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SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 11, No. 9, September 3, 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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Manipur:
An Ever-present Danger
Veronica Khangchian
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
Independence
Day celebrations on August 15, 2012, in Manipur were marred
by a series of four bomb blasts in Imphal East, Imphal
West and Thoubal Districts. Four civilians, including
two women, were injured in the first incident, which took
place near the Thoubal Mela Ground at around 7:30 am.
The second blast occurred at around 9.00 am at Sagolband
Salam Leikai (Imphal West). Half an hour later, another
bomb exploded near GM Godown at Telipati (Imphal East).
The fourth explosion occurred at Mahabali (Imphal East)
at around 10:30 am. There were no casualties in any but
the first blast at the Thoubal Mela Ground.
A day later,
the Coordination Committee (CorCom) of seven Valley-based
militant outfits claimed responsibility for the serial
blasts. CorCom includes the Kangleipak Communist Party
(KCP),
Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL),
People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK),
its Progressive faction (PREPAK-Pro), Revolutionary People's
Front (RPF – the political wing of the People’s Liberation
Army – PLA),
United National Liberation Front (UNLF)
and United Peoples Party of Kangleipak (UPPK). According
a statement issued by CorCom, the four explosions were
part of its ‘general strike’ to boycott Indian Independence
celebrations. Thereafter, the Committee declared that
the people of Manipur “were/are never Indians and nor
will ever be”. The statement added, “after the forced
and treacherous merger of Manipur into India in October
1949, the distinctive identity of the indigenous people
is being obliterated by the day, and their distinctive
identity is being threatened to the stage of complete
disappearance.” CorCom urged the people of the region
to shed divisive feelings and stand united to wage a war
of liberation collectively.
Earlier,
CorCom had engineered a series of three explosions on
January 26, 2012, Republic Day. A powerful explosion took
place in Imphal during Republic Day celebrations at Thumbuthong
in Imphal East District; and at Moirangkhom in Imphal
West District. No causalities were reported. Further,
unidentified persons lobbed a hand grenade at a market
shed at Waheng Khuman in Bishnupur District, injuring
five persons. CorCom claimed responsibility for all three
attacks.
On January
22, 2012, CorCom had engineered a bomb blast at the residence
of Singjamei Congress candidate I. Hemochandra in Imphal
West District, in which one person died and another four
were injured. Partial data compiled by the South Asia
Terrorism Portal (SATP) records a total of 76 explosions
in the State in 2012 (till September 2, 2012), with 2
killed and 51 injured. At least 15 of these incidents
are confirmed as attributable to CorCom elements, according
to SATP data. On January 8, 2012, CorCom had claimed responsibility
for the six bomb blasts that occurred before January 8,
taking the total up to at least 21. Two incidents are
confirmed as attributable to the Maoist Communist Party
– Manipur (MCP-M, earlier known as the KCP-Maoist, which
now denies any relationship with other KCP splinters).
Responsibility for the remaining incidents is unconfirmed.
CorCom
was formed in July 2011, when top leaders
of seven underground groups operating from the Imphal
Valley of Manipur met for two days (July 8 and 9) to discuss
‘revolutionary movements’ in Manipur and elsewhere in
the South East Asian region, and agreed to form a Coordination
Committee. RPF 'president' Irengbam Chaoren was appointed
‘convenor’ of CorCom. A Joint Press Statement was signed
by seven top leaders of the militant groups, namely Ksh
Laba Meitei, ‘president’ KCP; N. Oken, ‘general secretary’
KYKL; N. Nongdrenkhomba, ‘chairman’, PREPAK; Irengbam
Chaoren, ‘president’ RPF; Kh Pambei, ‘acting chairman’
UNLF; Laan-ngamba Luwang, ‘chairman’ UPPK; and L. Paliba,
‘chairman’, PREPAK-Pro. The Joint Statement indicated
that the coordination committee would comprise at least
top two leaders from the seven underground groups, and
was intended to establish a United Front to bring unity
among revolutionary groups to free Manipur from India’s
‘colonial regime’.
CorCom
has since engaged in numerous acts of violence, with a
particular intensity during the Assembly Elections of
January 2012. CorCom had declared a ‘ban’ on the ruling
Indian National Congress (INC) and, accordingly, issued
death threats and carried out numerous bomb blasts across
the State, while openly claiming responsibility for its
activities. In a statement on January 4, 2012, CorCom
declared that contesting on INC tickets, campaigning and
organizing rallies for the INC were prohibited, and anyone
defying this diktat would be ‘punished’. The ban, however,
failed, and Okram Ibobi Singh was sworn in as Chief Minister
for the third consecutive term, on March 14, 2012, with
the Congress winning 42 out of 60 seats in the Assembly.
Manipur
saw a sharp escalation of violence in the beginning of
2012. On March 21, 2012, the Union Minister of State for
Home Jitendra Singh stated that Manipur had become the
State worst affected by militancy in the country, overtaking
Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and other northeastern States,
with 246 militancy-related incidents recorded in the first
three months of the year. 34 such incidents occurred in
J&K during the same period.
According
to SATP data, 70 fatalities have been reported in the
State, including 16 civilians, 9 Security Forces (SF)
personnel and 45 militants, already exceeding total figure
of 2011, at 65 fatalities.
CorCom
was responsible for the maximum number of bomb attacks
carried out across the State, and was also involved in
a number of encounters with the SFs. Some significant
incidents involving CorCom in 2012 included:
January
26, 2012: Two days before elections, at least four SF
personnel and three militants were killed in two separate
clashes in Manipur, at Aishi village in Ukhrul District
and at Taretlok, bordering Thoubal and Ukhrul District.
January
16, 2012: Two SF personnel were killed and two were injured
when a patrol party of the Assam Rifles was ambushed near
Jhoukhonom village in Churachandpur District on the Myanmar
border.A CorCom Press Release claimed that three constituent
members of CorCom: PREPAK-Pro, RPF and UNLF were behind
the ambush.
May 9,
2012: Three suspected PREPAK militants were killed during
an encounter with personnel of 23 Assam Rifles at Chadong
Tangkhul village near Maphou Dam under the Litan Police
Station, Ukhrul District.
Meanwhile,
the SFs have managed to make some significant arrests
of top CorCom leaders and cadres:
August
16, 2012: SFs arrested a top UPPK militant, identified
as 'organizing secretary', Homeshwar Singh, and considered
the senior-most member of the outfit, from the Beharbari
area of Guwahati city (Assam). Singh was on the wanted
list of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Manipur
Police.
June 17,
2012: Four top UPPK leaders were arrested from Patna Railway
Station by a Manipur Police team, with logistic support
from Bihar Police. The arrested militants were identified
as ‘general secretary’ Ningthoujam Shanti aka Chinglemba;
‘finance secretary’ Langpoklakpam Birjit aka Inaocha;
‘major’ Elangbam Bobo aka Khanganba, and ‘captain’
L. Jiten aka Selkai.
April 2,
2012: NIA arrested a PLA 'captain', identified as Arnold
Singh aka Beckon from Siliguri in West Bengal. Sources
indicate that he was connected with the supply of arms
to the outfit. Arnold Singh is also a member of PLA's
'external affairs' wing. Singh was the leader of a four-member
team that imparted arms training to Communist Party of
India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres in the Saranda Forest
in Jharkhand between September 11 and November 20, 2010.
February
10, 2012: SFs arrested five militants of the CorCom (PREPAK),
who struck terror among Congress candidates and their
supporters during the Assembly elections of January 28,
from Imphal West District.
November
30, 2010: The UNLF ‘chairman’ Rajkumar Meghen, who went
missing after reportedly being caught in Bangladesh, was
arrested at Motihari of East Champaran District in Bihar.
CorCom
has also seen two major incidents of mass surrender including
cadres this year. On July 20, 2012, 73 cadres of different
militant groups lay down arms before Chief Minister Ibobi
Singh during a ‘home-coming ceremony’ held at Mantripukhri
in Imphal East District. Of the surrendered cadres, 14
belonged to the UNLF, 12 to PLA, 13 to KYKL, 15 to different
factions of KCP, seven to PREPAK, eight to the People’s
United Liberation Front (PULF), one to the Manipur Naga
Revolutionary Front ((MNRF) and three to the Kuki National
liberation Front (KNLF). Earlier, on April 30, 2012,
103 cadres of several militant outfits operating in the
State and its neighboring areas surrendered with their
weapons, before the Chief Minister, during a ceremony
at Mantripukhri. They included 22 cadres of the UNLF,
20 of PULF, nine of KYKL, 14 of PREPAK, eight of KNLF,
10 of KCP, nine of PLA, four of the United Naga People’s
Council (UNPC), two of National Socialist Council of Nagaland—Isak-Muivah
(NSCN-IM),
one each of NSCN-Khaplang (NSCN-K),
UPPK and Kom Rem People’s Army (KRPA), and two of the
Kuki Revolutionary Front (KRF).
On May
2, 2012, however, UNLF, RPF, and PREPAK, dismissed the
surrender ceremony of April 30 as a ‘forceful (sic)
surrender of militants’ staged by the Ibobi Singh led
Government,
CorCom
elements have also intensified their propaganda and drive
against ‘outsiders’. The United Revolutionary Front (URF,
set up on January 7, 2012, which collaborates with CorCom
in their attacks against non-locals, but is not a member
of CorCom), a conglomerate of five splintered factions
of the KCP, in a statement issued by its ‘secretary, information
and publicity’ A.K. Pibarel, on April 9, 2012, declared
that it was not right to let outsiders claim ownership
of all professional works in the State and that the indigenous
people should be the right owners of Manipur and its markets,
including all kinds of occupations or professions. Thereafter,
on April 14, 2012, URF announced an ‘ordinance’ against
all non-locals living in Manipur as part of its economic
policy for indigenous people. The 15- point ordinance,
among other provisions, imposes a monthly ‘tax’ on all
non-indigenous people, without considering the period
of their settlement in Manipur.
Significantly,
in a pre-dawn operation launched on August 30, 2012, by
Manipur Police teams in Lilong and Hatta Golapati, two
Muslim-dominated areas of Thoubal and Imphal East Districts,
as a precaution to prevent an outbreak of Assam-like
violence in the State, a total of
43 foreign nationals, including 24 Bangladeshis and 19
Myanmarese, were detained. The crackdown on illegal migrants
came close on the heels of a fresh campaign by civil society
groups for the implementation of the Inner Line Permit
(ILP) system in Manipur. The ILP is an official travel
document required for Indian citizens to travel into restricted
areas. The Manipur Assembly passed a resolution in July
2012 to urge the Centre to introduce ILP in the State,
to regulate the influx of migrants and foreigners. The
Centre, however, is said to have no plans to extend the
system, which exists only in Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal
Pradesh, to include Manipur.
Significantly,
according to an August 28, 2012, report, the URF has called
on Manipuri students to look towards the fast developing
regions of China and Southeast Asia to pursue higher studies
and employment, arguing that ‘mainland India’ has repeatedly
disowned them. The URF cited the present incidence of
threat and intimidation against the people of the Northeast,
in apparent retaliation to the Kokrajhar (Assam) riots,
as evidence of the perverse attitude of mainstream India.
The PLA’s
close links with the Communist Party of India – Maoist
is also emerging as a cause for urgent concern. Security
agencies believe that the CPI-Maoist is making rapid inroads
into the North-East, immediately to gain access to the
arms market in the neighbouring Yunan Province of China,
as well as in Myanmar and the Southeast Asian countries.
According to a June 2, 2012, report, the Maoist were ready
to spend INR 2 billion for arms and training, an amount
that would tempt any insurgent group in the Northeast.
The CPI-Maoist is likely to become a member of a Strategic
United Front (SUF) comprising major insurgent groupings
in South Asia, and including the groups in India’s Northeast.
Indian Security agencies apprehend that members of Chinese
intelligence agencies may participate in the meetings
of the proposed SUF in the guise of representatives of
the Wa State Army – the largest illegal arms manufacturer
in Myanmar. The CorCom along with other North East militant
outfits have camps in Myanmar under the protection
of NSCN-K.
The multiple
insurgencies in Manipur have been losing steam over the
past years, and annual fatalities have registered a sharply
declining trend. On June 26, 2012, Major General U.K.
Gurung, Inspector General (South), Assam Rifles, stated
that Manipur’s insurgencies had ‘lost steam’ and the law
and order situation was ‘much improved’. Indeed, on April
25, 2012, on the occasion of the outfit’s 18th
‘raising day’, the ‘chairman’ of KYKL, N. Oken conceded
that both the ‘revolutionary movement’ and the ‘social
movement’ had gone into a ‘reverse gear’ and had lost
the people’s support to an alarming level.
Nevertheless,
the efforts of strategic consolidation and renewal under
the CorCom, as well as growing insurgent linkages
abroad, give significant cause for
concern. Manipur’s politics remain unstable, its administration
corrupt and dysfunctional, and its people frustrated by
social, economic and political stagnation and a lack of
opportunities. A single spark has, in the past, set this
volatile tinderbox afire; there is an ever-present danger
that this may happen again.
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Tripura:
Reviving Risks
Giriraj Bhattacharjee
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management
On August
15, 2012, Tripura’s Chief Minister Manik Sarkar warned
that a few militant cadres had made a ‘false surrender’
and had returned to the jungles after taking advantage
of the various benefits allowed by the Government under
its generous surrender schemes.
The Chief
Minister’s statement came in the midst of reports indicating
that the elements from the Biswamohan faction of the National
Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT-BM)
and the defunct All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF)
had joined with other militant groups outside the State
to form a Northeastern ‘United Front’. On August 11, 2012,
the United Front called for a boycott of Independence
Day (August 15) across the Northeast.
The NLFT
insurgency started in 1989, and sought Tripura’s secession
from India. The group suffered multiple splits over the
years, with most of its top leaders – including Nayanbashi
Jamatia, Kamini Debbarma, Bidyasingh Jamatia, Bhuchuk
Borok and Montu Koloi – surrendering under the Government’s
rehabilitation schemes. Nevertheless, ‘chairman’ Biswamohan
Debbarma aka D. Baithang remains at large.
Following
a series of arrest and the surrender of some NLFT-BM militants
this year, the efforts to regroup this moribund militant
formation have become known. On July 14, 2012, for instance,
NLFT-BM ‘commander’ Barnajay Tripura (32), who surrendered
to the Special Branch (Intelligence Wing) of the State
Police, at an unspecified date, disclosed that NLFT-BM
was preparing to launch a ‘major offensive’ in the run-up
to the Assembly Elections of 2013. Barnajay also revealed
that the outfit was collecting large sums of money for
the purchase of arms and ammunition and was conducting
a recruitment drive.
Reports
indicate that NLFT-BM is regrouping in Bangladesh and
the neighboring Indian State of Mizoram. NLFT-BM commanders
Atharababu Halam aka Babu, Chatrabhanga Jamatia
and Sachin Debbarma have been placed in charge of the
group’s ‘revival’. NLFT-BM’s set of target areas of operation
includes Chawmanu, Manikpur, Raishyabari, and Nutanbazar,
all in the Dhalai District of Central Tripura, which shares
borders with Bangladesh both on its North West and its
South East. Earlier, in January 2012, Halam had been tasked
with the consolidation of NLFT’s position in the Khowai-Kamalpur,
covering the Khowai District and the bordering Kamalpur
area in Dhalai District.
Referring
to revelations by NLFT-BM cadres, Dhanu Koloi, Bishu Koloi,
Asitu Mog, Dolphin Koloi and Ratasree Koloi, who were
arrested on June 17, 2012, the Tripura Police indicated
that NLFT-BM had recently recruited some 70 new cadres
into the outfit, and these were currently undergoing arms
training in Myanmar and Bangladesh.
Worryingly,
Intelligence reports of June 18, 2012, noted that 27 former
militants in the State, who had earlier surrendered to
authorities, had gone ‘missing’. Police suspect they have
rejoined their outfits, aided overground sympathizers.
This defection
is, however, only of the total of 1,705 surrendered militants
in Tripura. Chief Minister Sarkar, on March 6, 2012, giving
details, noted, “During the past 14 years, 1,705 extremists
of different outfits have surrendered to the Government.
Of the 1,705 surrendered militants, 1,285 have been given
economic rehabilitation and embarked on a new life with
their families”.
In its
effort to establish its dominance in the State, NLFT-BM
has reportedly ‘tamed’ its rival ATTF. An April 22, 2012,
report indicated that NLFT-BM, under the leadership of
Sachin Debbarma, had captured the ATTF ‘base camp’ at
Satcherri (in Bangladesh) after a small clash, and looted
all arms, including a few rocket launchers, from this
dormant formation. Following the incident, ATTF supremo
Ranjit Debbarma is said to have met with Biswamohan Debbarma
at a hotel in Chittagong where an agreement was arrived
at, with each group promising not to attack the other.
According to the NLFT-BM ‘foreign secretary’ Utpal Debbarma,
who was arrested on July 12, 2011, a merger of the two
groups had been attempted earlier, but had failed.
Biswamohan
Debbarma has also reportedly toured several countries,
including Thailand, Singapore and China, to secure help
for the outfit.
The abrupt
strengthening of the NLFT-BM appears also to have resulted
in a significant slowdown in the surrender of cadres.
According to partial data compiled by the South Asia
Terrorism Portal (SATP) the number of militants who
surrendered had reduced to just five in 2012, (until September
2) as compared to 33 in 2011, 127 in 2010, 241 in 2009
and 114 in 2008. The surrender of militant cadres over
the 2008-2010 period had, in fact, pushed the ATTF to
the verge of collapse (its current strength is estimated
at barely 10 to 12 cadres) and cut the NLFT down to a
bare 150-odd cadres. Nevertheless, three top leaders of
the NLFT-BM – Kashirai Reang, Debadanta Reang and Brikhu
Reang – surrendered to Security personnel at Khedachara
in North Tripura District on July 4, 2012.
The NLFT-BM
has also begun to target displaced Bru tribals of Mizoram,
living in refugee camps in Tripura, for recruitment. The
displaced Bru tribals, also known as Reangs, are the second
largest tribe in Tripura, and are being roped in with
the assurance of training and arms to fight for their
cause. Crucially, the Bru
refugee issue remains unresolved after
nearly a decade-and-a-half. According to a recent Union
Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) statement in the Rajya
Sabha (Upper House of Parliament), out of 5,000, Bru
families displaced from Mizoram to Tripura during the
ethnic violence of 1997-98, only about 800 Bru families
have returned to Mizoram. Significantly, the original
(undivided) NLFT had helped in the formation of the Bru
militant group, Bru National Liberation Front (BNLF),
in 1996. The recruitment of Bru tribals may also help
the NLFT-BM develop the Mamit District of Mizoram, which
borders Assam (Hailakandi District) and Tripura (North
Tripura), as well as Bangladesh, as a base.
Interestingly,
on March 25, 2012, NLFT-BM rebels abducted six workers
of an Assam-based firm, who were working in a fencing
site on the Mizoram-Bangladesh border. NLFT-BM had demanded
a ransom of INR 10.25 million and released the workers
on April 30, 2012, after the firm reportedly paid INR
6 million. This is the first time NLFT-BM carried out
such an operation outside Tripura. The abduction may also
have been intended to block or delay the construction
of the border fence, especially since the presently unfenced
segment between Khantalong in Kanchapur Sub-division [North
Tripura District] and Boalkhali in Gandacherra Sub-division,
[Dhalai District], is reportedly used by NLFT-BM for its
transborder movements.
Although
the fencing of Tripura’s border with Bangladesh is almost
complete, with just 125.5 kilometers out of 856 kilometers
currently unfenced, the installation of floodlights, which
is to be completed within 2012, appears to be well behind
schedule, with only seven per cent of the work presently
finished. The militants use the unfenced stretches on
the hilly eastern border of the State with the Chittagong
Hill Tracts of Bangladesh for their movements. The unguarded
boundary also helps illegal Bangladeshis to cross over.
According to an unnamed official document cited by the
media on June 23, 2012, an estimated 186,500 Bangladeshis
have been deported after their detention in Tripura, since
1974. Further, between July 2011 and March 2012, 95 Myanmerese,
including Rohingya Muslims and Buddhist tribals, were
detained after they sneaked into the state through Bangladesh.
In 2011,
Tripura witnessed five incidents of firing by militants,
targeting fencing work. In one such incident, on January
31, 2011, NLFT-BM militants shot dead an official of the
National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC), identified
as C.N. Muni, and injured his driver, at a remote tribal
settlement near the Indo-Bangladesh border in the North
Tripura District. Muni was in-charge of the Shewapara
border-fencing site of NBCC.
NLFT-BM
has also been demanding a portion of the funds for the
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
(MNREGA) from poor tribal residents, as ‘donation’, in
remote tribal villages located in the North Tripura and
Dhalai Districts. The group’s involvement in the Fake
Indian Currency Notes (FICN) business, drug peddling,
cannabis cultivation, smuggling to Bangladesh and the
Middle East, and the production of pornographic films,
has also been documented. According to sources in the
State Home Department, NLFT has abducted more than 30
people from remote tribal villages in 2012 alone, and
has extorted INR 9 million from different individuals
and institutions by mobilizing a section of surrendered
militants.
The group
has also suffered significant losses, including the arrest
of NLFT-BM ‘vice president’ Subir Debbarma from Dhalai
District on July 28, 2012, and the killing of one cadre
at Majimonipur under Raishyabari Police Station in Dhalai
District on July 22, 2012.
The NLFT-BM,
moreover, has severe limitations of leadership. Reports
suggest a power struggle between the group’s supremo Biswamohan
Debbarma and Sachin Debbarma, who had defected
from the ATTF with over a dozen cadres in 2010, and then
joined the NLFT-BM in February 2011. Sachin was said to
be close to Biswamohan, and the reasons for the fallout
remain unknown, though there is speculation that the former
may take over the group in the foreseeable future.
NLFT-BM
is also coming under increasing pressure in Bangladesh,
and reports indicate that ‘chairman’ Biswamohan had gone
to Myanmar after the arrest of Utpal Debbarma, the group’s
‘foreign secretary’, to negotiate with United Liberation
Front of Asom Anti-Talks Faction (ULFA-ATF)
and Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang
(NSCN-K)
leaders to allow him to establish a permanent base there.
The establishment of a base in Myanmar has become crucial
to the group’s survival as Indo-Bangladesh relations have
improved greatly in recent years, making operations increasingly
difficult. NLFT-BM presently has an estimated 20 hideouts
(eight to nine permanent camps and eleven transit camps)
in Bangladesh. These include permanent hideouts located
at Khagrachari, Segunbagan, Boalchari, and Sajak (with
the last reportedly gaining prominence as it is along
Mizoram-Myanmar border). On June 22, 2012, U.K. Bansal,
Director-General (DG) of the Border Security Force (BSF),
stated that the makeshift nature of camps of several militant
outfits of the Northeast in Bangladesh made it difficult
for the authorities to take action against them.
Both ULFA-ATF
and NSCN-K leaders had reportedly agreed to provide space
to the NLFT-BM for setting up a base in Myanmar, but on
conditions, which included cadre strength, money, arms
and ammunition. Biswamohan Debbarma had, however, reportedly
failed to fulfill these terms even eight months after
meeting with the ULFA-ATF and NSCN-K leaders, and has,
consequently, been unable to set up base in Myanmar.
As the
Assembly Elections approach, political mischief also appears
to be afoot. Bijon Dhar, State Secretary of the ruling
Communist Party of India – Marxist(CPI-M), on June 25,
2012, alleged that the militants who were arrested on
June 17, 2012, along with INR 2.5 million, had informed
the Police that the opposition Congress Party and the
Indigenous Nationalist Party of India (INPT) were helping
insurgent groups find fresh recruits among tribal youth,
with the intention of destabilizing the State’s Left Front
Government before the elections, as was the case in the
1988 polls. Around the February 1988 Assembly Elections,
the then-militant Tripura National Volunteers (TNV) had
killed an estimated 100 non-tribal people, and the CPI-M
– led Left Front had been voted out of power. Meanwhile,
on June 26, 2012, the Congress party accused the State
Government of withdrawing cases of serious crimes
against surrendered militants. State Congress leader Sudip
Barman claimed that the CPI-M has withdrawn 1,300 criminal
cases against 736 surrendered guerrillas. It is significant
that the two rival parties had a significant role in raising
and sustaining the original NLFT, which was backed by
the Congress, and ATTF, backed by the CPI-M.
The Tripura
Police has engineered one of the most dramatic victories
against vicious and persistent insurgencies in the State.
However, as Chief Minister Sarkar noted in February 2011,
“Despite remarkable improvements, we believe there is
no scope for complacency in dealing with insurgency."
This is particularly the case in the lunacy of the election
season, where establishment political parties are tempted
into unprincipled and disastrous alliances with lawless
armed groups. The utmost caution is, at present, necessary,
if the State is not to be drawn, once again, into the
misfortune of widespread armed violence.
|
Weekly Fatalities: Major
Conflicts in South Asia
August 27-September
2, 2012
|
Civilians
|
Security
Force Personnel
|
Terrorists/Insurgents
|
Total
|
BANGLADESH
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
INDIA
|
|
Assam
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
Manipur
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
Jammu and
Kashmir
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
Left-wing
Extremism
|
|
Chhattisgarh
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Jharkhand
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
3
|
Odisha
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
Total (INDIA)
|
3
|
1
|
7
|
11
|
PAKISTAN
|
|
Balochistan
|
20
|
0
|
0
|
20
|
FATA
|
6
|
27
|
120
|
153
|
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
|
14
|
3
|
0
|
17
|
Sindh
|
59
|
3
|
2
|
64
|
Total (PAKISTAN)
|
99
|
33
|
122
|
254
|
Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
|
INDIA
Seven
Delhi Districts under Maoist influence, says Ministry
of Home Affairs: Seven Districts in Delhi have come
"under the influence" of the Communist Party of India-Maoist
(CPI-Maoist) while 84 Districts across the country witnessed
violent activities of Naxals (Left Wing Extremists).
Minister of State for Home Jitendra Singh on August
30 said the Districts in the National Capital which
have come under the influence of Left Wing Extremism
are Central Delhi, New Delhi, South Delhi, North West
Delhi, South West Delhi, North and North East. There
are nine Districts in Delhi. IBN
Live, August 31, 2012.
Marginal
dip in Maoist violence, says Union Government: Left
Wing Extremist (LWE) violence targeting economic infrastructure
in the country has seen a marginal decline in the past
couple of years, the Government said on August 28, reports
The Times of India. Altogether, 163 incidents
have taken place this year till July, Minister of State
for Home Affairs Jitendra Singh told Lok Sabha
(lower house of the Parliament) in a written reply.
There were 362 such attacks in 2009, while the same
figure for 2010 and 2011 were 365 and 293, respectively.
Times
of India, August 29, 2012.
Militant
outfits on revival path says Tripura Chief Minister
Manik Sarkar: Separatist outfits in the State supported
by some opposition leaders, are recruiting tribal youths
ahead of the 2013 assembly polls, Chief Minister Manik
Sarkar said on August 28."The militant outfits are engaging
tribal youths to revive their groups and create trouble
before the elections. Collecting money from the state,
funds are being sent to militant camps in Bangladesh
to procure arms and ammunition," Sarkar added. Nagaland
Post, August 29, 2012.
SC
upholds the death sentence for lone arrested 26/11 Mumbai
attacks accused Pakistani national Ajmal Kasab:
Supreme Court (SC) on August 29 today upheld the death
sentence for lone arrested 26/11 Mumbai attacks accused
Pakistani national Ajmal Kasab. The top court rejected
a plea by Kasab to commute the death sentence handed
to him by the Bombay High Court (HC), to life imprisonment.
NDTV,
August 29, 2012.
HM
and LeT trying to rope in ex-cadres, says intelligence
report: The intelligence agencies have cautioned
the Jammu and Kashmir Police to keep a close watch on
the activities of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) and Lashkar-e-Toiba
(LeT) who are trying to rope in surrendered militants
back into their fold. In a recent advisory sent to the
State Police and other security agencies active in the
Valley it has been disclosed that both HM and the LeT
are feeling extremely frustrated in wake of the acute
manpower crunch they are facing. Deccan
Chronicle, August 27, 2012.
NE
terror outfits moving to Myanmar following crackdown
in Bangladesh says Assam Rifles IG Satish Dua:Terrorist
outfits of the northeastern region have shifted their
bases to neighbouring Myanmar following crackdown by
the Bangladesh Security Forces said Inspector General
of Assam Rifles (IG-AR), Satish Dua in Agartala. Hindustan
Times, August 25, 2012.
NEPAL
Prime
Minister Bhattarai rules out resignation: Prime
Minister (PM) Baburam Bhattarai on August 28 on completion
of one year in office defended the actions of the Government
and ruled out resignation. Bhattarai claimed that he
made all possible attempts to reach out to the leaders
of the opposition parties for consensus. PM said that
the parties now have no choice other than arriving at
a consensus and said he was fully prepared to make way
for a consensus government, but resigning without consensus
might invite chaos in the country.
The Hindu; Nepal
News, August 29, 2012.
PAKISTAN
120
militants and 27 SF personnel among 153 persons killed
during the week in FATA: At least nine militants,
among them key Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) 'commanders',
were killed and several others in clashes with the Security
Forces (SFs) and volunteers of a local peace committee
in Batwar area of Salarzai tehsil (revenue unit)
of Bajaur Agency in Federally Administered Tribal Areas
(FATA) on September 2.
At least
seven militants were killed while 13 were injured during
an operation launched by the SFs in South Waziristan
Agency.
Six suspected
militants were killed in a United States (US) drone
strike on a vehicle and a house in Dattakhel area of
North Waziristan Agency on September 1.
At least
14 militants, among them a key 'commander', were killed
and seven others injured in gun battles with SFs at
Gul Kadda in Mamozai area of Upper Orakzai Agency on
August 31.
The TTP
released a video showing the severed heads of 12 soldiers,
as security officials said 15 troops had gone missing
following fighting with militants in Batwar area of
Bajaur Agency.
SFs killed
18 TTP militants, including two TTP Swat Chapter 'commanders',
identified as Khatir and Turbai, in Bajaur Agency of
on August 30.
Nine
SF personnel and six militants were killed while several
others wounded in a clash between SFs and militants
in Baba Ziarat locality of Ghat Badr, some 35 kilometers
south of Ladha, in South Waziristan Agency on August
29.
Six militants
were killed and three SF personnel and two members of
a peace committee were injured in fighting in parts
of Salarzai tehsil in Bajaur Agency.
Eleven
TTP militants, three Security Force personnel and a
member of Salarzai Qaumi lashkar (community militia)
were killed and several others injured as fighting intensified
in Salarzai tehsil of Bajaur Agency on August
28.
An operation
to clear militants from Batwar area of Bajaur Agency
in FATA on August 27 left 36 dead including three soldiers
and two members of a government supported peace committee.
Eight
militants were killed and two security personnel suffered
injuries in a clash in Masozai area of Kurram Agency.
Daily
Times;
Dawn; The
News; Tribune;
Central
Asia Online; The
Nation; The
Frontier Post,
August
28-September 3, 2012.
LeT
'commander' Zaki-ur-Rahman protected by LeT inside Adiala
prison in Rawalpindi, says US Treasury Department:
Fresh evidence has emerged that top Mumbai 2008 terror
attack (also known as 26/11) suspect Zaki-ur-Rahman
Lakhvi continues to be provided security by the Lashkar-e-Toiba
(LeT) though he is in the maximum-security at Adiala
jail in Rawalpindi District of Punjab province. In a
statement announcing sanctions against eight key Lashkar
operatives, the United States (US) Treasury Department
said Sajid Mir, the terrorist group's commander for
transcontinental operations, had been made "responsible
for Lakhvi's security as of 2010." The
Hindu,
September 1, 2012.
Sectarian
outfits active in Balochistan, says HRCP report:
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on the occasion
of International Day of the Disappeared on August 30
said that during the tenure of the present Government,
as many as 450 mutilated dead bodies have been recovered
and over 1300 persons went missing in different areas
of Balochistan Federal Government should take remedial
steps to resolve the issue. Chairperson HRCP Zohra Yusuf
said that there is war like situation in Balochistan.
Hazara Community is being killed by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
(LeJ) and now Jama'at-ud-Dawa (JuD) has also started
opening offices in Balochistan.
A report
quoting a fact finding mission of the HRCP on Balochistan
stated that Talibanisation is growing in several areas
of Balochistan and Security Forces might be patronising
militants, turning Quetta into a haven for militants.
The report observed that religious fanaticism was not
being exported to the province from outside, rather
it was being bred within Balochistan. Dawn;
Tribune,
August
31, 2012.
Hate
content in school textbooks has increased since 2009,
reveals NCJP report Education or Promotion of Hatred:
Hate content in textbooks used in the Punjab has increased
from '45 lines in 2009 to 122 in 2012' a content analysis
report titled Education or Promotion of Hatred
published by the National Commission for Justice and
Peace (NCJP) said on August 30 at a conference, Biases
in Textbooks and Education Policy. Doctor Mehdi
Hasan, the School of Media and Communication Dean at
the Beacon House National University said seminaries,
where less than 4 per cent of the Pakistani children
studied in Pakistan, did not pose a greater threat than
schools, where hate material was being taught to students
as young as to be in class 1. Tribune,
August 31, 2012.
US
designates eight LeT-JuD leaders as terrorists and Places
sanctions: The US Treasury Department on August
30 designated eight leaders of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT)
as terrorists and placed sanctions on them, holding
them accountable for the Mumbai attacks in 2008, and
attacks on coalition and Afghan forces in Afghanistan.
After
the US announced its sanctions the Jama'at-ud-Dawa (JuD)
said that it had no link with the LeT. Senior JuD leader
Amir Hamza described the US decision as an attempt to
defame the JuD leadership. "The LeT is an occupied Kashmir-based
religious organisation, which has been struggling to
help Kashmiris get freedom from India and we have no
link with the LeT," said Amir Hamza, adding the American
action to place JuD leaders' names on the US list of
specially designated persons with link to terrorism
was absolutely wrong and baseless. Tribune;
Times
of India;
Dawn,
August
31, 2012.
United
States and Pakistan are not planning a joint military
operation in tribal areas, says report: The United
States and Pakistan are not planning a joint military
operation in tribal areas as Islamabad will not allow
foreign troops on its soil, said officials familiar
with talks between the two countries on this issue.
In a recent meeting with American journalists in Washington,
a group of Pakistani officials explained that the media
was causing "much confusion" by using the term joint
operation. Dawn,
August 30, 2012.
Mullah
Omar and aides living in Pakistan, says NATO commander
in Afghanistan General John Allen: The NATO commander
in Afghanistan General John Allen on August 28 said
that reclusive Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar was
hiding in Pakistan along with his commanders. "Omar
lives in Pakistan, as do many of his commanders. From
that safe vantage point, they've sent hundreds of young,
impressionable, largely spiritual and helpless youths
to their deaths and detention in Afghanistan. For this,
they must forfeit their honour and any claim to Islamic
virtue," General John Allen said. Pakistan
Today,
August 29, 2012.
US
officials rule out role of ISI in attacks on NATO troops
in Afghanistan: US officials refused to endorse
Afghanistan's claim that Inter-Services Intelligence
(ISI) have infiltrated their Security Forces and were
attacking American and NATO troops, dressed as Afghan
soldiers, reported on August 27. "It's our understanding
that these attacks aren't the work of foreign intelligence
services," a senior US defence official told Wall
Street Journal. Citing US investigations of the
incidents, the official said, "They're typically Afghans
who themselves decide to conduct them, and some Afghans
from insurgent networks might have helped on occasion."
Earlier,
Afghan President Hamid Karzai, issued a statement, insisting
that "foreign spy agencies" had infiltrated Afghan Security
Forces and were now using their uniforms to attack US
and NATO troops. Dawn,
August 27, 2012.
SRI LANKA
TNA
may forge alliance to form provincial government in
the Eastern Provincial Council in case of loss of a
majority, says TNA leader R. Sampanthan: The leader
of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) R. Sampanthan on August
29 said that the party will negotiate with other parties
to forge an alliance to form the provincial government
of the Eastern Provincial Council in case of loss of
a majority. He said that the party has focused mainly
to form an alliance with the Tamil speaking Muslim political
party Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) which is powerful
in Ampara and Batticaloa Districts. TNA already has
formed a relationship with the major opposition United
National Party (UNP) in national politics. ColomboPage,
August 30, 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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