Detail Of Terrorism Update

The Army claimed killing 60 militants and losing five soldiers with 11 others sustaining injuries in the past 24 hours as Operation Rah-e-Nijat (Path of Salvation) launched in South Waziristan Agency entered the second day on October 18, The News reported. 

In its advance towards the Taliban stronghold of Makeen, the Security Forces (SFs) clashed with militants, killing 30 of them in the Jandola, Kotkai and Srarogha areas, said a statement of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). It said two soldiers died and four others sustained injuries in these clashes. The Mandana, Kund and Tarakai areas were secured from this side, added the statement. The operation progressed seven kilometres north of Shakai from the second direction where the SFs had captured areas like Boya Narai and Wozi Sar from the militants, said the ISPR, which also claimed that 20 militants and a soldier were killed while three soldiers were wounded in the same area. Securing some key heights around and south of Razmak, the Army said the advancing SFs killed 10 militants and lost two soldiers with four sustaining injuries.  

However, in their first reaction since the launch of the ground offensive by the Army, the Taliban rejected the casualty toll mentioned by the ISPR and said only one of their men was killed and three injured in an air raid in the Makeen area. Calling media offices from an undisclosed location, Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq claimed the militants had inflicted “heavy casualties” on the troops and pushed them back from their strongholds. There was, however, no independent confirmation of the claims made by both the sides as mobile phones had not been working in Tank, Dera Ismail Khan and Bannu since the launch of the operations on October 16-night while communication lines were out of order in North and South Waziristan. 

Earlier, reports suggested that the SFs started advancing from three directions. However, Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq claimed it was from four directions. He said the Taliban attacked and inflicted casualties on the troops in Kund and Kalkala during their advance towards Spinkai Raghzai. The troops were also targeted near Razmak, Faridullah Mela in Shakai, Zawar Mela and Khaisoor, claimed the Taliban spokesman. “We are determined to fight back as this war has been imposed on us,” he added. 

Meanwhile, more than 100,000 people have fled South Waziristan after the military operation was launched, officials said on October 18, according to Dawn. “Around 100,000 people have been displaced. They are settling in neighbouring Tank and Dera Ismail Khan districts,” Colonel Waseem Shahid from an army support group said. “Some 80,000 people had already left Waziristan before the operation. More people are coming out. In the last two days about 1,500 families or you can say some 22,000 people have left the area,” he added. Officials said the number could rise to 200,000 with more families expected to leave in the coming days, despite an indefinite curfew slapped on parts of South Waziristan, home to a population of 600,000. 

A spokeswoman for the UNHCR in Pakistan confirmed that authorities had registered more than 100,000 displaced people. “Over the last five days, 3,065 families (around 21,000 people) registered... before this latest influx there had been about 80,500 people or 11,000 families,” Ariane Rummery said, according to AFP.

On October 18, the Security Forces (SFs) killed a ‘district commander’ of the Harkat-ul-Jehad-al-Islami (HuJI) outfit, identified as Mohammad Amin alias Rahi, at village Sigdi in the Chatroo area of Kishtwar District, Daily Excelsior reported. Rahi’s movement was being observed by the SFs since last week in Sigdi Bhata when he had torched machinery of a contractor, engaged in construction of road and abducted a driver, Satpal Singh of Noorpur, Kangra. The driver was released allegedly after the payment of INR 300000 ransom. One of his associates was reported to have escaped with the AK rifle of Bhat. From the possession of the slain militant, Police have recovered a Chinese pistol with one magazine and six rounds and four Chinese grenades. 

Meanwhile, an Army trooper, N. K. Maruti, was killed in a landmine blast at Pathri Gali in the Mendhar sector of Poonch District.  

In another incident, a couple of infiltrators were reported to have intruded into the Indian side in Paharpur area on the International Border in Kathua District and planted an improvised explosive device (IED) under a culvert ahead of the fencing area. The IED was reported to have been detonated with a remote control device from across the border. The blast caused damage to a supporting pillar of the culvert. The infiltrators later reportedly returned to Pakistan under the cover of sarkanda (wild grass).

A self styled ‘sub-zonal commander'' of the Jharkhand Prastuti Committee (JPC), identified as Pradeep Ganju, was killed in a two-hour long clash with the rival group Tritiya  Prastuti Committee (TPC) in the morning of October 18 in Latehar District, Times of India reports. The Latehar Superintendent of Police (SP), Kuldeep Diwedi, said Police received information about a clash between the two groups in the forests of Bodha Viharjanga under Chandwa Police Station. "Forces were rushed to the spot early in the morning. The police recovered a body from the encounter site which the villagers identified as that of Pradeep Ganju. Empty cartridges were also recovered from the spot," Diwedi said. Two JPC extremists were also hurt in the incident. "We have launched an intensive combing operation in the area and efforts are being made to arrest the members of the two groups," Diwedi added. The two groups possibly clashed to claim supremacy in the area for collecting levy and extorting businessmen and contractors, he added. Ganju, who headed a squad of around 20 armed cadres, was active in the bordering areas of Latehar and Lohardaga Districts. He was wanted in about 20 cases related to extortion, kidnapping and murder under different Police Stations of the two Districts.  

Meanwhile, a makeshift structure, once used by the state irrigation department, was blown up by the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres at Bansua village near Sonua block (administrative division) in the West Singhbhum District in the night of October 17, reports Telegraph. Confirming the incident, West Singhbhum SP Akhilesh Kumar Jha said the structure had been put up six years ago, but was abandoned later. “The incident took place past midnight, but we only got to know of it early this morning. We immediately started long-range patrolling in Sonua and Goelkera jungles as well as combing operations in Bansua village to apprehend the rebels responsible,” Jha added. He also said that Police or paramilitary forces had never used the structure for anti-insurgency operations in Saranda or Sonua. He said the extremists might have blown up the structure anticipating its use by the Police in future. Further, an intelligence source said, “Right from the time the Naxalites entered Saranda forest nine years ago, they have blown up each and every forest guesthouse in the area. They wanted to ensure that the police or paramilitary forces did not use forest guesthouses or lodges to take shelter.”

The death toll increased  to two in the October 16 Margao bomb blast as the other wounded person, identified as Yogesh Naik, succumbed to his injuries on October 17, reports Times of India.  

Meanwhile, Police in Margao on October 19 (today) arrested a man with alleged links to a Hindu extremist group Sanathan Saunstha in connection with the blasts, adds Indian Express. The man, who is yet to be identified, was arrested from the outfit''s office by the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) personnel from Maharashtra and Goa Police. A search of the outfit’s office in Nesai near Margao town was conducted, Police sources confirmed. They said the outfit was suspected to have links with the 2008 Malegaon blast accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur. As reported earlier, two persons had sustained injuries in an explosion at about 9.30pm (IST) on October 16 near the Grace Church in Margao, about 35 kilometres from capital Panaji. One of the inured had died late in the night of October 16.

A constable of the Assam Police, identified as Bhuban Regal, was injured in an encounter with the Ranjan Daimary faction of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) at Chachapani Gambarughat area under Bogsibari Police Station in the Kokrajhar District at around 3.15pm (IST) on October 18, according to Assam Tribune.  

Meanwhile, unidentified militants abducted Tafajjul Ali Barbhuiya, a prominent advocate of Hailakandi, at gun-point from Triganga village in the Jamira area of Hailakandi District near Assam-Mizoram border in the night of October 17, reports Sentinel. Barbhuiya was staying at the residence of his relative Jalaluddin in Triganga. Police sources said a group of at least 14 militants, dressed in army attire, attacked the residence of Jalaluddin and abducted Barbhuiya at gun-point. Saidur Rahman and Abidur Rahman, sons of Jalajuddin, tried to resist the militants. The group reportedly started firing and also assaulted Nejamuddin, the wife of Jalaluddin. Later, they took away Barbhuiya towards a dense forest near the Assam-Mizoram border. Monoranjan Das, Officer-in-Charge of the Jamira Police Outpost, said the abduction was probably the handiwork of Ataur-Bahini, a newly formed outfit which has resorted to kidnapping and extortion in the border area.  

Separately, five militants, including a woman, of the 28^th battalion of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) were arrested on October 17, reports PTI. Two militants, hailing from Amguri in the Sibsagar District, were arrested from the Hengerabari area of Guwahati city. In addition, three more militants, including the woman, were arrested from the Gandhibasti area of Guwahati. A 9-mm pistol along with some arms and ammunition were recovered from the possession of the arrested militants. While two of them were identified as a militant couple from Sibsagar, the other one hailed from Sualkuchi near Guwahati. 

Further, the Union Government has directed the Assam Rifles to move its troops closer to the sensitive India-Myanmar frontier in order to curb cross-border movement of militants, arms and drugs. Most of the Assam Rifles troops, which functions under the administrative control of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and operational command of the Army, are currently deployed 40 kilometres away from the international border. “We have directed the Assam Rifles to deploy forces closer to the border to stop militants and smugglers having a free run,” an unnamed Home Ministry official said.

A grenade was hurled into the house of the Balochistan Information Minister Younas Mullazai in the provincial capital Quetta on October 18, Dawn reported. However, the minister was not in the house at that time. According to Police, the grenade lobbed by men on a motorbike exploded in the backyard of the house. Windows and doors were damaged and a wall collapsed. Sources said that Mullazai was in Jhal Magsi to offer condolences on the death of former senator Mir Yousuf Ali Khan Magsi. Police later raided several places in the city and outskirts and took some people into custody for questioning. 

In another incident, at least two people were injured in firing at a truck carrying supplies for NATO forces in Afghanistan on the RCD Highway near Baghbana area of Khuzdar on October 18, according to Daily Times. Police sources told APP that unidentified motorcyclists attacked the truck carrying goods for NATO troops with automatic weapons – injuring two men, who have been identified as Abdul Shakoor Khan and Gul Zaman. The assailants later managed to escape.

Cadres of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) made an unsuccessful bid to abduct a former Naxalite (left-wing extremist) of the Prathigatana group of the Communist Party of India- Marxist Leninist (CPI-ML-Prathigatana) in the Saravaipeta village under Mahadevpur mandal (administrative division) of Karimnagar District in the night of October 17. Reports said three Maoists went to the house of former Prathigatana dalam (squad) member Srinivas and demanded him to escort them into the forests. However, Srinivas is reported to have escaped under the cover of darkness with the support of villagers. Later, the Maoists left the village warning the Police informers to mend their ways.

All educational institutions run by the Federal Government and the armed forces and some top-ranking private sector institutions will remain closed for up to a week in Islamabad, cantonments, all major cities, FATA, Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir, reported a private TV channel late on October 18. The channel said the Government had decided to close schools and colleges for a week because of security threats, Daily Times reported. The decision would not affect schools and colleges run by provincial Governments and other private sector institutions.

On October 17, the Security Forces recovered three suicide jackets each weighing about three kilograms, four T-56 mark-II weapons, 11 claymore mines, 36 anti-personnel mines, seven Rocket Propelled Grenades, 75 rounds of 12.7 ammunition, one T-56 weapon, one part of  M-16 weapon, seventeen 40-mm grenades, one Recoil-less round, two 60-mm mortar bombs and three hand grenades from the Chekkadipilavu, Akkarayankulam, Puthukkudiyiruppu, Sugandipuram and Mulliyavelli areas of Wanni, reports Sri Lanka Army.   

Separately, the Vavuniya District Police on October 16 recovered a cache of arms and ammunition at Mawilluwa in the Silawathura area of Mannar District. The recoveries included four claymore mines weighting five and three kilograms, 13 kilograms of C4 type explosives 1,440 live bullets of T56 weapons, 2000 electric detonators, 10 metres detonator code and a stock of dried ration, Daily News reports.  

Meanwhile, foiling an escape bid, Police arrested a former Sea Tiger [cadre of the sea wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)] cadre in Vavuniya, the Police said, according to Colombo Page. According to Police, the suspect had fled the welfare camp and was arrested in the area by a special Police team sent from capital Colombo.

Troops recovered 15 T-56 magazines, one T-81 magazine,  one Light machine Gun (LMG) drum, one Multi Purpose Machine Gun drum, one LMG link, five belt orders, two pouches and one hand grenade  during a search operation in the Kaddaravikulam area of Trincomalee District on October 17, according to Sri Lanka Army reports.

Meanwhile, Police arrested a suspect in the Uppuvelli Police area along with a hand grenade and in a subsequent search operation recovered one satellite phone, one phone charger, six pen torch batteries, one pen torch battery charger, one antenna, one remote controller and one oil bottle.

Security Forces arrested nine Taliban militants from different areas of Swat District during a operation on October 18, Daily Times reported. Sources said two militants were arrested in the Palai area of Malakand while violating curfew orders. The troops also arrested the remaining seven from the Charbagh, Fizaghat and Saidu Sharif areas.

Times of India reports nine Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres were arrested from the Bastar District, Police said on October 16. The arrests were made late in the night of October 15 at Babri Kokaobhata and Chamai villages of Bastar. "The arrested people were active members of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist). We have recovered four pistols and Maoist literature from them," the Superintendent of Police (Bastar), P. Sundaraj, told reporters. He said the Police were interrogating them for their alleged role in several killings and robberies in the area. Police claim that the forested Bastar region spanning about 40,000 square kilometres is home to nearly 10,000 Maoist insurgents, who have access to rocket launchers and mortars apart from smaller firearms.

Four National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K) cadres were arrested by the Assam Rifles personnel from Shengha Mokok area in Mon District on October 17, when they were trying to infiltrate from Myanmar, according to Nagaland Post. 

Separately, two NSCN-K cadres were arrested by the Assam Rifles personnel when they were traveling in a vehicle in Dimapur on October 16. Two pistols, several live rounds of ammunition, a cellular phone and some cash were recovered from their possession.

A top leader of the CPI-Maoist supported People''s Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA) was arrested from his Hooghly hideout in the night of October 16, reports Times of India. Police said Sibu Murmu was wanted for sedition and murder. Sibu, the secretary of PCPA''s Bankura wing, had been absconding since the Security Forces started operations in Jangalmahal in June 2009. Police said he was sheltered by his elder brother Shankar Murmu at the latter''s residence at Dihibagnan Adibasipara in the Hooghly District. "In the past two months, we managed to nab at least 25 senior and influential leaders of the tribal outfit. It is a major setback for them," said an unnamed senior Police officer.

A United National Liberation Front (UNLF) militant, identified as Mairangthem Bimon Chand Singh alias Roshan (27), was arrested by the Assam Rifles personnel from Waikhong area under Kakching Police Station in Thoubal District on October 17, reports Imphal Free Press.

Security agencies have started a crackdown in and around the federal capital Islamabad against miscreants having links with terrorist outfits, detaining dozens of suspicious people from different areas of the metropolis, The News reported. The Police conducted a search operation in various seminaries being run illegally and raided some religious academies suspected by intelligence agencies for their involvement in suspicious activities, intelligence agency sources said. The sources said intelligence agencies, in the context of the military operation in South Waziristan, sent a list of different seminaries to the law-enforcing agencies, seeking immediate action against them. 

Police sources told The News that the operation against the suspicious seminaries would continue till October 19 (today) and that raids would be conducted at seminaries located in the jurisdiction of Golra, Bahara Kahu, Shalimar, Karal, Sihala, Shahzad Town, Nelore and Margala Police Stations. Earlier, more than 60 suspicious persons were arrested during a search operation in the areas situated near the GHQ. Police sources told Online on October 18 that more than 60 suspected persons had been arrested during a search operation in the areas located near the GHQ. Out of the 60 arrested persons, numerous are said to be Afghan citizens. Later, the Police released all those who had identity cards and other documents.  

Meanwhile, at least 73 suspects, including seven foreigners, were arrested when the law-enforcement agencies conducted raids in Lahore, Islamabad and other parts of the country, sources said. Agencies raided Azadi Chaok Yadgar in Lahore and arrested three persons and recovered a huge cache of weapons, cartridges and fake identity cards from their possession. The accused belong to the Tehrik-e-Taliban’s Amjad Farooqi Group. Further, the Margalla Police raided the office of the Hizbut Tahrir in Islamabad and arrested 35 persons. The police claimed to have recovered sensitive material from the office. Besides, the Guddu Police arrested several foreigners from a coach going from Quetta to Peshawar. In a joint operation, Police and Rangers arrested seven foreigners from the border area between the Punjab and Sindh provinces.

Around 60 of the Taliban’s second-cadre leaders – who fled Swat during the army’s Operation Rah-e-Rast – used Karachi as a transit route to head out to Middle East countries, Daily Times reported. When armed activists of Sindh’s nationalist parties blocked roads on the Punjab-Sindh border in a bid to stop the influx of internally displaced persons – fearing that several of them could be Taliban in disguise – the Taliban’s second-cadre leadership travelled to the provincial capital by trains and subsequently flew to Middle Eastern states via Karachi airport.  

Sources told Daily Times that sleeper cells of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Karachi facilitated at least 60 leaders of the Taliban and arranged for tickets to the Middle East. Some of those who travelled to the Middle East were close to Taliban leaders Muslim Khan and Maulana Fazlullah and were part of the TTP’s decision-making processes because of their influence. According to the sources, the Karachi unit of TTP hosts Taliban from other provinces, and provides logistics support and recruits new members. However, the Karachi TTP has no operational wing, meaning it does not have permission to carry out any attacks.

More than 50 cadres of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) have sneaked into Madhya Pradesh''s insurgency-affected Balaghat District from Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra after the Security Forces targeted them in the two States, the Balaghat Superintendent of Police, H. C. Mishra, told PTI. "We have received reports of over 50 Naxals entering the District," he stated.

A United States (US)-based hedge-fund billionaire charged as part of an insider-trading case was investigated by US authorities for allegedly raising funds for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), The Wall Street Journal reported, according to Daily News. The newspaper said federal agents had uncovered documents showing that Raj Rajaratnam, founder of the Galleon Group, was among several wealthy Sri Lankans in the US whose donations to a Maryland-based charity made their way to the LTTE. Rajaratnam, 52, was among six people arrested on October 16. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said this is the largest-ever hedge-fund insider-trading case, the paper noted. Prosecutors allege Rajaratnam and his ring of alleged co-conspirators earned US$ 20 million in improper gains, the report said. Rajaratnam’s New York-based Galleon fund firm manages $ 3.7 billion in investments.  

As part of a separate terrorism probe, which was led by the FBI in Brooklyn, New York, eight other people have pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support to the LTTE, designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Wall Street Journal stated. Documents in a federal criminal complaint filed in US District Court in New York’s Eastern District include allegations by federal agents that money donated to a US charity called Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) USA, of Cumberland, Maryland, was funnelled to the LTTE, the paper noted. The case was brought against Karunakaran Kandasamy, described by prosecutors as the head of the US branch of the LTTE, the paper said. In the same case, an FBI agent cites documents uncovered in court-authorized searches as showing donations to TRO USA made by a person identified only as “individual B.”  

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka''s Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa on October 16 revealed that the Government has made arrangements with the assistance of its ambassadors to obtain the assets accumulated by the LTTE to Sri Lanka. He said the people should be vigilant since separatist forces are still active though terrorism has been defeated fully in the country. "Separatist forces who could not achieve their objectives through the LTTE have not stopped their attempts although terrorism has been fully defeated in the country," he added.

Pakistan’s external intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), is actively engaged in reviving militancy in Punjab by providing arms and money to extremists, the Director General of Punjab Police, Paramdeep Singh Gill, said on October 17, reports Times of India. "The ISI has been providing arms and ammunition besides giving money and drugs to militants to revive militancy in the state," Gill said in Patiala.  However, "we are self-equipped to defeat the malicious designs of ISI to spread unrest in the border state," Gill added.  The Punjab Police will soon deploy five companies of the Indian Reserve Battalion on the lines of the National Security Guard commandos to tackle any disturbance in the State, the DGP informed, adding, "Though the ISI wanted to infiltrate some terrorists through international border for creating turbulence in the State, the Punjab police will not allow them to succeed in their nasty designs."

The Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on October 15 admitted that the country remains vulnerable to a November 26, 2008 (also known as 26/11) Mumbai-style terrorist attack because neighbouring Pakistan is struggling to rein in the Islamist groups blamed for 26/11, reports Times of India. He, however, made it clear that any new attack would be met with a "swift and decisive" response. "My assessment of the vulnerability is that it has remained the same since 26/11. It has not diminished nor has it enhanced", Chidambaram said in an interview to a news agency.

The Bihar Government is revising its existing surrender and rehabilitation policy for the Maoists to make it more attractive to lure more insurgents from the CPI-Maoist to lay down arms and join the mainstream, Police officials said on October 16. Officials said the Government felt the growing need to revise its surrender policy following an alarming rise in incidents of Maoist violence in the recent months. “The new surrender policy will incorporate some facilities to those who shun violence and join the social mainstream”, the Director General of Police (DGP), Anand Shankar, said. “It (the policy) will be better attuned to needs and open to new idea”, the DGP added.  

The existing surrender policy provides for a financial support of INR 200000 and additional payment of INR 100000 if surrendered along with arms. It also provides for a monthly stipend of INR 3000 and free education to children but this has failed to attract the Maoists so far. In the last four years since this policy came into being, less than 200 Maoists have surrendered in Bihar.

Iran has received information that "some security agents" in Pakistan were co-operating with elements behind the October 18 attack on the Revolutionary Guards, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying, Times of India reported. Ahmadinejad called on Pakistan not to waste time in co-operating with Iran in apprehending the perpetrators, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported. Iranian media said the Jundollah claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing, which killed more than 30 persons, including at least five senior commanders in Iran''s elite Revolutionary Guard Corps, in the south-eastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan.  

"We were informed that some security agents in Pakistan are co-operating with the main elements of this terrorist incident... We regard it as our right to demand these criminals from them," Ahmadinejad said, without giving details. "We ask the Pakistani government not to delay any longer in the apprehension of the main elements in this terrorist attack," he said. The State television said Iran''s Foreign Ministry summoned a senior Pakistani diplomat in capital Tehran, saying there was evidence "the perpetrators of this attack came to Iran from Pakistan."  

Earlier in the day, the Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan alleged that the Jundullah chief had taken refuge in Balochistan in Pakistan, Daily Times reported. Talking to Geo News, Mashallah Shakeri alleged that the Jundullah chief, Abdul Malik Regi, has taken refuge in an unknown region of Balochistan Province, The News reported. However, Pakistan’s Foreign Office has denied that Islamabad has information on the presence of the Jundallah chief in Pakistan. Talking to a private TV channel, Abdul Basit rejected the Iranian ambassador’s claim that the Jundullah chief is hiding in Balochistan, according to Daily Times.