South Asia Terrorism Portal
Jammu and Kashmir: TRF: The New 'Front' Sanchita Bhattacharya Research Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management
The Resistance Front (TRF) is the product of one of the several efforts, often repeated over the past two decades by Rawalpindi, to give terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) an ‘indigenous’ face, and to provide Pakistan’s deep state, an alibi. According to intelligence sources, the outfit emerged as an online virtual identity, acting as a mouthpiece for major Pakistan-based terror outfits such as Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). Thereafter, it has sought to claim a number of terrorist attacks executed by cadres of these groupings.
On May 4, 2020, four people, including three Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers and a 14 years old physically challenged boy, were killed when several terrorists attacked a group of CRPF personnel in Kupwara District’s Wangam village. The responsibility of the attack was later claimed by TRF.
On May 2, 2020, five Security Force (SF) personnel were killed in an encounter at the Chanjmulla area in Handwara region of Kupwara District. Two terrorists were also killed in the encounter. One of the two terrorists killed in the operation was later identified by the Police as LeT ‘commander’, Haider, a Pakistani national. The other was a local terrorist, a resident of Handwara. However, TRF claimed the attack.
On April 18, 2020, three CRPF personnel were killed and another two sustained injuries, when a lone militant with an AK-47 rifle concealed under his traditional robe struck at a security checkpoint in Sopore, Baramulla District. TRF claimed responsibility for the attack.
On April 4, 2020, five SF personnel were killed in Kupwara District. Following a ceasefire violation that took place in the intervening night of April 1-2, a movement of infiltrating terrorists was first picked in the Keran sector (Opposite Shalabatho in Pakistan) on April 2. On April 4, two teams of the 4 Para were inducted into the area. A hand-to-hand combat and close fire occurred that left five Special Forces personnel killed in action. All five terrorists who had sneaked in from Pakistan were also killed. The TRF later claimed the killing of five Special Forces personnel.
On February 2, 2020, four civilians and two troopers of CRPF were injured in a grenade blast in the Lal Chowk area of Srinagar. The attack was claimed by TRF.
According to partial data collated by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), since its ‘inception’ on October 12, 2019, TRF has claimed involvement in the killing of a total of 17 persons, including 16 SF personnel and one civilian. Seven TRF cadres have also been killed since. Further, in one incident, on March 23, 2020, the Police arrested six persons in Kupwara who claimed to be part of TRF. A joint team of the Army and state Police, seized 89 hand grenades, eight AK rifles, 10 pistols, 20-odd detonator fuses and ammunition.
Originally, TRF announced its arrival online via the encrypted chat platform Telegram on October 12, 2019, following a grenade attack in Srinagar's Hari Singh High Street, in which seven civilians were injured. In its first message, posted on Telegram, taking responsibility of the grenade attack, TRF stated,
Five days later, on October 17, 2019, it posted a 'warning' for the Indian Government,
This social media account, according to the internet protocol address, was being operated from Islamabad, mostly from an iPhone device.
Facing regular blocking on Telegram, TRF turned to other platforms simultaneously to create a backup, prominently including TamTam, an encrypted Russian messaging platform. TRF is claiming terror attacks in an effort to raise the group’s profile and encourage youth to join its ranks..
The group was apparently formed after August 5, 2019, when the Indian Parliament scrapped Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and divided the state into two centrally-administered Union Territories – Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir.
Referring to its 'birth', an unnamed top intelligence official disclosed,
Moreover, reports indicate that TRF is being controlled by three top LeT handlers in Pakistan: Sajad Jatt for South Kashmir, Khalid for Central Kashmir and Hanzala Adnan for North Kashmir.
Jammu and Kashmir Inspector General of Police, Vijay Kumar disclosed,
Subsequently, TRF expanded its net and also began inducting HM terrorists, he added.
TRF is a Pakistan Army – Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) ploy to bring all terrorist cadres under one common umbrella and to secure deniability in terms of its linkages with terror outfits operating under the ISI’s aegis in J&K.
Not surprisingly, in April 2020, the outfit came under the scanner of government agencies in India for its suspected links with LeT. An unnamed Enforcement Directorate (ED) official stated,
Reports now indicate that the plenary could be held in October 2020. FATF has confirmed postponement of the Plenary, due to the COVID 19 pandemic, but is yet to intimate a firm date for the next meeting.
It is still too early to predict the future trajectory of TRF. The formation of group may be seen as an attempt to consolidate manpower, strength, and training of various terrorist formations in J&K under a single identity, and to create a new ‘front’ to project to the world that the militancy in Kashmir is a ‘homegrown resistance movement’, distanced from Pakistani sponsorship and the terrorist groupings that under FATF scrutiny.
DSA: Weaponizing Media Regulation S. Binodkumar Singh Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
On May 16, 2020, Police arrested two people from the Lamchari village of Matlab Dakkhin upazila (sub District) in Chandpur District in a case filed under the Digital Security Act (DSA). The arrestees – Sumon Biswas and Adhir Chandra Mallik – had been allegedly making derogatory comments about Islam, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the Bangladesh Police on Facebook for the preceding few days.
On May 6, 2020, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested cartoonist Ahmed Kabir Kishore, writer Mushtaq Ahmed, and two others – Didarul Islam Bhuiyan, an activist of a platform called 'Rashtrachinta', and Minhaz Mannan Emon, a businessman – under DSA, allegedly for making anti-Government posts on Facebook, from the capital, Dhaka city. A total of 11 persons were accused in the case filed under DSA. The seven others accused in the case were Tasnim Khalil, Shahed Alam, Saer Zulkarnain, Ashiq Imran, Phillipp Schuhmacher, Shapan Wahid and Asif Mohiuddin. These seven live outside Bangladesh.
On May 5, 2020, Mahtab Uddin Talukder, Sunamganj District correspondent of private television channel SATV, was arrested from his residence under the DSA for posting a status on his Facebook page allegedly defaming Sunamganj-1 Constituency’s ruling Awami League (AL) Member of Parliament (MP) Moazzem Hossain Ratan. The MP had been interrogated by Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) officials on February 18, 2020, for his alleged involvement in money laundering and the casino business.
Among various provisions of the Digital Security Act, the followings are the more alarming:
In addition to the sweeping provisions themselves, it is the protracted jail sentences prescribed that are a cause of worry and source of intimidation. According to the International Federation for Human Rights, there have been more than 1,000 cases filed under the DSA since it was introduced in 2018.
Indeed, the Sampadak Parishad (Editors' Council), a nationwide professional association of newspaper Editors, has been protesting against the DSA since it came into effect on October 8, 2018. The Editors' Council identified fundamental flaws in the DSA:
On June 18, 2019, Asia Internet Coalition, a Coalition of which Facebook, Google, Amazon, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Yahoo!, among others, are members, pointed out that Bangladesh’s DSA creates several obstacles to the conducive use of the internet ecosystem due to several vague obligations, unchecked powers, disproportionate penalties, and unworkable compliance requirements.
DSA has become a custom-made judicial weapon for silencing ‘troublesome’ journalists and has created an environment of fear and intimidation under which normal functioning of journalists has become extremely risky, if not impossible. Not surprisingly, since the enactment of DSA, self-censorship has reached unprecedented levels because editors are reluctant to risk imprisonment or the closure of their media outlets.
Further, blocking access to news websites and consequently stifling press freedom is another developing phenomenon in Bangladesh. In December 2019, authorities in Bangladesh blocked access to Netra News, a Sweden-based investigative journalism portal, within three days of the outlet carrying allegations of corruption against Obaidul Quader, the country’s Minister of Road Transport and Bridges, and General Secretary of the ruling AL. In March 2019, the Bangladesh Government blocked Al Jazeera's English news website hours after it published an article detailing the alleged involvement of Tarique Ahmed Siddique, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Security Adviser and head of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), the country's military intelligence agency, in the disappearance of three men as part of a business dispute involving his wife. In December 2018, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) had ordered 54 news portals to be blocked to prevent spread of propaganda ahead of the December 30 National Election. In November 2017, Indian news website The Wire was cut off after it published a story on the alleged role of the DGFI in the disappearance of an academic, Mubashar Hasan.
Meanwhile, radical Islamist militants continue to murder journalists and bloggers who dare to defend an overly secular vision of society. According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), a total of at least 36 journalists and bloggers have been killed since the commencement of the 2013 Shahbagh Movement. The last incident of killing was on June 11, 2018, in which Shahzahan Bachchu (60), an outspoken proponent of secular principles and owner of a publishing house 'Bishaka Prokashoni' was gunned down in his ancestral village, Kakaldi in Munshiganj District.
Unsurprisingly, Reporters Sans Frontières, in its 2020 World Press Freedom Index dropped Bangladesh to 151st out of 180 countries – the lowest ranking it has ever received. It was at the 150th position in 2019 and 146th in 2018.
Legitimate concerns regarding the abuse of the Internet and social media, particularly by extremist and terrorist formations as well as by unscrupulous political and criminal elements, do require legislation for the regulation of these media. But the sweeping provisions of DSA, and the use against journalists carrying out legitimate investigations and reportage, cannot be part of a legitimate response to these concerns. The arbitrary arrests and a crackdown on freedom of expression under the draconian DSA raise critical questions of intent and accountability of the Government. Ensuring the freedom of the Media, as well as the safety of media professionals and the civil discourse, both from state intimidation as well as from the threat from radical Islamist forces, even as the state is empowered to act against intentional malfeasance, must be the objective of both legislation and practice with regard to regulation of the Media. Freedom of the Media and acceptance of criticism are crucial for the survival of democracy in Bangladesh.
Weekly Fatalities: Major Conflicts in South Asia May 11-17, 2020
Civilians
Security Force Personnel
Terrorists/Insurgents
Total
BANGLADESH
Left Wing Extremism
INDIA
Arunachal Pradesh
Assam
Jammu and Kashmir
INDIA (Left-Wing Extremism)
Chhattisgarh
Jharkhand
Maharashtra
INDIA (Total)
PAKISTAN
Balochistan
Punjab
PAKISTAN (Total)
President Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah sign agreement to break political deadlock: President Ashraf Ghani and former Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah "political agreement" to end the crisis due to the disputed presidential election held in 2019. Sources said that as per the agreement, Abdullah will lead the High Council of National Reconciliation with executive authority and his team will have a 50 percent share in the cabinet. Tolo News, May 18, 2020.
'Taliban killed 120 civilians since start of Ramadan', says ONSC spokesperson: A spokesman for the Office of National Security Council (ONSC), Jawed Faisal, on May 17, said that over 120 Afghan civilians were killed and 350 others were wounded in attacks initiated by the Taliban over the past three weeks. "The attacks launched by the Taliban and their backers show a 33 percent increase compared with the second week of the holy month of Ramadan," said ONSC spokesman Jawed Faisal. Tolo News, May 17, 2020.
President Ashraf Ghani orders Security Forces into 'Offensive' mode against Taliban: President Ashraf Ghani, in a public address, on May 12 ordered the Afghan forces to switch from "active defensive" mode to "offensive" mode, and to resume attacks on the Taliban. President Ghani said the Taliban have ignored repeated calls for reduced violence and ceasefire. He added that a call for a ceasefire does not mean weakness--it shows a commitment to peace. He once again called on the Taliban to embrace peace. The announcement comes after a series of attacks across the country on May 12. Tolo News, May 13, 2020.
Afghan Government halts release of Taliban prisoners: The National Security Council (NSC) spokesman Jawed Faisal announced that Afghan Government on May 11 temporarily stopped the release of Taliban prisoners, saying the Taliban must bring its total number of released security force members to 200, while so far they have only "freed 105". However, following Faisal's announcement, Taliban 'spokesman' Suhail Shaheen said that the group released 53 prisoners of the Afghan Government on May 11 and in Badghis and Faryab Provinces on May 10. Tolo News, May 13, 2020.
Taliban played an important role in the war against IS, says US Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad: The United States (U.S.) Special Envoy for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad has said the Taliban group played an important role in the fight against Islamic State (IS) in Afghanistan. Zalmay Khalilzad said, "We believe that ISIS and the Taliban are mortal enemies, and in the war against ISIS, Taliban have played an important role. Of course, the government has as well, and we have played a vital role in that fight," insisting that that fight is not finished. The Khaama Press, May 17, 2020.
Myanmar hands over 22 northeast militants to India: Myanmar Government reportedly handed over at least 22 militants of north-eastern armed groups to India on May 14. Though Myanmar's soil has been used by north-eastern groups, mainly from Nagaland and Manipur, for a long time, this is the first time that Myanmar Army has acted on India's request and handed over any north-eastern insurgent. The insurgent handed over include 'captain' Sanatomba Ningthoujam of United National Liberation Front (UNLF), 'lieutenant' Pashuram Laishram of People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (Progressive (PREPAK-pro). The Wire, May 17, 2020.
LeT and Dawood Ibrahim planning 26/11 like terror attack against India, according to Indian intelligence agencies: Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Dawood Ibrahim are together planning 26/11 type terror attack on Indian soil, according to the inputs gathered by the Indian intelligence agencies. Dawood Ibrahim was spotted in Islamabad at his farmhouse on May 10, the news report said quoting top intelligence sources. Dawood's farmhouse is next to Pakistan's former President Pervez Musharraf's residence. India TV, May 12, 2020.
Constitutional amendment required to extend council term, says AG Ibrahim Riffath: : Attorney General (AG) Ibrahim Riffath, on May 11, called on the Majlis (parliament) to bring forth amendments to the constitution in order to extend the term of outgoing local councillors until the delayed local council elections can be held. AG's comments were in response to a request by the parliament to provide input to "The Special Bill on Ensuring the Operation of Administrative Divisions of Maldives under Decentralization Policy 2020" proposed by parliamentary representative for the Henveiru-West constituency, Hassan Latheef. The Edition, May 13, 2020.
Pakistan bans website of Balochistan Human rights group: Government have imposed an indefinite ban on official website of Human Rights Commission of Balochistan (also known as Hakkpaan). HRCB, a non-profit human rights organization operating in Balochistan, has been actively working in Balochistan to collect information about the ongoing human rights abuses and report them to the international media and organizations. The Balochistan Post, May 13, 2020.
16 killed, 45 abducted in April as Army raids increased in Balochistan, reports HRCB: According to Human Rights Commission of Balochistan (HRCB), Balochistan witnessed a surge in military raids with 16 killed and 45 abducted in April amid the Covid-19 lockdown. As many as 73 people had been picked up by the Pakistani forces, including students, women, children, and infants, but 28 were later released. The whereabouts of the 45 remain unknown. Hakkpaan, May 13, 2020.
Sri Lanka de-listed by European Commission from list of high-risk third countries: The European Commission has de-listed Sri Lanka from its list of High Risk Third Countries with Anti- Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Strategic Deficiencies published on May 7. Sri Lanka was listed as a high risk third country by the EU in February 2018, subsequent to Sri Lanka being identified by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) as a jurisdiction with strategic AML/CFT deficiencies in its Compliance Document which is more commonly identified as "the Grey List" in October 2017. Colombo Page, May 16, 2020.
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.
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