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SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 14, No. 28, January 11, 2016

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


ASSESSMENT

INDIA
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Punjab: Increasing Vulnerabilities
Ajai Sahni
Editor, SAIR; Executive Director, ICM & SATP

Two major terrorist attacks – the assault on the Indian Air Force (IAF) Base at Pathankot through January 2, 2016, and January 3, 2016; and the strike at the Dinanagar Police Station in adjacent Gurdaspur on July 27, 2015 – have not only exposed tremendous vulnerabilities in Punjab, but gaping holes in national Counter Terrorism (CT) response protocols, capacities and capabilities. The Pathankot incident is particularly worrisome, providing an index of the extraordinary weakness in the protection of the country’s critical strategic assets. The IAF Base constitutes the frontline air defence for any confrontation with Pakistan, and yet the terrorists succeeded in penetrating into the campus and inflicting significant casualties. This was despite nearly 20 hours of clear warning, a definitive identification of the intended target, and a systemic response that had been initiated fairly early on January 1, 2016, after central intelligence agencies picked up conversations by the terrorists with their handlers and their families, and the Punjab Police received specific information about their movements and intention from the ‘abducted’ Superintendent of Police whose car was used by the terrorists. If the terrorists had the additional advantage of surprise, the damage they could have inflicted can now only be imagined. Evidently, the Pathankot IAF Base would not be unique in its vulnerabilities among various defence and security establishments across the country.

The responses to the Dinanagar Police Station attack were encouraging on many parameters. The challenge was quickly accepted by the first responders – the Punjab Police itself – and they were determined in their refusal to relinquish responsibility even after National Security Guard and Army reinforcements, with their vastly superior weaponry and training, arrived on the scene in strength; and the Punjab Police leadership led from the front. Nevertheless, there were obvious and visible deficiencies in protective gear, weaponry, training and fitness of the Police personnel responding, including those of the Punjab Police SWAT [Special Weapons and Tactics] team deployed, and an examination of various aspects of Police functioning in the wake of the attack exposed growing politicization, indiscipline, resource constraints and capacity deficits in the wider Policing apparatus of the State.

Compounding these factors is the manifest porosity of the elaborately fenced and patrolled border, and widespread allegations of political and Security Forces (SF) collusion in a rampant drug and smuggling trade that is also exploited by extremist and terrorist elements.

It is significant however, that despite these many deficits and defects, the Sikh extremism and terrorism that had ravaged Punjab in the late 1980s and early 1990s finds no resonance on the ground today. Indeed, the two major attacks that have been executed in the State in 2015-16 are the work of Pakistan-backed Islamist terrorists. This is despite the fact that Pakistan has done all it could have to keep the Khalistani movement alive, providing safe haven and funding to the surviving leadership and cadres in Pakistan, and also vigorously supporting and directing the activities of subversive elements across the world. Despite pressure from Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), however, these groups have failed to mount any significant operation on Indian soil in recent years. The last recorded major terrorist attack attributed to the Khalistanis in Punjab dates back to October 14, 2007, when seven persons were killed and another 40 were injured in a bomb blast inside a cinema hall in Ludhiana. While there has been no definitive identification of the group responsible, Police sources and contextual information suggest that this was the handiwork of a Sikh terrorist formation based in Pakistan.

There were no fatalities in terrorist violence in 2008-09, and a single incident, executed by the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) on April 25, in 2010, in which two Pakistani terrorists were shot dead, and two Punjab Policemen were also killed, at Rattarwaha village in Gurdaspur District, bordering the Kathua District of Jammu & Kashmir.

Again, there were no incidents recorded between 2012 and 2014, and the peace was only shattered by the Pakistani terrorist attack at Dinanagar.

Nevertheless, efforts to keep Khalistani terror alive continue. Thus, between 2010 and 2015, at least 46 Khalistani terrorist modules, principally associated with the Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), Bhindranwale Tigers Force of Khalistan (BTFK), Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF), Khalistan Commando Force (KCF), and some minor factions, were identified and neutralized, resulting in the arrest of at least 158 terrorists.

Intelligence sources indicate that the Khalistani leaders holed up in Pakistan are finding no volunteers for terrorist strikes in Punjab, and that some of these are now collaborating with the ISI to train Pakistani locals in the language and culture of Indian Punjab, and in the Sikh tradition, to facilitate their infiltration into, and operation in, the State. There have also been continuous efforts to engineer some kind of collaboration between Islamist terrorist formations and Khalistani formations in Pakistan for operations in India, but apart from occasional facilitation in the movement of weapons, explosives and cadres, this has not resulted in any significant operational cooperation.

These, in combination, are the likely reasons for a diversion of cadres of Pakistani terrorist formations such as LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) to Punjab in the Dinanagar and Pathankot attacks. These attacks also appear to indicate Islamabad’s continued determination to destabilize, and to engineer a revival of militancy, in the State. The Dinanagar and Pathankot strikes may, consequently, be intended as demonstrations of the vulnerabilities in Punjab, and encouragement to Khalistani elements to take up the gun and the bomb again.

Pakistan’s efforts continue to be backed by radical elements in the Sikh Diaspora, principally located across Europe and North America, with fragments in some countries of South East Asia as well. The Khalistani presence is significant in USA, Canada, UK, Germany, Norway, and Italy, where various groups continue to engage in propaganda, fundraising and recruitment for the Khalistani cause, and to orchestrate occasional protests and demonstrations.

While all these efforts have failed to secure traction on the ground within Punjab, Sikh radical activity has seen an escalation on the Internet and Social Media, as well as on a number of extremist owned Television Channels abroad. Funding from activists and sympathizers in the West has also resulted in the production of a number of inflammatory films in Punjabi, and these have been widely circulated in an effort to radicalize impressionable youth in Punjab.

These efforts are overlaid on increasing political frustration and disorders within Punjab, and a growing resentment against Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal’s regime, widely perceived as endemically corrupt. In October 2015, this frustration boiled over into obviously orchestrated protests and demonstrations over the desecration of copies of the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy book.

Earlier, hardline Sikhs had sought to mobilize for the commemoration of the anniversary of Operation Blue Star in June 2015, with their efforts within Punjab finding echoes across UK, France, Canada, Germany, Pakistan and Malaysia, among others.

The Police in Punjab have demonstrated that they retain the capacities to penetrate the surviving networks of Khalistani sympathizers and to scotch any efforts of revival. There is, nevertheless, the clear and present danger of direct engagement of Pakistan backed Islamist terrorists, who are evidently better motivated and organized. Moreover, given the political disarray, economic stagnation and administrative paralysis in the State, the possibilities of public anger boiling over into mass disorders and opening up opportunities for coordinated terrorist strikes cannot be ignored, particularly given the poor management of border security in the State. Crucially, Police capacities in the State have been systematically eroded by progressive resource constraints and enveloping politicization of the Force. The Punjab Police that fought and defeated the Khalistani terror in the early 1990s is no longer in place; some of the officers and personnel who served in those campaigns continue to lead the response to current challenges. But these are all in the last phase of their tenures, and will soon retire. Without any exposure to the searing challenge of confronting widespread terrorism, it is unlikely that the next generation will have the skills or the will to tackle potential terrorist challenges of the future.

NEPAL
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Nepal: Troubled Peace
S. Binodkumar Singh.
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management

Nepal, which had seen 4,896 fatalities, including 3,992 Maoists, 666 Security Force (SF) personnel and 238 civilians, in a single year at the peak of insurgency in 2002, sustained the environment of peace that had been established in 2013, through 2014 and 2015, with not a single insurgency-related fatality on record. However, though the insurgency has subsided, Nepal continued to witness significant political violence through 2015.

The current cycle of political violence began on July 1, 2015, when agitating cadres of the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) comprising of the Upendra Yadav-led Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal (FSF-N), the Mahantha Thakur-led Tarai Madhes Democratic Party (TMDP), the Rajendra Mahato-led Sadbhawana Party (SP) and the Mahendra Raya Yadav-led Tarai Madhes Sadbhawana Party (TMSP), burnt copies of the preliminary draft of the Constitution in the capital, Kathmandu, as it failed to incorporate their demands. During the first round of violence, between July 1 to September 19, 2015, according to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), at least 44 persons, including 25 civilians and 19 SF personnel, were killed and another 229, including 166 civilians and 63 SF personnel, were injured in violent protests across the Tarai region. In Surhket District, adjoining the Tarai region, another two civilians were killed and 50 were injured.

Violence continued subsequent to the adoption of the New Constitution on September 20, 2015, with nine civilians killed and another 414 persons, including 321 civilians and 93 SF personnel, injured in violent protests across the Tarai region, according to SATP data. In adjoining Districts, one civilian was killed in Udayapur and another was injured in Dhading District (all data till December 31, 2015).

Warning that the current Tarai turmoil would create a ‘parallel’ economy in the country, Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) President Pashupati Murarka during a Press meet on December 18, 2015, observed,
Tarai protest led by some political parties for the last few months has pushed the economic, social and education, among other sectors, to a serious mode. Nearly 2,000 industries are closed while materials worth billions of rupees have been stranded on the other side of the border. The demurrage charge on these materials is beyond our affordability.

Speaking at the same Press meet, FNCCI Vice President Shekhar Golchha emphasised, “So far, some industries have managed to pay salary and wages, while others have paid half. Now, they are feeling difficulty to withstand such pressure.”

FNCCI estimates that the Tarai turmoil and subsequent unofficial economic blockade have resulted to economic losses to the tune of NR 200 billion. Significantly, in fiscal year 2013-14, Nepal’s economic growth stood at a six-year high of 5.2 per cent. In April 2015, the devastating earthquake reduced the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth to 3.04 per cent. Now, because of protests in the Tarai and blockade along Nepal-India border points, the economy is expected to book a negative growth for the first time since 1983.

Worryingly, signs of continued violence are very much in evidence. On January 2, 2016, SP Chairman Rajendra Mahato emphasized, “Fifty-five people were martyred during Madhes agitation and hundreds of people were injured. Hundreds of people are still in hospitals. As the Government stepped up its repression, we have also stepped up our resolve to fight for our rights.” Earlier, the Tharuhat Struggle Committee (TSC), in a Press Release on December 24, 2015, had threatened that if its demands were not met by January 14, 2016, it would promulgate its own Constitution on January 15, 2016, guaranteeing an autonomous Tharuhat province.

Separately, on December 11, 2015, the Federal Inclusive Madhesi Alliance (FIMA), which brings together the Sharat Singh Bhandari-led National Madhes Socialist Party (NMSP), the Rajkishor Yadav-led Madhesi Janadhikar Forum-Republican (MJF-R), the Anil Kumar Jha-led Nepal Sadbhawana Party (NSP) and the Jay Prakash Prasad Gupta-led Tarai Madhes National Campaign (TMNC), submitted a nine-point demand to the Government. Warning that they would intensify their agitation, FIMA leaders argued, on December 20, 2015, that the ruling parties were not serious about seeking a negotiated settlement of issues raised by Madhes-based parties.

Disturbingly, the Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal-Maoists (CPN-Maoists), at a proclamation assembly organized in Butwal city of Rupandehi District on January 3, 2016, declared the Rupandehi, Nawalparasi and Kapilvastu Districts as the Abadh autonomous State. Warning that if they were suppressed they would retaliate against the Government, Politburo Member Santosh Budhamagar asserted, “Our party was forced to revive the old structures as the Government was unable to solve the people’s basic problems after India’s blockade of Nepal’s border points.”

Significantly, on June 30, 2015, Nepal’s second Constituent Assembly (CA) constituted on January 21, 2014, accepted the preliminary draft of the Constitution. Though it faced strong opposition, the CA went ahead, and in a historical step forward, endorsed “Nepal’s Constitution” with an overwhelming two-thirds majority on September 16, 2015. The new Constitution with 308 articles, 35 parts and nine schedules, came into effect after President Ram Baran Yadav announced its commencement at 17:00 hrs on September 20, 2015, during the last meeting of the CA. The first CA, constituted on May 28, 2008, with a mandate to deliver the Constitution by May 28, 2010, was dissolved on May 27, 2012, after four extensions. While the adoption of the new Constitution was welcomed by most national and international groups and leaders, a large segment of the population, particularly the Madhesis and Tharus residing in the Tarai region, contested the new Constitution.

To end the political logjam, the three major political parties held a meeting with the UDMF at the Prime Minister's official residence at Baluwatar in Kathmandu on January 3, 2016, and put forward a proposal to form a Joint Taskforce to finalize a roadmap to an agreement with UDMF. On January 5, 2016, UDMF formed a three-member task force including Hridayesh Tripathi, Vice-Chairman of TMDP, Rajendra Shrestha, Co-Chairman of FSF-N and Ram Naresh Yadav, senior leader of TMSP, to hold talks with the Government on its 11-Point demand. The prominent demands included delineation of autonomous provinces based on historical background and identity in accordance with the Interim Constitution; ensuring a separate article with the clear provision of proportionate inclusion for marginalized communities; proportionate inclusion in all state organs; and determination of population-based constituencies for the election of House of Representatives and mixed electoral system as provisioned in the Interim Constitution. Crucially, on January 7, 2016, a meeting of two taskforces formed by the three major parties and the agitating UDMF concluded on a positive note in Kathmandu. After the meeting, Rajendra Shrestha, Co-Chairman of FSF-N and a task force member of UDMF, observed that it is for the first time the representatives of the major parties dwelled on UDMF’s 11-point demands and termed it a positive development.

Earlier, in order to discuss the issues of the agitating Madhesis, coalition partners Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) and Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M) held the first three-party meeting with the main opposition Nepali Congress (NC) on November 4, 2015, at Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli’s residence in Katmandu. Prime Minister Oli met the Madhesi leaders for the first time on November 30, 2015. During the meeting, the Madhesi leaders submitted their 11-Point charter of demands.

Subsequently, the First Constitution Amendment Bill registered by previous NC-led Government on October 7, 2015, was tabled in Parliament on December 15, 2015, and discussions on the Bill commenced on December 28, 2015. Though the deliberations were expected to conclude on December 31, 2015, parties decided to extend the process till January 3, 2016, in the hope of reaching an agreement with the agitating Madhesi parties. Thereafter, with no consensus emerging, the Parliament was adjourned till January 13, 2016, as Speaker Onsari Gharti Magar was going to see her ailing husband, UCPN-Maoist leader Barshaman Pun, in Bangkok, Thailand.

Meanwhile, the Government launched a campaign, ‘People's Constitution among People' on December 7, 2015, in a bid to make people aware about the new Constitution. The campaign was extended on January 5, 2016, until February 4, 2016, as its continuation was demanded at local levels and the programme was yet to cover some Tarai and Hill Districts. As part of the campaign, various interactions were held in around 80 per cent of all District headquarters, municipalities and Village Development Committees (VDCs).

In order to prevent further delays on the Constitution Amendment on the basis of proportionate inclusion ensured by the Interim Constitution, the Nepal Bar Association (NBA), after the meeting of the 43rd NBA Executive Council held in Lalitpur District on December 11, 2015, urged Parliament and the political parties to hold a dialogue with agitating Madhes-based parties and to settle issues related to citizenship as well. Similarly, Dr. Mahendra Bista, Chairman of the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ), speaking at an interaction programme on hardships of Tarai-based journalists organized in the Simara town of Bara District on January 4, 2016, noted, "The issues should be resolved through the medium of talks and dialogue, and media should play positive roles for this to happen."

Indeed, the promulgation of new Constitution on September 20, 2015, was a historic step forward, but the crisis in the Tarai has created a logjam that is enormously damaging the country, not only materially, but also socially and politically, exacerbating ethnic polarization and anger. 113 days have passed since the promulgation of the Constitution, and the ruling establishment has not been able to convince the people of the southern plains that it addresses their concerns and is not discriminatory. The country has gone through a long and arduous struggle to arrive at the present Constitution, but if ethnic polarization persists, and present trends towards radicalization deepen, the hard won peace could be compromised. Leaders across the political spectrum need to tone down their current polarizing rhetoric and address the legitimate grievances of various population segments.


NEWS BRIEFS

Weekly Fatalities: Major Conflicts in South Asia
January 4-10, 2016

 

Civilians

Security Force Personnel

Terrorists/Insurgents

Total

BANGLADESH

 

Islamist Terrorism

1
0
0
1

Left Wing Extremism

0
0
3
3

Total (Bangladesh)

1
0
3
4

INDIA

 

Manipur

0
0
2
2

Left-Wing Extremism

 

Andhra Pradesh

2
0
0
2

Bihar

0
0
4
4

Chhattisgarh

0
0
2
2

Jharkhand

0
0
4
4

Odisha

1
2
0
3

Total (INDIA)

3
2
12
17

PAKISTAN

 

Balochistan

0
6
1
7

FATA

4
0
43
47

Sindh

1
0
5
6

Total (PAKISTAN)

5
6
49
60
Provisional data compiled from English language media sources.


BANGLADESH

Supreme Court upholds Motiur Rahman Nizami's death penalty in crimes committed during Liberation War: The Supreme Court (SC) on January 6 upheld the death penalty awarded to Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) Chief Motiur Rahman Nizami for crimes against humanity committed during the 1971 War of Liberation. Acquitting Nizami of three charges, the court found him guilty of five charges. The International Crimes Tribunal-1 (ICT-1) had earlier declared him guilty of eight charges, awarding him death for four charges. The Daily Star, January 6, 2016.

JeI will be banned by 2016 following legal procedure, says Food Minister Quamrul Islam: Food Minister Quamrul Islam on January 7 said that Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) will be banned by 2016 following legal procedure. He said, “Jamaat will be banned by 2016 through legal process…there is no confusion over it. Jamaat’s politics can’t continue on the soil of Bangladesh. We believe the financial sources of the party will also be stopped.” New Age, January 9, 2016.

Begum Khaleda Zia also would not be spared by people of Bangladesh for having committed similar crimes like war criminals, says PM Sheikh Hasina Wajed: Prime Minister (PM) Sheikh Hasina Wajed on January 8 said that like the war criminals, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia also would not be spared by the people of Bangladesh for having committed similar crimes. Referring to the BNP's destructive movement to topple the Government she said, "Khaleda Zia committed the same offence against the people of Bangladesh in 2015. But the people of the country did not cast their votes in favour of the party as they were enraged by arson and destructive politics of it." The Daily Star, January 9, 2016.


INDIA

There have been 136 terror attacks in India in 27 years, according to UMHA: There have been 136 terror attacks in India in last 27 years, according to Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA). The state of Punjab has witnessed 34 terror attacks, the highest. The majority of the attacks occurred during the 1990s, with the latest attacks reinforcing a view that India’s security forces cannot cope with small bands of terrorists. Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and Delhi have witnessed 27 and 18 attacks, respectively, during the same period. Firstpost, January 5, 2016.  

Hizb-ul-Mujahideen 'chief' Syed Salahuddin warns India of more attacks: Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) ‘chief’ Syed Salahuddin warned India of more attacks if it did not give up “genocide” in Kashmir. He also claimed that a special unit of the United Jihad Council (UJC) carried out the Pathankot airbase attack (Punjab). “Whether or not Pakistan and India go ahead with their planned talks, Kashmiri Mujahideen will continue to strike until New Delhi stops killing innocent Kashmiris who are struggling for their basic human right of self-determination, as promised by the UNSC resolutions,” Salahuddin said in an interview with a Pakistani newspaper. Asian Age, January 8, 2016.  


NEPAL

Two task forces of major parties and agitating UDMF start point-wise discussion on 11-point demands: Two task forces of major parties and the agitating United Democratic Madheshi Front (UDMF) on January 8 started point-wise discussion on the front’s 11-point demands. According to a member of the UDMF task force Hridayesh Tripathi, both the task forces have started debating on the 11-point demands in a free and frank manner. He claimed that they had agreed not to disclose their stances to the media, as that might create problem during negotiations. The Himalayan Times, January 9, 2016.  


PAKISTAN

43 militants and four civilians among 47 persons killed during the week in FATA: At least five suspected militants were killed in a United States (US) drone strike carried out in the Mangroti area of North Waziristan Agency (NWA) in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on January 9.

At least 38 terrorists were killed and five others were injured in fresh air strikes on militant hideouts in Meezar and Sherani areas along the Afghanistan border in NWA on January 8.

Four tribesmen, including a tribal elder Malik Wali Khan Mehsud, were shot dead by unidentified militants in Shaktoi area of Ladha tehsil (revenue unit) in South Waziristan Agency on January 7. Daily Times; Dawn; The News; Tribune; The Nation; The Frontier Post; Pakistan Today; Pakistan Observer, January 5-11, 2016.

1,079 people killed in terrorist attacks in 2015, says PIPS Annual Report: The number of deaths in terrorist attacks declined by 48 percent in 2015 compared to 2014, said an annual report issued by Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies (PIPS). According to the report, 625 terrorist attacks were witnessed in the country in which at least 1,069 people lost their lives, while 1,443 people sustained injuries. A total of 630 civilians, 318 personnel of security and law enforcement agencies and 121 militants were killed in year 2015, the report added. The report said deaths in sectarian violence in 2015 surged by 7 percent with 272 people killed as compared to 225 such killings in year 2014. The News, January 6, 2016.

TTP releases its first annual report with 'inflated' figures: Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on December 29, 2014, released its first annual report, claiming that in 2015 the TTP carried out 73 target killings, 12 ambush attacks, 10 raids, 19 IED (Improvised Explosive Device) blasts, five suicide attacks, 17 missile attacks and shot down two helicopters, and claims it killed some 686 people in 2015. In the report, it claims that it killed 247 people in an attack on Peshawar’s Badaber air force base in September 2014. The official death toll was 29. The analysts suggested that its “inflated” figures illustrate the extremists’ struggle to demonstrate their capability as security improves.Tribune, January 6, 2016.

State Bank of Pakistan freezes bank accounts of PKR one billion over terror-funding charges: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has frozen bank accounts of over PKR one billion as they were allegedly being used for financing terrorism. This was disclosed by Governor SBP, Ashraf Wathra, and his team at a press conference on January 6. Wathra said 121 bank accounts of more than PKR one billion were frozen over evidence of being used for funding terrorist activities in the light of a resolution of United Nations Security Council (UNSC). The News, January 7, 2016.

War against terror entered in final phase, says PM Nawaz Sharif: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on January 6 said that Pakistan has dismantled terrorists’ network and its war against terror has entered in the final phase. Nawaz Sharif once again expressed resolve to end energy crisis in the country by 2017. The News, January 7, 2016.    


SRI LANKA

36 Sri Lankans have gone to Syria with some of them having joined IS, says Defence Secretary Karunasena Hettiarachchi: Defence Secretary Karunasena Hettiarachchi on January 4 said that 36 Sri Lankans have gone to Syria with some of them having joined the Islamic State (IS). He said, “Several Sri Lankans with their families including several women and children have been among those who had gone to Syria. They had said they were going on pilgrimage but I believe that some of them had joined the ISIS.” Daily Mirror, January 5, 2016.  

Security forces and intelligence agencies on full alert on possibility of any groups having links with IS or emergence of IS in the country, says Ministry of Defense: Ministry of Defense in the statement on January 6 said that the security forces and intelligence agencies were on full alert on the possibility of any groups having links with the Islamic State (IS) or emergence of IS in the country. The Statement said, "Security forces and all intelligence wings wish to give a categorical assurance that they are on full alert to the possibilities of such links or emergence of IS groups round the clock as it is the prime responsibility of the security forces and national intelligence." Colombo Page, January 7, 2016.  

President pardons former LTTE cadre who tried to assassinate him: President Maithripala Sirisena on January 8 pardoned former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadre Sivaraja Jenivan alias Mohommadu Sulthan Cader Mohideen who tried to assassinate him in 2006. Jenivan, a resident of the Koviladi area in Jaffna District was arrested on April 23, 2006. He was sentenced to 10 years Rigorous Imprisonment (RI) by Polonnaruwa High Court on July 3, 2015. Colombo Page, January 9, 2016.  


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.

South Asia Intelligence Review [SAIR]

Publisher
K. P. S. Gill

Editor
Dr. Ajai Sahni


A Project of the
Institute For Conflict Management



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