South Asia Terrorism Portal

PAKISTAN

Inoculations in Terror
Tushar Ranjan Mohanty
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management

On August 2, 2021, one Police constable, identified as Dilawar Khan, was killed when unidentified gunmen opened fire on a Police team guarding polio workers administering vaccinations near the Atal Sharif area of Kalachi Tehsil (revenue unit) in the Dera Ismail Khan District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). The gunmen managed to escape.

On August 1, 2021, unidentified assailants on a motorcycle shot dead a Police officer, belonging to the Frontier Reserve Force, a reserve Police unit under KP Police, while returning home after security duties with polio vaccination workers in the Duadzai area of Peshawar, the provincial capital of KP.

On August 1, 2021, one Policeman, Naib Subedar Raja Tahir, sustained injuries when a Police van on polio duty hit a landmine on the Badar Bridge in Ladha sub-division of South Waziristan District.

At least two Policemen on Polio duty were killed and another was injured, during a five days nationwide polio vaccination campaign between August 2 and 6.

According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), at least five Policemen have been killed in such violence since the beginning of the current year, 2021 (data till August 8, 2021).

No health worker has been killed in the current year so far. However, polio immunisation programmes in Pakistan have been reeling under terrorist attacks since long. Since March 2000, when SATP started compiling data on conflicts in Pakistan, at least 119 persons (56 health workers and 63 Policemen) have been killed in such violence. Another 76 persons (53 health workers and 23 policemen) have been injured.

The first violent incident according to the SATP database, was reported on July 20, 2012, when unidentified terrorists shot dead Doctor Ishaq (45), associated with the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) Polio Prevention Campaign, at Al-Asif Square in Junejo Town, Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh.

13 persons (all polio workers) were killed in targeted attacks in 2012, 18 (eight polio workers and 10 SFs personnel) in 2013, 39 (12 polio workers and 27 SFs personnel) in 2014, 12 (six polio workers and six SF personnel) in 2015, 13 (five polio workers and eight SFs personnel) in 2016, none in 2017, six (five polio workers and one SF trooper) in 2018, eight (four polio workers and four SF personnel) in 2019, five (three polio workers and two SF personnel) in 2020 and five (all SF personnel) in 2021 (data till August 8, 2021).   

Terrorists not only kill and attack health workers and policemen deployed for their security but also spreading negative propaganda against the vaccination campaign, including the canard that the vaccination drops were part of a western plot to sterilise Muslims. Opposition to all forms of inoculation grew after the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reportedly organised a fake vaccination drive by Dr. Shakil Afridi, to track down Al Qaeda's former chief Osama Bin Laden, who was killed at Abbottabad, KP, by US SEALs in the intervening night of May 1-2, 2011.

The polio vaccination campaign in Pakistan has not only suffered at the hands of terrorists but also due to socio-religious setbacks that resulted from Islamist Fatwas (religious edicts). The first such Fatwa came from cleric Maulvi Ibrahim Chisti in Muzaffargarh District of Punjab on June 12, 2012. Declaring the anti-polio campaign “un-Islamic”, Chisti warned that a jihad (holy war) would be launched against polio vaccination teams.

Following Chisti’s ‘divine formulation’, the then ‘commander of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)’s erstwhile North Waziristan Agency (NWA) ‘chapter’, Hafiz Gul Bahadur, issued a Fatwa on June 18, 2012, denouncing vaccinations as an American ploy to sterilise the Muslim community and banned these in NWA until the CIA stopped its drone strikes in the region. Bahadur’s declaration was a reflection of the consensus reached by the various terrorist outfits that formed the Shura-e-Mujaheddin (Council of Islamic fighters).

Not surprisingly, Pakistan and Afghanistan, where armed Islamist extremists exercise widespread influence, are the only two countries remaining on the World Health Organization’s ‘polio-endemic nations’ 2020 list.

A nationwide polio campaign was started on August 2, 2021, with a target to administer drops to 23 million children across Pakistan. National Coordinator for the Polio programme, Brigadier Shahzad Baig disclosed that 179,000 polio workers would participate in the nationwide campaign and “the drive will be carried out in 67 districts of the country including 22 in Punjab, 18 in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 16 districts in Balochistan.”

On August 3, Prime Minister Imran Khan directed the administration of 22 ‘high-risk Districts’ to take emergency steps for the eradication of the crippling disease. These Districts included three in Punjab (Lahore, Rawalpindi and Faisalabad), eight in Sindh (all the Districts of Karachi division and Qambar), five in KP (Khyber, Bannu, Peshawar, Lakki Marwat and South Waziristan), five in Balochistan (Quetta, Pishin, Qila Abdullah, Zhob, Mastung), and the national capital, Islamabad.

Though no terrorist group has issued any recent threat against the polio vaccination drive, it is to be noted that, on July 31, 2019, TTP had warned people against polio vaccination. The one-page message in Urdu seen by people in Miranshah, the headquarters of North Waziristan District, cautioned the public not to alow administration of polio drops to children or to be ready to ‘face dire consequences’ for their defiance. There were two Polio campaigns immediately after the July threat, in August 2019 and December 2019. A three-day campaign was conducted on August 26-28, 2019, during which no one was killed. However, during the five-day campaign conducted on December 16-20, 2019, two Policemen deployed for the security of polio teams were killed by unidentified assailants in the Maidan area of Lower Dir city (Lower Dir District) of KP on December 18. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, all polio campaigns were suspended in the country thereafter. 

Given the past trend, the onslaught against persons engaged in the current anti-polio drive was very much expected. Despite this, terrorists have succeeded in carrying out fatal attacks, targeting people engaged in such drives. This has increased fear both among polio workers as well as the general masses, who were already terrified. The fight against polio eradication will, consequently, last much longer in Pakistan. 

INDIA

Tripura: Ethnic Tensions Revive
Giriraj Bhattacharjee
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management

On August 3, 2021, suspected militants from the National Liberation Front of Tripura-Biswamohan Debbarma faction (NLFT-BM) killed two Border Security Force (BSF) personnel in an ambush, in an area under Chamanu Police Station in Dhalai District.

This is the first insurgency-linked incident targeting Security Force (SF) personnel reported in the State since 2014. On November 17, 2014, a BSF trooper, identified as Adil Abbas, and a civilian driver, identified as Himari Rangtor, were killed when suspected NLFT (faction not identified) militants ambushed their vehicle in a remote area bordering Pusparam Para under the Vangmoon Police station in North Tripura District.

On January 15, 2021, based on the confession of NLFT-BM militant Sangaram Reang, Police recovered the decomposing body of Litan Nath from the Ranir Para area of Khedachera Police Station in the North Tripura District. Litan Nath, a trader, was abducted from his home at Joyrampara in the Panisagar area of North Tripura District on November 28, 2020.

The last insurgency-linked civilian fatality in the State was reported on December 14, 2017, when the body of a former NLFT militant was recovered from Tuikrama Lake in Sepahijala District. According to the Police, he was killed following a dispute over sharing of money from the sale of several sophisticated arms stolen from the ‘armory’ of the All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF), to a drug smuggling gang in Nagaland.

The last terrorist killing was reported on July 23, 2012, when an NLFT militant was killed at Majimonipur, 15 kilometers from the Raishyabari Police Station in Dhalai District.

At the peak of the insurgency, militancy claimed as many as 514 lives in Tripura in 2000 alone, including 453 civilians, 16 SFs personnel and 45 terrorists. Fatalities remained in triple digits till 2004 and in double digit till 2009. However, only 14 fatalities (four civilians, six SFs personnel and four terrorists) have been recorded since 2010.

A gradual improvement in the security situation of the State has been evident as most militant groups were grounded due to successful Counter-Insurgency operations led by the Tripura Police. Out of the five factions of NLFT, one of the two major Tripura-based terrorist groups, three factions – one jointly commanded by Montu Koloi and Kamini Debbarma, one led by Nayanbashi Jamatiya aka Nakbar, and another by Subir Debbarma – were disbanded in 2004, 2006, and 2019, respectively. A fourth faction, formed in 2014, under ‘commander’ Prabhat Jamatya is dormant. The NLFT-BM has also weakened considerably. The other Tripura-based terrorist outfit, ATTF is largely dormant. The last incident of killing that ATTF was involved in was on August 6, 2007, when ATTF militants killed three civilians under Khowai police station in the West Tripura District.

Worryingly, however, a 'confidential report' prepared on inputs from State and central security agencies, based on the discussions during the 52nd Directional-level Lead Intelligence Agency held on June 15, 2021, states that NLFT-BM is trying to revive its activities in Tripura, especially in the Khowai and Dhalai Districts. The report asserts,

Other leaders of the outfit are scattered across the Northeast region and beyond. 'Advisor' Biswa Mohan Debbarma is suspected to be in Mizoram; 'commander' Jacob Hrawngkhal in Myanmar; 'secretary-general' Utpal Debbarma, 'finance secretary' Sonadhan Debbarma and 'youth affairs, culture, agriculture secretary' Sachin Debbarma in Bangladesh. The present cadre strength is estimated at 40.

Further, reports indicate that surrendered militants may rejoin militancy. A July 9, 2021, report, quoting security sources, asserted,

The surrender-cum-rehabilitation policy for northeast insurgents, last revised in 2018, is funded 90:10 by the Union and respective State Governments. The policy gives benefits such as an immediate grant of INR 400,000 to each surrendered militant and a stipend of INR 6,000 per month to each for a period of three years; besides additional incentives for weapons/ammunition surrendered and vocational training to the cadres for self-employment.

In the meantime, ethnic relations amongst the communities – one of the principal reasons behind the rise in insurgency in the State – are again under strain. This is increasingly the case, after the January 16, 2020, agreement between the Bru organizations in Mizoram and Tripura, and the Union Government, regarding permanent settlement of 34,000 displaced Bru tribals from Mizoram in Tripura. The agreement allows the 34,000 Bru refugees to be settled in Tripura and with developmental aid from the Union Government.

Several clashes have since been reported between the displaced Bru tribals from Mizoram in Tripura and the locals. Most recently, on July 26, 2021, at least 13 people were injured in a clash over a piece of land,  that took place between the Bru and Chorai tribal communities in Damcherra village near the Kaskao Bru relief camp in North Tripura District, near the Tripura-Mizoram border. After the clashes, 640 people of the Chorai community reportedly fled to the neighboring State of Assam.

Meanwhile, according to a July 31, 2021, report, the Langkaih (Mamit District of Mizoram) branch of the Young Mizo Association (YMA), a Mamit-based influential civil society organization of Mizoram, urged the Tripura Government to arrest those responsible asserting,

The YMA has taken up the the Chorai community's plight because the Chorai is a kindred tribe related to the Mizo-Kuki-Chin community.

Further, the issue of Chakma migrants, which had not been raised till recently either by locals or settlers in the State, is now gaining prominence. The Council of Tiprasa Hoda, an indigenous umbrella tribal organisation in Tripura, comprising six tribal cultural bodies, has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah seeking his intervention to identify and deport the illegal Chakma migrants from the Dhalai District of the State. In the letter, the group warned,

Chakma’s, who inhabit neighboring Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHTs) area, had migrated to India after the construction of the Kaptai Dam in the Rangamati District in the 1960s under the East Pakistan administration, and subsequently during the insurgent uprising in CHTs in the 1980s.  Presently, the Chakma community has settled in Assam, Tripura, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh. Before recent developments, the issue of their origin was under question only in Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram.

Moreover, tribal identity-based politics has gained momentum since the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTADC) elections were fought on issues such as ‘greater Tipraland;’ Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA); National Register for Citizens (NRC); Detection, Deletion and Deportation of illegal immigrants; and the implementation of the Inner Line Permit system. TTADC elections were successfully held on April 6, 2021. The Tipra Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance (TIPRA) emerged victorious in the election.

On June 25, 2021, TTAADC passed a resolution for the creation of a Greater Tipraland. The structure of the proposed Tipraland is not clear. TTAADC member Runeil Debbarma, who moved the resolution in the Council, declared,

Opposing the move, on June 28, 2021, the radical Bengali group Amra Bangali state secretary Gouranga Pal stated,

The confusion on the Greater Tipraland demand has the potential to fan unrest in the majority community of the State. Indeed, NLFT-BM reportedly tried to unsuccessfully influence the recent TTAADC election process.

The ethnic politics of competitive extremism received another flip when the State’s ruling Bharatiya Janta Party’s ally, the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT), demanded a separate Tribal state. On July 22, 2021, IPFT met Amit Shah in New Delhi and demanded a separate State of Tipraland, including the present TTADC areas. General Secretary of IPFT Mevar Kumar Jamatia asserted, “During our discussion, we had again raised the demand for a separate tribal state ‘Tipraland’.”

The peace achieved in the State is currently facing difficulties due to the rising politics of ethnic polarization and the ‘insider-outsider’ question. Insurgents formations that had lost their prominence are trying to exploit these issues and reports of insurgents rejoining militant ranks, though the numbers are minuscule at present, are certainly a matter of concern.

Afghanistan

Head of the Government's Media and Information Center killed in Kabul Province: Unidentified gunmen killed the Head of the Government's Media and Information Center, Dawa Khan Menapal, at Darul Aman Road in Kabul city of Kabul Province on August 6. Tolo News, August 7, 2021.

National Assembly announces support to ANDSF in its ongoing fight against Taliban: On August 3, the National Assembly consisting of the Mesherano Jirga (upper house of Parliament), and  Wolesi Jirga (lower house of Parliament), in a joint statement announced their firm support for the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) and the Islamic Republic in their fight against Taliban. The National Assembly also said that the hard-won gains of the last 20 years must be preserved. The statement called on the Taliban to stop its activities against the economy and stop "destruction." Tolo News, August 3, 2021.