South Asia Terrorism Portal
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: JUI-F under Fire Tushar Ranjan Mohanty Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
On August 7, 2023, Mufti Khair Zaman, a party member and local government office bearer of the Jamiat ul Ulema Islam–Fazl (JUI-F), was shot dead by unidentified assailants in the Lakki Marwat District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
On August 7, 2023, the social media in-charge of JUI-F for the North Waziristan District of KP, Javed Noor Dawar, sustained injuries in firing by unidentified assailants in the Mir Ali town of North Waziristan District.
On July 30, 2023, at least 64 people were killed and more than 100 sustained injuries in a suicide blast at the JUI-F workers' convention at Shanday Morr near the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) office in Khar Town, Bajaur District, KP. The blast took place during the speech of a JUI-F leader Maulana Laeeq. One of the dead includes JUI-F’s Khar tehsil (revenue unit) Amir, Maulana Ziaullah. JUI-F KP spokesperson Abdul Jalil Khan said that JUI-F Member of National Assembly (MNA) Maulana Jamaluddin and Senator Abdul Rasheed were also present during the convention, though they escaped unhurt.
Though the first two attacks remain unclaimed, the Islamic State-Khorasan Province (IS-KP), through its propaganda news channel Amaq, claimed responsibility for the July 30 suicide blast.
According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), KP has recorded at least 10 attacks targeting the JUI-F, resulting in 72 deaths, since October 29, 2019. Of these, eight (including the July 30 attack) have been reported from Bajaur alone, and all of them were carried out by unidentified assailants, but have been claimed by IS-KP. The other seven incidents in Bajaur included:
June 22, 2023: IS-KP assassinated JUI-F leader Maulana Noor Muhammad in the Inayat Kalay Bazaar of Bajaur District.
April 18, 2023: Maz Khan, the son of Mufti Bashir Ahmad, was killed and his friend was injured when unidentified assailants opened fire on them in the Inayat Kallay Bazaar of Bajaur District. Earlier, on April 26, 2022, JUI-F leader Mufti Bashir Ahmad was shot dead by unidentified motorcyclists at the Thani village of Mamond tehsil in Bajaur District. Mufti Ahmad was a former party contender for the National Assembly in the 2008 general elections, and was on way home in the Sewai area, when two unidentified motorcyclists opened fire on him.
October 1, 2022: Unidentified assailants killed a senior JUI-F leader, Maulana Shafiullah, in Mamond tehsil of Bajaur District. Maulana Shafiullah was on his way to a nearby street to teach children of local residents when gunmen attacked him in the Badan area.
November 22, 2021: Unidentified assailants shot dead JUI-F activist and party nominee for the then upcoming local government elections, Mohammad Qari Ilyas, outside Government High School Khar No.1, in Bajaur District.
March 26, 2021: JUI-F leader Maulana Abdul Salam was killed in a remote-controlled bomb blast in the Dama Dola area of Mamond tehsil in Bajaur District. Police said Maulana Salam was going to his madrassa (seminary) early in the morning when he was hit by a roadside bomb.
October 29, 2019: Senior leader JUI-F Mufti Sultan Mohammad was shot dead by unidentified assailants near a mosque in the Badan area of Mamond tehsil in Bajaur District. Mufti Mohammad, who was the head of JUI-F Mamond tehsil, was going to a nearby mosque for morning prayers, when unidentified assailants opened fire at him with automatic weapons.
On July 30, 2023, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman, at a Press briefing in Peshawar, KP, disclosed that 18 of his party workers had been killed in Bajaur between 2019 and 2023. He, however, refrained from identifying the perpetrators responsible for these killings.
The Khorasan Diary (TKD), an Islamabad-based news and research platform that monitors militant groups, however, noted on August 1, 2023, that the IS-KP had claimed responsibility for at least 23 attacks, exclusively targeting the JUI-F in Bajaur alone, since 2019. Riccardo Valle, director of research at The Khorasan Diary, revealed on August 1, 2023,
The seeds of enmity between IS-KP and JUI-F lie their conflicting politics.
The anti-JUI-F sentiments initially developed within a sub-group of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), led by the then TTP chief, Hakimullah Mehsud, who supported the idea of targeting JUI-F’s chief Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman and the rest of his party’s senior leadership due to their pro-democracy and pro-Pakistani constitution stance. Another sup-group, led by TTP’s the then deputy chief Maulana Wali ur Rehman, condemned attacks on Fazl and his party’s members. Wali even vowed “stern action against any TTP commander found going against JUI-F members” after a suicide attack was carried out near the District Coordination Officer’s (DCO’s) office on Nowshera Road in Charsadda District, targeting Fazl on March 31, 2011, in which 12 persons were killed and 42 were injured. Fazl escaped unhurt, as the explosion occurred just after his vehicle passed the area. The differences between the two sub-groups later resulted in infighting within the outfit. While Hakimullah was killed in a drone strike by the United States on November 1, 2013, in the Dandy Darpakhel area of North Waziristan District, his anti-Fazl sentiments were inherited by a close aide, Hafiz Saeed Khan, ‘commander’ of the Orakzai Agency.
At the end of 2014, some prominent leaders of a breakaway faction of the TTP pledged bayah (allegiance) to Islamic State (IS)-Central’s then Amir, Abu-Bakr-al-Baghdadi. Those who pledged allegiance to the IS included the then TTP ‘spokesperson’ Shahidullah Shahid; Kurram Agency ‘chief’ Hafiz Quran Dolat; Khyber Agency ‘chief’ Gul Zaman; Peshawar ‘chief’ Mufti Hassan; Hangu ‘chief’ Khalid Mansoor; and Orakzai Agency ‘commander’ Hafiz Saeed Khan. Soon after, this group shifted base into the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan, as did most terrorist groups operating in the tribal areas of Pakistan, under the impact of Operation Zarb-e-Azb launched by the Pakistani SFs. On January 26, 2015, IS-KP was officially announced with a 12-member Shura (governing council) consisting of nine Pakistanis, two Afghans, and one person of unknown origin. Hafiz Saeed Khan became the Amir. He was, however, killed on July 26, 2016, in the Achin District of Nangarhar Province in Afghanistan. Later, in May 2019, a separate chapter for Pakistan – Islamic State-Pakistan Province (IS-PP) – was established.
While the animosity between the IS-KP and JUI-F does have a history, there has been a significant escalation in attacks in recent times, as the IS-KP perceives the JUI-F as being closely connected with the Taliban Government in Afghanistan. As disclosed by Muhammad Israr Madani, head of the International Research Council for Religious Affairs (IRCRA), an Islamabad-based research body, “when the Taliban established its government in Afghanistan after the fall of Kabul in August 2021, several religious scholars and individuals from Bajaur were appointed to important positions.” Most of the appointees were close to JUI-F.
While the Afghan Taliban has increased action against IS-KP cadres on its soil, vengeance attacks by IS-KP have also intensified, targeting Afghan Taliban allies in Pakistan. The cycle is likely to continue, even escalate, in the near term.
Meghalaya: HNLC: Peace Talks Afsara Shaheen Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management
On August 12, 2023, the Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) threatened to withdraw from ongoing peace talks with the Meghalaya Government if attempts were made to impose terms on them. The outfit asserted that it operated independently and was not subject to governmental authority. Following a dispute between the leaders of the militant formation and the Meghalaya Government over the planned visit by HNLC leaders to the house of the late Cheristerfield Thangkhiew, general secretary and public secretary of the HNLC, Saiñkupar Nongtraw issued a threat on his Facebook post on August 12,
Significantly, the HNLC leaders, presently in the state for peace talks, had planned to visit and pay homage to their former leader, Thangkhiew, at his house in Mawlai at around 2 pm [IST] on August 13, as decided in consultation with his family. However, the state officials told them to reschedule their visit to 8 am in the morning. The reason given by the State Government is not known.
The latest development is a setback in the process of peace of ongoing peace talks, which were hitherto seen to be progressing rapidly.
Indeed, on August 8, 2023, in a meeting with Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi at New Delhi, the Chief Minister (CM) of Meghalaya, Conrad K. Sangma discussed the ongoing peace talks with the HNLC among a range of other issues. During the meeting Sangma apprised Modi that the formal dialogue with the outfit was underway, and the state government was optimistic that the peace process would reach a successful conclusion.
Earlier, on August 4, 2023, the Deputy Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Prestone Tynsong, had stated that the first round of formal peace talks with HNLC had already taken place where all issues were discussed. He added,
Earlier, on July 17, 2023, HNLC's representative Sadon Blah expressed optimism that the next round of talks would be held soon, as there was an absence of any negative sentiment during the multiple rounds of meetings, both official and unofficial, since the first round of talks. Regarding the most contentious issue of amnesty for HNLC cadres involved in criminal cases, Blah mentioned that the government was actively working on this. Later, on July 20, 2023, Chief Minister Sangma stated that the demand for amnesty by the HNLC was under examination and a final decision would be taken by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) and not the State Government. He added, "We are going into the peace talks with an open mind to find a solution. We will examine whatever is under constitutional provisions and how much we can accommodate."
Notably, on June 24, 2023, tripartite peace talks between the Centre, the Meghalaya Government and the HNLC began at Umiam near Shillong in the Ri Bhoi District of Meghalaya. HNLC demanded the withdrawal of all criminal charges and sought amnesty for its cadres, to pave the way for successful talks. Sadon Blah, representing the HNLC asserted,
After receiving the Government of India's nod, peace talks between the HNLC and the Meghalaya Government were initiated on March 11, 2022.
Significantly, on September 6, 2022, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed charge sheets at a NIA special court in Shillong against four HNLC terrorists identified as Bobby Marwein, Sainkupar Nongtraw, Marius Rynjah and Emmanuel Suchen, in connection with a blast that took place behind the staff quarters of Star Cement Factory Colony Lane in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills. Two persons were injured in the blast.
According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), since March 6, 2000, when SATP started compiling data on insurgencies in the northeast, there have been a total of 52 HNLC-related fatalities in Meghalaya, including 30 HNLC cadres, 12 Security Force (SF) personnel and 10 civilians (data till August 10, 2023). 50 of these killings were reported between 2000 and 2009, a period during which at least one HNLC-linked killing was reported in each year, with the exception of year 2004. The remaining two HNLC-related killings were reported in 2019 and 2021: on May 12, 2019, HNLC militants shot at and injured Romeo Lyngdoh, a villager residing along the Indo-Bangladesh border in Lapalang village in East Khasi Hills District, who later succumbed to his injuries; and on August 13, 2021, Chesterfield Thangkhiew, former ‘general secretary’ of the HNLC, was killed in an encounter at his residence at Mawlai-Kynton Massar in Shillong, in the East Khasi Hills District.
The HNLC is a militant organisation operating in Meghalaya. It seeks to ‘liberate’ Meghalaya from the supposed dominance of outsiders and claims to represent the interest of the Khasis, the largest indigenous community in the state. It is a product of a 1992 split in the Hynniewtrep Achik Liberation Council (HALC), the first militant tribal outfit in Meghalaya. HNLC was proscribed on November 16, 2000, but the ban was later lifted, before it was reimposed in 2019. The HNLC mainly operates in the Khasi Hills area, although it has also engaged in a number of terrorist acts in Shillong.
Despite the Bangladesh Government’s major crackdowns on Indian insurgent groups since the Sheikh Hasina Government assumed power in Bangladesh in January 2009, the main HNLC leadership is still based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. According to a September 19, 2022, report, five representatives of the HNLC, who reportedly arrived in Meghalaya on August 5, returned to Bangladesh on September 16 after the peace talks with the Meghalaya Government. One of the five representatives, Sadon Blah disclosed that they had returned to Bangladesh for further consultations, before the further round of talks. Meanwhile, there are conflicting reports about the continued existence of HNLC camps in Bangladesh. While the Border Security Force (BSF) Meghalaya Frontier Deputy Inspector General (DIG), D. Haokip stated, on November 30, 2021, that the HNLC did not have any camps inside Bangladesh, days later, on December 30, 2021, BSF Inspector General, Inderjit Singh Rana, when asked about the HNLC camps in Bangladesh, said, “We don’t have the exact locations. We are trying to find out with our sister agencies and local police. Whenever we get the exact locations, we will share with the media and our counterparts in Bangladesh.”
HNLC has been accused by the Meghalaya government and State Police of engaging in a multitude of illegal activities in the Jaintia Hills coal belt, including killing, abduction, robbery, the smuggling of weaponry and cattle, as well as extortion. Additionally, it is suspected to have been working with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to circulate counterfeit money in the state. Indeed, while banning the outfit for the second time on November 18, 2019, the UMHA notification stated that HNLC, along with its factions and frontal organisations, had openly declared as its objective, the secession of the state’s areas, which are largely inhabited by Khasi and Jaintia tribals. Th notification also observed that HNLC continued to intimidate and bully civilians to extort funds, maintain links with other insurgent groups of the Northeast to carry out acts of extortion, and continues to have camps in Bangladesh to give sanctuary and training to its cadre.
After the complete decimation of the Garo-insurgent group, Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA), in 2018, following the killing of GNLA founder, ‘commander' Sohan D. Shira, on February 24, 2018, at Dobu A'chakpek in the East Garo Hills District, HNLC is the lone major active insurgent group left in the state. According to the SATP database, since Shira's killing, Meghalaya has recorded four fatalities (one civilian and three militants). While HNLC’s role is suspected in the killing of the civilian on May 12, 2019, one of each of the three terrorists killed belonged to the I.K. Songbijit faction of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB-S), the United Achik Liberation Army (UALA) and HNLC. The last militant killing was reported on September 14, 2021, when the UALA cadre was killed.
According to state government data, the HNLC was suspected to be responsible for at least five of the seven Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blasts that occurred in Meghalaya between February 2018 and January 2022. The exact cause of the final two IED detonations is yet unknown. No violent incident has been reported in the State since January 2022.
In the present circumstances, a successful conclusion of the negotiations with the HNLC is likely to contribute to the establishment of long-term peace in the state, which experienced a high-level insurgency between 1992 and 2000 (when annual total fatalities were in the three digits) and a persistent low-level insurgency between 2001 and 2016 (when annual total fatalities stayed within two digits, and dropped to five in 2009). There were eight fatalities in 2017, seven in 2018, two in 2019, none in 2020, two in 2021 and none in 2022. Meghalaya is, thus, comparatively peaceful at present and with very little recent insurgent activity. Nevertheless, a successful peace process with HNLC is necessary for long-lasting peace in the state. The latest threat issued by the HNLC, however, is a worrying development and demonstrates that the government needs to be more cautious in its approach.
Weekly Fatalities: Major Conflicts in South Asia August 7-13, 2023
Civilians
Security Force Personnel
NS
Total
AFGHANISTAN
BANGLADESH
CHT
INDIA
Arunachal Pradesh
Chhattisgarh
Jammu & Kashmir
Jharkhand
Manipur
Punjab
India (Total)
PAKISTAN
Balochistan
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Sindh
PAKISTAN (Total)
Total (South Asia)
80 per cent female Afghan journalists had to stop work since August 2021, reports RSF: In a recent report titled "Two Years of Journalism under the Taliban Regime," Reporters Without Borders (RSF) stated that over 80 per cent of Afghanistan's female journalists have been compelled to cease working since August 15, 2021. RSF further said that 12,000 journalists, including male and female, that Afghanistan had in 2021, more than two-thirds have abandoned the profession now." The Khaama Press News Agency, August 11, 2023.
Bangladesh bans militant group Jama'tul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya: On August 9, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan stated that the government has banned militant outfit Jama'atul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya (JAFHS), citing its potential threat to public safety and law and order. He further said that JAFHS's long involvement in disruption of law and order warranted this decisive action, and this development came following formal requests from the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of the police and the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) to the ministry to make JAFHS's activities illegal. The Daily Star, August 11, 2023.
219 civilians killed in 1441 terror incidents and encounters in Jammu and Kashmir in the past six years, says MoS Nityanand Rai: Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai, stated in the Rajya Sabha (upper house of Parliament), that 219 civilians have lost their lives in 1441 terrorist-initiated incidents and encounters/counter-terrorist operations in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) in the past six years. According to him, 319 security force personnel have been martyred in these attacks in the last six years up to July 31, 2023. Daily Excelsior, August 2, 2023.
UK announces GBP 95,000 funding to combat UK-based Khalistan extremism and strengthen security cooperation: The Minister of State for Security of the United Kingdom (UK), Tom Tugendhat, during his visit to India on August 11, announced GBP 95,000 in funding to enhance the UK's capacity in countering "pro-Khalistan extremism". The investment aims to bolster the UK government's understanding of the threat and complement joint efforts between the two nations through a joint anti-extremism task force. Times of India, August 12, 2023.
UHM Amit Shah affirms no talks with Pakistan, Hurriyat Conference, or Jamaat: On August 9, Union Home Minister (UHM) Amit Shah declared that there will be no talks with Pakistan, All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) and Jamaat. He maintained that Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) is heading towards normalcy with no stone pelting, no burial processions for militants and steep decline in all kind of violence post Article 370. Daily Excelsior, August 11, 2023.
ULFA-I unlikely to join negotiations, says pro-talks faction leader Anup Chetia: On August 9, the leader of the pro-talks faction of United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) stated that the Independent faction of the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA-I) led by Paresh Baruah might not join the negotiations in Assam. Chetia further said that the demands put forth by ULFA-I are not something the Government of India (GoI) can accept.
On August 8, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma invited the 'chief' of the Independent faction of United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA-I) Paresh Baruah, and asked him to spend at least a week in the state. Describing Baruah as an "intellectual and educated person," Sarma expressed his hope that the ULFA-I leader would accept his invitation to engage in peaceful discussions. NorthEast Now, August 10, 2023. NorthEast Now, August 9, 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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