Detail Of Terrorism Update

Two boys, identified as Javed Iqbal and Mohammed Ikhlaq, were killed when they stepped over an improvised explosive device (IED) while cutting grass at village Challi Dangri in the Poonch district on December 1, according to Daily Excelsior.

Meanwhile, Abdul Wahid alias Abu Tahir, a Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM) terrorist, and a civilian were killed and two persons, including a five-year old girl, sustained injuries when a grenade exploded in a house at village Huddal in the Doda district. One or two other HuM terrorists, who were present in the house, reportedly escaped after the blast.

A cadre of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), Mohammad Anwar Lone, was killed by the troops at Hapathnar village in the Anantnag district. Some arms and ammunition were recovered from him.

Elsewhere in the Valley, security forces dismantled a terrorist hide-out at Patrari in the Nowshera area of Rajouri district and recovered seven kilograms of explosives, one IED, two IED plastic containers, two explosive sticks, nine boxes of IED switches, five meters cortex wire, three meters safety fuse, 39 AK rounds and 34 Pika rounds. Further, three magazines of sniper rifles and three magazines of AK rifle were recovered by the police from Mehwal Wali in Rajouri district.

Three foreign terrorists of Middle Eastern origin were among five people killed on November 30-night when a fortified house came under a missile attack at Asoray village in the Mirali sub-division of North Waziristan, according to Dawn. Another foreigner was wounded in the attack. Eyewitnesses said the sound of an unmanned air vehicle was heard in the area at the time of the attack. At least seven missiles were fired from the drone at the house, a witness told Dawn.

On December 1, two dead bodies were recovered from a place near Dillai outpost under Diphu police station in the Karbi Anglong district, reports Sentinel. Further details of the incident were not available.

Police arrested six cadres of the Black Widow group led by Jewel Gorlosa and two militants belonging to the United People’s Democratic Solidarity (UPDS) from a place near Bokolia under Howraghat police station in the Karbi Anglong district on December 1. Currency notes amounting to Rupees 61,450 were recovered from their possession.

Unidentified militants hurled a grenade at the apex organisation of the Dimasa tribe, Jadikhe Naisho Hoshom vice president Podma Maibangsa’s residence in the heart of Diphu town in the Karbi Anglong district. A personal security officer was injured in the attack.

A Government employee was killed and 30 people sustained injuries in a suicide bomb attack by suspected Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) terrorists in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner in the Gazipur district on December 1, according to Daily Star. Police arrested the severely injured suicide bomber, who was in the guise of a tea-vendor, from the spot immediately after the blast. The suicide bomber, identified as Abdur Razzak, claimed that he is a JMB member.

On December 1, security force personnel arrested 29 suspected JMB militants in the Rajshahi, Manikganj, Rangpur and Sylhet districts. They also recovered a huge amount of foreign currencies, leaflets, books on jihad and materials bearing links to militancy from the arrested militants.

Separately, JMB cadres issued a threat of bomb attack to the foreign ministry. Daily Star reports that an unknown person called the Assistant Private Secretary to the Foreign Minister Ataul Haque to deliver the threat.

Meanwhile, the JMB also threatened to kill eight journalists in Gazipur if they refer to JMB cadres as 'terrorists or 'militants' in their reports. JMB also issued threats to blow up the office of assistant commissioner of land in Gazipur and to kill the upazila nirbahi (sub-district administrative) officer in Kaliganj sub-district of Jhenidah district.

A top cadre of the Purba Banglar Communist Party-Marxist-Leninist (PBCP-ML), identified as Shamsher Ali alias Sama, was killed in 'crossfire' in Chuadanga on December 1. Daily Star has reported that Ali was earlier arrested from Nimtala of Darshana sub-district on November 29. One shutter gun and 12 bullets were recovered from the encounter site.

In a separate incident, the second-in-command of the PBCP-Janajuddha faction, Sumon, was arrested from the Mohammadpur area in capital Dhaka on December 1.

On November 30, police arrested three cadres of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) after an encounter in the Sonebhadra district, according to Times of India. Uttar Pradesh Home Ministry’s Principal Secretary, Alok Sinha, said the arrested included ‘Ghorawal Area Commander’ Rajkumar alias Doctor, Lalvrat and Raju Gaud. A gun allegedly looted by the Maoists during the attack on the 36 Provincial Armed Constabulary battalion camp on November 20, 2004 in Chandauli district were recovered from the arrested cadres.

According to Hindu, a cadre of the Korukonda dalam (squad) of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), Buchchala Bangaraiah Sankar, surrendered before the Superintendent of Police V.V. Srinivasa Rao in Visakhapatnam on December 1. An expert in preparing mines, Sankar was involved in exchanges of fire at Sampangigondi, Kothugondi and Gujjedu during the last three years, the police official said.

On November 30, criminals with possible allegiance to left-wing extremists broke into a gun shop at Bakerganj under Kadam Kuan police station in the Patna district and took away 63 rifles and guns, according to Patna Daily. According to the First Information Report lodged by the owner of Vishal Arms Store Dhirendra Prasad Singh, the criminals decamped with 42 double-barrel guns, 12 rifles, six ABBLs and other firearms.

In a joint press statement released in New Delhi on December 1, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera emphasized the continued commitment of the Government to the maintenance of the Ceasefire, and the desire for a review of its operations, so that the implementation of the Agreement can be made more effective, according to Daily News. The Government also extends a firm invitation to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to negotiations for a political solution, the statement added.

Meanwhile, according to Colombopage, Constitutional Affairs Minister D.E.W. Gunasekara, dismissed the LTTE's ultimatum for a political settlement by next year and said no deadline could be imposed to resolve the long-standing ethnic conflict. "As a government, we don’t get excited by these deadlines. You can't do these things in a hurry. You can't do it in one night," Gunasekara said. However, the Minister also said the LTTE leader’s statement was positive and the Government is initiating talks with all political parties represented in the Parliament before opening direct negotiations with them.

President Pervez Musharraf on December 1 promulgated the Societies Registration (second amendment) Ordinance-2005 making it mandatory for every Madrassa (religious seminary) in the federal capital Islamabad to carry out audit of its accounts, prepare annual educational activity report, according to Dawn. It also prohibits seminaries from promoting militancy, sectarianism and religious hatred, a document issued by the law ministry said. The president amended the Societies Registration Act-1860 exercising his powers under clause (1) of Article 89 of the Constitution.