South Asia Terrorism Portal

Bangladesh

Bangladesh: Rohingya turmoil
Sanchita Bhattacharya
Research Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management

On June 2, 2023, a Rohingya man, identified as Mohammad Rdwan, was shot dead and another, named Ayas, was injured in an attack by some unidentified gunmen in Ukhiya upazila (sub-district) in Cox’s Bazar District. An Armed Police Battalion (APBn) official said that assailants had carried out the attack to establish dominance in the camp.

On May 11, 2023, a Rohingya man, Kabir Ahmad, was shot dead while another, Mohammad Rafiq, was injured in an attack by 10-12 unidentified gunmen in the Palangkhali refugee camp under Ukhiya upazila.

On May 7, 2023, an operative of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) was beaten to death by local residents at a Rohingya camp in Ukhiya. In the opening fire by ARSA operatives, three Rohingyas, identified as Ramida Khatun, Mohammad Rafiq, and Zubayer, were injured

Though precise data regarding fatalities is not available, according to partial data collated by the Institute for Conflict Management (ICM), at least 165 persons, including 74 civilians, 45 Rohingya criminals, 45 militants and one Policeman have been killed in violence in and around Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar District since August 15, 2017. The violence is primarily the result of inter/intra group rivalries between criminal-terrorist groups operating in the region, and their efforts to establish their dominance.

On August 15, 2017, Muslim insurgents calling themselves ARSA launched an assault on 30 Myanmar Police posts and an Army base in the north of the Rakhine State of Myanmar, in which nearly 80 insurgents and 12 members of the Security Forces were killed. As fighting intensified between the Myanmar Army and ARSA, thousands of Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh. More than 725,000 Rohingyas fled Myanmar, to Bangladesh. Since then, the Rohingya refugee issue has repeatedly cropped up in the mainstream political discourse in Bangladesh in particular, and in the wider South Asia region in general. Rohingya refugees had crossed the border and entered Bangladesh earlier as well, with significant spikes following violent attacks in 1978, 1991-1992, and again in 2016. As of April 2023, over 950,000 stateless Rohingya refugees were residing in the Ukhiya and Teknaf sub-districts of Cox’s Bazar. The vast majority live in 34 extremely congested camps, including the largest single location, the Kutupalong-Balukhali Expansion Site.

Unfortunately, these camps have turned into deadly crime zones.

Meanwhile, a report placed by the Ministry of Defence, before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence on February 15, 2023 stated that, at the time, 10 criminal-terror gangs were active within Rohingya camps. Among them, ARSA was active in Ukhiya, Balukhali, Palongkhali and Huaikong camps. Previously known as Harakah Al Yakin, this group is responsible for launching multiple attacks on the Myanmar Army. Another influential group, the Rohingya Solidarity Organization (RSO), also operates in Ukhiya and Palongkhali camps. This group was formed in the 1990s and resurfaced after the 2017 influx. Furthermore, Islamic Mahaz is active in the Hoikung camp and the Master Munna group in Ukhiya and Palongkhali camps. The report further stated that six robbery rings are active in the Nayapara camp: Chakma robber group, Putia robber group, Nabi Hussain robber group, Zakir robber group, Khalek robber group, and Salman Shah robber group. Separately, the Jabu robber group operates in the Waikong camp. The report also stated that, in 2021, 22 incidents of murder took place. In 2022, the number rose to 32.

A December 13, 2022, report, citing Police sources, claimed that at least 2,441 cases had been registered over the preceding five years, in relation to murders, weapons, drugs, abductions, and rapes, among others.

Earlier, in August 2022, Rafiqul Islam, Additional Superintendent of Police in Cox's Bazar, disclosed that they found the involvement of Rohingya people in 14 types of criminal activities inside 34 camps, including drugs and human trafficking, abduction, theft, robbery, snatching arms and rape.

There are numerous reasons behind such crimes, the most significant being the necessity of various insurgent organisations to dominate and control the illegal trade related with human trafficking, drug peddling and other criminal activities. Such rivalries result in chaos and an unceasing cycle of violence. For instance, as reported on February 26, 2023, Ko Ko Linn, a leader of RSO, circulated an audio recording urging his followers to carry out mass killings of members of ARSA, located in the camps in Ukhiya. The recording was made after the destruction of the ‘Zero Point’ Rohingya refugee camp by RSO on January 18, 2023. The audio recording has raised serious concerns about the role of the leadership of RSO in the refugee camps. Earlier, on January 19, a gun battle between ARSA and RSO at a refugee camp on the no-man's-land (zero line) along Tambru border in Bandarban District caused the entry of at least 500 Rohingyas into Bangladesh, forcing them to take refuge at a school in the Tambru area of Naikhongchhari Sub-District, according to Muhammad Alam, a member of the Ghumdhum Union Parishad.

On January 21, 2023, wanted Burmese language posters depicting the ‘chief’ of ARSA, identified as Ataullah Abu Ammar alias Jununi, and 27 other suspected terrorists were displayed at various Rohingya camps in Kutupalong and Balukhali in Cox's Bazar District in the Chittagong Division. The posters also show names of each of their family members. The APBn stated that they were unaware of who put up the posters. According to Balukhali Camp-8 leader Mohammad Khalil, the poster said, "They are terrorists. We ask you to help catch these people. If anyone sees them in any camp, please let the authorities know.”

These camps have also become dens of illegal drug smuggling. On January 30, 2023, a court in Cox's Bazar sentenced eight Rohingya men to life imprisonment in a case of smuggling some 200,000 narcotic pills into the country in 2019. They were also fined BDT 100,000 each. According to the case documents, on September 19, 2019, a team of the Teknaf Coast Guard seized a fishing boat from Chera Dwip in Saint Martins under the Teknaf Sub-District of Cox's Bazar District. Earlier, Cox's Bazar Senior District and Sessions Judge's Court on November 16, 2023, sentenced four people, including a Rohingya, to death in a case filed over smuggling 1,300,000 Yaba (a cocktail of methamphetamine and caffeine) pills. Judge Mohammad Ismail handed down the sentence around noon and fined each of the convicts BDT 50,000. The case was filed with Cox's Bazar Sadar Model Police Station on August 23, 2020.

Also, a large number of narcotics seizures are regularly recorded in Cox’s Bazar. According to partial data compiled by the ICM, at least 369 incidents of drug recovery have been reported since 2021, in which 2,830 persons have been arrested (data till June 11, 2023). In a recent major haul, on May 6, 2023, RAB arrested four persons along with 24 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine near the Ukhiya-Palangkhali border in Cox's Bazar. Earlier, on April 26, in another major haul, Border Guard Bangladesh recovered over 21.09 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine from Ukhiya.

Many Rohingya youth try to escape the Refugee Camps through sea routes towards South East Asian countries, and in the process some of them get involved in criminal activities as well. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) disclosed that over 3,500 Rohingyas attempted sea crossings in 39 boats in the Bay of Bengal in 2022. UNHCR also reports a 360 per cent increase over the year before (2021) when some 700 people made similar journeys, UNHCR Spokesperson Shabia Mantoo stated on January 17, 2023. Some 3,040 individuals who undertook the sea journey disembarked in 2022, primarily in Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh.

While the Bangladesh government has been taking care of the Rohingya refugees in spite of a challenging economic situation, the available facilities and aid appear insufficient, mainly because of reduced funding from the foreign donors. As reported on February 16, 2023, the Bangladesh government and UN humanitarian agencies sought USD 881 million from various donors across the world in 2022, but the latter only disbursed a total of USD 431 million to the Joint Response Plan (JRP) fund. There is also uncertainty regarding the quantum of funds the government will get in 2023, to support the Rohingyas. In the meantime, on February 20, 2023, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina sought assistance from the UN to relocate Rohingya refugees from the camps in Cox’s Bazar to a housing project in Bhasan Char Island under the Hatiya Sub-District in Naokhali District. She made this appeal when UN Resident Coordinator Gwyn Lewis met her in Dhaka, stating “If the Rohingya can be relocated to Bhasan Char, where accommodations for over 100,000 people have been created with livelihoods, they can lead a dignified life in a liveable atmosphere.”

As of January 2023, 29,510 Rohingyas have been relocated in 15 phases, to Bhashan Char. In addition, in May 2021, 306 Rohingya who tried to cross the sea illegally to Malaysia were rescued and transferred to the Bhasan Char Camp.

The Government is facing enormous stress in dealing with the Rohingyas, due to rampant crime, and is seeking urgent repatriation to Myanmar. On May 29, Bangladesh Foreign Minister A.K. Abdul Momen stated, “For Rohingyas, better future is only possible in Myanmar, not in Bangladesh. Confidence building measures are being taken. It is better they start returning to Myanmar.” Earlier, a 17-member delegation from Myanmar reached Teknaf in Cox's Bazar District on March 15, 2023, to scrutinise the list of Rohingyas for repatriation, sent by Bangladesh to Myanmar. The delegation started verifying the identities of the Rohingya refugees in the Teknaf Sub-District of Cox’s Bazar. Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Mohammed Mizanur Rahman stated that there was a list of 1,140 Rohingyas who are to be repatriated under the pilot project, of which 711 have had their cases cleared.

Bangladesh is facing the brunt of the burden of Rohingya refugee flows due to its geographical proximity to Myanmar. The government is taking care of the refugees and also dealing with the increasing law and order problems some of them are creating. This issue can only be addressed with a substantial increase in aid from humanitarian agencies and, eventually, with the Myanmar government’s accelerated repatriation of the Rohingyas, who belong to Myanmar and not Bangladesh.

Pakistan

Pakistan: Fanaticism risks polio
Tushar Ranjan Mohanty
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management

On May 31, 2023, a soldier was killed when terrorists opened fire on members of a polio inoculation team in the Spinwam area of North Waziristan District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

On May 25, 2023, three Policemen, accompanying a polio vaccination team, were injured in an attack by militants near Mirdarra Bridge in the Bagh-Maidan Markaz area of Tirah Tehsil (revenue unit) in the Khyber District of KP.

On May 19, 2023, a Police Constable, identified as Shahzad Ahmad Bangalzai, was killed in an attack on female workers of a polio vaccination team in the rural areas of Kali Kariz, a suburban area of Mastung District in Balochistan. The members of the anti-polio team remained unharmed in the attack.

These three incidents of attack targeting polio vaccination team and the Security Forces (SFs) giving protection to the polio campaign launched on May 15, 2023, under the second phase of the Sub-National Immunization Campaign 2023, in selected Districts of all the provinces. The second phase campaign which started on May 15 and ended on June 6 was held in three parts. The first part was conducted from May 15-19 in 12 Districts of Punjab including Islamabad, 18 Districts of Balochistan and 17 Districts of Sindh. The second part was conducted from May 22-26 in 22 Districts of KP. In the third part, May 29-June 5, it was conducted in the seven Districts of Southern KP and Quetta (Balochistan).

The first phase of the Sub-National Immunization campaign was held on January 16, 2023, and, unlike most of the earlier phases as well as the second phase of 2023, was peaceful, with no attacks recorded. However, before the campaign day, five Police personnel deployed on the security of polio workers were injured when unidentified terrorists opened fire and threw hand grenades on their vehicle at Hussaini Chowk in Dera Ismail Khan town (Dera Ismail Khan District) in KP on January 5, 2023. One terrorist also sustained injuries in retaliatory fire by Police personnel. However, the terrorists managed to escape.

The polio immunization campaign held in four phases in 2022 was also marred by terrorist violence. According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), at least seven Policemen and two Polio workers were killed during the 2022 campaign. While the first phase, January 17-January 24, was by and large peaceful, there was one incident of killing of a Policeman on January 25. The second phase, June 27-July 3, claimed three lives, including two policemen and one polio worker. Though the third phase, August 19–August 29, did not witness any violence, two Policemen escorting a polio team for a survey in the area were killed by armed men on August 16, in the Tank District of KP.

The fourth phase was conducted between October 24–30, during which two incidents of attack were reported, in which two Policemen were killed.

The first polio immunisation-linked incident of violence recorded by the SATP database was reported on July 20, 2012, when unidentified terrorists shot dead Doctor Ishaq, 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. At least 131 persons (58 health workers and 73 Policemen) have been killed in such violence since then. Another 84 persons (54 health workers and 30 policemen) have been injured in such violence.

In 2012, at least 13 persons (all polio workers) were killed in attacks targeting the inoculation campaign. There were 18 fatalities (eight polio workers and 10 SF personnel) in 2013; 39 (12 polio workers and 27 SF personnel) in 2014; 12 (six polio workers and six SF personnel) in 2015; 13 (five polio workers and eight SF 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 eight (all SF personnel) in 2021.

Islamist terrorists violently oppose all forms of inoculation, and their resistance grew after the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reportedly organised a fake vaccination drive by Doctor Shakil Afridi, to track down Al-Qaeda's former chief Osama Bin Laden, who was killed at Abbottabad, KP, by United States SEALs in the intervening night of May 1-2, 2011. Terrorists and extremists also spread negative propaganda against the vaccination campaigns, including the canard that the vaccination drops were part of a western plot to sterilise Muslims.

The polio vaccination campaign in Pakistan has not only suffered at the hands of terrorists but also due to Islamist fatwas (religious edicts) from orthodox or extremist forces in the country. An early Fatwa came from cleric Maulvi Ibrahim Chisti in Muzaffargarh District of Punjab on June 12, 2012. Declaring the anti-polio campaign “un-Islamic,” Chisti had warned that a jihad (holy war) would be launched against polio vaccination teams.

Subsequent to 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, curiously, until the CIA stopped its drone strikes in the region. Bahadur’s declaration was a reflection of the consensus reached by various terrorist outfits that formed the Shura-e-Mujaheddin (Council of Islamic fighters).

Again, on July 31, 2019, TTP warned people against polio vaccination. The one-page message in Urdu seen by people in Miranshah, the headquarters of the North Waziristan District, cautioned the public not to allow 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.

After the COVID-19 crisis diminished, as soon as polio campaign was restarted, the attacks by the extremists resumed. During the August 2-6, 2021, campaign, three attacks on Polio workers and their security team were reported in which two policemen were killed and another policeman sustained injuries. Similarly, during the December 10-13, 2021, campaign, three incidents of attack were reported in which two policemen were killed and another one sustained injuries.

The Government claims to have provided ‘fool proof security’ to the vaccination teams. Pakistan National Coordinator for the Polio programme, Brigadier Doctor Shahzad Baig, reiterated, on June 20, 2022, “Every team is escorted by security, by law enforcement agencies, either police [or] army. And I want to bring it on notice that, so far, the polio program has lost 50 lives in the line of duty to extremist bombings and shootings”. He did not, however, specify the period over which these 50 deaths took place.

Pakistan is one of just two remaining countries in the world where polio is still categorized as ‘endemic’, the other one being Afghanistan. As of May 31, 2023, there two polio cases have been detected in Pakistan. 20 cases were detected in the country in 2022, one in 2021, and 84 in 2020.

Despite the Government’s effort to protect each Polio team on ground, the attacks underline the enormous dangers of religious extremism and the enduring risk to countries that fail to overcome the irrational prejudices and fear that have undermined the immunization campaigns in Pakistan, as well as in its equally exposed neighbour, Afghanistan.

Afghanistan

Taliban senior ‘commander’ among 16 persons killed in a bomb blast in Badakhshan Province: On June 8, a Taliban senior ‘commander’ of Badakhshan, identified as Mawlawi Safiullah, and 12 others were killed in a bomb blast at 10:50am [AST] inside the Nabawi Mosque in the provincial capital Faiz Abad. 30 others were injured in the explosion. The Islamic State-Khorasan Province (IS-KP) on June 9 claimed the responsibility for the blast.  Hasht-e Subh Daily, June 8-9, 2023.

Taliban’s decision of halting operations of organizations aiding Afghan education would be “horrendous”, says UN Secretary General’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric: Stephane Dujarric, the United Nations (UN) Secretary General’s spokesman said that the decision of the interim Afghan government (Taliban) to halt operations of organizations aiding Afghan education would be "horrendous". He added that "if this would come to pass, this would be another horrendous step backwards for the people of Afghanistan."  TOLO News, June 10, 2023.

28.8 million Afghans need humanitarian aid, says OCHA: A new United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) report said that the estimated number of people in need of humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan has increased to 28.8 million (up from 28.3 million at the beginning of 2023). This report further said, "Between June and December 2023, humanitarian partners will require USD 2.26 billion to deliver prioritized multi-sectorial assistance to 20 million people."

Meanwhile, on June 8, the United Nations (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) announced that despite the challenging operating environment, the organization has delivered aid to more than 17.3 million people in Afghanistan over the past five months.  TOLO News, June 6 and June 10, 2023.

India

Pakistan-based terrorists plotting attack on Amarnath Yatra in J&K, say sources: Ahead of Amarnath Yatra in Anantnag District of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), sources reveal that Pakistan-based terrorists might target Security Forces (SFs) and Amarnath Yatra convoy to disrupt the pilgrimage. Rafiq Nai and Mohammad Amin Butt, operating from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), have been assigned the responsibility of targeting the Yatra and carrying out terror activities in specific regions, as per sources.  Daily Excelsior, June 7, 2023.

Recently busted HuT module was planning to attack Hindu religious sites, according to NIA: The First Information Report (FIR) registered by National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with the Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT) case stated that the HuT module busted in Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh and Hyderabad in Telangana on May 9, was planning to attack various religious leaders and places, specifically those linked to Hinduism. The module was also palling to attack crowded places. The attacks were planned to create terror among “non-believers” or those opposed to Islamic rule in India.  Times of India, June 7, 2023.

ISI and terror groups using women and juveniles for spreading terror in Kashmir Valley, says GOC 15 Corps Amardeep Singh Aujla: General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Srinagar-based 15 Corps, Lt. Gen. Amardeep Singh Aujla disclosed that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and terror groups in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) are involving women, girls, and juveniles in carrying messages, drugs or, at times, weapons, as traditional means of communication decline. The use of tech intelligence has reduced, prompting the enlistment of alternative messengers.  Daily Excelsior, June 11, 2023.

124 assets allegedly linked to terror funding recovered in J&K, says J&K administration: According to the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) administration, the State Investigation Agency (SIA) and Jammu and Kashmir Police (JKP) have recovered 124 properties allegedly used for funding militant activities in the Union Territory (UT), with 77 of them belonging to Jamat-e-Islami (JeI). These properties have been established to be either proceeds of terrorism or used in activities aimed at furthering terrorism and secessionism, according to an official release.  The Indian Express, June 9, 2023.

Pakistan

UN report finds ‘strong and symbiotic’ links between Afghan Taliban, Al-Qaeda and TTP: A report published by the United Nations (UN) on June 9 said the link between the Afghan Taliban and outfits like Al-Qaeda and Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) remains “strong and symbiotic”. The fourteenth report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team of the UN Security Council’s 1988 Taliban Sanctions Committee noted that a “range of terrorist groups has greater freedom of manoeuvre under the Taliban de facto authorities”.  DAWN, June 12, 2023.