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SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 10, No. 44, May 7, 2012
Data and
assessments from SAIR can be freely published in any form
with credit to the South Asia Intelligence Review of the
South Asia Terrorism Portal
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Karachi:
Machiavellian Operations
Tushar Ranjan Mohanty
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
Pakistan’s
entrenched strategy of playing armed non-state actors
against one another, to the progressive detriment of security
and stability in the country, was manifested, once again,
in efforts to ‘manage’ the rising organised crime-terrorism
nexus in the port city of Karachi, the country’s financial
capital and the provincial capital of Sindh. Islamabad
launched a ‘grand operation’ in the Lyari area of Karachi
on May 4, 2012, against the People’s Aman (Peace) Committee
(PAC), which, till recently, was in the ‘good books’ of
the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). Continuing their
policy of playing one group against another, reports indicate
that Security Forces (SFs) were using the rival Arshad
Pappu gang in the ‘operation’. An unnamed SF officer,
requesting anonymity, admitted that the SFs had sought
assistance from Arshad Pappu’s men in identifying the
hideouts and suspects. Source indicated that the SFs had
decided to ‘hand over’ Lyari to the Arshad Pappu gang
after the ‘evacuation’ of PAC operatives. The PAC is allegedly
linked to, and supported by, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan
(TTP)
and, official sources now claim, the Balochistan Liberation
Army (BLA), adding a ‘terrorism’ dimension to what are,
in essence, organised crime activities.
The SF
operation, which was launched early on April 27, 2012,
had already claimed a total of 51 lives by May 5, 2012,
including 26 civilians, 12 SF personnel and 13 ‘criminals’.
Despite the body count, however, the SFs have failed to
make any inroads on the ground, and the gang continues
to control its areas of dominance.
Indeed,
acknowledging that the SFs had no idea how much resistance
they would face, the Inspector General of Sindh Police,
Mushtaq Shah nevertheless asserted, on April 30, 2012,
that the fight to clear Lyari of ‘criminals’ would take
‘about three days’. As with earlier operations of comparable
nature, including the five campaigns (1993-96, 2001, 2005,
2007 and 2011), to divest the city of its burgeoning arsenal
of illegal small arms, such projections have proven unrealistic,
and the operation entered its eighth day on May 5, 2012,
without any sign of imminent success. Meanwhile, Federal
Minister of Interior Rehman Malik, on May 5, stated that
the Lyari operation has been suspended for 48 hours on
‘humanitarian grounds’. At the time of writing, the operation
remained suspended. The PAC appears to have forced a stalemate,
in a response involving the massive use of automatic weapons,
rockets and grenades.
The PAC
currently led by Uzair Jan Baloch, is dominated by members
of the Baloch community, and ‘controls’ the Lyari area,
where the largest majority is that of the Baloch, followed
by the Kutchhis, Sindhis, Punjabis, Pashtuns and Urdu-speaking
communities. Another prominent group operating in the
area is the Kutchhi Rabita Committee (the Kutchhi Contact
Committee, KRC). In early 2003, during President General
(Retired) Pervez Musharraf’s regime, Rehman Baloch aka
Dakait, the leader of the dominant gang in Lyari,
fell out with an associate, Arshad Pappu, over sharing
bhatta (protection money) from intercity and goods
transporters who passed through the area. Reports also
indicate that, in January 2003, Arshad Pappu killed Uzair
Baloch’s father, Mama Faizu, in uncertain circumstances.
Arshad Pappu then formed a new group and started supporting
the KRC. The war between the two gangs started from this
point, and it is estimated that around 500 and 600 people
were killed between 2003 and 2008.
After the
2008 General Elections, the Rehman Baloch group, backed
by the Police, began the process of forcing the Arshad
Pappu gang out of Lyari. Arshad Pappu was jailed on several
charges, including murder, attempted murder, kidnapping
and dealing in narcotics. The PAC was, at that time, patronised
by the PPP, and the idea was to give the Rehman Baloch
gang dominance in the Lyari area. Significantly, in the
midst of this operation, Uzair Baloch, who succeeded Rehman
Baloch after the latter’s killing on August 9, 2009, claimed
that the PAC was President Asif Ali Zardari’s brainchild,
and that the President wanted to ‘control crime’ and start
‘social work’ in Baloch-and Sindhi-dominated areas of
Karachi, and that, “the task was given to Rehman Baloch.”
Politically, Rehman Baloch was angling for a seat in Parliament,
and, consequently, began ‘reforming’ his public image
by dabbling in social work, and naming his gang PAC. However,
Uzair Baloch alleges, he was killed in 2009, on the instigation
of PPP Member of National Assembly (MNA) Nabeel Gabol
and other elected Members of the Provincial Assembly (MPAs)
of the area. According to Uzair Baloch, crime went down
by 70 per cent when Rehman launched his initiative against
street crime in Lyari and Malir, and this did not go down
well with various elected representatives who were patronising
criminals. “Rehman Baloch had to be tackled,” he argued.
Significantly, reports claim that the PPP had earlier
used PAC as a militant wing to ensure electoral victories
and security for the PPP. The PAC has also openly claimed
that the PPP armed it to counter the Muttahida Quami Movement
(MQM).
Meanwhile,
reconfirming the militant-politician nexus, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf
Chairman Imran Khan on September 11, 2011, declared that
political parties were failing to control the anarchy
in Karachi because their own militant wings were the ‘root
cause’ of the unabated violence. “Name any political party
in Karachi that gets votes but doesn’t have a militant
wing," Khan demanded, “Militant wings have become
a trend now. Our party has made a huge effort to curb
internal pressure to establish such a wing.” Similarly,
Dr. Zulfiqar Mirza, former Home Minister of the Sindh
Province, on August 29, 2011, had claimed that the MQM
was a “band of terrorists and criminals”. On April 23,
2012, Rehman Malik, revealed that activists of PPP, MQM,
Awami National Party (ANP), and other political formations
were involved in extortion in the metropolis.
The ongoing
‘grand operation’ against the PAC was launched as the
group had irked the PPP leadership, because, after Rehman’s
death, it was felt that the gang’s loyalty to the PPP
was uncertain. Moreover, Nabeel Gabol claimed that Lyari
had now been established as a PPP stronghold, and PAC's
‘help’ had become redundant. Further, the MQM, now an
ally of the PPP both at the Federal and the Provincial
levels; KRC, which also supports PPP; and the business
community, were increasingly complaining about growing
PAC involvement in extortion and abductions. It was, indeed,
the killing of KRC leader Abdul Rasheed, on March 18,
2012, by PAC cadres, which resulted in the complete breakdown
of a steadily worsening relationship. The KRC claimed
that the PAC killed Abdul Rasheed for arranging a successful
rally in support of PPP leader Nabeel Gabol.
The TTP
has a visible and strong presence in Karachi. However,
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah’s and the Police’s
allegations regarding a PAC-BLA nexus, without any significant
evidence, gives an indication of the intention behind
the present ‘grand operation’. Significantly, Baloch nationalist
parties, such as the Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP), Balochistan
National Party (BNP), BNP-Awami Asad Baloch, have staged
demonstrations in various Districts of Balochistan to
protest against what they called the ‘targeted operation’
in Lyari against Baloch people and leaders, who are in
majority in the area. The operation, it is alleged, had
assumed the shape of an anti-Baloch movement, with BNP
Information Secretary Agha Hassan declaring that the Lyari
operations were part of the “genocide of the Baloch”.
“The excessive use of force against the Baloch, which
had started from Balochistan, has now been extended to
Karachi,” Agha claimed. Talking about the impending threat,
an unnamed local journalist from the Baloch community,
noted that the ‘Lyari action’ would create a backlash
against the PPP Government, just as the Lal Masjid operation
did, against General Musharraf.
Even as
the ‘grand operation’ resulted in an escalation in violence
in Lyari, the rest of Karachi has witnessed a flare up.
The relative calm which had been attained in the last
quarter of 2011 [93 fatalities in
terrorism related incidents, according to the South
Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) database], has been shattered,
and the city has recorded at least 185 fatalities in the
first
quarter of 2012. 202 of fatalities
have occurred after April 1, 2012. According to the SATP
database, the Sindh Province has witnessed
a total of 2,594 fatalities, including 2,170 civilians,
158 SFs and 266 militants, since January 1, 2010. Of these,
2,427 fatalities, including 2,024 civilians, 156 SFs and
247 militants, have been recorded in Karachi alone.
Meanwhile,
the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) Chairwoman
Zahra Yusuf, in a statement on April 3, 2012, noted that
“about 300 people have been the victims of violent shootings
in the last three months," in ethnic, sectarian and
politically-linked violence in Karachi. "The figures
compiled by our staff and the death toll for the last
three months confirmed by the Police shows the number
of victims of violence was not less than 300," she
claimed, adding that the figures include the assassination
of 49 political activists.
Federal
Minister of the Interior Rehman Malik, on May 3, 2012,
asked the people to give the Government ‘one month’ to
expose the elements who were involved in terrorism and
who were destroying Karachi’s peace, the targeted operation
against the Baloch-dominated PAC may, in fact, polarize
armed ethnic formations even further, resulting in an
escalation that can only be brought to an end through
an even-handed effort to end the activities of all armed
and organised criminal non-state players in Karachi. The
old tactic of patronizing some groups, even as others
are actively and violently targeted, can only deepen the
ongoing bloodbath in this troubled city.
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Meghalaya:
Flawed Cease-Fire
Veronica Khangchian
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
The inherent
flaws of the tripartite Cease-fire Agreement (CFA) signed
between the Achik National Volunteer Council (ANVC),
the State Government and the Government of India (GoI),
on July 23, 2004, have now been exposed, with the discovery
of a split in the outfit and the surfacing of a Breakaway
faction of the ANVC (ANVC-B). This exposure also raises
troubling questions regarding CFAs signed with 18 other
groups in the northeast as well.
An unnamed
ANVC-B leader issued a statement, on March 30, 2012,
declaring that some 300 cadres, including ‘officers’,
had joined the ANVC-B, and that the “designated ANVC
camps are isolated and many cadres have returned to
the jungles.”
Subsequently,
on April 6, 2012, Nado R. Marak, ‘personal secretary’
to ANVC-B 'commander-in-chief' Mukost Marak, claimed
that the split in the ANVC had taken place as far back
as in July 2004, when a section of ANVC leaders, including
Sohan D. Shira, the current 'commander-in-chief' of
the Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA),
signed a CFA and came over ground. [Shira deserted an
ANVC designated camp on July 24, 2007 and surrendered
before the then Chief Minister D.D. Lapang, on August
25, 2007. However, he quickly returned underground,
teaming up with ‘chairman’ Champion R. Sangma, to form
the GNLA towards the end of 2009.] Nado Marak claimed
that, "After disowning the breakaway group, the
leaders of the ANVC went on denying the presence of
ANVC (Breakaway)… Our group was deliberately left out
and not brought under the cease-fire. We continued to
stay in the jungle under the command of Mukost Marak,
who headed the ‘army wing’. We were waiting for someone
to take the initiative and lead us, as we, too, wanted
to be a part of the talks.” Meanwhile, it is understood
that ANVC-B ‘chairman’ Rimpu Barnard N. Marak had made
an effort to include cadres who were left out of the
CFA. Referring to Rimpu Marak, Nado noted, “Sir Rimpu
(sic) stood for us ever since he visited our
camps and took all responsibility to include us in the
talks. However, his efforts were halted all the time
for reasons best known to the ANVC leaders.”
On April
2, 2012, Nado Marak had stated that the ANVC-B had maintained
order and discipline in the hope that the Garos would
lead better lives. “However, to our despair, we found
out that all our areas of operation were not even included
in the territory of the proposed Garoland Autonomous
Council (GAC),” he argued, “Also the silence of ANVC
leaders against GNLA is another reason, which prompted
us to speak out. The leadership should not have isolated
the ANVC men who were targeted by the GNLA.”
GNLA,
which was declared a terrorist group by the Centre on
January 31, 2012, has escalated violence targeting
the rank and file of the ANVC, provoking threats that
the ANVC would be forced to break the CFA and take up
arms to protect itself. Nevertheless, the ANVC-B has
blamed the mother organization for being indifferent
to GNLA attacks on its cadres, and has attracted a number
of ANVC fighters to its fold.
On April
2, 2012, the ANVC-B declared Mukost Marak its ‘Commander-in-Chief’;
Rimpu Barnard N. Marak (earlier known as Torik Jangning
Marak), the former ‘spokesperson’ of ANVC, its ‘chairman’;
and Dilseng its ‘general secretary’. Sources disclosed
that Mukost and his cadres were now based in the West
Khasi Hills District. The mother organization (ANVC),
currently in cease-fire has Dilash R. Marak as the ‘Chairman’
and Jerome Momin as ‘Commander-in-Chief’, and is principally
located across the Garo Hills Districts.
The ANVC
was involved in significant violence till mid-2004,
with its activities peaking in 2002 and 2003. According
to South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) data, the
ANVC was involved in 14 incidents (abduction, encounters
and ambush) in 2002, 15 incidents in 2003 and seven
incidents till mid-2004. While there were no
remarkable incidents after the CFA, the ANVC continued
to routinely engage in extortion in the West Khasi Hills,
East Garo Hills and South Garo Hills Districts. It suffered
another split in November 2005, when some of its cadres
fled the ‘designated camps’ and formed a new outfit,
Achik National Liberation Front (ANLF). The ANLF now
appears to be dormant.
Meanwhile,
referring to disclosures regarding the ANVC-B, Chief
Minister Mukul Sangma, on April 3, 2012, admitted: “There
were deficiencies and the ceasefire process was not
done properly. It came to the notice of the Government
last year (2011) that there is still an armed group
which did not come overground." He further explained
that several ANVC cadres had skipped the attention of
the then Government when the CFA was signed, and the
ANVC-B remained at large and was never a part of the
talks.
The flawed
CFA has been periodically extended, with the latest
one-year extension given on October 11, 2011.
The ANVC
was formed in 1995, with an original demand for the
creation of a ‘Greater Garoland’ [including all the
three Districts of the Garo Hills – East Garo Hills,
West Garo Hills and South Garo Hills – and Garo-dominated
areas of West Khasi Hills, in Meghalaya, as well as
Goalpara and Kamrup Districts in Assam]. While signing
the CFA in 2004, these demands were scaled down to a
demand for the formation of a Garo Autonomous Council
(GAC) on the lines of the Bodo Territorial Council (BTC)
of Assam, with a massive socio-economic package and
autonomy to fulfill the aspirations of the Garo tribals.
In its memorandum submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh on September 28, 2009, the ANVC, however, made
it clear that the demand, if fulfilled, would be different
from the existing Garo Hills Autonomous District Council
(GHADC), as there would be direct funding from the Centre,
and not through the State Government, for the administration
of the new autonomous body. Another proposal by the
ANVC is that senior government officials would be appointed
under the GAC to supervise the administration, and to
maintain transparency and accountability. According
to the memorandum, the territory of the GAC would comprise
the three Districts in the Garo Hills.
Meanwhile,
the Government is reportedly taking time to finalise
the decision, as the GHADC has been in existence since
1952, under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of
India. Similarly, the Khasi Hills Autonomous District
Council (KHADC), formed on June 27, 1952, and the Jaintia
Hills Autonomous District Council (JHADC), formed in
1954, to protect the interests of the indigenous people
of these areas, have an overlapping jurisdictions with
the areas that are being demanded under the GAC. These
District Councils have been vested with legislative,
executive and judicial functions, as well as financial
powers, in the areas under their jurisdiction.
The Meghalaya
Government has noted that the creation of the BTC in
Assam did not pose any problem, since Autonomous District
Councils (ADCs) in Assam existed in just a few Districts.
In Meghalaya, State Chief Secretary W.M.S. Pariat notes,
“the present District Councils in the state, including
the GHADC, cover the whole of Meghalaya, and the State
Government is finding it tough to create another similar
body, as demanded by the ANVC.” Chief Minister Sangma
on April 2, 2012, justifying delays in the creation
of the GAC, argued, “There is overlapping of powers
and functions in the proposed council by the ANVC, GHADC
and the State Government. We have to go through all
these aspects before finalising a mechanism, which can
be acceptable to ANVC.”
Continuing
delays on the formation of the GAC have also resulted
in the exodus of cadres from the ANVC to the ANVC-B.
Adding
to the ANVC’s woes, a December 21, 2011, news report
suggested that at least 180 ANVC militants had not been
receiving their allowance of INR 3,000 each per month
for the preceding six months, even though the Centre
had released the amount to the State Government.
With
the rising exodus of cadres to the ANVC-B, the breakaway
faction is emerging as a potential threat to peace.
An ANVC-B leader recently declared, “Mukost and his
group has not fired a single bullet to the security
personnel or to anyone since the truce was signed (sic).
Our separate peace overtures with the Government should
not be looked as a sign of weakness by others.” Reports
indicate that ANVC-B ‘chairman’ Rimpu Bernard N. Marak
has been acquiring new weapons. On January 24, 2012,
one Biloo Marak, reportedly sent by Rimpu Bernard Marak,
was arrested, along with two AK-47s, at Dudhnoi in Goalpara
District (Assam). Significantly, the present ‘commander-in-chief’
of ANVC-B had allegedly killed four coal mine workers
in Nangalbibra (South Garo Hills) on November 17, 2010.
Nado
R. Marak, on April 6, 2012, further asserted, “The group
will still aspire for a greater Garoland and we would
like to come to a separate truce with the Government."
These postures will certainly undermine the utility
of the CFA with the ANVC.
The security
scenario in Meghalaya had improved considerably, with
fatalities recording steep
declines prior to the formation
of the GNLA in 2009. Since this event, however, the
situation has begun to deteriorate. According to the
SATP database, insurgency-related fatalities increased
to 29 in 2011 (in 13 incidents of killing) as compared
to 20 in 2010 (in 11 incidents of killing), and just
five in 2009. The State has already recorded 18 fatalities
in the current year – including 11 civilians and seven
militants – in 14 incidents, all but one relating to
GNLA (till May 6, 2012).
The State
Government, on April 9, 2012, announced that it was
ready to hold talks with the ANVC-B and to explore whether
the group should be brought under the ambit of the previous
tripartite peace agreement, or a separate pact. With
both the factions sticking to a divergent agenda, and
the GNLA on a rampage, the peace process, based on a
flawed CFA, is certainly in jeopardy.
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Weekly Fatalities: Major
Conflicts in South Asia
April 30-May
6, 2012
|
Civilians
|
Security
Force Personnel
|
Terrorists/Insurgents
|
Total
|
INDIA
|
|
Assam
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Jammu and
Kashmir
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
Left-wing
Extremism
|
|
Chhattisgarh
|
4
|
2
|
0
|
6
|
Maharashtra
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
Odisha
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
Total
(INDIA)
|
11
|
3
|
2
|
16
|
NEPAL
|
5
|
0
|
0
|
5
|
PAKISTAN
|
|
Balochistan
|
11
|
1
|
0
|
12
|
FATA
|
39
|
19
|
9
|
67
|
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
Sindh
|
27
|
9
|
8
|
44
|
Total
(PAKISTAN)
|
78
|
30
|
17
|
125
|
Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
|
INDIA
LeT
terror strike alert
in four States:
A Central Intelligence
Bureau alert has warned
of a possible Lashkar-e-Toiba
(LeT) orchestrated terror
strike in four states
of Gujarat, Maharashtra,
Punjab and Haryana.
According to intelligence
alert, LeT has already
conducted recce and
could carry out terror
attacks soon. Times
of India,
May 5, 2012.
UK
urges Pakistan to end
"all external support"
for violence in Jammu
and Kashmir: UK
on April 30 asked Pakistan
to end "all external
support" for violence
in Jammu and Kashmir
(J&K). In its annual
report on the issue
of human rights, titled
'Human Rights and Democracy',
the UK Foreign Office
said: "We called for
an end to all external
support for violence
in Kashmir. We continue
to urge the Government
of Pakistan to take
action against the presence
and activities of militant
groups in Pakistan-administered
Kashmir". Daily
Excelsior,
May 1, 2012.
'Guerrilla
zone' in south India
ready, claims report:
The Communist Party
of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist)
is getting ready to
declare a guerrilla
zone in south India.
It includes the tribal
areas in the Western
Ghats in Kerala, Karnataka
and Tamil Nadu. The
group has already alerted
its over-ground cadre
in these States of the
possible 'police repression'
in the event of a sensational
action that would mark
the declaration of the
guerrilla zone. Times
of India,
May 7, 2012.
MHA
name five SIMI front
organisations: The
Ministry of Home Affairs
(MHA) on April 30 named
Maharashtra based Khair-e-Ummat
Trust as one of the
fronts/pseudonymous
organisations of Students
Islamic Movement of
India (SIMI). The MHA's
"background note on
the Student Islamic
Movement of India (SIMI),"
mentions four more organisations
as being SIMI 'fronts'
at the national level
Tehreek-e-Ehyaa-e-Ummat
(TEU), Tehreek-Talaba-e-Arabia
(TTA), Tehrik Tahaffuz-e-Shaaire
Islam (TTSI) and Wahdat-e-Islami.
The MHA has not banned
these groups. The
Hindu,
May 1, 2012.
Air
route being used to
smuggle FICN into India,
says report: Fake
Indian Currency Note
(FICN) racketeers operating
from abroad are using
air route in addition
to the Pakistan-Nepal-Bangladesh-West
Bengal land route to
smuggle FICN to India.
According to intelligence
officials, migrant labourers
from Andhra Pradesh
flying to Gulf countries
for work are being used
for smuggling Pakistan-printed
FICN into Hyderabad.
The
Hindu,
May 2, 2012.
Centre
to fund 20 more Districts
to fight Maoist violence:
Another 20 Communist
Party of India-Maoist
(CPI-Maoist) affected
Districts will get additional
central fund from the
Union Home Ministry
under Security Related
Expenditure (SRE) scheme
that aims to build Police
capacity to fight the
CPI-Maoist. Though these
20 Districts are least
affected by Maoist violence,
the Ministry has recently
included them in the
list -- expanding it
from 83 to 103 -- to
develop them as 'buffer'
between severely Maoist
affected Districts and
those that are unaffected
by their presence. Times
of India,
May 2, 2012.
Union
Government plans hostage
policy for Maoists:
The Union Government
is planning to seek
the cooperation of States
in formulating a national
policy to deal with
hostage crisis in the
backdrop of Communist
Party of India-Maoist
(CPI-Maoist) taking
hostages in Odisha and
Chhattisgarh and Chief
Minister Raman Singh
demanding such a policy.
The Union Home Ministry
is planning to write
all States to put forward
their views on formulating
a hostage policy and
Standard Operating Procedures
to deal with any hostage
situation. Business
Standard,
May 5, 2012.
NEPAL
New
cabinet formed in Nepal:
Eleven ministers from
different major political
parties were sworn in
the night of May 5 as
new Cabinet was formed.
Ministers from Nepali
Congress (NC), United
Democratic Madhesi Front
(UDMF) and Unified Communist
Party of Nepal-Maoist
(UCPN-M) were sworn
in. Communist Party
of Nepal-Unified Marxist
Leninist (CPN-UML) has
not yet recommended
any names for the ministers.
The new Government is
formed after dissolving
the previous cabinet
as per a five-point
agreement reached amongst
the parties to form
a national consensus
Government under Prime
Minister Baburam Bhattarai.
ANI,
May 6, 2012.
700
former PLA combatants
refuse to join Nepal
Army: Some 700 former
People Liberation Army
(PLA) combatants who
had opted for the integration
into the Nepal Army
(NA) during the second
phase of regrouping
have asked the Army
Integration Special
Committee (AISC) to
send them into voluntary
retirement. It has been
learnt that the combatants
are urging the AISC
to re-open the option
of voluntary retirement
for them. Hindustan
Times,
May 2, 2012.
PAKISTAN
39
civilians and 19 SFs
among 67 persons killed
during the week in FATA:
Nine soldiers were killed
and 12 more injured
when unidentified militants
ambushed a military
convoy at Amin Checkpost,
a security outpost on
a hilltop outside Miranshah,
in North Waziristan
Agency (NWA) of Federally
Administered Tribal
Areas (FATA) on May
6.
Eight
militants were killed
in Mamozai and Khadizai
areas of Orakzai Agency.
At
least 10 persons were
killed while one was
injured when US drone
attacked a house in
Darr-e-Nishtar area
of NWA early in the
morning of May 5.
A
suicide attack targeting
Security Forces (SFs)
on May 4 killed at least
29 persons, including
seven Policemen, and
injured over 72 others
at Khar Bazaar in Khar
town of Bajaur Agency.
Three
persons were killed
due to shelling of SFs
in the Khan Mir Garhi
area of Mamonzai in
Orakzai Agency on May
1.
Dawn;
Daily
Times;
The
News;
Tribune,
May 1-7, 2012.
27
civilians and nine SF
among 44 persons killed
during the week in Sindh:
At least seven people,
including a Pakistan
People's Party (PPP)
activist's son, were
killed in a recent spate
of target killings in
Karachi on May 5.
Three
people, including a
Police Officer and a
political activist,
were killed in separate
incidents of target
killing in Karachi on
May 4.
At
least five Policemen
and four criminals were
killed in a gun battle
between the Police and
gangsters on the seventh
day of operation in
Lyari area of Karachi
on May 3.
At
least six people were
killed and more than
40 wounded on the sixth
day of the ongoing gun
battle between Police
and gangsters in Lyari
area of Karachi on May
2.
At
least eight people,
including a Police Official,
were killed and another
35 injured in the ongoing
Police operation against
gangsters in Lyari area
of Karachi on April
30.
Dawn;
Daily
Times;
The
News;
Tribune,
May 1-7, 2012.
Abductions
and extra-judicial killings
on the rise in Balochistan,
claims Baloch BRP press
release: Baloch
Republican Party (BRP)
press release on May
5 read that the random
abductions and extra-judicial
killings of the Baloch
are on the rise in Balochistan.
The release said on
one hand, Pakistani
officials and the Supreme
Court claimed that they
were making efforts
to recover Baloch missing
persons and to stop
the dumping of decomposed
bodies, on the other
hand, Security Forces
continued to abduct
torture and extra-judicially
kill them. Dawn,
April 6, 2012.
Pakistan
second most dangerous
country for journalists,
says UNESCO: A report
released by UNESCO ranks
Pakistan as the second-most
dangerous country for
journalists in 2010-2011.
Mexico was the most
dangerous, with 18 journalist
fatalities in that time
frame. Two Pakistani
journalists were killed
in 2006-2007, followed
by six in 2008-2009
and 16 in 2010-2011,
the report, "The Safety
of Journalists and the
Danger of Impunity,"
found. Forty-two journalists
have been killed in
Pakistan since 1992,
according to the Committee
to Protect Journalists.
Dawn,
May 4, 2012.
Growing
incidents of clashes
reported in militant
training camps in PoK:
There have been
a number of clashes
reported as some Kashmiri
militants in training
camps in Pakistan occupied
Kashmir (PoK) have wished
to return to India.
There are growing incidents
of clashes between militants
wanting to return to
Jammu and Kashmir from
training camps in PoK
and those wanting to
stay on, intelligence
sources say. "Recently
two Kashmiri militants
desirous of returning
home from the Bagh training
camp opposite Uri sector
of the Kashmir Valley
got killed in clashes
with those who wanted
to stay put," an unnamed
source said. The
News,
May 4, 2012.
Pakistan
continues to support
insurgent groups in
Afghanistan, says Pentagon:
Pakistan continues
to support insurgent
groups and provide terrorist
safe havens so as to
have its influence inside
the war-torn Afghanistan,
the Pentagon told the
United States (US) Congress.
"… To this end, Pakistan
has allowed an insurgent
sanctuary in its border
to persist, offering
a safe haven to Afghan
Taliban and associated
militant groups including
the Haqqani Taliban
Network in the North
Waziristan Agency,"
it said. Times
of India,
May 2, 2012.
Farman
Ali Shinwari named new
al Qaeda chief in Pakistan:
Al Qaeda named Farman
Ali Shinwari (30) who
belongs to Khugakhel
sub-tribe of Shinwaris,
and hails from Landikotal
subdivision of Khyber
Agency in Federally
Administered Tribal
Areas (FATA), as its
head in Pakistan. The
statement issued by
al Qaeda's Dawa
Wing said that after
consultations and approval
of top al Qaeda leadership,
Farman Shinwari was
selected as head of
the network in Pakistan.
The
News,
May 1, 2012.
Al
Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri
is in Pakistan's tribal
area, says US official:
Ayman al-Zawahiri,
the Chief of al Qaeda,
remains at large in
Pakistan's tribal area,
said United States (US)
Counter-Terrorism Official
John Brennan on April
30 as Washington vowed
to hunt him down. He
said, "We believe he
(Zawahiri) is in that
region of the world,
as well as other al
Qaeda leaders that continue
to borough into areas
of the Federally Administered
Tribal Areas (FATA)
of Pakistan," adding,
"We're not going to
relent until they're
brought to justice one
way or the other." Indian
Express,
May 1, 2012.
SRI LANKA
428
LTTE schools in Europe,
says defence intelligence
report: According
to a May 5 Lankadeepa
report, Sri Lanka Defence
intelligence has found
that the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(LTTE) operates 428
schools in the main
countries of Europe.
These school functions
in Germany, Switzerland,
France, Netherlands,
Italy, Belgium, Denmark,
Finland, Norway and
Sweden and provide education
to 22,500 students across
the Europe. Germany
has the highest number
of such schools with
145 and there are 133
schools in Switzerland,
and 65 schools in Denmark.
Sri Lanka's defense
authorities have complained
to the authorities of
such countries. Colombopage,
May 5, 2012
Court
orders Sarath Fonseka
transfer to NHC over
LTTE threat: Colombo
High Court on May 3
ordered the Prison Commissioner
to transfer Sarath Fonseka
to the Colombo National
Hospital (NHC) from
the private hospital
where he is receiving
treatment for security
reasons. The court observing
the fact that there
is a threat to Fonseka
from the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(LTTE) and other organisations
and the prison authorities
are unable to provide
maximum security for
Fonseka while at the
private hospital, ordered
his transfer to NHC.
Daily
News,
May 5, 2012.
Anti-state
conspiracies, uprisings
or rebellions have no
place in Sri Lanka',
says President Mahindra
Rajapaksa: President
Mahindra Rajapaksa on
May 1 said that anti-state
conspiracies, uprisings
or rebellions have no
place in Sri Lanka.
He said that people
from foreign countries
without name or address
come to Sri Lanka to
destabilize the country
with their anti-national
campaigns. Stating that
some countries, unfortunately,
assist them in the hope
of a regime change,
he stressed that a regime
change would be possible
only by the people for
the people of this country
through free and fair
elections and not by
conspiracies hatched
with the assistance
of foreign powers. Dailymirror,
May 2, 2012.
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.
SAIR is a project
of the Institute
for Conflict Management
and the
South
Asia Terrorism Portal.
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