Detail Of Terrorism Update

Tribesmen killed 20 Taliban militants in clashes that followed a botched attempt to abduct an elder in Swat in the NWFP on October 26, reports Daily Times.  Police said a group of pro-Mullah Fazlullah Taliban were trying to hustle Pir Samiullah – chief of a lashkar (militia) – from his home in the Mandaldag area of Matta tehsil (revenue division) to a getaway car when dozens of local tribesmen confronted them and snatched him back. Dilawar Bangash, the Swat police chief, said hundreds of Taliban later returned, captured three members of the militia and beheaded one of them on a road before a large crowd. “This is a lesson for anyone who tries to oppose us,” they told the people according to accounts gathered later by police.  

Meanwhile, the lashkar was gathering men from the surrounding area who engaged the Taliban in an hours-long gun battle. Bangash said 20 Taliban militants, six militiamen and four bystanders were killed in the shooting and another police official said several tribesmen were reported missing. Among the killed Taliban were four commanders, including Shamsher, a bomb making expert, and two close aides of Fazlullah. Muslim Khan, a Taliban spokesman contacted by telephone, confirmed a clash but said only three Taliban militants died. He claimed that 12 tribesmen were killed and another 62 abducted. 

Also, three civilians were killed as Taliban militants targeted a barbershop in the Sambat area of Swat.  

In Totani Bandai, Taliban militants attacked a military check post injuring a soldier.  

Further, 50 suspected Taliban militants were arrested in Kooza Bandai.

At least 11 people, seven of them Frontier Corps personnel and three Khasadars, were killed and five injured on October 26 in a suicide attack in the Mohmand Agency of FATA, Dawn reported. The channel quoted sources as saying that a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into the Naqi check post, killing the 10 security force (SF) personnel and a technician. Talking to the channel, Mohmand Agency Assistant Political Agent Saeed Ahmad Jan, however, denied that anybody had died, saying that the attack had only injured nine SF personnel.  

Meanwhile, Political authorities in Mohmand Agency have rejected a grand tribal jirga’s (council) offer to mediate between the authorities and the local Taliban militants for attaining peace in the area. According to the channel, the authorities said that security operations would continue until the area was cleared of the Taliban.

Daily Times reported that Taliban militants attacked a security post on the outskirts of Khar, headquarters Bajaur Agency in the FATA on October 26. Troops retaliated, killing six Taliban.  

Five more militants were killed when troops attacked a suspected Taliban base in the Charmang district, another security official said.  

Meanwhile, elders from Salarzai tribes on October 25 said that there should be no dialogue with the Taliban, as they are extremists killing innocent people. Addressing a press conference, the Salarzai elders claimed that some political parties were criticising tribal lashkars (militias) without any justification, while it was only because of these armed tribesmen that the Taliban had fled the agency. Major (r) Malik Karim Khan, defended the decision to raise tribal lashkars, as ‘the Taliban are killing innocent people’. He said a tribal lashkar had become a necessity for the Salarzai tribes to defend themselves.

At least seven persons were killed when the suspected US drones fired missiles into an alleged Taliban compound near Wana at South Waziristan in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on October 26, reports Daily Times.  “Initial reports say at least seven people were killed in the missile strike, which destroyed the premises,” one senior security official told AFP. There was no immediate confirmation of the strike from the military or from the US-led coalition in Afghanistan. The attack was the 12th such incident in the past 10 weeks, all of which were blamed on US-led coalition forces or Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) drones based in Afghanistan.

According to Telegraph, five United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) militants and a soldier   were killed during an encounter between a joint team of the Army and Central Reserve Police Force personnel and militants at Mahina village in the Nalbari district on October 25-night. The slain militants, including one identified as Corporal Sanjit Sarania, belonged to the ‘709th battalion’ of the ULFA. One kilogram of RDX, four pistols, two grenades, one radio set, 29 rounds of live ammunition, one K.G. of urea, two Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), nine detonators, five magazines of Self Loaded Rifles (SLR) and fuse wires were recovered from the encounter site.  

Separately, around 30 militants led by a self-styled ‘sergeant major’ Rafel Maradona  of  the  ‘709th battalion’ of the ULFA declared cease-fire on October 26 , according to Assam Tribune. The report added that they are camping at a designated area in Moiradonga.  

Meanwhile, security forces located a training camp run by the ULFA at Bakapura in the Sherpur district across the international border with Meghalaya. The camp was located following the arrests and surrender of a few cadres who came to Assam from that camp. The report added around 150 ULFA militants, including middle rank leaders such as Antu Chowdang, Pradyut Gohain and Drishti Rajkhowa, are hiding in the camp. The intelligence sources mentioned that the ULFA must be receiving direct or indirect help from the Bangladeshi Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) or from the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) as it would not have been possible for the militant group to run a camp so close to the international border.

On October 26 morning, Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres ambushed a police party and killed four personnel near Korepalli village under Rajaram Khanla police station in Aheri tehsil (revenue division) in the Gadchiroli district, reports Indian Express. The 23-member Police party, a C-60 commando unit with four officers, was on a routine patrol in the area. The killed policemen have been identified as provisional sub-inspector S R Parekar and constables Vinod Uike, Ajay Maste and Vasant Madavi.

Two suspected militants were shot dead by a combined team of Imphal West district police commandos and 39 Assam Rifles during an encounter at Maharabi village along National Highway-39 under Sekmai police station on an unspecified date, according to Sangai Express.  

Separately, a People''s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) cadre, Elangbam Shantajit Singh alias Shanta, was arrested by the Assam Rifles personnel during a search operation in the general area of Keirak Leirak Achouba under Kakching police station in the Thoubal district on October 25, reports Imphal Free Press. Four live rounds of AK-47 rifle were recovered from his possession.

Unidentified militants killed an elder of the Kookikhel tribe in the Jamrud tehsil (revenue division) of Khyber Agency in the FATA on October 26, reported Daily Times.

Police have found the bullet-riddled body of a man said to be the younger brother of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud, in the Bannu district of NWFP, according to Daily Times. The body was found on October 26, 14-kilometres from Bannu on a road. Police identified the man as, Yahya Mehsud, the son of Haroon Mehsud, and a resident of South Waziristan. AFP confirmed the man was Baitullah Mehsud’s younger brother. The agency said that Yahya was abducted on the same day and later and his body was found dumped. Police said the Yahya was not a member of TTP, and was not wanted in any case.

Troops directed small arms and mortar fire targeting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) militants on several occasions in the Akkarayankulam area of Kilinochchi district on October 25, inflicting heavy casualties the outfit.   

At Kalmadu, the security forces (SFs) destroyed several LTTE bunkers and captured the area killing and injuring an unspecified number of militants. 

Separately, in the north of Kunchankulam, the troops clashes with the LTTE militants and inflicted casualties upon them.   

At least five LTTE bunkers were destroyed by the SFs in Mullaitivu. Troops also claimed to have inflicted heavy damages to the outfit. 

Also, troops observed an LTTE vehicle convoy and some militants in the Andankulam area of Vavuniya district and inflicted casualties to the outfit. 

Meanwhile, a suspected LTTE militant lobbed a hand grenade at Al-Husiniya Mosque in the Kaththankudy area of Batticaloa district. The explosion injured five civilians. 

Further, troops recovered one T-56 weapon, a magazine and 30 T-56 rounds of ammunition from the Chippihidal area of Trincomalee district. 

Daily News reports that a suspected LTTE woman cadre, Sivalingum Thiruweli, who was taken into custody two months ago at Kalpitiya and now identified as a suicide cadre, had come to launch an attack on a VIP. The suspected woman had come to Kalpitiya from Batticaloa two years ago. She had frequently visited the work site where the coal plant is scheduled to be established at Kalpitiya aiming to gather information for her target. According to Power and Energy Ministry sources, the Minister of Power and Energy visit the work site frequently for inspection tours of the on going work.

Nepal News reports that around 12 cadres of the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) affiliated Youth Force (YF) were injured in a clash with Young Communist League (YCL) in the Gorkha district on October 26-evening. The local UML leadership said that following the clash that occurred in Arutar of Aruchanaute Village Development Council (VDC), the whereabouts of five of their cadres were still unknown. The YCL leadership said that the clash occurred after YF cadres made accusations against their party. 

Meanwhile, Minister for Peace and Reconstruction Janardan Sharma on October 26 said that the talks team had established contact with at least nine armed groups agitating in Terai, according to Kantipuronline. “Despite preconditions set forth by the armed groups such as withdrawal of the cases filed against their cadres, we have found that the attempts to hold dialogue are moving in positive direction,” said Sharma. 

Further, Prime Minister Prachanda said that the integration of Maoist combatants with the Nepal Army would be carried out as per the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).

According to Daily Times, unidentified militants fired a rocket at the camp of Shahzain Bugti, son of the late Nawab Akbar Bugti, near Jaffarabad in Balochistan on October 26. The attackers managed to escape, after guards of Zain, the grandson of Akbar Bugti, opened fire on them.

The identity of two more Kerala based militants of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), who were killed in encounters in Jammu and Kashmir on October 6, has been established while another associate is suspected to have fled back to Kerala, according to The Hindu. According to top police sources in Kerala, the two militants, identified as Abdul Faiz from Kannur and Muhammad Yasir alias Verghese Joseph of Kochi, who converted to Islam about a year back, were among four who were killed in the SF operations. Earlier, the police had identified the other two militants slain in Lolab valley as Mohammad Fayaz from Kannur and Abdul Rahim from Malappuram. "Only one among the five Kerala youth who had joined Pakistan-based LET outfit survived the encounters in Lolab valley and had apparently fled back," Senior Superintendent of Police, Kupwara, Uttam Chand said.  

According to sources, there was an intelligence report suggesting that Lashkar commander Abdullah had been on a recruitment spree under instructions from Pakistan''s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Kerala''s Malappuram district was chosen as one of the targets in South India. The documents recovered from the killed militants, include a diagram and method to assemble Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in Malayalam, the sources said. Central agencies had been monitoring certain leads which said a group of people hailing from Kerala along with LeT''s support were trying to enter Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) through North Kashmir. LeT has been trying to make inroads into the country''s hinterland and had sought recruits from various parts of the country.

On October 26, the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of the Maharashtra Police arrested one more suspect, identified as Major Prabhakar Kulkarni (retired), from Pune being linked with September 29 Malegaon and Modasa blasts, reports The Hindu. Kulkarni was the commandant of the Bhosala Military School and two other alleged former servicemen, Major Y.D. Sahasrabuddhe and Major Ramesh Upadhyay assisted him in providing training in making and exploding bombs using RDX, the ATS officials said. The prime suspect, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, along with her two accomplices Shivnarayan Singh and Shyam Bhavarlal Sahu of the Malegaon blasts, was said to have been in constant touch with Major Kulkarni. Kulkarni reportedly worked as the secretary of the Hindu Sainiki Sanstha.

On October 26, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) personnel arrested a cadre of the Purba Banglar Communist Party (PBCP), identified as Hafiz Uddin Sheikh at Paikora village in Tarash sub-district of Sirajganj district, for his involvement in killing a trader at Katagari Bazar on October 25 night. On interrogation, the extremist confessed to his involvement in the killing.

The arrested Indian Mujahideen (IM) cadre, Mansoor Peerbhoy, a software engineer, who allegedly wrote the terror mails ahead of serial blasts in various parts of the country, has expressed his willingness to become an approver and help the investigating agencies, reports PTI.  The Joint Commissioner of Mumbai Police (Crime) Rakesh Maria said on October 26, “The application has been filed before the MCOCA court by his lawyer and we have been asked to file our say by November 4".

The Balochistan Reconciliatory Committee declared a three-pronged strategy to resolve the long-standing issues facing Balochistan, according to Daily Times. The declared 3R strategy reportedly involved reconciliation with all political forces, rebuilding national institutions and reallocating resources. “The government would pursue the rebuilding of national institutions, reconciliation with all political forces and reallocation of funds. We would take the people into confidence before implementing the joint strategy of parliament to achieve the objectives regarding the solution to Balochistan’s problems,” announced Secretary of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Reconciliatory Committee on Balochistan Senator Babar Awan at a press conference on October 26.

President Mahinda Rajapakse on October 26 said the Government''s efforts are to eliminate terrorism from the soils of Sri Lanka but not to fight against another community, according to Colombo Page. “We will continue to fight against terrorism which is not a fight against the Tamil community in this country,” he said at the opening ceremony of the Tertiary Education Center in Tangalle. “It is time for the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) to surrender to the government forces and to continue for a negotiated settlement. Our government will not allow anybody to break this country in to pieces. We have shown our commitment for a negotiated settlement and coexistence from the Eastern Sri Lanka which is liberated and being administered by the Tamil and Muslim leadership,” President Rajapakse explained. 

Meanwhile, a special census was taken in Puttalam to register the civilians who are living in the district after fleeing the Northern and Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka. Police spokesman Senoir Superintendent of Police, Ranjith Gunasekara, said an estimated total of nearly 3,000 people from the Northern and Eastern provinces have registered at the census held in St. Andrews College in Puttalam. Most of the fled are living in Puttalam district with their relatives at the moment and the census was held for their security, the Police spokesman said. Recently the Sri Lankan police took the measures to register the displaced people in the Western Province.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani addressing a news conference on October 26 after his October 24-25 visit to China, where he attended the 7th Asian Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit in Beijing, said that the Government would call back the Army and replace it with other law-enforcement agencies after restoration of peace in the troubled areas of North West Frontier Province (NWFP). “Army is not a solution. It was sent to deal with emergency situation in the troubled areas and will be replaced with other law-enforcement agencies after it restores peace in these areas,” Gilani said. He mentioned the Government was “disassociating the peace-loving tribesmen from militants” and was encouraging tribesman to form lashkars (militias) against the Taliban. He said strikes by United States spy planes in Pakistan were hurting Pakistan’s cause and indirectly helping the Taliban. “We sign agreements that we will not allow unwanted cross-border movement, and this activity still takes place. It is a violation of the agreement,” Gilani said. “Similarly, when agreements are singed [with the Taliban] that there will be no attacks on security forces, but such incidents still happen, that is also a violation of agreements, ” he added.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) chief Velupillai Prabhakaran has asked India to lift the ban on his outfit in order to “fulfil the aspirations of Tamil people”, reports Reddiff.com. “We expect that it (India) would lift the ban on our organisation and support us to fulfil the long awaited aspirations of the Tamil people,” he said in an e-mail interview to Chennai-based Tamil magazine Nakkeeran.  

Conceding that the Sri Lanka security forces have closed in on the LTTE strongholds and have even entered key areas, Velupillai Prabhakaran, however, said capturing the outfit’s administrative capital Kilinochchi was still a distant dream for them. “The Sri Lankan forces have entered parts of our homeland and are stationed in close proximity to Kilinochchi town. But, capturing Kilinochchi is just a day dream of (Sri Lankan President Mahinda) Rajapakse,” he said. While accusing Sri Lankan Army of “carrying out genocidal attacks on Tamils”, Prabhakaran also claimed that the military was facing “severe losses” due to the attacks launched in Northern Sri Lanka.  

On Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse’s observation that he (Prabhakaran) could be handed over to India, if he surrenders or is captured, the LTTE supreme said, “This is one of the many dreams of Rajapakse.” Asserting that he was not living in bunkers, Prabhakaran said, “We are living among the people, fighting for them and carrying out our freedom struggle. It is a common phrase used by the military during the last 30 years.” On whether he still persisted with the demand for a separate nation for Sri Lankan Tamils, Prabhakaran said, “The Tamil people have at every election since 1977, indicated what their political aspirations are. That would be the permanent solution for the ethnic crisis.” 

On whether he expected a change in the current environment and any prospects for holding talks, Prabhakaran said, “We can only expect such a situation depending on the politics within the government and its military stance. We do not carry out attacks on innocent Sinhalese civilians. Ours is a liberation organisation fighting for the liberation of the Tamil people…,'' he said.  

Meanwhile, denying that the Indian Government was extending any military help to Sri Lanka, Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said that the Centre only wanted Tamils in Sri Lanka to get equal opportunities, The Hindu reports. "Only Pakistan and China are extending military help to the Island," he said.