South Asia Terrorism Portal
Polio: Crippling Faith Tushar Ranjan Mohanty Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
On June 8, 2024, five people, including two Policemen, were injured when unidentified assailants opened fire on a polio vaccination team in the Kulachi tehsil (revenue unit) of Dera Ismail Khan District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
On June 4, 2024, a Policeman assigned to polio workers protection duty was shot dead by unidentified assailants in the Suleman Khel area of Peshawar, the provincial capital of KP. Policeman, identified as Shahnawaz, was killed in the Suleman Khel area when he was going to perform his duty. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the killing.
On June 3, 2024, four Levies Force personnel guarding the polio campaign team and two female polio drive team members were injured when a mob armed with sticks and batons attacked a polio vaccine team in the Chaman town (Chaman District) of Balochistan. Deputy Commissioner Raja Athar Abbas said the attackers were members of a sit-in protest being held in Chaman against the polio vaccination campaign, which began on June 3 in Balochistan.
On June 3, 2024, an unidentified assailant was killed while one Policeman sustained injuries in a clash when a group of four assailants attacked a polio vaccination team in the Wargari Bhittani area of Lakki Marwat District in KP. While one assailant was killed in retaliatory fire by the Polio security team, the other three assailants managed to escape.
These three attacks came against the backdrop of the 2024 Fourth Phase of the National five-day anti-polio vaccination drive which commenced on June 3, 2024, targeting around 16.5 million children across the country. "More than 16.5 million children under the age of five will be vaccinated in a crucial polio campaign beginning on June 3 in 66 Districts, ahead of the high-travel season of Eid-ul-Adha," a Federal Ministry of Health press release stated. The press release further disclosed that the five-day campaign was to be implemented in 36 Districts in full, and partially in 30 Districts, including Islamabad, 20 Districts of Balochistan, 23 Districts of KP, 16 Districts of Sindh and six districts of Punjab were included in the campaign.
Speaking on the occasion of the National anti-polio vaccination drive, the Prime Minister's Coordinator on National Health Services, Malik Mukhtar Ahmed Bharath, called on parents and caregivers to ensure their children received the best care possible, adding, "Poliovirus has paralyzed 4 children this year and is consistently being detected in sewage samples, which means the risk to children remains very high." The latest reports indicate that the country's fifth case of polio this year has been detected in Quetta.
Whenever a polio campaign is launched in the country, incidents of attack targeting polio vaccination teams and the Security Forces (SFs) giving protection to them are recorded. Earlier during the third phase of seven-day anti-polio drive began between April 29 and May 5, 2024, targeting more than 24.4 million children under 5 across 91 Districts, several incidents of attack on people associated with Polio campaign were recorded. On April 30, for instance, a Policeman, identified as Azam Khan, guarding a polio vaccination team, was shot dead by unidentified terrorists in the Mamund area of Bajaur District in KP. On May 2, a Police van guarding a Polio vaccination team came under heavy firing in the Tank District of KP. A deputy superintendent of Police (DSP) was also in the mobile van. The attackers managed to escape after retaliation by the Police. The members of the polio team and Police personnel did not sustain any injuries in this attack.
The second phase of anti-polio drive, conducted from February 26 to March 3, and in 33 Districts of KP from March 2 to March 6, targeting more than 45.8 million children, also seen targeted attacks on Polio workers. On February 28-evening, a polio vaccinator was killed by unidentified assailants after he returned from his duty on in Bhittani subdivision of Lakki Marwat District in KP. The decapitated body was found close to his house in the early morning of February 29. On March 4, a polio vaccinator and a Policeman guarding polio teams were injured when unidentified assailants opened firing on them in Bar Qambarkhel area of Bara tehsil in Khyber District of KP. On March 5, a Policeman escorting a polio team was shot at and injured in an attack by unidentified assailants in Pirsadi area of Mardan District in KP.
Similarly, the first phase of anti-polio drive, between January 8 and 14, was also marred by violence when, on January 8, at least seven Police personnel were killed and 22 were injured in a bomb attack on a Police vehicle, when they were on their way to perform security duties for polio vaccinators in the Mamond tehsil (revenue unit) of Bajaur District in KP. Both Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) separately claimed responsibility for the attack. On January 12, a Police constable, Jameel Ahmed, who was assigned to safeguard polio workers, was killed in a gun attack by unidentified motorcycle-borne assailants near the Eastern Bypass School in Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan. On January 9, two Policemen were killed and another two were injured, as terrorists attacked Policemen deployed for the protection of the Polio team in the Miryan area of Bannu District in KP. Two terrorists were also killed in the subsequent retaliation.
Apart from these time attacks during anti-polio vaccination campaigns, people associated with Polio vaccination also faced hostility and attacks in other times. According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), at least 13 Policemen, three militants and two Polio workers have been killed in 16 incidents of attack in 2024, till date (Data till June 9, 2024). Another 40 persons, including 12 Policemen have sustained injuries during this period.
In 2023, the polio immunization campaign, which was also held in four phases, was marred by terrorist violence. At least four Policemen and one Polio worker were killed during the 2023 campaign. While the first phase, January 15-18, was by and large peaceful, the second phase, May 15-June 6, claimed the life of one Policemen, while three others were injured. The third phase, between August 1-10, claimed the lives of three Policemen in two separate attacks. During the fourth phase, which was conducted between October 2 and 6, three incidents of attack were reported, in which one Polio worker was killed and two Polio workers sustained injuries.
The 2022 polio immunization campaign was also no exception, with at least seven Policemen and two Polio workers killed during the campaign. While the first phase, January 17-January 24, was by and large peaceful, there was one incident of the 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 record 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. During the fourth phase, which was conducted between October 24 and 30, 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. The Polio immunisation programme in Pakistan has been under escalated threat from Islamist terrorists since the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reportedly organised a fake vaccination drive by Doctor Shakeel 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. Polio vaccination has historically been resisted by fundamentalist and extremist elements in Pakistan, and the Polio vaccination were suspended for three years between 2009-2012 due to the hostility of militant elements. Terrorists and extremists also spread vicious propaganda against the vaccination campaigns, including the canard that the vaccination drops were part of a western plot to sterilise Muslims.
Since the first attack on Polio workers in 2012 recorded in the partial data compiled by SATP, at least 155 persons (91 Policemen, 61 health workers and three militants) have been killed in such violence (Data till June 9, 2024). Another 126 persons (83 health workers and 43 policemen) have been injured in such violence.
According to a Dawn report of January 9, 2024, in KP province alone, 106 people have been killed in polio-related incidents since 2012. The report puts the number of injured Policemen and polio workers at 162 during this period. A total of 13 people have been kidnapped during vaccination drives. Vaccinators have fallen to bullets of unidentified assailants for long, but not as aggressively as they had been since 2012. The year 2014 recorded 17 deaths, the highest for any year since 2012. In each of 2013 and 2016, militants killed 13 people. According to the Dawn report, Peshawar has recorded 23 such killings since 2012; Charsadda, 12; Swabi and Dera Ismail Khan, 10 each; Bannu, nine; Bajaur, seven; Mardan six; Tank, five; Mansehra and North Waziristan, four each; Bannu and Buner, three each; Lower Dir, Swat and Khyber, two each; and one person each was killed during anti-polio campaigns in South Waziristan, Nowshera, Kurram and Lakki Marwat.
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 June 8, 2024, five polio cases have been detected in Pakistan. Two six cases were detected in the country in 2023, 20 in 2022, one in 2021, and 84 in 2020.
Since 1994, the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme has been driven by up to 339,521 trained and dedicated polio workers, the largest surveillance network in the world. The Government provided security to the vaccination teams. However, terrorists continue to hunt down both Polio workers as well as their security teams. A Hindustan Times report on April 13, 2023, stated that Police officials in the North Waziristan District of KP had refused to join polio vaccination duty, as they feared attacks by TTP terrorists.
Not only SFs but also the parents are also afraid to get their children vaccinated, due to fear of Islamist terrorists, as well as due to their own blind belief. To deal with this, the Government of Pakistan has been considering a law to fine and imprison parents who refuse to get their children vaccinated. On August 25, 2023, the Sindh Governor signed the Sindh Immunization and Epidemics Control Bill 2023, under Section (1) of which the concerned deputy commissioner (DC) has been given powers to impose penalties. The accused parents can face a one-month jail term and PKR 50,000 in fines. According to a Pakistan Today report of April 13, 2024, over 63,000 parents across Pakistan refused to vaccinate their children during the second phase of national anti-polio drive in 2024. The breakdown of the refusal rates by province was: 38,749 parents in Sindh declined the drops, followed by 20,392 in KP and 4,081 in Balochistan; 175 in Punjab, 75 in Islamabad, and 24 in Pakistan Administered Kashmir.
While the sections of the general public remain hesitant in administering Polio drops to their children due to prevalent societal taboos, their blind beliefs are fuelled further by the elders of society. Thus, on November 29, 2023, the Utmanzai Jirga (council of tribal elders) of North Waziristan District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa declared a fine of PKR 500,000 on parents who allowed their children to be vaccinated for polio. The Jirga spokesperson, Mufti Baitullah, announced a complete ban on the vaccination campaign, imposing heavy fines on violators. Adding to the gravity of the situation, the Jirga shut down the Bannu-Miranshah Road to all types of vehicular traffic, causing significant disruption.
Having failed to address the taboo related to Polio vaccination, the Government has sought to blame others. On June 7, Pakistan Polio Eradication Program chief Dr. Shahzad Baig resigned from office, citing the 'failure' to contain the spread of the crippling virus. Dr. Shahzad Baig was asked to 'quit' by the Government on account of his 'failure'.
Similarly, on October 2023, the Pakistan Government blame Afghanistan for its Polio problem. Federal Interim Health Minister Dr. Nadeem Jan sated, on October 5, 2023, that 90 per cent of cases in the country were "imported from Afghanistan." Speaking about the rising number of polio cases in an interview with the Dawn News programme 'Doosra Rukh', the Health Minister claimed: "Our surveillance is optimal. Of the 34 samples that we have received, 90 per cent have come from Afghanistan… our own are even less than 10 per cent".
The structure of state power in Pakistan has been constructed on an Islamist fundamentalism that promotes blind belief and extreme prejudice. It is this environment that has allowed Polio to survive in this country and to continue to disable her children - even as a comparable environment of bigotry and fanaticism afflicts the only other country where this disease persists, Afghanistan. As long as the state itself continues to promote ideologies of extremism, it is unlikely that it will succeed in targeted campaigns to rid the country of this crippling disease.
Chhattisgarh: Narayanpur: No sanctuary is safe Deepak Kumar Nayak Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
On June 7, 2024, six Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres, belonging to the 'military company number 6' of the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) and east Bastar division formations of the CPI-Maoist, one of the notable Maoist attack forces, and carrying a cumulative bounty of INR 3.8 million, were killed in an encounter in a forest near Gobel and Thulthuli villages under Orchha Police Station limits in the Narayanpur District of the Bastar Division of Chhattisgarh. Three District Reserve Guard (DRG) personnel, Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) Kachru Ram Korram (45), and constables Manglu Ram Kumeti (47) and Bharat Singh Dharal (23), also sustained critical injuries in the encounter.
Reportedly, acting on inputs about the presence of Maoists of PLGA military company no. 6 and east Bastar division formations in the villages of Thulthuli and Gobel, personnel belonging to the DRG from four districts - Narayanpur, Kondagaon, Dantewada, and Bastar - and the 45th Battalion of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the 95th Battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) launched the operation. After the encounter, during a search of the site, bodies of six Maoists clad in 'uniform' were recovered from different places, along with two.303 rifles, one.315 bore rifle, 10 Barrel Grenade Launcher (BGL) shells, one Self-Loading Rifle (SLR) magazine, a cooker bomb, five bags, and a cache of explosives, medicines, and items of daily use. Four of the six slain Maoists were identified as Masiya alias Mesiya Mandavi (32), sniper team 'commander' and platoon no. 2 section A 'commander'; Ramesh Korram (29), 'deputy commander'; Sanni alias Sundari, party member; and Sajanti Poyam, member of the PLGA company no. 6 under the east Bastar division of Maoists. These four had a reward of INR 800,000 each on their heads. The remaining two slain Maoists were identified as Jailal Salaam, active as Bayanar 'area committee member (ACM) with a reward of INR 500,000 on his head; and Janani alias Janni (28), with a bounty of INR 100,000 on his head.
On June 5, 2024, armed cadres of the CPI-Maoist launched an attack on the Security Forces' (SFs') newly established Police camp in Irakbhatti under Kohakmeta Police Station limits in Narayanpur District. During the attack, the extremists used country-made Barrel Grenade Launchers (BGL) targeting the camp, triggering reaction from the SFs. However, no casualties were reported in the attack. Confirming the development, Superintendent of Police (SP) Prabhat Kumar disclosed,
On June 2, 2024, CPI-Maoist cadres dragged a 45-year-old man, Shaluram Potai, out of his house in Maspur village in Narayanpur District and killed him, claiming he was a 'Police informer'. The Maoists' Kutul area committee left pamphlets at the spot, claiming Potai was acting as a 'Police informer'.
On June 1, 2024, a mobile tower was set ablaze by CPI-Maoist cadres in Durmi village under Dhaudai Police Station limits in the Narayanpur District. Superintendent of Police (SP) Prabhat Kumar said search efforts were intensified in the area.
On May 27, 2024, CPI-Maoist cadres set fire to two under-construction mobile towers in Gaurdand and Chameli villages under Chhotedongar Police Station limits in Narayanpur District.
These incidents are a continuance of the rebels' struggle to retain their sway in Narayanpur District, which was carved out of the erstwhile Bastar District on May 11, 2007.
According to partial data collated by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), at least 22 fatalities (four civilians and 18 Maoists) have been recorded in Narayanpur District thus far in 2024 (Data updated till June 8). During the corresponding period of 2023, four fatalities (three civilians and one SF trooper) were recorded in the district. In the remaining period of 2023, another eight fatalities (six civilians, one SF trooper, and one Maoist) were recorded, taking the total to 12 fatalities (nine civilians, two SF personnel, and one Maoist) through 2023. There were a total of four fatalities (one civilian, two SF personnel, and one Maoist) in the district in 2022, the second lowest in a year since May 11, 2007. The previous low of three fatalities was recorded in 2012. The district recorded a maximum of 42 fatalities (five civilians, 27 SF personnel, and 10 Maoists) in 2010. Since May 11, 2007, a total of 263 fatalities (46 civilians, 82 SF personnel, and 134 Maoists) have been recorded in Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-linked violence in the district.
The rise in Maoist killings in the current year is not surprising, as the recent trend shows an escalation of SF operations to contain the rebels in their strongholds. Significantly, in 2024, SFs have not lost any troopers in the fight against the rebels, and have eliminated 18 extremists. Significantly, the kill ratio was in favour of the Maoists for three consecutive years in 2023 and 2022 at 2:1 (two SF personnel, one Maoist) and in 2021 at 3.66:1 (11 SF personnel, three Maoists). An equal number of fatalities, two each, were recorded in both categories in 2020. However, the SFs had a positive kill ratio in 2019 at 1:6 (one trooper, six Maoists), the last instance in which SF dominance was demonstrated. Nevertheless, since May 11, 2007, with a total of 82 SF personnel and 134 Maoists having been killed in the district, the overall kill ratio is in favour of the SFs at 1:1.63.
Meanwhile, civilian fatalities, a crucial index of the security situation in an area, have dropped to four in the current year, thus far (Data updated till June 8). During the corresponding period in 2023, at least three civilians were killed in the district; and another six civilians were killed in the remaining period of 2023, taking the total to nine in this category in the year. There has been an improvement with regard to civilian fatalities in the current year, as compared to a peak of nine fatalities in this category in 2023. Civilian fatalities have seen a cyclical trend in the district and a low of a single fatality was recorded in 2022 as well as in 2008, 2011, 2014, and 2020.
Narayanpur District, which has documented at least 22 LWE-linked fatalities (four civilians and 18 Maoists), in the current year, accounts for 13.58 per cent of the total of 162 fatalities, (22 civilians, 13 SF personnel, and 127 Maoists) recorded in Chhattisgarh State. Since May 11, 2007, the district has recorded 263 fatalities (46 civilians, 82 SF personnel, and 134 Maoists), around 8.56 per cent of the total of 3,072 fatalities, (739 civilians, 1,015 SF personnel, 1,304 Maoists, and 14 unspecified) recorded in the state.
Narayanpur, one of Chhattisgarh's 32 Districts, created on May 11, 2007, comprises 366 villages, two tehsils (revenue units), Narayanpur and Orchha, and has an area of 6,640 square kilometres. Narayanpur abuts Bijapur and Dantewada Districts in the south; Bastar in the east; Kanker District in the north; and the Gadchiroli District of Maharashtra in the west. Surrounded by dense forests, hills, streams, waterfalls, and natural caves, the forest cover of 2,116.915 square kilometres accounts for 32.87 per cent of Narayanpur's total area. As a result of the difficult terrain and natural protection it offers, Narayanpur has immense 'geo-strategic importance' for the Maoists and has long served as a major transit route for the rebels to cross into the Naxalite-affected areas of the neighbouring state of Maharashtra, creating opportunities to orchestrate violence on both sides of the state borders. Because of its large swathe of hilly and forested terrain and proximity to Abujhmaad, large parts of which still remain inaccessible, it is a significant strategic region for the rebels to carry on their subversive activities, and was long a haven for their top leadership.
In the interim, other parameters of violence suggest that the Maoists are straining to recover this erstwhile area of their dominance. The Maoists were involved in at least five incidents of exchange of fire with SFs in 2024, as compared to one such incidents over the same period in 2023. Through 2023 there were seven such incidents. The Maoists have engineered one incident of an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in the current year, and three in the same period of 2023. There were six such incidents through 2023. SFs have recovered arms on at least three occasions in 2024, whereas, at least seven incidents of recovery of arms are on record in the corresponding period of 2023; a total of nine such incidents were recorded through 2023. The Maoists were involved in incidents of arson on at least four occasions in 2023. Three such incidents have already been recorded in the current year.
Meanwhile, taking tough actions against CPI-Maoist the 53rd battalion of the ITBP destroyed a Naxal [Left Wing Extremism, LWE] memorial in the Ekpad area of Kasturmetta in Narayanpur District. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), the ITBP wrote,
Four such memorials built by the Naxalites were demolished in 2023.
In another action against the CPI-Maoist, on June 5, 2024, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed a charge sheet in the NIA Special Court in Jagdalpur against a CPI-Maoist cadre, Lakhma Ram alias Lakhma Korram, in a case related to the conspiracy to damage and block the Narayanpur-Orchha main road from India Gate, Raynar, to Marghat Raynar, in Narayanpur District, Chhattisgarh, with the intent to kill police personnel and loot their arms. Lakhma Ram has been charged under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984, the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), and the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, 2005. Lakhma was one of the 35 accused against whom the NIA registered the case on February 29, 2024.
Moreover, on March 8, 2024, the NIA took over the probe into the killing of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ratan Dubey in the Narayanpur District, along with approximately seven cases of violence associated with the CPI-Maoist, including the January 2024 ambush on a CRPF camp in Bijapur District and an IED blast in Kanker District. An official stated that the NIA will also investigate the role of supporters of Madvi Hidma, the commander of Battalion-I of the PLGA, the armed wing of the CPI-Maoist, who carries a reward of close to INR 4 million on his head.
Constant vigil on rebel elements and combing operations have resulted in the arrests of 426 Maoists in the district since May 11, 2007. So far, at least six Maoists have been arrested in the district in the current year. More recently, on March 21, 2024, one couple who used to supply explosives to the CPI-Maoist cadres was arrested by the Police from Taragaon under Dhaudai Police Station limits in Narayanpur District. The couple used to supply explosives to Maoists under the guise of selling amulets. Police seized 208 kilogrammes of explosives and codex wire from their possession.
Besides, mounting SF pressure also led to the surrender of 727 Maoists in the District. No surrender has been reported in the current year, so far. The last incident of surrender was reported on December 1, 2023, when one Maoist cadre, an active member of the Bhairamgarh Area Committee, involved in many major incidents of violence and whose identity remains undisclosed, surrendered before the Police in Narayanpur District. The Maoist also handed over a five-kilogramme IED while surrendering.
Despite dramatic SF consolidation, the threat and challenge persist in the District. According to a May 16, 2024, report, following a series of targeted killings of political workers by Maoists since 2023, around 50 village heads of the insurgency-hit Narayanpur District were forced to live in a government compound in the district headquarter for months. Most of these political representatives, who hail from the Chhotedongar area, a hotbed of insurgency for a long time, were stationed here to evade possible targeted killing by the Maoists, who had issued decrees labelling them as "agents of the iron ore mines" being operated in the area.
Earlier, on June 13, 2023, the CPI-Maoist in Narayanpur put up banners and distributed pamphlets threatening the local village heads of Besmeta village with dire consequences if they continued to support development work in the region. The banners were hung up near the Gaytapara village under Orchha Police Station limits in which the local area committee of the Maoists warned local representatives that their hands and feet would be chopped off if they continued to support the construction work of a proposed mine in the area. In a banner put up by the CPI-Maoist Gaytapara area committee, the Maoists accused the Sarpanch (head of the Panchayat, village level local self-Government institution) and the Upa (deputy) Sarpanch of Besmeta village for supporting the proposed mine. The Maoists further claimed that the opening of the mine in the area would have devastating effect on the environment, for which both the village heads would be held accountable. The banner also read: "construction work for a dam is also in progress, which should be stopped immediately. We warn the village heads to stop all these works immediately; otherwise, their hands and feet will be chopped off in the Jan Adalat (Maoist Kangaroo Court)".
The Maoists are taking a manifest beating in Chhattisgarh as well as across the country. The residual Maoist heartland areas of Abujhmaad in Narayanpur and beyond are now being penetrated by the SFs, and the Maoists are under threat in what were their safest havens. While their retaliation can be expected, and there have been several incidents in the past across Chhattisgarh where the SFs have been at the receiving end, it is evident that the movement is weakening, and the top leadership no longer has a secure sanctuary where they can hide.
Weekly Fatalities: Major Conflicts in South Asia June 3-9, 2024
Civilians
Security Force Personnel
NS
Total
AFGHANISTAN
INDIA
Chhattisgarh
Jammu and Kashmir
Nagaland
Telangana
India (Total)
PAKISTAN
Balochistan
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Punjab
Sindh
PAKISTAN (Total)
Total (South Asia)
Norway announces NOK 151 million humanitarian aid for Afghan women and girls: On June 4, Espen Barth Eide, Norway's Minister of Foreign Affairs, announced that Norway would provide NOK 151 million (approximately 14 million USD) in humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. He said, "It is important to continue our commitments to Afghanistan. Women and girls in Afghanistan are at risk and need support. Therefore, we need to communicate with the Taliban to clearly express our views on their unacceptable treatment of women and girls." Afghanistan International, June 7, 2024.
ISIS in Afghanistan has capacity to attack across region, says AUF: On June 5, a report issued by the Afghanistan United Front (AUF), led by Sami Sadat, former commander of Afghanistan's Special Forces, said that the Islamic State-Khorasan Province (IS-KP) currently has 9,000 soldiers in Afghanistan and can conduct attacks "throughout the region". AUF further said, "the IS-KP group has the ideological, human resources, and recruitment capacity to carry out attacks in Europe and the United States, and they have demonstrated this capability in Afghanistan and Iran as well." Afghanistan International, June 6, 2024.
60 people killed or maimed each month due to war time mines in Afghanistan, says OCHA: On June 4, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Afghanistan claimed that 60 people are killed or maimed each month due to the explosion of mines left over from previous wars across the country. Khaama Press, June 6, 2024.
Religious schools in Afghanistan pose a threat to CSTO members, Tajik Parliament Speaker: On June 3, Rustam Emomali, speaker of Tajikistan's Parliament, said that the spread of religious schools in Afghanistan poses a threat to members of the Collective Security Organization (CSTO). He said, "Afghanistan has once again become a center of terrorism. Dozens of extremist and terrorist groups have strengthened their positions on Afghan soil. The cultivation and production of narcotics in Afghanistan are increasing." More than 1000 religious schools have been established so far, which "train suicide fighters," he added. Afghanistan International, June 5, 2024.
Kazakhstan removes Taliban from the list of terrorist organisations: Kazakhstan removed Taliban from the list of terrorist organisations in order to develop economic cooperation with Afghanistan. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said, "Kazakhstan has excluded them from the list of terrorists, taking into account the importance of developing trade and economic cooperation with Afghanistan and the long-term influence of the Taliban movement in the country." Mena FN, June 3, 2024.
Peace in Assam in past three years, says Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma: On June 7, Assam Chief Minister (CM) Himanta Biswa Sarma said, "In the last 3 years, due to the sustained efforts of our Govt and with active support from Govt of India, peace and stability have become permanent features in the State. Almost all major militant groups have surrendered and joined the mainstream to create a 'Viksit Assam' (Developed Assam)". India Today NE, June 8, 2024.
Around 60-70 terrorists active across LoC, says DGP Rashmi Ranjan Swain: On June 2, Director General of Police (DGP) Rashmi Ranjan Swain said that around 60 to 70 terrorists are "active" on launch pads across the Line of Control (LoC) and its "degraded capability" has not stopped Pakistan from sending men and material to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). Daily Excelsior, June 4, 2024.
Attacks on polio teams in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa killed 15 Policemen so far in 2024, says CTD report: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) on June 9, 2024, released a report detailing 15 attacks on polio vaccination teams in the province in 2024, resulting in the deaths of 13 Policemen and injuries to 36 others. According to the report, the majority of the attacks occurred in Bannu (4), Bajaur (3), and Tank (3), while single attacks were reported in Khyber, Lakki Marwat, Mardan, North Waziristan, and South Waziristan. AAJ, June 10, 2024.
98 missing person's cases pending in PHC, Defence Ministry told: The Defence Ministry was told on June 7, that 98 missing person's cases are still pending in Peshawar High Court (PHC). Deputy Attorney General Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sanaullah, submitted a report on missing person's cases to the Defence Ministry. According to the report, 226 cases of missing persons were disposed of from February 1 to May 24. ARY News, June 8, 2024.
Lack of funds for investigation giving rise to corruption in Punjab Police, says report: The shortage of funds for the Police and the prosecution departments has led to 'massive corruption' as these departments and their officers shift the onus of the cost of investigation and prosecution to the complainants or defendants. There are reports that the situation is much more disturbing in the Punjab Police whose investigating officers force the complainants or criminals to bear the expenses of investigation into a murder case, ranging from PKR 50,000 to PKR 80,000, due to non-provision of funds by the department. Dawn, June 3, 2024.
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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