional
framework to provide support to the victims of terrorism.
A Press statement from the CM’s House declared, "The
Chief Minister has, in principle, approved the establishment
of an institute for the welfare of such affected families."
The Prime Minister had already announced the provision
of PNR 50 million for the fund.
The impact
of the relief packages has been dubious at best, and
terrorist disruption continues, with the militants simply
moving from one place to another. KP Police Chief Malik
Naveed Khan, on April 9, 2010, stated that Kala Dhaka
had emerged as the new base for the TTP, who had fled
the 2009 Army operations in Swat and other Districts
in Malakand. He expressed concern over the new base
of the TTP’s Swat chapter, fearing it could make a comeback
if not immediately contained. Again, on June 27, 2010,
KP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain conceded
that the TTP was in the process of reorganising itself
around Peshawar, and was planning to carry out major
attacks in the city. "Thousands of terrorists may
be gathering in small groups around the areas adjacent
to Orakzai Agency, Mohmand Agency and Khyber Agency
of FATA", he stated. Federal Minister of Interior
Rehman Malik, meanwhile, told the Senate that some 1,800
suspected terrorists had been arrested from different
parts of KP on various charges during military operations,
and that 12 teams were investigating charges against
them.
The massive
and indiscriminate Army operations in KP have certainly
impacted on the scale and intensity of militancy – even
as they have inflicted enormous suffering on the general
population in the Province. The many premature declarations
of victory by Islamabad notwithstanding, the TTP remains
a major force in the region, constantly shifting base
and reinventing its strategy and tactics to cope with
the military onslaught against it. Like much of Pakistan,
the possibility of an enduring peace remain remote in
KP.
|
Tripura: Consolidating
the Peace
Anshuman Behera
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
The gradual
consolidation of peace in North-Eastern State of Tripura,
which began with the decimation of the enduring insurgencies
in 2008, continued strengthened further in 2010. The State,
once engulfed in violence, is almost terror free now.
However, remnants of militants groups remain unprepared
to give up arms, and are able to engineer occasional acts
of violence.
On December
8, 2010, for instance, militants belonging to the National
Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT)
attacked a temporary shed of labourers at Govindabari
village of Dhalai District and abducted 11 construction
workers at gunpoint. On December 9, two of the abducted
workers were released, but the whereabouts of the others
are yet to be ascertained. Police sources suggest, "The
NLFT rebels might have taken the captives into neighbouring
Bangladeshi territory as the India-Bangladesh border is
just four kilometres from the spot (where the abduction
occurred)." According to the villagers, the NLFT militants
had earlier demanded ‘subscriptions’, which the villagers
did not pay. The December incident reflects the principal
pattern of surviving militant activity in the State, with
the insurgent groups struggling to recover vestiges of
what was once a massive extortion network.
The trend
of declining fatalities, however, continued into 2010.
According to the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP)
database, total fatalities in 2010 stood at just three,
including two Security Forces (SF) personnel and one militant.
In 2009, 11 persons, including nine civilians, one Security
Force (SF) trooper and one militant, were killed in 2009.
Remarkably, not a single civilian was killed in 2010.
At the peak of insurgency in Tripura, in 2000, this tiny
State of under 3.2 million people witnessed as many as
514 insurgency-related killings, including 453 civilians,16
SF personnel, and 45 militants.
The three
fatalities in 2010 occurred in two separate incidents.
On August 6, 2010, two Border Security Force (BSF) personnel
were killed in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast
triggered by the NLFT in the Ratia area under the Chawmanu
Police Station of Dhalai District. On April 6, 2010, the
body of a Bru National Liberation Front (BNLF) militant,
identified as Thankima, was recovered inside Tripura near
the Mizoram border in the last week of March 2010. Police
is investigating the case to find who had killed Thankima.
According to Police, Thankima was the main accused in
the killing of one Zarzokima, a 17-year-old Mizo youth
of Bungthuam village, in Mamit District in western Mizoram
on November 13, 2009. The Mizoram Police had then arrested
six persons in connection with the Bungthuam killing which
had triggered communal violence between Mizos and Brus,
forcing hundreds of Brus to flee to the neighbouring Tripura.
Militancy-related
fatalities in Tripura, 2005-2010
|
Year
|
Incidents
|
Civilians
|
SFs
|
Militants
|
Total
|
|
2005
|
115
|
28
|
11
|
21
|
60
|
|
2006
|
87
|
14
|
14
|
22
|
50
|
|
2007
|
94
|
14
|
06
|
19
|
39
|
|
2008
|
116
|
7
|
4
|
17
|
28
|
|
2009
|
61
|
9
|
1
|
1
|
11
|
|
2010
|
46
|
0
|
2
|
1
|
3
|
Source:
SATP, Data till December 31, 2010
There
were also some small recoveries of arms and ammunition.
On March 13, 2010, the SFs recovered two locally
made guns and ammunitions from two separate locations
of the South District. A locally made gun, AK-47 ammunition
and 19 ‘tax collection’ receipts of the NLFT were found
in the Khambar Para area. The Police also recovered
a locally made gun during a search operation in the house
of Sanjit Reang (37) in the Dashamani Para area.
Only three
militants were reported to have been arrested in 2010.
Both of these belonged to NLFT and were arrested from
the North District. In 2009, the number of militants arrested
was 20.
With the
insurgencies withering, militant cadres continued
to surrender to the SFs. In 2010, as many as 127 militants
– NLFT (79), All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF,
28) and Bru Liberation Front of Mizoram (BLFM, 20) – surrendered
in 33 incidents. By comparison, 243 militants surrendered
in 2009 – ATTF (43), NLFT (77), Borok National Council
of Tripura (BNCT, 119) and unidentified (2). Among the
most significant surrenders of 2010 were:
October
12: Six NLFT cadres surrendered to the Assam Rifles in
West District. However, the cadres did not deposit any
arms or ammunition.
August
11: 16 NLFT cadres deserted their camps in Bangladesh
and surrendered before troopers at Manikpur in Dhalai
District and at Kanchanpur in North District.
July 2:
At least 13 ATTF militants surrendered before the Assam
Rifles in Agartala.
June 24:
The 10 NLFT militants escaped from their camps in different
places of Bangladesh and crossed over to India and surrendered
before the BSF and Assam Rifles troopers in different
places of Tripura.
On October
27, Chief Minister Manik Sarkar urged people to motivate
youth who had taken to militancy to shun the path of violence
and return to normal life. "Hundreds of tribal youth have
left militancy over the past few years. The state Government
has provided economic resettlement to them (surrendered
militants)," Sarkar said, while addressing a gathering
at Tamakari tribal village in West Tripura District. Sarkar
disclosed, "Some Government employees had also joined
militancy and subsequently surrendered. The Tripura Government
has returned their jobs to them. This is never done in
other States in India." The Chief Minister reiterated
his appeal to the militants to give up the path of violence
and join the mainstream. "Come and join your family, we
would help you in all matters."
A continuous
stream of surrenders and the sense of entitlement the
surrender scheme has generated in surrendered cadres over
the years, have, however, led to some administrative problems,
with surrendered militants complaining about delays in
their promised resettlement. This was highlighted when,
on March 24, 2010, over 1,200 surrendered cadres of NLFT
and ATTF launched a 72-hour hunger strike demonstration
in Tripura, asking the Government to rehabilitate all
former insurgents.
While major
militant groups such as the ATTF and BNCT have become
virtually inactive, the NLFT continues to make its presence
felt, particularly through incidents of extortion and
abduction. The most significant incidents of 2010 included:
September
11: Three NLFT militants were arrested by the BSF from
North District along India-Bangladesh border. The militants
said that they fled from Bangladesh base camps.
August
30: The NLFT has abducted five tribals from remote Shukraichari
area under Gandacherra sub-division of Dhalai District.
August
6: Two BSF personnel were killed in an IED blast triggered
by the NLFT militants in the Ratia area under Chawmanu
Police station of Dhalai District.
May 24:
A group of NLFT militants clashed with Tripura State Rifles
(TSR) personnel at Satraipara under Manikpur Police outpost
in Dhalai District.
May 22:
A group of 10 NLFT militants stormed Shermoon village
under Kanchanpur sub-division of North District and demanded
20 per cent of wages from 123 National Rural Employment
Guarantee Act (NREGA) workers. The militants later left
the area after an encounter with troopers of the 9th
Battalion of the TSR.
April 20:
Six suspected armed militants of the NLFT abducted a person,
Sankar Bijoy Chakma, of Apanbooli village in Dhalai District.
Meanwhile,
the ATTF suffered vertical split in 2010. Three top leaders
of the outfit – its self styled ‘president’ Ranjit Debbarma,
armed wing chief Chitta Debbarma and ‘central committee
member’ Rahul Debbarma, were ousted from the outfit in
a coup led by Sachin Reang on December 26, 2010. Sachin
Reang, assumed the title of ‘acting president’ and, in
a phone call to media organizations on December
26, declared, "Ranjit Debbarma, Chitta Debbarma and
Rahul Debbarma were indulging in large scale financial
corruption and acting like dictators. Serious allegations
of their indulging in luxurious lifestyle and spending
funds for personal benefits were raised in our general
meeting recently. They were unmindful of the sufferings
of the Tripuri communities. They acted in such a manner
that severely affected the morale of the cadres and forced
them to surrender." He also claimed that the ousted
‘president’ Ranjit Debabarma and his minions had embezzled
at least INR 100 million. This is the first time since
its foundation in 1992 that the ATTF has suffered a split.
The change in leadership could lead to changes in the
outfit’s structure and some violence. Significantly, Sachin
Reang has declared himself against the surrender of ATTF
cadres.
Successful
counter-insurgency operations over the years have brought
peace to Tripura. Lingering irritants persist, but they
have little potential for a revival of the widespread
violence and disruption that once afflicted the State.
Tripura is, indeed, a model exceptional counter-insurgency
success, and one that other States in India, as well as
other countries across the world, could learn much from.
|
Weekly
Fatalities: Major Conflicts in South Asia
December 27, 2010-January
2, 2011
|
|
Civilians
|
Security
Force Personnel
|
Terrorists/Insurgents
|
Total
|
|
BANGLADESH
|
|
|
Left-wing Extremism
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
|
INDIA
|
|
|
Jammu and Kashmir
|
0
|
2
|
1
|
3
|
|
Manipur
|
0
|
2
|
1
|
3
|
|
Left-wing Extremism
|
|
|
Bihar
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
|
Jharkhand
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
|
Maharashtra
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
|
Odisha
|
0
|
1
|
7
|
8
|
|
Total (INDIA)
|
2
|
5
|
10
|
17
|
|
NEPAL
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
|
PAKISTAN
|
|
|
Balochistan
|
4
|
1
|
0
|
5
|
|
FATA
|
1
|
1
|
117
|
119
|
|
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
|
1
|
0
|
8
|
9
|
|
Sindh
|
2
|
3
|
5
|
10
|
|
Total (PAKISTAN)
|
8
|
5
|
130
|
143
|
|
Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
|
INDIA
Over
7,000 people killed in violence in Jammu and Kashmir
in last 10 years: A total of 7,031 civilians
and Security Force personnel have lost their lives
due to violence in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K)
in the last 10 years. "4,812 civilians and 2,219
Security Force personnel have lost their lives
since 2001 to August 2010 in Jammu and Kashmir,"
the Union Home Ministry said in reply to a Right
to Information (RTI) query.
Daily
Excelsior, January 2,
2011.
NIA
files chargesheet against 18 SIMI cadres:
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on December
30 filed a chargesheet against 18 cadres of the
banned outfit Student Islamic Movement of India
(SIMI) in a Kerala court for allegedly conspiring
to advocate, incite and abet unlawful activities
for secession of Kashmir from India. The NIA filed
the chargesheet in connection with a secret meeting
held by the SIMI activists in Panayuikkulam near
Kochi on August 15, 2006 where they allegedly
planned to wage war against India through various
means. Times
of India, December 31,
2010.
LeT
‘commander’ masterminded stone pelting from Rajouri,
indicate reports: A Rajouri based Lashkar-e-Toiba
(LeT) ‘commander’ has turned out to be a mastermind
of engineering stone pelting in Kashmir in 2010
summer and was reportedly preparing another brigade
of youth in different parts of the Valley to create
trouble in June 2011. Sajjad Ahmed Khan alias
Shamas, a resident of Firdousabad in the Batmaloo
area of Srinagar District, operating in Thanna
Mandi area of Rajouri District, engineered stone
pelting in several parts of Srinagar especially
Batmaloo by mobilizing youth to join the brigade
of stone pelters after making them handsome payments
through hawala (illegal money transfer)
operators of Rajouri District.
Daily
Excelsior, December 31,
2010.
Kashmiri
militants-Naxalites nexus exposed: A serious
attempt is being made to forge a nexus between
Kashmiri militants and Naxalites [Left Wing Extremists]
with a so-called "noted human rights activist’’
of the country playing a notorious role to bring
the both groups closer reportedly "at the behest
of Pakistan’’."The ‘human rights [HR] activist’
and some militant ‘commanders’ in Kashmir were
under strict surveillance. The HR activist has
come under the radar of Intelligence agencies
and some of his calls to the separatists have
been intercepted’’, official sources confirmed.
The henchmen of the HR activist have also established
a direct contact with Pakistan backed militants
of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen
(HM) in the Kashmir valley.
Daily
Excelsior, December 30,
2010.
Slight
increase in Maoist violence in Andhra Pradesh,
says report: Although
Left Wing Extremism (LWE) in Andhra Pradesh was
under effective check during the year, it has
again showed an upward trend this year with a
slight increase in its level with the Communist
Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) continued to
remain active in Visakhapatnam and Khammam Districts
bordering Chhattisgarh and Odisha. "Of the 54
Maoist-related incidents in 2010, the maximum
were reported from Visakhapatnam and Khammam,"
according to the data released by Director General
of Police (DGP) K Aravinda Rao at the Annual Press
Conference of the State Police in Hyderabad city
on December 30. Against 17 persons killed by Maoists
last year, 2009, the deaths went up to 21 in 2010.
The
Hindu, December 31, 2010.
Andhra
Pradesh urges Centre to declare seven more Districts
as Naxal-hit : Chief Minister (CM) N Kiran
Kumar Reddy has urged the Centre to declare the
border Districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram,
Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, Adilabad, Karimnagar
and Warangal as Naxal [Left wing Extremism (LWE)]-affected.
His plea also calls for central funds for these
Districts under the Special Development Plan (SDP).
As of now, Khammam and Vishakhapatnam are identified
as Naxal-affected, but only Khammam has been getting
the SDP funds, which amounted to INR three billion
in 2010.
Times
of India, December 27,
2010.
Myanmar
re-assures action against North-east militants:
India and Myanmar, on December
30, ratified the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty
on criminal matters. Myanmar Government like in
the past assured India of actions against the
militant groups including ULFA, NSCN and Manipuri
militants. Sources said India sought cooperation
from Myanmar on flushing out the militants operating
out of the country.
Assam
Tribune, January 1, 2011.
Rights
activist Binayak Sen awarded life term for sedition:
Chhattisgarh-based rights activist Binayak
Sen was convicted of colluding with the Communist
Part of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) to fight the
State and handed a life term on December 24. The
Raipur court also awarded life sentences to co-accused
Maoist leader Narayan Sanyal (80) and Calcutta-based
businessmen Piyush Guha (30) declaring all three
guilty of sedition and conspiracy.
Telegraph
India, December 28, 2010.
51
top Maoist leaders arrested in Bihar in 2010:
Altogether
51 senior cadres of the Communist Party of India-Maoist
(CPI-Maoist) have been arrested by Bihar Police
up to November 2010, according to official sources.
These included seven ‘zonal commanders’, 10 ‘sub-zonal
commanders’ and 13 ‘area commanders’. The Police
also seized 17,995 kilograms of explosive, 1.96
lakh detonators, 83 landmines and several bombs
besides INR.3.525 million in cash during operations
against the Maoists. Security Forces (SF) also
recovered 130 weapons, 12 of them looted from
Policemen, and over 8,200 different kinds of ammunition
from the cadres. Altogether 166 Maoist-related
incidents occurred in Bihar up to November, 2010
and the Police were engaged in encounters with
Maoists at 21 places. Eight Maoist bunkers were
also neutralised. A total of 14 Maoists surrendered
before the SF personnel during the encounter.
Maoists have also blasted 15 Government buildings
including Police posts, community centres, schools
and block offices in 2010, the sources added.
The
Hindu, December 30, 2010.
ULFA
ready for peace talks without preconditions, says
‘chairman’ Arabinda Rajkhowa: ULFA ‘chairman’
Arabinda Rajkhowa said his outfit was ready to
sit for peace talks without any preconditions
for an "honourable" solution to relieve the people
of Assam of their suffering. "A new chapter begins
in our long struggle. As per the wishes of the
National Convention, we will sit for peace talks
with the government without preconditions," the
ULFA leader said. He did not mention the outfit's
core demand of sovereignty. Rajkhowa was released
from Guwahati Central jail on January 1 after
he was granted bail by the designated TADA court.
PTI
News, January 2, 2011.
PAKISTAN
117
militants and one civilian among 119 persons killed
during the week in FATA: Three
US missile strikes hours apart killed 18 persons
in a militant stronghold near the Afghanistan
border in North Waziristan Agency (NWA) of Federally
Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on January 1.
In addition, at least 11 suspected militants were
killed in two US drone attacks in NWA. One of
the drone attacks fired four missiles at a house
and vehicle in Mir Ali tehsil (revenue
unit).
US
drone missile attack killed at least four militants
when it targeted a vehicle in Ghulam Khan Town
of NWA close to the Afghanistan border on December
31.
At
least 25 militants were killed and 18 others injured
when helicopter gunships targeted their hideouts
in Chinarak area of Kurram Agency on December
30. Also, seven militants were killed and three
others sustained injuries when two group of militants
clashed with each other in Marandi area of Kurram
Agency.
The
Security Forces (SFs) targeted militant hideouts
in the Chinarak area of Kurram Agency near the
Afghan border, killing seven Tehreek-e-Taliban
(TTP) militants, injuring many others and destroying
three hideouts, including an ammunition depot
on December 29.
At
least 18 persons, mostly militants, were killed
in US drone attacks in the NWA on December 28.
US
drones fired six missiles on three vehicles at
Shera Tala village in between Mir Ali and Thall
areas of NWA on December 27, killing 25 militants
and injuring four others. Dawn;
Daily
Times; The
News, December 28, 2010-January
3, 2011 .
Pakistan
witnessed highest number of reporters killed in
2010, reports Reporters Without Borders:
Pakistan was the deadliest country for reporters
where 11 reporters were killed in 2010, International
media watchdog Reporters Without Borders
said on December 30. A total of 57 journalists
were killed worldwide this year, the group said,
adding that fewer reporters were being killed
in war zones while more were targeted by criminals
or traffickers. Daily
Times, December 31, 2010.
UAE
tries two Pakistanis on al Qaeda links: Two
Pakistani brothers, accused of collecting money
and recruiting jihadis (holy fighter) for
al Qaeda, have gone on trial in the United Arab
Emirates (UAE), according to a The National
report. The Pakistanis, who appeared in court
on December 27, and charged with "running
a jihadi organisation and aiding and abetting
al Qaeda", has confessed to having links
with the jihadi network, the court was told. The
report only identified the suspects as "AkW",
a 49-year-old project manager, and "AsW",
a 43-year-old marketing manager, and said they
arrived in the Gulf emirate in 2008. Daily
Times, December 28, 2010.
Terrorists
on Afghanistan Pakistan border team up against
US and allied forces: Rival
militant outfits on both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan
border have increasingly been teaming up in raids
against United States (US) and allied forces.
New intelligence assessments from the region assert
that militant factions now are setting aside their
historic rivalries to behave like "a syndicate,"
joining forces in ways not seen before.
Indian Express, December
29, 2010.
Former
Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's assassination
plot was laid out at Brigadier's home, alleges
report: The
plot behind the December 27, 2007 assassination
of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was laid
out at the home of a Pakistani Army Brigadier,
reveals a media report. A fresh probe uncovered
the role of nine persons, including the Brigadier
in whose residence the plot was hatched. The probe’s
findings are in the possession of Interior Minister
Rehman Malik and had been seen only by President
Asif Ali Zardari in its entirety. However, the
Interior Minister Rehman Malik dismissed the report.
Indian Express, January
1, 2011.
Anti-terror
laws need to be tightened, says Prime Minister
Yousuf Raza Gilani: Prime Minister (PM) Yousuf
Raza Gilani on December 31 stressed the need for
improving the country’s anti-terror laws because
"thousands of terrorists, who were apprehended
by law enforcement agencies, had been bailed out
from courts and had again indulged in terrorist
activities". Prime Minister said that ineffective
anti-terror laws were making it easy for terrorists
to get bails from courts and resume their activities.
He subsequently called on Parliament to outline
effective anti-terror laws that could prevent
terror suspects from getting relief. Daily
Times, January 1, 2011.
SRI LANKA
Government
declares to expedite release of former LTTE cadres
following rehabilitation: The
Sri Lankan Government declared that steps would
be taken to expedite the release of detained cadres
of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
after their rehabilitation. Rehabilitation and
Prison Reforms Minister Chandrasiri Gajadeera
said that the Government was considering necessary
measures to release the remaining LTTE detainees
at the earliest. The Minister added that 7000
former LTTE cadres have already been released
after being rehabilitated.
Colombo
Page, December 26, 2010.
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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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