South Asia Terrorism Portal
Islamist Terrorism: Radical Threat Ajit Kumar Singh Research Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management
On April 8, 2023, the Assam Police arrested three active suspects linked to the banned Islamist radical Popular Front of India (PFI) and its student wing, Campus Front of India (CFI), from the Barpeta District of Assam. The arrestees were identified as PFI ‘state secretary’ Zakir Hussain, PFI cadre Abu Sama, and CFI National Treasurer Shahidul Islam. INR 150,000 in cash, four mobile phones and Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) leaflets, were recovered from them. Reports claim that, after the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) ban on PFI on September 27, 2022, its members joined SDPI and were very active in Karnataka, where State Assembly polls are scheduled to be held on May 10, 2023. The SDPI, reports indicate, is planning to contest at least 100 seats out of the 224 in the Karnataka State Assembly.
On March 18, 2023, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested Mohammad Irshad in Phulwarisharif, Patna District, Bihar PFI case. The case pertains to involvement of accused/suspected persons, associated with the PFI, in unlawful and anti-national activities, who had assembled in the Phulwarisharif area of Patna. The case was initially registered as a First Information report (FIR) on July 12, 2022 at Police Station Phulwarisharif and was re-registered by the NIA on July 22, 2022. Mohammad Irshad is the 13th person to be arrested in this case.
On March 4, 2023, Thufail M. H., the Kodagu District Head of PFI Service Team (Hit Team) and former PFI District Secretary of Kodagu District, Karnataka, was arrested by the NIA from his hideout in the Amaruthahalli area of Bengaluru City, Karnataka. Tufail was wanted for the murder of Praveen Nettaru, member of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Nettaru was murdered by PFI cadres in July 2022 in the Bellare village of Sullia Taluk (revenue unit) in the Dakshina Kannada District. In January 2023, the NIA filed charge-sheets in the case against 20 accused, before the NIA Special Court, Bengaluru, including six absconding accused. Thufail M. H. had played a significant role in PFI's larger conspiracy to murder leaders of a particular community. He also provided shelter and safe harbor at the Ashiyana residency in Koppa Village, Mysuru District, to the three assailants in this case, who had recced and then hacked Nettaru to death.
In 2022, over 277 PFI cadres were arrested. While the NIA arrested 60, different State Police Forces arrested over 217 PFI cadres, including over 174 on September 27, the day on which the PFI was banned. Between September 28 and December 31, 2022, different State Police Forces arrested at least 13 PFI cadres, while the NIA arrested 11. In 2023, at least 16 PFI cadres have been arrested – six by the NIA and 10 by different State Police Forces (data till April 9). It is pertinent to recall here that the NIA is investigating 19 PFI-linked cases and, till April 9, 2023, the Agency has charge-sheeted 105 accused in these cases.
While declaring the ban on the outfit, on September 27, 2022, the UMHA observed,
On March 21, 2022, the Tribunal, constituted under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), confirmed the UMHA’s September 27, 2022, notification declaring the PFI as an unlawful association and banning it for five years. PFI, a radical Islamist group, was formed in 2006.
Trans-border Islamist terrorist groups, mainly the Bangladesh-based Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and Ansar al-Islam/Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), constitute another security challenge. According to the SATP database, at least 12 cadres/associates of these two outfits were arrested in 2022. In 2023, another five cadres have already been arrested. On March 4, 2023, the special branch of the Assam Police arrested five people, including a Bangladesh national, Saiful Islam alias Haroon Rashid alias Mohammed Suman, for their alleged links with Ansar al-Islam. They were arrested from Barpeta, Howly and Kalgachia, all in Barpeta District. Saiful Islam had illegally entered India and was working as a teacher in the Dhakalipara masjid. Saiful Islam had successfully indoctrinated and motivated four others to join the module, with a view to develop the Barpeta District of Assam as a base for jihadi work and activities of Al-Qaeda and its related organisations.
Reports indicate that Ansar al-Islam was planning to form three major units in India – Madu (cadres having basic training on jihad and propagating ideology); Ikhwan (recruiters and fund raisers, not directly working under Ansar al-Islam’s aegis) and Tafia Jamaat (the senior-most leaders/final decision makers), primarily based in Mazahir Uloom Madrassa in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh.
Global Islamic terror outfits – Islamic State and Al-Qaeda – despite having failed to carry out any significant attack since their ‘entry’ into India, continue with their efforts. At least two Islamic State cadres were arrested in 2022. Seven Islamic State cadres have already been arrested in 2023. Most recently, on January 10, 2023, the NIA arrested two Islamic State operatives – Mazin Abdul Rahman and Nadeem Ahmed K.A from Karnataka. Earlier, on January 5, 2023, two Islamic State operatives – Reshaan Thajuddin Sheikh and Huzair Farhan – had been arrested in Karnataka. All four were arrested in connection with the Shivamogga Islamic State Conspiracy Case, a plot hatched by the accused, Syed Yasin and Maaz Muneer Ahmed (both arrested) and Shariq (absconding). Investigations revealed that Maaz Muneer Ahmed had radicalised and recruited Mazin Abdul Rahman, while Syed Yasin radicalized and recruited Nadeem K.A. for terrorist activities of the Islamic State in India. Reshaan Thajuddin was radicalised by Maaz Muneer Ahmed. Reshaan Thajuddin Sheikh and Huzair Farhan Baig received funds from their Islamic State handlers through Crypto-wallets. The accused explored targets and attempted/committed acts of sabotage/arson, as part of the larger conspiracy to further the activities of the Islamic State. Further investigations in the case are in progress. Meanwhile, on January 23, 2023, the Islamic State released the first edition of its new magazine Seerat ul-Haq. The six-page inaugural issue of this anti-India propaganda magazine, targets Indian Muslim political leaders and groups.
Al-Qaeda has also continued with its efforts to establish a network and to provoke violence, in India. On August 30, 2022, the Assam Police arrested an Al-Qaeda in the Indian Sub-continent (AQIS) terrorist, Amzad Ajmal Hussain, from Guwahati, for his efforts to spread the AQIS network in the area. Further, on May 2, 2022, As Sahab Media Subcontinent, the media wing of AQIS, released a message in Hindi, Gujarati and Arabic, on the occasion Eid-ut-Fitr. The message advocated that Muslims of the subcontinent ‘follow path of jihad to establish Sharia law in the Subcontinent.’
Meanwhile, four fatalities were recorded in violence linked to Islamist terrorism in India (outside Jammu and Kashmir, J&K) in 2022. There was no such fatality in 2021. This is the highest number of fatalities recorded in a year in such violence since 2016, when there were 13 such fatalities, including 11 terrorists. The four fatalities in 2022 included the following:
In between, on November 19, 2022, an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast took place in a moving auto rickshaw near a bus stop in front of Rohan Square Apartments in Mangaluru City, Karnataka, injuring two persons. Investigations found that one of the injured was the main accused, Mohammed Shariq, a resident of Shivamogga District, Karnataka, and he was carrying the IED in a pressure cooker with the intention to kill others. The driver was also injured in the blast. According to the Police, Shariq was "inspired by ISIS terror group" and used the Dark Web to contact his handlers.
Meanwhile, on April 2, 2023, a suspect splashed an inflammable liquid on his co-passenger inside D1 compartment when Alappuzha-Kannur Express train reached the Korapuzha railway bridge after crossing Kozhikode city, Kerala, and set him on a fire resulting in burn injuries to at least eight persons. Three passengers, including a child and woman, were killed after they jumped out of the train to escape the fire. Though the suspect then managed to escape, he was later arrested on April 5 from Ratnagiri District in Maharashtra and was identified as Shahrukh Saifi, a Delhi resident. The NIA in its preliminary report to the UMHA has said that the act of arson may have been a terror attack.
As is evident, these violent incidents were carried out by elements who had been radicalized in the recent past and were not trained terrorists, or members of established outfits such as, inter alia, the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI), and the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI)/Indian Mujahideen (IM), working under the aegis of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The last such violent incident recorded outside J&K involving cadres of an established Islamist terrorist formation was on October 31, 2016, when the Anti-Terrorist Squad of Madhya Pradesh Police killed eight suspected SIMI cadres in Bhopal. One Policeman was also killed. The last major incident (resulting in three or more fatalities) was reported way back on October 27, 2013, when eight people were killed and another 63 injured in six serial bomb blasts near Gandhi Maidan, the venue of the then BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's rally in Patna. Later, in 2021, an NIA court convicted nine SIMI cadres for the blasts.
J&K, of course, remains the epicentre of the Pakistan-backed Islamist terrorist movement in India, though terrorist activities have substantially been contained. Indeed, after reaching a high of 4,011 in 2001, overall fatalities registered a continuous decline in successive years till 2012, when they touched a low of 121. Since then, fatalities have maintained a cyclical trend, declining for two consecutive years in 2021 (274 fatalities) and 2022 (253 fatalities). There were 321 fatalities in 2020. Overall fatalities remained in four digits for 17 years, between 1990 and 2006. In 2023, till April 9, J&K has recorded 18 fatalities, including eight civilians, one trooper and nine terrorists.
While the Security Forces have succeeded in reducing the threat from Pakistan’s terrorist proxies, both in J&K and across the rest of the country, the proliferation of the politics of polarization is creating new opportunities for radical Islamist elements, mobilized or inspired by terrorist groups, to create an environment of insecurity. While it is imperative for the government to take all necessary measures to counter radicalization, this is a challenge within an environment where divisive politics continues to pay ample electoral dividends.
Maoist Doggedness Deepak Kumar Nayak Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
In a joint operation on April 3, 2023, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Jharkhand Police killed five Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres in an intelligence-based operation in the Grahe Forest area under Lawalong Police Station limits in the Chatra District of Jharkhand. The slain Maoists were identified as Gautam Paswan, CPI-Maoist ‘Bihar-Jharkhand Special Area Committee (BJSAC)’ member, who had a reward of INR 2.5 million on his head; Ajit Oraon alias Charlis, BJSAC member, with an INR 2.5 million reward; Amar Ganjhu, ‘sub-zonal commander’ with a reward of INR 500,000; Ajay Yadav alias Nandu, ‘sub-zonal commander’ with a reward of INR 500,000; and Sanjeet Bhuiyan, ‘sub-zonal commander’. During the search operation, the dead bodies of the five Maoists along with two AK-47 rifles, one INSAS (Indian Small Arms System) assault rifle, two other rifles, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, as well as items of daily use were recovered.
On April 1, 2023, a CPI-Maoist cadre, Sameer Mohonda alias Sadhu Linga (31), a member of the CPI-Maoist ‘Chatgaon Local Organizational Squad’, with a reward of INR 200,000 on his head, was killed in an encounter with C-60 Commandos in the Kiarkoti-Abujhmad Forest area of Bhamragarh Taluka (revenue division) in the Gadchiroli District of Maharashtra. Acting on intelligence inputs, the Commandos launched an operation and came under indiscriminate fire from a group of 60 to 70 Maoists hiding in the forest, who used Under Barrel Grenade Launchers (UBGLs) and other weapons. In the retaliatory fire, the C-60 Commandos killed one Maoist, while the others managed to flee into the dense forest. After the firing, which lasted for approximately an hour, the Security Forces (SFs) searched the area and recovered one .303 rifle, one gun, a country-made pistol, three magazines, 31 bullets, INR 38,000, medicines, Maoist literature and other materials.
On March 28, 2023, a former deputy Sarpanch (head of the Panchayat, village level local self-Government institution), Ramji Dodi, was abducted and killed by CPI-Maoist cadres in Zara village in the Narayanpur District of Chhattisgarh. Dodi was abducted, along with his two nephews, and taken to a forest where he was allegedly strangled to death by the Maoists. The nephews were released with Ramji’s body and a letter saying that he was killed because he was a ‘police informer’.
According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), there has been a total of 39 fatalities (20 civilians, nine SF personnel and 10 Naxalites, Left Wing Extremists) in Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-linked violence in the current year (data till April 9, 2023). During the corresponding period of 2022, the number of such fatalities was 49 (19 civilians, seven SF personnel and 23 Naxalites).
Through 2022, there was a total of 135 fatalities (53 civilians, 15 SF personnel and 67 Naxalites) in such violence. In the preceding year (2021), there was a total of 237 fatalities (58 civilians, 51 SF personnel, and 128 Naxalites). Overall fatalities were at 239 in 2020, 302 in 2019, 412 in 2018 and 335 in 2017.
Overall fatalities have, thus, been on a decline since 2019. Moreover, the overall fatalities in 2022 were the lowest recorded in a single year since March 6, 2000, when SATP started compiling data on LWE. Interestingly, the overall fatalities in 2021 were the pervious lowest recorded in a single year. A peak of 1,180 fatalities (630 civilians, 267 SF personnel, 265 Naxalites and 18 unspecified) were recorded in 2010.
As with overall fatalities, fatalities in 2022 in all three categories – civilian, SF and Naxalite – were the lowest since 2000. A previous low of 58 in the civilian category was record in 2021. In the SF category, the previous low of 44 was recorded in 2020. A previous low of 87 in the Naxalite category was recorded in 2004.
Civilian and Naxalite fatalities have also been on a continuous decline since 2019. SF fatalities have also declined through this period, barring 2021 (51 fatalities) when there was a spike compared to 2020 (44 fatalities).
Other parameters of violence also indicate significant improvement in the security situation relating to LWE activities across the country.
The number of overall LWE-linked terrorist incidents fell from 676 in 2021 to 602 in 2022. In particular, incidents of killing came down from 124 in 2021 to 107 in 2022. Seven of the 107 overall incidents of killing were major incidents (each involving three or more fatalities) in 2022. In 2021, the number of major incidents was 15. Resultant fatalities from major incidents declined from 114 (seven civilians, 30 SF personnel, and 77 Naxalites) in 2021 to 22 (one civilian, three SF personnel, and 18 Naxalites) in 2022. In 2023, the number of overall LWE-linked incidents was 169, of which 32 were incidents of killing. Two major incidents have already been recorded in 2023.
The SF:Maoist kill ratio remained in favour of the SFs in 2022, at 1:4.46, the best since 2000, surpassing the previous best of 1:4.03 in 2016. In 2021, the ratio was at 1:2.5. The ratio has remined in favour of the SFs since 2011, when it was at 1:1.53. In 2010, the SF:Maoist kill ratio shifted to 1.01:1, favouring the Maoists. Since March 6, 2000, the overall kill ratio has been in favour of the SFs (1:1.61). In the current year, the kill ratio is in favour of the SFs at 1:1.11, so far (data till April 6, 2023).
SFs arrested 395 Naxalites in 2022, in addition to 409 in 2021, according to partial data compiled by SATP. In the current year, as on April 6, 2023, 122 arrests had been recorded. Significantly, since March 6, 2000, a total of 15,993 has been recorded.
The mounting pressure on Naxalites has yielded a large number of surrenders over the past few years. According to SATP, at least 2,855 Naxalites surrender through 2022, in addition to 533 in 2021. During the current year, as on April 6, 2023, the number of surrenders was 97. Since March 6, 2000, a total of 16,581 LWEs have surrendered.
Through 2022, SFs recovered arms from the Maoists in 190 incidents, in addition to 268 such incidents of recovery in 2021. During the current year, as on April 6, 2023, the number of such incidents are 58. Since March 6, 2000, a total of 4,694 incidents of arms recovery are documented.
An analysis of over-ground and underground Maoist activities in the country’s LWE-affected areas also suggests a diminishing influence. According to SATP, in 2022, Maoist activities were reported from 10 States in comparison to 11 States in 2021. (India has a total of 797 Districts in 29 States and nine Union Territories). The 10 affected States have a total of 310 Districts, of which 58 recorded a Maoist presence. Of these 58, three districts fell in the ‘highly affected’ category; 27 in the ‘moderately affected’ category; and 28 were ‘marginally affected’. By comparison in 2021, of 79 affected districts, one district fell in the ‘extremely-affected’ category, four in the ‘highly affected’ category, 28 in the ‘moderately affected’ category, and 46 were ‘marginally affected’.
Indeed, on March 28, 2023, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha (Lower House of the Indian Parliament), announced that the number of districts most affected by LWE had reduced from 35 in 2017 to 30 in April 2018, and then to 25 in July 2021. Further, on March 28, 2023, the Government stated that the “geographical spread of violence has significantly reduced and only 176 Police Stations of 45 districts reported LWE violence in 2022, as compared to a high of 465 Police Stations of 96 districts in 2010”.
Conspicuously, all major LWE-affected states across the country — Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, and Telangana have witnessed an overall improvement in the security situation.
Nevertheless, the Maoist challenge persists.
OThe Perilous Bastar Division, the safe haven of the residual Maoist problem not only in Chhattisgarh but across the entire LWE-affected region, comprising seven densely forested districts - Bastar, Bijapur, Dantewada, Kanker, Kondagaon, Narayanpur and Sukma - sprawling across 40,000 square kilometers, in the southernmost region of the state, is the location of the last Maoist bastions. On November 7, 2022, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Bastar Range, Sundarraj P., asserting that the SFs were committed to wiping out the Maoist threat, nevertheless accepted,
Indeed, on March 28, 2023, the Maoists abducted and killed two villagers, in Narayanpur and Sukma Districts, branding them as ‘Police informers’ (incidents mentioned above).
Moreover, the early data for 2023 suggests that SF dominance on the ground, purely in terms of the kill ratio, has weakened during the first three months of 2023, as compared to the whole of 2022 and earlier. Not surprisingly, civilian insecurity has escalated.
Disturbingly, more than a few deficits in the fighting forces remained noticeable in some of the worst Maoist-afflicted States, according to the Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPR&D) data. BPR&D disclosed, as on January 1, 2021, that there were at least 28 Police Stations in Chhattisgarh, the worst affected State, that had no telephone. In Jharkhand, 47 had no vehicle, 211 had no telephone, and 31 had no wireless/mobile connectivity. In Andhra Pradesh, 65 Police Stations had no vehicle, and 34 had no wireless/mobile connectivity; and in Odisha, four had no vehicle, and three had no telephone.
Moreover, large vacancies persist in the State Police Forces. According to BPR&D data, as on January 1, 2021, against the sanctioned strength of 1,109,260 there were a total of 838,481 policemen in position in 10 LWE-affected States, leaving a vacancy of 270,779, i.e., 24.41 per cent. At the national level, deficits against sanctioned strength were 20.34 per cent, almost the same as the shortage in the Maoist affected States. The police-population ratio (policemen per hundred thousand population) of these 12 States had increased from an average of 138.63 in 2018 to 149.42 in 2019. Meanwhile, the all-India police-population ratio had increased from 150.80 in 2018 to 158.22 in 2019, significantly higher than the levels in the LWE affected States. Importantly, existing police-population ratios in these 12 states remained significantly lower than the sanctioned strength of 183.97. At the national level, the existing levels were also significantly lower than the sanctioned strength of 198.65 per 100,000. Moreover, the number of vacancies in the apex Indian Police Service (IPS) of these 12 States was 595 (22.44 per cent), as against 948 (19.97 per cent) at the national level, considerably weakening executive direction of the Force. These critical deficiencies in the enforcement apparatuses need urgent attention if the gains against the Maoists are to be consolidated further.
The Maoists are down, but yet not out. The overall declining trend in Maoist violence and activity across the country needs to be contained with further security interventions with a sense of urgency, as the Maoists have shown incredible capacities for resurrection in the past, and retain substantial operational and overground capabilities in significant areas of their erstwhile regions of dominance. The SFs will have to overcome prevailing operational and capacity deficits, to prevent any rebel resurgence.
Weekly Fatalities: Major Conflicts in South Asia April 3-9, 2023
Civilians
Security Force Personnel
NS
Total
AFGHANISTAN
BANGLADESH
CHT
INDIA
Chhattisgarh
Jammu and Kashmir
Jharkhand
Manipur
India (Total)
PAKISTAN
Balochistan
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
PAKISTAN (Total)
Total (South Asia)
There is no longer a security threat in Afghanistan, nor is there any threat from Afghanistan to other countries, says Taliban Minister: On April 5, Taliban Foreign Minister Mawlavi Amir Khan Muttaqi met with the Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan Dmitry Aleksandrovich Zhirnov in Kabul where he said that there is no longer a security threat in Afghanistan, nor is there any threat from Afghanistan to other countries Bakhtar News, April 7, 2023.
Taliban spokesperson accuses some countries of using IS-KP against Taliban in Afghanistan: On April 3, Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman for the Taliban, accused some countries of using the Islamic State-Khorasan Province (IS-KP) against Taliban in Afghanistan while dismissing concerns about IS-KP activities in the country as "propaganda". Without naming any countries, he accused them of magnifying the IS-KP group's presence in Afghanistan and using it against Taliban. Hasht e Subh, April 4, 2023.
TRF threatens 30 RSS leaders in Jammu and Kashmir: Thirty members of the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) branch of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) have received threats from The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT). "TRF has threatened largely Muslim leaders who are supposedly associated with RSS so we are also examining the genuineness of the threat," a senior official stated. Hindustan Times, April 6, 2023.
MHA list of 28 Punjab gangsters abroad reveals Khalistani links: On April 3, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) released a list of 28 gangsters hailing from Punjab but have taken political refuge abroad in the name of Khalistan supporters and involved in various crimes, including murder and extortion. One of the most prominent names on the list is Satinderjit Singh alias Goldy Brar, who has direct links to the Khalistani outfit Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) operative Lakhbir Singh, an accused in the Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) attacks in Mohali and Tarn Taran District of Punjab in 2022. India Narrative, April 5, 2023.
Majority of Pakistani attempts to smuggle weapons and narcotics foiled, says ADGP Mukesh Singh: On April 4, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Jammu Zone, Mukesh Singh stated that "Pakistan is making repeated attempts to smuggle weapons, Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) and grenades (in the recent past) but majority of these attempts were foiled as we have full control of the situation (on the borders)". He also assured that all the conspiracies hatched across the border will be foiled. Daily Excelsior, April 5, 2023.
Cease fire agreement between GoI and NSCN-K-NS, NSCN-R and NSCN-K2 in Nagaland extended for one year: On April 6, 2023, cease fire agreement between Government of India (GoI) and Niki Sumi-led faction of National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K-NS), Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland-Reformation (NSCN-R) and Khango Konyak led faction of National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K2) were extended for a period of one year with effect from April 28, 2023 to April 27, 2024. PIB, April 7, 2023.
Number of militants on all-time low in J-K, says DGP Dilbag Singh: The Director General of Police (DGP) Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Dilbag Singh stated on April 6 that "militancy in J&K is not over, but it is ending. The number of militants, whether locals or Pakistani, is at an all-time low". He added that the local youth who were pushed towards militancy, have now returned to the mainstream after leaving that path. Daily Excelsior, April 7, 2023.
Most clauses of 2020 Bodo accord have been implemented, states Union Minister of State for Home Affairs UMHA Nityanand Rai: On April 5, Union Minister of State for Hoe Affairs Nityanand Rai stated that most of the clauses of the 2020 Bodo Accord have been implemented including the surrender of 1,615 cadres along with arms and ammunition, the setting up of Bodo Kachari Welfare Council and the creation of a separate Welfare of Bodoland Department to deal with matters relating to councils under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution including Bodo Territorial Council (BTC). India Today, April 6, 2023.
125 Policemen killed in militant attacks in three months in Khyber Pakhtunkhwat: 125 Police personnel were killed and 212 others sustained injuries in different militant attacks across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the first quarter of 2023, Dawn quoting Provincial Police data reported. A total of 25 cases of militant attacks have been registered with the Police during the three months, Police data shows. Dawn, April 5, 2023.
Militant attacks in country drop by 36 percent in March as compared to February, says PICSS report: Islamabad-based think tank Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) in its report for March 2023 has said that militant attacks in the country dropped by 36 per cent as compared to February 2023. The number of attacks stood at 37 in March in which 57 people lost their lives and 72 others were injured. In February, 59 people were killed in 58 attacks while 134 were wounded. Dawn, April 4, 2023.
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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