South Asia Terrorism Portal

PAKISTAN

Balochistan: 'Death Squads' under Attack
Tushar Ranjan Mohanty
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management

On July 29, 2022, Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) cadres shot dead one 'death squad' member, identified as Zafar, son of Muhammad Jan, resident of Zamuran, in the Kalatuk Meno area of Kech District in Balochistan. Claiming responsibility for the killing, BLF 'spokesman' 'Major' Gwahram Baloch alleged that Zafar was an 'effective' member of the network of the 'occupying state', that was operating against the Baloch national liberation struggle and had been specially tasked by the Army to monitor Nasirabad, Koh Shoormah Band, and surrounding areas. Gwahram Baloch added that Zafar was constantly active and participated in 'aggressions' with the Army in these areas. He was also involved in state-backed theft, dacoity, drug trafficking, land grabs and other felonies.

On July 9, 2022, Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) shot dead two 'death squad' members, identified as Rahim Din, s/o Shehbaz and Qadir Baksh s/o Abdul Fatah, in the Mangochar area of Kalat District in Balochistan. BLA 'spokesman' Jeeyand Baloch claimed responsibility for the attack and alleged that these two persons were

On June 20, 2022, BLF cadres killed one death squad member, identified as Nazeer, son of Huzoor Bakhsh, in the Tank area of Mashkay tehsil (revenue unit) in Awaran District.

On June 6, BLF cadres killed a ‘death squad’ member, Meer Irshad Jatak, at Kand Kashi in Zehri, Khuzdar District. BLF ‘spokesman’ Gwahram Baloch claimed that Jatak was involved in the forcible disappearances and ‘martyrdom’ of many Baloch people at the hands of state forces, as well as in extorting money from innocent and common people and forcing them to ‘surrender’ to the Security Forces (SFs).

According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), during the first seven months and seven days of 2022 (data till August 7, 2022), eight ‘death squad’ members have been killed and five injured in seven attacks. During the corresponding period of 2021, four such incidents resulted in three deaths and six injuries. One incident was reported in the remaining part of 2021, in which one ‘death squad’ member was killed and two were injured.

One of the most prominent killings of a ‘death squad’ member in recent time was on May 21, 2022, when BLF cadres shot dead Noor Ahmad Bangulzae, an important accomplice of Siraj Raisani, the former head of the death squads.  Bangulzae was killed in front of the District Headquarters Hospital in Mastung town (Mastung District). BLF ‘spokesman’ Gwahram Baloch claimed responsibility for the attack and alleged that, after Siraj Raisani’s death on July 13, 2018, Bangulzae had been given all the responsibilities on the political scene and was projected as the leader of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP). His group was active in the areas around Mastung and Bolan, and was involved in the kidnapping and killing of Baloch fighters, as well as in robbery, kidnapping for ransom and extortion.

Earlier, on February 27, BLA cadres killed BAP leader and alleged Kalat District 'death squad' chief Agha Habib Shah, in a targeted explosion near the Shakir Hotel on the Karachi-Quetta National Highway in Hub town (Hub District). BLA claimed that members of its Special Tactical Operations Squad carried out the attack. The BLA statement read,

Zia Langove is the current Provincial Minister for Forest and Wildlife.

‘Death squads’ are locally armed militia of criminals in Balochistan who are patronized by the Army in their mission of carrying out enforced disappearances and the state’s ‘kill-and-dump policy’. These groups often accompany SFs during raids on the homes of political activists, dissidents and ‘pro-independence’ leaders.

The ‘death squads’ are partners in crime in the SF’s systematic campaign of extermination of ethnic Baloch people through enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in Balochistan. According to partial data compiled by the SATP, of the 4,500 civilian fatalities recorded in Balochistan since 2004 (data till August 7, 2022), at least 1,424 have been attributable to one or other terrorist/insurgent outfit. Of these, 453 civilian killings (277 in the South and 176 in the North) have been claimed by Baloch separatist formations, while Islamist and sectarian extremist formations – primarily Islamic State, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Ahrar-ul-Hind (Liberators of India) – claimed responsibility for another 971 civilian killings, 888 in the North (mostly in and around Quetta) and 83 in the South. The remaining 3,076 civilian fatalities – 1,729 in the South and 1,347 in the North – remain 'unattributed', and are largely believed to have been the handiwork of the SFs and their death squad proxies.

In exchange for their services, the Security Forces (SFs) have given a free hand to these death squads throughout Balochistan. They engage in a range of illegal activities, including drug dealing, smuggling of weapons, and running terror training camps and private jails, under the encouraging eye of intelligence agencies.

Shafiq-ur-Rehman Mengal formed the first death squad in Balochistan in 2008 – the Musallah Defah Tanzeem (MDT) – with the mission of ‘defending’ the public from pro-independence groups. Mengal had the support of the Pakistan Army, and his powerful connections helped him raise his militia. Mengal initiated a reign of terror in Balochistan, killing not only suspected nationalists but also political, non-political and tribal rivals. Mengal is also ‘credited’ with the mass graves discovered in 2014 in Tootak, a rural area 55 kilometres to the north of Khuzdar, where 169 dead bodies were recovered.

Several other local militia groups in Balochistan were raised as death squads, including the Zakaria M. Hasni-led death squad in Khuzdar; the Deen Muhammad Deenu-led group in Awaran; another led by Samir Sabzal, Rashid Pathan and Sardar Aziz in Kech; the Maqbool Shambezi group in Panjgur and the Siraj Raisani group in Mastung. Siraj Raisani was killed on July 13, 2018, when a suicide bomber targeted a BAP political rally, killing at least 128 people and injuring more than 200 at Dringarh village in Mastung District.

An investigative report by exiled Baloch journalist Taha Siddiqui published in South Asia Press on April 27, 2021, claimed that, since 2010, the practice of using ‘death squads’ had been intensified and institutionalized, especially in the south-western parts of Balochistan where a full-fledged insurgency has been going on since the killing of Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti on August 26, 2006.

While death squads operate against the Baloch people under state impunity as a result of their cooperation and association with intelligence agencies and the Army, they have now come under increasing threat from Baloch militant groups. It remains to be seen how these murderous gangs protect themselves, and are protected by the state’s agencies.

INDIA

Odisha: Red Irritant
Deepak Kumar Nayak
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management

A release from the Odisha State Police Headquarters, on August 4, 2022, read,

Indeed, according to the partial data collated by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), no Maoist-linked incident was reported during the Martyrs Week in 2022. In fact, it was way back in 2018 that three incidents were reported: Maoists organized a 'Praja Meli' (Villagers Assembly) in a bid to mobilise public support on the last day of 'Martyrs' Week' (Shaheed Saptah) in Koraput District on August 3; a man sustained critical injuries after being shot at by CPI-Maoist cadres in Koraput District on July 29; and the Maoists organised a camp to register their protest against the inauguration of the Gurupriya Bridge in Malkangiri District on July 28. Moreover, the last fatality reported during the 'Martyrs' Week' was on July 29, 2014, when a tribal village head, identified as Bira Padiami, was killed and his wife critically injured in an explosion inside the forest near Darbhaguda village in the Kalimela Police Station area in Malkangiri District.

On August 1, 2022, Odisha Minister of State (MoS) for Home Tusharkanti Behera informed the State Legislative Assembly that a total of 231 Security Force (SF) personnel and 342 civilians had been killed in Naxalite [Left Wing Extremism, LWE] violence in the State from 2000 to 2021. During the same period, a total of 331 SF personnel and 176 civilians were injured in such violence. He also disclosed that as many as 431 Naxalites [Left Wing Extremists], militia members and sympathisers had surrendered in Odisha between 2012 and 2022, and had returned to the mainstream. He, however, did not provide the number of Naxalites killed.

Further, on July 20, 2022, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik informed the State Assembly that “the intensity of overall Maoist violence has come down in the State.”

While there is visible and overall improvement, recent data suggests that residual problems continue to afflict the State.

According to the SATP database, Odisha recorded at least seven fatalities (four civilians and three SF personnel) in the first half of 2022 (data till June 30). During the corresponding period in 2021, five fatalities (two civilians and three Maoists) were recorded. The last fatality, in the current year, was reported on June 21, 2022.

Half-Yearly CPI-Maoist linked Fatality in Odisha: 2000-2022*

An analysis of the half-yearly fatalities suggests an upward trend in the State after 2020. The number of civilian fatalities, a key index of security in a region, increased from two in 2021 to four in 2022. There were two civilian fatalities in this category, during the January-August 5 period in 2020 as well. 2020 and 2021 civilian fatalities were the lowest since 2015, when there were seven such fatalities during this period.

Moreover, while the State had not recorded any SF fatality during this period, for three consecutive years (2019 and 2021), 2022 has registered three SF fatalities. On the other hand, no Maoist was killed. This is the first time since 2017 that the kill ratio in the first seven months of a year favors the Maoists.

On June 21, 2022, three Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel, including two Assistant Sub-Inspectors (ASI)s, were killed in a CPI-Maoist attack in the Patadhara Reserve Forest in the Bheden Block (administrative division) of Nuapada District. The attack reportedly took place when the CRPF personnel were going from one camp to another, and it is suspected that the Maoists had prior information regarding the movement of the Forces.

Taking note on the incident, CRPF Director General (DG) Kuldiep Singh asked all Inspector Generals of Police (IGP) in the State to suspend all Road-Opening Parties (ROPs) until they fulfilled checks and drills given by the headquarters and certified them.

An unnamed senior official of CRPF, said,

Annual data also suggests some sources of additional concern. On year-on-year basis, though civilian fatalities declined between 2017 and 2021, dropping from 27 in 2016 to three in 2021, they are already at four in 2022, with almost five months still left (data till August 7). Similarly, in the SF category, while SF fatalities dropped from nine in 2017 to one each in 2018 and 2019, they increased to two in 2020, though no such fatality was recorded in 2021. However, three SF fatalities have already taken place in 2022 (till August 7). A maximum of 27 civilians were killed in 2010 and 77 SF personnel in 2008.

Significantly, according to a June 23, 2022, report, the Contractors’ Association of Kalahandi District came forward and put-up posters pleading with the rebels to support them in road construction works. The leaflets were addressed to the CPI-Maoist Odisha ‘State Committee’, requesting the Maoists not to make any disturbances in the ongoing projects citing that the road works along with all the amenities would contribute to the lives of the locals. Further, the association emphasized that students would receive better education with the installation of telecom towers in remote pockets. The posters also stated that tribals had a right to live a better life, and this should not be hampered by the Maoists, as development in the region alone could improve their next generation.

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) included Kandhamal, Malkangiri and Kalahandi Districts, in its list, issued on June 19, 2021, of ‘25 Most Affected Districts’  from eight States across India. Further, Koraput is classified as a 'District of Concern' among eight such Districts in six States. Moreover, 10 Districts, Bargarh, Bolangir, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Nuapada, Rayagada, and Sundargarh, in Odisha are also included among the 70 Naxal-affected Districts in 10 States across India, which are covered under the Centre’s ‘Security Related Expenditure (SRE)’ scheme, which funds focused operations against the rebels.

Meanwhile, according to a July 14, 2022, report, a joint meeting of the Odisha Police and Chhattisgarh Police was held on July 14, 2022, at Raipur of Chhattisgarh, with the objective of intensifying operations against the Maoists to thwart their possible activities in the near future. Both the States also agreed to monitor the border check posts to block the movement of Naxalites.

Currently, 46 CRPF battalions (each deploying around 400 personnel on the ground), and 48 Border Security Force (BSF) Companies (each deploying about 80 personnel on the ground) are located in 10 Districts in Odisha – Bargarh, Bolangir, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Nuapada, Rayagada, and Sundargarh – to counter the Maoists.

The Maoist have faced dramatic reverses in the State as well as across the country. Nevertheless, they continue to make sustained efforts to regain their influence in the region, albeit with little success. Continuous and sustained SF operations are consequently needed to further consolidate the SF successes in the State.