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SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 10, No. 46, May 21, 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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Cloning
Terror
Ambreen Agha
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management
There's
no need of announcing bounties. We are not hiding
in caves. Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, at a Press Conference
in Islamabad,
April 3, 2012.
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Hafiz Muhammad
Saeed, the Chief of Jama’at-ud-Dawa (JuD), the front organisation
of the Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT),
finds no reason to hide. He operates with impunity, conducting
numberless mass rallies across Pakistan under the banner
of the newly formed Difa-e-Pakistan (Defense of
Pakistan) Council (DPC). DPC came into being towards the
end of 2011, and comprises 44 religious and political
parties, including a number of banned terrorist formations.
Its declared ideology pits it against a American-Jewish-Indian
‘conspiracy’ under which the “US withdrawal from Afghanistan
after a decade of brutal occupation” is intended “to leave
India in a position where it can dominate the region and
serve the interests of (a) Zionist Controlled world”.
These increasingly
visible activities continue, despite the US announcement,
on April 2, 2012, of a bounty of USD 10 million for information
leading to Saeed’s arrest or conviction. The US holds
Saeed responsible for his alleged role in the November
26, 2008, Mumbai terror attacks. US State Department spokesperson
Victoria Nuland stated, "It (the bounty) has everything
to do with Mumbai and his brazen flouting of the justice
system... It is because we want to see him brought to
justice." The US also announced a USD 2 million bounty
under its Rewards for Justice Programme for Saeed’s brother-in-law
and LeT ‘deputy leader’, Hafiz Abdur Rehman Makki. The
bounties were posted on the US State Department Rewards
for Justice Website, which stated,
Saeed
is suspected of masterminding numerous terrorist
attacks, including the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which
resulted in the deaths of 166 people, including
six American citizens... Additionally, the United
States Department of the Treasury has designated
Saeed as a Specially Designated National under Executive
Order 13224. Saeed was also individually designated
by the United Nations under UNSCR 1267 in December
2008. Lashkar-e-Tayyiba was designated as a Foreign
Terrorist Organization in December 2001. In April
2008, the United States designated Jamaat-ud-Dawa
as a Foreign Terrorist Organization; similarly,
the United Nations declared Jamaat-ud-Dawa a terrorist
organization in December 2008... .
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US Government
sources indicate that one of the main reasons for the
US announcing the USD two million reward for Makki was
his proximity to the Afghan
Taliban ‘supreme commander’ Mullah
Omar and al
Qaeda's chief Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Saeed’s
response to the announcement of the bounties has been
contemptuous. Moving freely across Pakistan, he held a
defiant Press Conference close to the country's military
headquarters in Rawalpindi on April 3, 2012, declaring,
“I am here, I am visible. America should give that reward
money to me. I will be in Lahore tomorrow. America can
contact me whenever it wants to.” He also dared the US
to carry out a military raid against him like the one
that killed al Qaeda founder Osama Bin Laden, declaring
that he was not hiding and would himself give his whereabouts
to the US.
Despite
his provocative stance, and in a rather bizarre announcement,
on April 29, 2012, the US Ambassador to Pakistan, Cameron
Munter, blamed the Pakistani media for "misreporting"
the issue, claiming that the US Government had not announced
any bounty on Saeed. "Though Hafiz Saeed is a suspected
accused of the Mumbai terror attacks, the US Government
didn't place any bounty or head money for him." Allegations
subsequently surfaced that Munter had sought to pacify
the JuD chief in a one-on-one meeting in Islamabad held
on an unspecified date, though both sides have categorically
denied such a meeting. Significantly, on May 9, 2012,
a US State Department official disclosed that Munter would
step down from his position as Ambassador to Pakistan
“this summer”, after serving less than two years in the
post. The official added that it was “the ambassador’s
decision to go...”
Amidst
rising confusion, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
on May 7, 2012, reconfirmed the bounty, stating, in Kolkata
(India), "I authorised the award for Hafiz Saeed
who was responsible for attacks in Mumbai. It may take
longer than we like but we will stand with you (India)
and try to make that happen. India and the US are greatest
rebukes to religious discrimination."
On February
16, 2012, much before announcing the bounty, the US had
strongly urged Pakistan to prevent Saeed from moving freely
in the country, freeze the assets of the groups associated
with him, and stop allowing LeT to acquire weapons.
Though
it is not clear whether Saeed was present at the DPC demonstration
at Lahore, on April 6, 2012, the crowd at the meeting
carried banners and placards inscribed with slogans in
his favour and against the US and India. Leaders from
different religious groups delivered fiery speeches, condemning
the US for “taking this decision (on the bounty) under
Indian pressure.” ‘Commander’ of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen
(HM)
Asghar Rasool, who participated in the rally warned: “The
US is pleasing India…It’s not the issue of Hafiz Saeed
but of the entire Muslim Ummah and if we don’t rise to
the occasion today it can happen to many others tomorrow.”
Frequent
rallies are now being organised by DPC, with the participation
of a number of proscribed outfits, including JuD, Ahl-e-Sunnat-Wal-Jama’at
(ASWJ)
and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ),
as well as Islamist political groupings such as the Jama’at-e-Islami
(JeI), Dawat Ahl-e-Hadees, Majlis Ahrar-e-Islam, International
Khatam-e-Nabuwat and Jamiat-e-Ahl-e-Hadees, and mainstream
political parties such as Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz
(PML-N), Jama’at Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Imran Khan’s
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). The presence of top terrorist
leaders, including the ‘father of the Taliban’ Maulana
Sami-ul Haq and the LeJ founder Malik Ishaq, raises serious
questions regarding the DPC, the ‘state patronage’ that
it, and others of its ilk, enjoy in Pakistan, as well
as the ideological and political spectrum within which
it is located. JuD Spokesperson Yahya Mujahid confirmed
that Malik Ishaq was present on the stage during the DPC
rally on February 17, 2012, in Multan District.
A sympathetic
tone towards the Afghan Taliban dominates DPC rallies.
Speaking against US-led NATO forces in Afghanistan, and
warning Islamabad of “serious consequences”, on March
28, 2012, Saeed declared that if NATO supplies through
Pakistan are “ever resumed”, this would only further entrench
the US in Afghanistan. Significantly, Pakistan closed
NATO supply routes soon after US-led NATO forces attacked
Pakistani troops on November 26, 2011, at the Salala Checkpost
in the Mohmand Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal
Areas (FATA). Earlier, in a DPC rally on February 12,
2012, several speakers paid tribute to Afghan Taliban
leader Mullah Omar and warned that they would turn every
square of the country into a ‘Tahrir Square’, if attempts
were made to push the country into US subservience.
Kashmir
is also ‘close to their heart’. Addressing the Defence
of Islam Conference in Mirpur District of Pakistan occupied
Kashmir (PoK) on April 17, 2012, Saeed threatened that
there would be no peace in South Asia without resolution
of the longstanding Kashmir dispute:
We
will go to the last extent to help the Kashmiris
and ultimately India will have to pull out its 800,000
troops from the occupied territory. When the United
States (US) along with almost 40 other nations cannot
perpetuate its presence in Afghanistan, how can
India continue with its occupation of Kashmir?.
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All this
occurs openly, despite the fact that Saeed’s direct involvement
in terrorist acts has been documented repeatedly and well.
Adding to a large body of evidence that has led to successive
bans on virtually every organisation that Saeed heads
(the DPC remains a present exception), David Coleman Headley,
the Pakistani American LeT operative involved in planning
26/11, in his confessional statement in the US, had confirmed:
"Hafiz Saeed had full knowledge of the Mumbai attacks
and they were launched only after his approval."
India also
has given significant evidence on Saeed’s involvement
in 26/11. Indian Government sources disclose that such
evidence included the statement of Ajmal Kasab – the lone
surviving gunman in the Mumbai attacks – conceding that
“Saeed was present during the selection and training of
terrorists behind the 26/11 attack.”
Bruce Riedel,
a former Central Investigation Agency (CIA) officer and
now a senior fellow in the Seban Centre at Brookings
Institute, citing the documents recovered from slain
al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden’s hideaway in Abbottabad
in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, observed that
Saeed, who is an al Qaeda ally, was in close touch with
Osama until his death: "Osama Bin Laden communicated
with Saeed and others via courier. He practised very good
opsec [operations security]. The two had a long-standing
relationship going back to the creation of LeT in the
1980s... Osama Bin Laden provided some of the seed money
to start the group (LeT)."
The US
has also claimed that it had “hard evidence” that Saeed
was communicating with Osama bin Laden through a courier
and that Laden had played a key role in the 26/11 attacks.
On February 7, 2012, Saeed himself confessed for the first
time that he had met with Osama bin Laden and claimed
that he (Saeed) had studied under the same scholar, Sheikh
Bin Baz, who taught Bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahiri.
Yet, Islamabad
continues to shield Saeed claiming that there is ‘no evidence’
against him to sustain a prosecution.
Such claims
have been endorsed at the highest level. Federal Minister
for Interior Rehman Malik claimed that, when Islamabad
asked for evidence in support of the US bounty, “we came
to know there was none... If America doesn’t have any
evidence and India still claims to have evidence, it should
be shared with us”. In a similar tone, Prime Minister
Yousuf Raza Gilani, on May 13, 2012, declared that there
was insufficient evidence to arrest Saeed. "If you
arrest him (Hafiz Saeed), that means he will be released
by the courts in Pakistan. For the courts you need more
evidence... You know the judiciary is completely independent
in Pakistan."
Adding
to this ‘tragedy of errors’, an unnamed counter-terrorism
official in Islamabad made the bizarre assertion, on April
6, 2012, that Saeed was helping de-radicalize militants:
"Hafiz Saeed has agreed with the Punjab Government
programme of de-radicalisation and rehabilitation of former
jihadis and extended full cooperation." Expressing
concerns for his safety, the Federal Government had ‘requested’
him to maintain a low profile after the announcement of
the US bounty. On April 23, 2012, Saeed told the media
that Federal Government Agencies had ‘advised’ him not
to participate in public rallies ‘for the time being’.
Significantly, reports indicate that at least nine policemen,
on six hour shifts, guard the three barricades set up
by JuD volunteers about 200 to 300 meters from Saeed's
house.
Saeed is
openly appreciative of the ‘security’ offered to him,
and the support given to the enterprise of jihadi
terrorism, by the Pakistani state. On January 1, 2012,
he thus observed:
Pakistan
is unmatched in terms of the freedom it allows for
the pursuit of jihad and for the spread of
Islam. No other ‘territory’ in the world matched
Pakistan and it was a great blessing from Allah...
Non-Muslims were conspiring against Pakistan both
internally and externally.
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Saeed,
undoubtedly, has enormous support from the authorities
at the helm. Bruce Riedel notes,
Saeed,
a very public figure in Pakistan and admired by
its military advocates a truly extreme vision: the
destruction of India and the creation of a Muslim
caliphate over the entire subcontinent. Both Saeed
and LeT for years benefitted from state patronage,
particularly, the Army and the Inter-Services Intelligence
(ISI) Agency..
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The open
support extended by state and political agencies to the
DPC and its various constituents, as well as to Saeed,
Makki and other terrorist leaders, can only embolden existing
Islamist extremist and terrorist formations in Pakistan,
and create widening spaces for a new breed of violently
intolerant clones. Islamabad continues to breed groups
committed to violence in the name of jihad against
the US, India and other ‘infidel’ states. This enduring
state collusion and the consequent impunity with which
extremists and terrorists function can only further devastate
the fragile political, social and economic landscape in
Pakistan, and destabilize the wider South Asian region
as well.
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Assam:
Karbi Jigsaw
Giriraj Bhattacharjee
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management
A tripartite
peace
agreement between the Assam State
Government, the Union Government and the rebel United
People’s Democratic Solidarity (UPDS),
termed ‘historic’ by Union Home Minister (UHM) P. Chidambaram,
was signed on November 24, 2011. A Ceasefire Agreement
with the group has been in place since August 1, 2002.
According
to the tripartite agreement, a Karbi Anglong Autonomous
Territorial Council (KAATC) is to be formed by 2016,
replacing the existing Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council
(KAAC) formed in 1995. The proposed territory of KAATC
would have three revenue and administrative Districts
— East Karbi Anglong, Central Karbi Anglong and West
Karbi Anglong, with headquarters at Koilamati, Singhason
and Hamren, respectively – which would be formed by
dividing the present Karbi Anglong District. Further,
KAATC would have 55 seats [as against 30 seats in the
present KAAC], of which 45 will be reserved for Scheduled
Tribes, five will be open, and five seats will be filled
through nominations.
Given
the extended delay in arriving at the tripartite agreement,
after the ceasefire of 2002, UPDS cadres are now chafing
over the fact that, five months since the signing of
the accord, the monitoring committee, to be led by a
Joint Secretary level officer in the Union Ministry
of Home Affairs (UMHA), which was to be to formed to
oversee the implementation of the agreement, is yet
to be constituted, though the UPDS claimed, on April
24, 2012, that it had sent a list of its nominees to
the Central Government. Since the Committee has not
been formed, a further clause of the tripartite agreement,
stipulating an ‘economic package’ worth INR 3.5 billion
for the Karbi Anglong region, cannot be implemented.
Further, the UPDS complains, little movement has been
noticed towards tabling in Parliament the constitutional
amendment required for the formation of KAATC.
The Union
Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA), which was entrusted
with the task of implementing the accord, is apparently
waiting for a peace accord with Black Widow aka
Dima Halim Daogah – Jewel Garlosa (DHD-JG) group, based
in the neighbouring Dima Hasao District, to be finalized,
before moving the required constitutional amendment.
A draft Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) with Black Widow
is reported to be ‘almost ready’, but Government is
hoping for a ‘breakthrough’ with another faction, the
Dima Halim Daogah-Nunisa (DHD-N), before signing the
agreement with the DHD-JG. Talks with DHD-N are, however,
at a stalemate over the demand for the inclusion of
90 villages, in Karbi Anglong District apart from the
neighbouring Districts of Cachar and Nagaon, in the
proposed territorial council.
Peace
talks with another Karbi outfit, the Karbi Longri North
Cachar Hills Liberation Front (KLNLF),
which declared a ceasefire and surrendered arms in February
2010, have also stalled. KLNLF ‘Chairman’, Pongbi Dilli,
on December 1, 2011, argues, “We were supposed to sign
a peace accord along with UPDS but we did not because
the Centre wanted us to drop our core demand of a separate
Karbi State, we cannot compromise on this”. KLNLF is
demanding an autonomous State for the Karbis under Article
244(A) of the Indian Constitution, but both the Union
and State Governments are opposed to the idea of an
autonomous State within a State.
As the
peace processes hit roadblocks, rebel cadres are showing
signs of restiveness. Reports indicate that, since 2010,
17 KLNLF and eight UPDS militants have fled their designated
camps located in Karbi Anglong District, along with
arms and ammunition. Police have no clue about the whereabouts
of these deserters. Further, Police have arrested 22
KLNLF militants for violating ceasefire rules between
March 2010 and February 2012, and seized 23 weapons.
Situated
in central Assam, covering an area of 10,434 square
kilometers, and bounded by Golaghat District in the
east, Meghalaya and Morigaon District in the West, Nagaon
and Golaghat Districts in the North and Dima Hasao [formerly
North Cachar (NC) Hills] District and Nagaland in the
South, the Karbi Anglong District has suffered from
militancy since the early 1990’s, with the formation
of the Karbi National Volunteers (KNV) and Karbi People’s
Front (KPF). KNV and KPF merged in March 1999, to form
the UPDS; the KLNLF was formed on May 16, 2004, as a
result of a split within UPDS. KPLT was formed on January
8, 2011 out of the Anti-Talks faction of the KLNLF.
Since
March 10, 2000, the Karbi Anglong District has witnessed
512 killings, including 361 civilians, 15 SFs and 136
militants. While UPDS was involved in 88 of these killings,
KLNLF was involved in 176 fatalities. Apart from the
killings, the District has witnessed another 229 incidents
of violence, including abduction, extortion, rival group
clashes, exchange of fire, bomb blasts, etc. At least
72 incidents of arrest and 21 incidents of recovery
of arms, ammunition and explosives, have also been recorded
during this period.
Militancy
was at its peak in 2005, with 108 fatalities recorded
that year, but dropped sharply in 2010, with just 10
fatalities. A gradual rise has been in evidence through
2011 (12 fatalities) and 2012 (nine killed by May 20).
The rise
in violence since 2011 is largely attributed to the
formation of KPLT. Since its formation, KPLT has been
involved at least 53 incidents of violence within the
District, and one (civilian) killing in the bordering
Golaghat District. Of the 53 incidents, 17 included
fatalities, in which five civilians, 3 Security Forces
(SF) personnel, and 16 KPLT cadres were killed. The
most prominent of these incidents included:
August
13, 2011: A truck driver, Nandu Mathu, was killed and
11 others, including six Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra
Parishad (AJYCP) activists, were injured, when suspected
KPLT militants opened fire on vehicles on National Highway
37 at Panbari near Kaziranga National Park in Golaghat
District.
April
2, 2011: KPLT militants killed three Central Reserve
Police Force (CRPF) personnel and injured four others
in an ambush near Rongshuli village in Karbi Anglong
District.
Significantly,
no other group in the District has been involved in
any fatalities since 2011, with the exception of a single
incident of a fratricidal killing (on March 30, 2012)
involving Kuki militant groups – the Assam unit of the
Manipur-based Kuki Revolutionary Army (KRA)
and Karbi Anglong based United Kukigram Defense Army
(UKDA). One UKDA militant was killed in the incident.
KPLT
has, moreover, been involved in rampant abduction-for-ransom
and extortion since its inception. In the latest of
a series of abductions, on March 3, 2012, KPLT abducted
two persons, including the Chief Conservator of Forests
of Karbi Anglong, Abhijit Rabha, and Range Officer,
Ranjan Barua, from the foothills of the Singhason Hills.
The KPLT demanded INR 10 million for their release.
The duo was released on March 6, and reports indicate
that the Forest Department paid INR 7 million as ransom.
Police subsequently arrested Ranjan Barua and another
forest official, Dinesh Patgiri, on April 7, for paying
the ransom. Earlier, on April 6, SFs had arrested Bhupendra
Narzary, an Officer on Special Duty (OSD), posted at
the office of the Chief Conservator of Forests, Karbi
Anglong, following the arrest of two KPLT militants,
and the recovery of INR 3.5 million from them.
Meanwhile,
reports indicate that, in the interior areas of the
District, extortion is endemic. One report quoted an
unnamed schoolteacher working in one of the remote areas
as stating,
Extortion
is the biggest issue in these militant-dominated
interior areas of Karbi Anglong. Here, each household
has to pay an annual tax to the militants. Shop
and vehicle owners have to pay them tax for using
the hill district’s land for business. Even we
have to pay a monthly ‘tax’ from our salary.
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The State
Government estimates the strength of KPLT at around
60-70 militants equipped with sophisticated weapons,
including AK rifles, M20 recoilless armor penetrating
rifles, Light Machine Guns, mortars, etc. In addition,
reports suggest that KPLT has established links with
the United National Liberation Front (UNLF)
and Kanglei Yowel Kanna Lup (KYKL),
operating in the neighbouring Manipur State, for training
new cadres. Significantly, these two Manipuri outfits
are part of the Coordination Committee (CorCom) of seven
Imphal Valley-based groups. KPLT is also reported to
have established links with the National Democratic
Front of Bodoland (NDFB).
There are indications that some former UPDS militants
have also started helping KPLT.
Troubled
by rising trends in violence and disruption, on March
19, 2012, the Government directed the Unified Command
(UC) of SFs to initiate counter-insurgency operations
against KPLT cadres. Since then, three encounters have
been recorded in the District:
March
28, 2012: SFs arrested a KPLT militant following an
encounter at Tarlangshu in Karbi Anglong District. Another
KPLT militant sustained injuries during the encounter,
but managed to escape.
March
30, 2012: SFs killed a militant of the KPLT and injured
two others in an encounter at an unspecified area under
the Bokolia Police Station in Karbi Anglong District.
SFs also arrested three KPLT militants after the encounter
along with two AK-56 automatic rifles, one .76 revolver
and some extortion notes.
April
20, 2012: SFs killed the founding ‘general secretary’
of the KPLT, Nilip Enghi and four other cadres during
an encounter on the hill tracks on Harlong Woti in Borpung,
under the Chowkihola Police Station in Karbi Anglong
District. One KPLT militant sustained serious bullet
injuries. Nilip Enghi was considered the ‘brain’ of
the outfit.
The KPLT
has lost 16 of its cadre, including its ‘General Secretary,
Nilip Enghi, and ‘Commander-in-Chief’ Blain Hanse, since
its formation in January 2011. SFs have, so far, also
arrested 43 persons linked with the rebel formation.
Another 16 KPLT militants, including five ‘top leaders’,
have surrendered.
Meanwhile,
the SFs recovered the mutilated body of Blain Hanse,
the KPLT ‘commander-in-chief’, on May 5, 2012, from
the Tarapung area under the Chokihola Police Station.
Investigations indicate that Hanse was the victim of
a drunken brawl within the group, and was killed by
a fellow KPLT militant on May 2, 2012.
Renewed
operations by the SFs and infighting within the outfit
have dealt major blows to the KPLT. Nevertheless, the
outfit retains significant capacities for disruption.
Worse, resentment against delays in hammering out and
implementing various ‘accords’ appears to be growing.
Wojaru Mukrang, former UPDS ‘Joint Secretary’ (in-charge
of political affairs) and now an elected member of the
KAAC, thus complains, “There was no condition in the
MoS that our settlement is dependent on how negotiations
with other groups progress… We are already in the mainstream
and not going back to the jungles. But this is unfair.”
Elections
for 26 seats in the KAAC were held on January 4, 2012,
with the Congress Party winning the maximum number (15).
The KAAC term will last till 2016.
Conspicuously,
the Karbi jigsaw remains fragmented, and will not fall
into place unless all groups are brought to the negotiating
table, and a consensual formula is implemented.
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Weekly Fatalities: Major
Conflicts in South Asia
May 14-20,
2012
|
Civilians
|
Security
Force Personnel
|
Terrorists/Insurgents
|
Total
|
INDIA
|
|
Assam
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
Meghalaya
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Left-wing
Extremism
|
|
Chhattisgarh
|
2
|
2
|
0
|
4
|
Jharkhand
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Odisha
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
Total
(INDIA)
|
5
|
3
|
2
|
10
|
PAKISTAN
|
|
Balochistan
|
7
|
5
|
0
|
12
|
FATA
|
2
|
0
|
29
|
31
|
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
|
3
|
0
|
1
|
4
|
Sindh
|
26
|
0
|
3
|
29
|
Total
(PAKISTAN)
|
38
|
5
|
33
|
76
|
Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
|
BANGLADESH
National
counter terrorism
strategy in months,
says official:
The draft national
strategy on counter
terrorism is expected
to see its final
shape in a couple
of months, Home
Ministry's additional
secretary Kamal
Uddin Ahmed said
on May 17. The
strategy would
keep readied teams
of armed forces,
RAB and other
law enforcing
agencies for emergency
responses at any
place in the country
and beyond. NewAge,
May 18, 2012.
INDIA
Mumbai
and Gujarat on terror
radar, confirms
Union Ministry of
Home Affairs:
Union Ministry of
Home Affairs (UMHA)
has confirmed that
Mumbai (Maharashtra)
and Gujarat are
on the terror radar
of Pakistan-based
groups, as reported
on May 14. Regarding
the "false" Lashkar-e-Toiba
(LeT) alert, top
government sources
confirmed that foreign
agencies have tipped
off New Delhi that
Mumbai and Gujarat
are on the target
list. "The advisory
about the terror
attack is correct
but photos given
out are false,"
said an unnamed
senior official.
Hindustan
Times,
May 16, 2012.
Militancy
declined in Kashmir
valley, but militants
trying to attack
Srinagar, states
Kashmir Zone IGP
S.M. Sahai:
Inspector General
of Police (IGP,
Kashmir zone) S.M.
Sahai on May 18
said that there
was steep decline
in militancy in
Kashmir valley and
the militants were
trying to carry
out attacks in Srinagar.
He commented, "Srinagar
is being used as
transit by militants,
but we would not
allow them to carry
out activities in
Srinagar. We have
to ensure a safe
Srinagar…Now it
takes little time
for a militant to
enter into Srinagar
because of easy
transport. They
came and try to
carry out attacks
in Srinagar". Greater
kashmir,
May 19, 2012.
Google
Earth used in 26/11
terror attacks,
asserts US Commander
George J. Flynn:
Citing the example
of the 26/11 Mumbai
terror attacks,
Marine Corps Lieutenant
General George J.
Flynn of US military
on May 15 warned
of the dangers posed
by "democratisation"
of technology in
future warfare.
He said, "All the
mission planning
was done via Google
Earth…There was
no investment in
technology of [intelligence,
surveillance and
reconnaissance]
platforms or anything
like that". Flynn
said the terrorists
used cellular phone
networks as command
and control and
social media to
track and thwart
the efforts of Indian
commandos. Times
of India,
May 19, 2012.
'Foreigner
extended support
to Naxals', says
Union Home Ministry:
An instance of a
foreigner extending
support to the Communist
Party of India-Maoist
(CPI-Maoist) and
its front organisations
has come to notice,
the Government said
on May 16. Minister
of State for Home
Affairs Jitendra
Singh told the Rajya
Sabha (upper house
of the Parliament)
that one Jan Myrdal,
a pro-Maoist Swedish
author, had visited
India in January
2012 and attended
pro-CPI-Maoist conventions
in Kolkata, Hyderabad,
Ludhiana and Delhi.
Zee
News,
May 17, 2012.
Myanmar
grants autonomy
to the NSCN-K in
three Districts
of Sagaing, says
report: Myanmar
has granted autonomy
to the National
Socialist Council
of Nagaland-Khaplang
(NSCN-K) in three
Districts of Sagaing,
an administrative
region in the northwest
of the country,
bordering Nagaland
and Manipur to its
north. Y. Wangtin
Naga, an NSCN-K
leader from India
who was one of the
six signatories
of the April 9 bilateral
ceasefire with the
Myanmar Government
said, "Nagas have
autonomy in Lahe,
Layse and Nanyang
in Sagaing region
and we are looking
for self-administration
in more Naga populated
districts in Kachin.".
The
Telegraph,
May 15, 2012.
NEPAL
Terai
Madhesh Loktantrik
Party pulls out
of the National
Unity Government:
The Terai Madhesh
Loktantrik Party
has decided to pull
out of National
Consensus Government
led by Prime Minister
Baburam Bhattarai.
The central working
committee of the
party took the decision
to this effect on
May 17. The Madheshi
party also decided
to stand against
the Government and
launch protest saying
that the agreement
signed between major
three parties on
the 11 province
federal model was
against the essence
of Madhesh movement.
Nepal
News,
May 18, 2012.
Parties
agree on 11-province
federal model and
mixed governance
system with directly
elected President:
The three major
political parties,
Unified Communist
Party of Nepal-Maoist
(UCPN-M), Nepali
Congress (NC) and
Communist Party
of Nepal-Unified
Marxist Leninist
(CPN-UML) together
with the United
Madheshi Democratic
Front (UMDF) on
May 15 reached a
breakthrough on
the new constitution
as they agreed on
11-province federal
structure along
with mixed governance
system. As per the
agreement reached
during talks, the
names of the provinces
would be determined
by elected state
assemblies themselves.
The federal states
would be carved
out on the basis
of ethnicity, geography
and language, said
Maoist vice-chairman
Narayan Kaji Shrestha
after the meeting.
Nepal
News,
May 16, 2012.
PAKISTAN
29
militants and two
civilians among
31 persons killed
during the week
in FATA: Nine
militants were killed
when Security Forces
(SFs) pounded their
hideouts in Mamozai
area of Orakzai
Agency in Federally
Administered Tribal
Areas (FATA) on
May 15.
12
militants were killed
and several others
injured when SFs
pounded their hideouts
with artillery and
helicopter gunships
in two different
areas of Kurram
Agency on May 14.
Eight
Lashkar-e-Islam
(LI) militants were
killed and two soldiers
were injured in
a clash with SFs
at Qamberabad Chowk
in Bara tehsil
(revenue unit)
of Khyber Agency.
Daily
Times;
Dawn;
The
News;
Tribune,
May 15-21, 2012.
26
civilians and three
militants among
29 persons killed
during the week
in Sindh: At
least five persons,
including an activist
of the Muttahida
Qaumi Movement (MQM),
were killed in separate
acts of target killing
in different parts
of Karachi on May
18.
Eight persons, including
a MQM activist and
two cadres belonging
to Sunni Tehreek
(ST), were killed
in separate acts
of target killings
in Karachi on May
17.
At
least eight persons
were killed in separate
incidents of target
killing in Karachi
on May 16.
At
least seven people,
including three
MQM workers and
a MQM sympathizer,
were shot dead in
different parts
of Karachi on May
15. Daily
Times;
Dawn;
The
News;
Tribune,
May 15-21, 2012.
UN
'al Qaida Sanction
List' declares Ilyas
Kashmiri as 'reported
dead':
Almost a year after
key 26/11 suspect
Mohammad Ilyas Kashmiri
was reported killed
in a drone strike,
the United Nations
(UN) has updated
his status as "reported
dead" in a sanctions
list of individuals
and entities associated
with al Qaeda. The
UN Security Council
al-Qaida Sanctions
committee amended
on May 10 the information
related to Kashmiri
in its comprehensive
'al-Qaida Sanctions
List'. The updated
information reads
Kashmiri "reportedly
deceased in Pakistan
on June 11, 2011".
Times
of India,
May 20, 2012.
Western
Embassies in Islamabad
receive letters
containing suspicious
powder: Several
Western embassies
in Islamabad on
May 16 received
letters containing
suspicious powder
and threats to poison
NATO soldiers in
Afghanistan, Pakistan
officials said.
The letters said
"poison" would be
hidden in the NATO
supplies should
Pakistan decide
to lift a nearly
six-month blockade
on supplies for
American and NATO
troops in Afghanistan.
Times
of india,
May 17, 2012.
South
belt of Punjab is
a breeding ground
for militant, says
Punjab Chief Minister
Shahbaz Sharif:
The Chief Minister
of Punjab Shahbaz
Sharif for the first
time on May 18 admitted
that southern belt
of the province
was a breeding ground
for militants. The
Provincial Government
had, up to now,
been denying the
presence of any
militant elements
in southern Punjab.
Dawn,
May 19, 2012.
Pakistan
among 'most negatively
perceived' countries,
reveals BBC
poll: Pakistan
has been ranked
second in the list
of most negatively
rated countries
in the world by
a global poll for
BBC World Service,
which surveyed 24,090
people around the
world. Pakistan
was rated "mostly
negative" by 51
per cent of the
respondents, getting
placed just one
spot above the most
negatively rated
country - Iran,
which was rated
negative by 55 percent
of the total respondents.
Most of the respondents
blamed Pakistan's
foreign policy and
the poor treatment
of its citizens
for such a widespread
negative perception
of the country.
Indian
Express,
May 19, 2012.
'There
is evidence against
FC in missing persons'
case in Balochistan',
alleges Supreme
Court: The Supreme
Court on May 14
said that there
existed evidence
that the Frontier
Corps (FC) were
involved in abducting
people in Balochistan.
The Court told the
FC Inspector General
(IG) that respect
for the force was
waning gradually
as 95 percent of
the people in Balochistan
had alleged that
FC was involved
in the picking up
of civilians in
the province. Daily
Times,
May 15, 2012.
Government
controls 90 percent
of tribal areas,
claims KP Governor
Barrister Masud
Kausar: Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa (KP)
Governor Masud Kausar
on May 16 said that
about 90 percent
of the seven tribal
areas and Frontier
Regions are under
Government control
because of successful
action against the
militants and activities
to revive public
life are gearing
up as a result.
"I must say, apart
from North Waziristan
Agency and some
parts of South Waziristan
Agency, the remaining
FATA (Federally
Administered Tribal
Areas) is clear
now and the government
writ is being consolidated,"
Governor Masud Kausar
said. Central
Asia Online,
May 17, 2012.
Gilgit
Baltistan Cabinet
approves mosque
'Code of Conduct':
The Gilgit Baltistan
(GB) cabinet approved
'Code of Conduct'
(CoC) for mosques
and gave legal status
to Masajid
(Mosque) Boards,
which were formed
by the Parliamentary
Committee. Government
spokesperson and
Minister for Education
Ali Madad Sher said
the code of conduct
has been approved
and will be given
a legal cover by
presenting it in
the Assembly in
the shape of a Masajid
Boards Act and its
implementation will
ensure harmony,
tranquility and
tolerance Pakistan
Observer,
May 16, 2012.
SRI LANKA
No
troop cuts in
Tamil areas,
asserts President
Mahinda Rajapaksa:
President Mahinda
Rajapaksa on
May 19 asserted
that there will
be no troop
cut in Tamil
areas. "Armed
services camps
are not found
in the North
alone. They
[Armed Forces]
are seen throughout
the country.
They are in
Colombo and
Giruvapattu
in the South.
These are found
in our country.
Not in any foreign
country," he
said, making
it clear that
the army-to-civilian
ratio in the
North will not
be altered.
"We must ask
if we are in
a position to
remove the armed
forces camps
in the North
and reduce our
attention national
security. That
is not possible,"
he added. Diplomats
stationed in
Colombo reckon
that as much
as 60 per cent
of the Sri Lankan
Army is deployed
in the North.
Another similar
estimate puts
the army-to-civilian
ratio at 1:4.
The
Hindu,
May19, 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
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and the
South
Asia Terrorism
Portal.
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