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SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 10, No. 22, December 5, 2011
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
|
Manipur:
Tainted Recovery
Veronica Khangchian
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
On November
30, 2011, a bomb explosion in Imphal East killed a rickshaw
puller and injured four persons, just three days before
a scheduled visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to
the Manipur capital. Earlier, on November 17, two persons
were injured in a blast in front of a scrap shop in Imphal
West District. On the same day, unidentified militants
lobbed a hand grenade in Dewland Market in Ukhrul District,
injuring two ‘non-locals’. On November 6, four labourers
were injured when unidentified militants lobbed a hand
grenade at their makeshift tent along the Dingku Road
opposite the under-construction Inter State Bus Terminus
at Khuman Lampak in Imphal East District.
Despite
a dramatic decline in fatalities in the State, it is evident
that the militants continue to possess the wherewithal
to execute attacks at will. According to the South
Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) database, a total of
33 explosions took place in 2011, killing seven persons
and injuring 49, in comparison to 47 explosions in 2010,
killing four and injuring 19. Clearly, the intensity of
these attacks has increased, though their frequency has
diminished.
Crucially,
despite a steep decline in the number of overall fatalities
from 138 in 2010 to 59 in 2011 (all data till December
4), what is noticeable is that the number of civilians
and Security Force (SF) personnel killed has remained
more or less the same. The numbers suggest that the militants
continue to operate freely, and that the SFs may well
have wound down pressure against the rebels. Militant
fatalities have registered a steep decline, and, while
47 encounters between SFs and militants were recorded
by the SATP database in 2010, just nine were noticed in
2011.
Insurgency
related Fatalities in Manipur: 2001-2011
Years
|
Civilians
|
Security Forces
|
Militants
|
Total
|
2001
|
70
|
25
|
161
|
256
|
2002
|
36
|
53
|
101
|
190
|
2003
|
27
|
23
|
148
|
198
|
2004
|
40
|
41
|
127
|
208
|
2005
|
138
|
50
|
143
|
331
|
2006
|
107
|
37
|
141
|
285
|
2007
|
150
|
40
|
218
|
408
|
2008
|
131
|
13
|
341
|
485
|
2009
|
77
|
18
|
321
|
416
|
2010
|
26
|
8
|
104
|
138
|
2011*
|
22
|
10
|
27
|
59
|
Source:
SATP, 2011, *Till December 4, 2011
At least
134 incidents of extremist violence were reported in Manipur
through 2011, as compared to 177 in 2010. Extortion remains
a major point of concern in the State, with SATP recording
40 extortion related incidents during the year, as against
33 in 2010 (these numbers would reflect no more than a
small fraction of extortion-related activities in the
State, most of which go unreported, with a high degree
of compliance by targeted individuals and organisations).
On May 2, 2011, the screening of films in cinema halls
in Imphal was suspended following threats and extortion
demands by militants. Employees of cinema halls protested
against threats by the Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP),
who demanded INR 1 million from each of the cinema halls
in the Imphal area.
Despite
the slowdown in counter-insurgency operations, the SFs
have managed to eliminate some top militant leaders. In
a significant success, the ‘commander-in-chief’ of the
‘Military Task Force’ faction of the Kangleipak Communist
Party (KCP-MTF), Chirom Tiken Meitei alias Sunil
Meitei, who had escaped from the lockup of Porompat Police
Station on October 3, 2011, was killed by Imphal West
Police commandos on October 11, 2011, during an operation
conducted at Yumnam Huidrom Awang Leikai in Imphal West
District, where he was taking shelter in an underground
hideout inside the house of one Longjam Shyam. Sunil Meitei
was arrested by the SFs from Ejipura in Bangalore (Karnataka)
on June 29, 2011, and was brought to Imphal on July 21,
2011. The 'commander-in-chief' of the ‘Military Council’
faction of KCP (KCP-MC), identified as Nongthombam Anand
alias Malemnganba, was also arrested by the Delhi
Police from Bangalore on May 5, 2011, following investigations
into the April 1, 2011, seizure of 200 kilograms of ephedrine
worth INR 20 million from an alleged KCP-MC militant,
identified as Napoleon.
Further,
the State recorded as many as 526 arrests in 2011, as
compared to 990 in 2010. The arrested militants prominently
belonged to different factions of KCP (202); People’s
Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK,
84); Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL,
56); People’s Liberation Army (PLA, 50); United National
Liberation Front (UNLF, 40); National Socialist Council
of Nagaland – Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM,
17); United Tribal Liberation Army (UTLA, 15); People’s
United Liberation Front (PULF,
14); and United People’s Party of Kangleipak (UPPK, 8).
A total
of at least 210 militants also surrendered in 2011 (till
December 4), as compared to 221 in 2010. In the most significant
surrender of the year, 40 militants of the Umar Farooque
faction of the PULF, including its leader Umar Farooque
alias Muhammad Mujib-ur-Rehman alias Ningthem,
and its top leadership, surrendered before the Chief Minister
Okram Ibobi Singh at Mantripukhri in Imphal West District,
on June 14, 2011. Other PULF leaders who surrendered included
'vice-chairman' Muhammad Kalimudin; 'general secretary'
Muhammad Abdul Zamber alias Belan Khan; ‘army commander-in-chief'
Muhammad Jurzaman alias Danny; 'chief project officer'
Y. Nabachandra alias Shamu; 'finance secretary'
Muhammad Abdul Kadir alias Ipa alias Nizam;
'publicity secretary' Muhammad Syed Rehman alias
Muhammad Rohit alias Sahid Mustaq; and 'organisation
secretary' Muhammad Muzafar Ali alias Amou alias
Dawat. Further, on June 27, 2011, 33 cadres belonging
to four different militant outfits laid down arms at a
surrender ceremony held at Leimakhong Garrison in the
Sadar Hills of Senapati District. The surrendered cadres
included Pakan Revolutionary Army (PRA) 'commander-in-chief'
‘Brigadier’ Molum Anal alias Jetky and 21 cadres
of the outfit.
The visible
slowdown in the SFs offensive against the militants is
largely attributed to state’s approach to militancy, with
priority being given to furthering the talks process and
encouraging more and more militants to surrender or enter
into negotiations with the Government.
In a major
development, on October 27, 2011 Chief Minister Ibobi
Singh welcomed 43 members of the United Tribal Liberation
Army (UTLA), including its president Seipu alias
Isheal, who had shown eagerness to ink a Suspension of
Operations (SoO) agreement. The outfit, which operates
from the Vangai Range and Nungba sub division in Tamenglong
District, and Jiribam in Imphal East District, had earlier
approached the Army’s 57 Mountain Division, based at Leimakhong
in the Sadar Hills of Senapati District for an SoO agreement.
Though both the State Government and the Army accepted
the request, the group is yet to sign the deal. Such an
agreement would bring the largest number of constituents
of a single underground organization into the national
mainstream in recent times. If UTLA signs the pact, the
number of groups to come under peace agreements in Manipur
would go up to 20. Thus far, 19 groups under two umbrella
organisations – the Kuki National Organisation and the
United Peoples Front – have been living in designated
camps since 2005. Earlier, on August 16, leaders of Kuki
groups which are signatories to SoO agreements, held talks
with officials of the Centre and State Governments at
New Delhi, and agreed to a further extension of the agreements
for another year, with effect from August 21.
Some recent
developments, however, suggest that rivalry among militant
groupings may undermine the peace efforts. Significantly,
a new Manipur-based Naga outfit, the Zeliangrong United
Front (ZUF)
with an armed wing, the Zeliangrong Tiger Force (ZTF),
was created on February 25, 2011. Clashes between the
outfit, a breakaway group formed by deserters from NSCN-IM,
National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K)
and Naga National Council (NNC), have, so far, resulted
in seven deaths (six NSCN-IM and one ZUF militant), as
well as six persons injured, besides other incidents of
violence.
Meanwhile,
ethnic rivalries again came to the forefront with the
revival of the Sadar Hills District demand by the Sadar
Hills District Development Committee (SHDDC), and subsequent
protests by the Nagas. The SHDDC imposed an economic blockade
on the two National Highways (NH) – NH-39 (renamed NH
2, Imphal-Dimapur) and NH-53 (renamed NH 37, Imphal-Jiribam)
– of Manipur on August 1, 2011, and lifted this crippling
shut
in only after 92 days, at midnight
on October 31, after the signing of a memorandum of understanding
(MoU) with the State Government. The United Naga Council
(UNC) imposed a counter economic blockade along the NH
39 and 53 as well as NH 150, which links Manipur with
Kohima in Nagaland and Aizawl in Mizoram, from August
21, demanding the non-inclusion of ‘Naga lands’ in the
proposed Sadar Hills District. The UNC lifted its blockade
after 100 days, in the morning of November 29, following
an assurance from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs that
a separate Sadar Hills District would not be granted without
the consent of the Nagas.
Adding
to the problem, the demand for an ‘Alternative Arrangement’
for the Nagas living in Manipur persisted, with no resolution.
Violence came to the forefront with the NSCN-IM targeting
Nagas who participated in the Autonomous District Council
(ADC) elections held on May 26 and June 2, 2010. On August
1, 2011, five persons were killed and eight were injured,
when militants triggered a powerful Improvised Explosive
Device (IED) explosion near a barber’s shop at Sanghakpam
Bazaar in Imphal East District. The explosive, planted
on a two-wheeler, killed two Manipuri girls and two persons
from Bihar – the barber and his son. On August 2, 2011,
Chief Minister Ibobi Singh announced that the NSCN-IM
was behind the blast, and revealed the identity of the
fifth person killed in the incident as an active cadre
of the NSCN-IM, Anthony. The Chief Minister noted, further,
that the NSCN-IM cadre, who rode the scooter with the
explosives, may have had a specific target, but the device
possibly exploded prematurely. The Chief Minister claimed
that the blast was aimed at the members of the ADC at
a nearby District Councils Guest House complex. The explosion
reportedly occurred just after the vehicles of ADC members
had passed the spot. Earlier, on July 23, 2011, suspected
NSCN-IM militants exploded a bomb at the ADC office in
Ukhrul District, bordering Myanmar. On May 28, 2011, three
persons were injured when a powerful bomb exploded at
a Sports Stadium (Khuman Lampak) Complex in Imphal West
District. The blast was apparently intended to target
members and officials of the ADC, who were functioning
from this location due to NSCN-IM threats.
The NSCN-IM
has, in fact, increased its role
in the Manipur insurgency with 16 of 59 killings in 2011
associated with the group. In 2010, out of a total of
138 fatalities, the NSCN-IM was involved in only one incident.
Reports now indicate that major Meitei insurgent outfits
– ethnic rivals of the Naga groups – in the State are
making serious efforts to form a “united front” in pursuit
of their own ethnically polarized goals.
In another
significant development, on September 24, 2011, the UNC
elected Lohrii Adani as its new ‘president’, along with
five ‘council members’, and reaffirmed its commitment
to pursue the demand for an ‘Alternative Arrangement’.
The UNC also directed all the members of the ADC to vacate
their positions in order to strengthen their movement.
On June 30, 2011, the UNC demand for an ‘alternative arrangement’
for the Nagas living in Manipur received a severe blow,
with both the State and Central Governments categorically
setting aside this option during tripartite talks held
in Senapati District. The outcome of these talks was in
line with Chief Minister Ibobi Singh’s earlier declaration
that a separate administrative model for the Nagas of
Manipur was out of question.
Another
disturbing element was the evolving linkages
between the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist)
and some Manipuri militant groups. A November 25, 2011,
news report stated that the most peaceful State in the
Northeast, Mizoram, had allegedly been used as a meeting
point by Maoists and leaders of the PLA.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which was probing
the PLA’s activities since September 23, 2011, discovered
that a meeting had been held between the outfit’s and
Maoist leaders at Champhai in Mizoram on July 15, 2010.
The NIA disclosed that a group of PLA leaders had also
imparted arms training to Maoists in the Saranda Forest
in Jharkhand, from September 11 to November 20, 2010.
The PLA had allegedly trained Maoists in basic military
tactics, guerrilla warfare, ambush and wireless communication
skills, and that more such training sessions were scheduled
for 2012. The NIA was entrusted by the Centre to investigate
the larger conspiracy behind PLA’s alleged plans to ‘destabilise
India’ with the help of Maoists and other like-minded
militant groups of the Northeast, and also to conduct
a probe into PLA’s nexus with China.
An official
source cited in earlier media reports, stated further,
"ISI [Inter Services Intelligence] and PLA are in
touch and supplying Maoists with arms. They are supposedly
using China as the alternative route." These revelations
were made by two top PLA leaders, who were arrested in
New Delhi on October 1, 2011. Reports indicate that the
PLA was trying to forge a ‘Strong United Front’ (SUF)
along with the CPI-Maoist and Kashmiri militants, backed
by ISI and China.
Meanwhile,
ethnic extremist groupings continue to seek to expel ‘outsiders’
from the State. The ‘military affairs secretary’ of the
Lanheiba faction of KCP-MC, on March 3, 2011, urged all
‘non-locals’ to leave the State. The release further declared
that the decision was a part of the group’s Operation
Clear Cut which imposed several strictures, including
ban on sale of land and property to outsiders, on the
employment of ‘non-locals’, on the renting out of living
quarters and transportation of non-locals within and outside
the State, and a demand for all ‘non-locals’ to close
shop. Significantly, three people were killed and nine
injured in five incidents of violence against outsiders
in 2011, as compared to nine killed and four injured in
12 such incidents in 2010. In one such incident, KCP-MC
exploded a bomb at the Ananda Singh Academy near Raj Bhavan
in Imphal East District on March 10, 2011, where President
Pratibha Patil stayed during her two day visit to Manipur.
However, no casualty was reported in the blast. KCP-MC
later asserted that, while the blast was carried out to
protest visit of President, it was also a part of the
outfit’s campaign to expose the Central Government’s alleged
‘covert agenda’ of pushing ‘non-locals’ into Manipur.
Despite
a significant deceleration in violence, the chaotic scenario
of Manipur’s multiple insurgencies and the ethnic polarization
in the State continues to hold out grave threats to peace
in the State, even as each effort of accommodation attracts
a backlash from rival ethnic extremist formations, constructing
a perverse process of forward and regressive movements
that appear to cancel each other out over time. The relief
afforded by declining violence in Manipur continues to
be tainted by the unresolved ethnic tensions in the State,
and the Government’s inability to effectively neutralize
the polarized and violent militant formations claiming
to ‘represent’ divergent ethnic interests.
|
Unfinished
Business
Research Desk
Institute for Conflict Management
Few countries
torn by persistent and bloody ethnic war for decades,
have recovered such a semblance of normalcy and equilibrium
– albeit not of mutual ethnic understanding or perfect
accommodation – as has Sri Lanka since the comprehensive
defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
in May 2009. Despite shrill concerns articulated by the
'international community’ on the possibility of the extended
internment of displaced Tamils, the Government of Sri
Lanka (GOSL) moved quickly on their resettlement and rehabilitation,
with more than 97 per cent of persons displaced by the
conflict resettled in their places of origin in the Northeast
by November 17, 2011. Of the 280,000 internally displaced
people, over 270,000 have already returned home under
the Government's National Resettlement Strategy.
There were
also strong ‘international’ apprehensions regarding the
treatment of the remnants of LTTE cadres. However, of
11,500 terrorists who surrendered or were arrested at
the end of the war in 2009, 8,500 have been rehabilitated
and reintegrated, while roughly 3,000 accused of war-crimes
continue under detention. On January 18, 2011, President
Mahinda Rajapakse appointed a four-member Committee to
study the cases of detained LTTE suspects and to recommend
suitable action to expedite the cases against them. The
Committee was appointed following a recommendation made
by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC)
in its Interim Report. On September 26, External Affairs
Minister G.L. Peiris stated that scores of cadres of the
LTTE were likely to be prosecuted for crimes committed
during the three-decade conflict that ended in 2009.
There has,
moreover, been a remarkable resurrection of democratic
structures across the country, including conflict-ravaged
Northern and Eastern Sri Lanka. Since the end of war the
Government has conducted the General Elections of April
8 and April 20, 2010, which recorded a 61.26 per cent
voter turnout. The Presidential election took place on
January 26, 2010, and witnessed 74.49 per cent polling.
More importantly, elections for local bodies across the
country, including the war-ravaged Northern area, were
concluded peacefully in 2011. Elections for 299 out of
the 335 local bodies were conducted in two phases (March
17 and January 23) in 2011. Elections for 11 local bodies
had been held in the Northeast in 2008-09, and for another
23 local bodies, including the Municipal Councils of Colombo,
Kandy and Nuwara Eliya, had been postponed under the Public
Security Ordinance (PSO) due to the Cricket World Cup
and other reasons, as noted by Election Commission. The
elections for all but one Provincial Council have also
been conducted. Elections to the Northern Provincial Council
(NPC) are yet to be held, with the Government arguing
that these must be preceded by a completion of the resettlement
process.
The wounds
of the past, however, continue to rankle, and an ethnic
reconciliation and political settlement remain elusive.
On November 23, 2011, the Sri Lankan Parliament passed
a motion to set up a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC),
a 31-member quasi-judicial body comprising 19 members
nominated by the UPFA and 12 by the Opposition, to formulate
a political solution to the country's ethnic issue. Soon
after, the Leader of the House, Minister Nimal Siripala
De Silva, requested the Chief Opposition Whip John Amaratunga
to hand over the list of names of Opposition members to
be appointed to the Committee. The constitution of the
PSC has, however, been delayed due to the failure of the
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to hand over names of its
representatives.
The TNA
had earlier alleged that the PSC was no more than a delaying
tactic. President Mahinda Rajapakse, however, denied the
allegation and argued that the PSC could work within a
time frame to reach its mandated conclusions. Earlier,
on August 4, 2011, the Government had rejected TNA’s two-week
ultimatum to come out with ‘devolution’ details, arguing
that it had now embarked on the process to establish the
PSC to define the ‘political solution’. The TNA had set
the deadline earlier that day, during the course of 10th
round of talks, the first round of which commenced
on January 10, 2011.
Meanwhile,
TNA raised various objections regarding the resettlement
policies, accusing the Government of a deliberate ploy
to change the demographic profile of the northern and
eastern parts of the country where ethnic Tamils were
a majority. Accordingly, TNA politicians on October 17,
2011, staged a protest in northern Vavuniya town to highlight
how new Sinhala majority settlements were being pushed
by the Government in the country's northern and eastern
regions. The Government, however, denied these allegations.
Later on October 24, 2011, the TNA filed a Fundamental
Rights petition before the Supreme Court against the Government's
move to register the lands in the North and East. Under
National Land Title Registration Program implemented by
the Government in 2007, all the land in the country was
to be surveyed and demarcated to ensure their ownership.
The land-owners, accordingly were instructed to inform
the authorities about their lands following the receipt
of a title Certificate from the Government. TNA, however,
complained that the measure was in operation only in the
North and the East (dominated by the Tamil minority) and
not in other parts of the country. Consequently, TNA interpreted
this move as an aggressive colonization process undertaken
by the Government to dilute the Tamil dominance in the
North and the East.
Allegations
of excesses and brutalities committed on Tamils, both
civilians and militants, by the Sri Lankan Security Force
(SLSF) also continue to haunt the Government, with the
Tamil Diaspora and various international human rights
groups stridently pushing this line. One prominent initiative
in this direction was the three-member Panel of Experts,
headed by Marzuki Darusman, appointed by the United Nations
(UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in 2010 to advise
him on human rights and humanitarian law violations during
the last phase of Sri Lanka's civil war. The Darusman
Panel handed over its Report on April 12, 2011, to the
UN Chief, accusing both the LTTE and the Sri Lanka Army
of committing war-crimes. The Panel said there were "credible
allegations" of serious violations of international
law by Government Forces and the LTTE "some of which
would amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity."
The Darusman Report was finally released on April 25,
2011, along with a statement by Ban Ki-moon. In his statement,
the UN Secretary General said that, though he could not
order an international investigation into the deaths,
the UN would, nevertheless, hold an inquiry on events
in the final months of the war, following criticism by
the Darusman Panel that more could have been done to save
lives. Welcoming the report, the UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, on April 27, 2011, called
for further international investigation on alleged war
crimes. However, no such further investigation has been
reported so far. Sri Lanka has rejected the Darusman Report
as being ‘fundamentally flawed’ and based on ‘biased material’
presented without verification. A statement issued by
the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) added, further, “The
public release of the Report at this stage is divisive,
and disrupts our efforts to reinforce peace, security
and stability in Sri Lanka. It feeds into the political
agendas of interested parties.”
Earlier,
the President had appointed a fact finding committee,
the LLRC
, on May 15, 2010, to allegations of human rights violations
by the SLSF. The Commission submitted its final report
to the President on November 20, 2011. The LLRC report,
which, President Mahinda Rajapakse claimed, would be credible,
unlike the Darusman Report, is to be placed before Parliament
in December 2011.
Yet another
cause of concern for Sri Lanka through 2011 were the continuous
reports of the overseas activities of cadres and sympathizers
of the LTTE. Sri Lankan politicians, Armed Force officers,
diplomats and intellectuals have been repeatedly emphasizing
the clandestine agenda of overseas elements of LTTE and
the potential threat they constitute to Sri Lanka. On
August 1, 2011, the Sri Lankan Government updated a request
to the European Union (EU) to list front organizations
of the LTTE as terrorist entities. The Sri Lankan Embassy
at Brussels disclosed that the request was made on July
28, 2011, as the EU re-listed the LTTE as a terrorist
entity through a regulation implemented by the Council
on July 18, 2011. According to reports, individuals arrested
by European and other authorities in 2010 and 2011 had
been found to be members of LTTE-affiliated groups such
as the Tamil Coordinating Committee (TCC), the Tamil Rehabilitation
Organization (TRO), and the Tamil Youth Organization (TYO).
Significantly, on May 21, 2011, a Norway-based leader
of the LTTE, Perinpanayagam Sivaparan alias Nediyawan,
was arrested by the Netherlands Police and produced in
a court in Oslo, Norway.
More worryingly,
a report released by the US Department of State on August
18, 2011, claimed that overseas cadres of LTTE continued
to procure weapons, while the LTTE Diaspora remained persistent
in supporting the organization financially. It stated
that, despite its military defeat in Sri Lanka at the
hands of Government Forces, the LTTE's international network
of financial support continue to exist. Meanwhile, the
Commander of Sri Lanka Army Eastern Command Major General
Boniface Perera on July 1, 2011, had warned that armed
groups in the Eastern Province would suffer unless they
surrendered all their weapons.
Sri Lanka’s
tryst with terrorist violence is clearly over for the
time being, and the nation is enjoying a cherished respite
after decades of bloodshed. The surviving vestiges of
the LTTE, both within and without, remain insignificant,
and do not constitute any imminent or substantial threat
to the security and sovereignty of the nation. The real
challenge the country faces is to end the age old bad
blood between the majority Sinhalese and the minority
Tamil communities. It is altogether unrealistic to expect
a magical and immediate resolution in this context, but
the tentative steps in this direction do suggest an unfortunate
ambivalence, on the part of both the country’s majority
Sinhala and minority Tamil leaderships.
|
Weekly Fatalities: Major Conflicts in
South Asia
November 28 - December
4, 2011
|
Civilians
|
Security
Force Personnel
|
Terrorists/Insurgents
|
Total
|
INDIA
|
|
Manipur
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
Left-wing
Extremism
|
|
Bihar
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Jharkhand
|
3
|
9
|
0
|
12
|
Maharashtra
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
Odisha
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Total (INDIA)
|
6
|
10
|
1
|
17
|
PAKISTAN
|
|
Balochistan
|
5
|
0
|
1
|
6
|
FATA
|
4
|
0
|
44
|
48
|
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
|
1
|
1
|
7
|
9
|
Punjab
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
4
|
Sindh
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
Total (PAKISTAN)
|
13
|
5
|
52
|
70
|
Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
|
BANGLADESH
No
political motive behind war trial, says Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina categorically
said that the trial of the war criminals was not being
held out of political motivation, but on a popular public
demand to deliver justice to the victims of war crimes.
She added that the trial would conform to international
standards and the Government was committed to a fair
and impartial trial. Daily
Star, November 29, 2011.
INDIA
Terror
cell busted as Delhi Police arrest six Indian Mujahideen
militants: Delhi Police investigators announced
the neutralization of a terrorist cell that they claimed
was responsible for a string of nationwide attacks in
the year 2010. The Delhi Police's élite Special Cell
announced that it had arrested six persons, including
a Pakistani operative of Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), identified
as Muhammad Adil, on the suspicion of having carried
out three major attacks: a shooting at Delhi's historic
Jama Masjid in September, the bomb blats outside Bangalore's
Chinnaswami Stadium in April and the bombing of the
German Bakery in Pune in February. The
Hindu, December 1, 2011.
45
cease-fire violations reported in 2011 along India-Pakistan
border in Jammu and Kashmir: Government on November
29 informed the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament)
that 45 cease-fire violations were reported in 2011
along the India-Pakistan border in Jammu and Kashmir.
117 ceasefire violations were reported between 2009-11
along the Line of Control (LoC), of which 28 were in
2009, 44 in 2010 and 45 between January and November
2011, Minister of State for Home Mullapally Ramachandran
said in a written reply.
Asian Age,
November 30, 2011.
Maharashtra
tops in FICN haul with 85% of total seizure: In
an estimate made by the Union Government, Maharashtra
reported nearly 85% of the total seizure of Fake Indian
Currency Notes (FICNs) in India during the year 2011.
Government on November 29 informed the Lok Sabha (lower
House of the Parliament) that the Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) and State Police had recovered FICN worth over
INR 810 million in Maharashtra out of total INR 960
million throughout India till October 31, 2011.
Times of India,
November 30, 2011.
Indian
Mujahideen has sleeper cells in North Bihar, says IB:
Sources in the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and State security
agencies suspect that the Indian Mujahideen (IM) has
established more than seven sleeper cells in North Bihar.
"We have information that IM has established its base
amongst youths - some of them even engineers - at Mirganj,
Araria and Sitamarhi, in addition to Madhubani and Darbhanga.
Often, the youths are lured with hawala money from across
the border. Others are indoctrinated with videos of
the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, with which the Indian
state has no connection," a source said.
Times of India,
December 4, 2011.
Union
Home Minister P. Chidambaram warns about militants in
Arunachal Pradesh: During an interview to the state-run
Doordarshan television on December 2 Union Home
Minister P. Chidambaram said that India needed to be
vigilant about militants in Arunachal Pradesh and those
that had sanctuary in China. "We know there is an arms
bazaar on the border of Myanmar and China and Chinese
weapons are smuggled through Myanmar into India," he
said. DD
India, December 3, 2011.
Union
Home Minister P. Chidambaram makes fresh offer of talks
to Maoists and Northeast militants: Union Home Minister
P. Chidambaram warned insurgents that the State wouldn't
bend before violence but offered to treat with "dignity"
any outfit if they came for peace talks, whether they
were Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) or
rebels from the Northeast. The minister also rejected
allegations that CPI-Maoist politburo member Mallojula
Koteswara Rao alias Kishanji was killed in a
fake encounter.
Telegraph,
November 30, 2011.
Pakistan's
overt support to terror has diminished, says Union Home
Minister P. Chidambaram: Union Home Minister P Chidambaram
has said that Islamabad's overt support to State and
non-State actors involved in cross-border terror has
diminished. "I think they have realised that any overt
support to state actors or non-state actors, if that
is discovered, they will pay a heavy price. So I think
overt support has certainly diminished. Covert support,
I really can't make an assessment," Chidambaram said.
Times
of India, December 2, 2011.
'Karachi
Project' to figure in NIA's charges: A project,
codenamed 'Karachi Project', undertaken by the Inter
Services Intelligence (ISI) to spread terror in India
using local recruits through Lashkar-e-Toiba's (LeT)
network will soon find its place in the charge sheet
to be filed by the National Investigating Agency (NIA).
The NIA is to file the charge sheet against American-Pakistani
terrorist David Coleman Headley and his accomplices,
including serving and retired Army officials of Pakistan,
in the Mumbai terror attack case (November 26, 2008,
also known as 26/11).
Times of India,
December 2, 2011.
NEPAL
CA
tenure extended by six months: A day before the
expiry of its term, the Constituent Assembly (CA) got
extension of its tenure by six more months on November
29. The parliamentary session endorsed the 11th constitution
amendment bill proposed by the Government seeking a
six-month extension of the CA term with a majority vote.
This is the fourth time that the CA's term has been
extended. Nepal
News, November 30, 2011.
Regrouping
of PLA cadres concludes in entire seven main cantonments:
The regrouping of the members of the People's Liberation
Army (PLA) concluded in all the seven main cantonment
sites located in different parts of the country on December
1. According to the secretariat of the Army Integration
Special Committee (AISC), a total of 16,508 combatants
have been categorised as per their choices for three
options - integration, voluntary retirement and rehabilitation
package. Nepal
News, December 2, 2011.
PAKISTAN
14
SFs and eight militants among 26 persons killed during
the week in FATA: At least 20 militants were killed
and two soldiers were injured in an operation conducted
by the Security Forces (SFs) in different parts of Upper
Orakzai Agency in Federally Administered Tribal Agencies
(FATA) on December 3.
Eight
militants were killed and a trooper was injured in a
clash in Dabori area of Orakzai Agency on December 2.
Nine
militants were killed and several others injured on
December 1 when SFs pounded their hideouts in Akhun
Kot, Barlas, Adokhel and other areas of Mamozai in Orakzai
Agency.
Five
militants were killed as clashes between two rival groups
in Maylo village of Tirah valley in Khyber Agency. Dawn;
Daily
Times; The
News; Tribune,
November 29-December 5, 2011.
Millions
of automatic weapons imported illegally, says Federal
Board of Revenue: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR)
unearthed a mega fraud pertaining to the import of 1,000
automatic weapons through mis-declaration and it is
feared that millions of sophisticated weapons may already
have been imported during the preceding years. A top
official of the FBR under the condition of anonymity
said that they apprehended two consignments, one coming
from Ukraine and another from Turkey, through which
automatic machine guns named as "Stichken" and "Zaxina",
which had otherwise been declared as pistols. The
News, November 30, 2011.
Al
Qaeda claims responsibility for holding US hostage in
Pakistan: Al Qaeda on December 1 claimed responsibility
for the abduction of a 70-year-old American aid worker,
Warren Weinstein, from his house in the eastern city
of Lahore on August 13, and issued a series of demands
for his release. In a video message posted on militant
websites, al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri said Warren
Weinstein would be released if the United States stopped
airstrikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen.
Dawn,
December 2, 2011.
Washington
attaches strings to military aid, says report: Amid
an increasingly souring relationship, the United States
Senate voted to attach strings to military aid to Pakistan
while an independent think tank urged policymakers to
continue 'robust' civilian assistance. American Senators
unanimously approved an amendment by Democratic Senator
Bob Casey aimed at blocking counterinsurgency aid to
Pakistan until Islamabad takes aggressive steps to curb
the use of roadside bombs, blamed for the deaths of
US soldiers in Afghanistan. Tribune,
December 2, 2011.
Pakistan
pulls out of Bonn international conference on Afghanistan:
Pakistan decided to boycott Bonn (Germany) international
conference on Afghanistan in December, widening its
protest over NATO cross-border attacks on November 26
and exacerbating a deep crisis in US ties. "Pakistan
looks forward to the success of this conference but
in view of the developments and prevailing circumstances
has decided not to participate in the conference," a
Government statement said.
Meanwhile,
the Pakistan Army said that International Security Assistance
Force (ISAF) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO) carried out the cross-border attack on purpose
and there are no expectations of any results coming
from the inquiry. The statements were made at a media
briefing by Chief of General Staff Lieutenant General
Waheed Arshad and Director General (DG) Military Operations
General Ashfaq. Daily
Times; Tribune,
November 30, 2011.
Stop
intelligence sharing with NATO, warns JuD: Speakers
at a protest rally, Defense of Pakistan, organised by
Jama'at-ud-Dawa (JuD) on December 2 demanded that intelligence
sharing with NATO forces in Afghanistan be stopped to
avenge the killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers in November
26, 2011 attack in Mohmand Agency of Federally Administered
Tribal Areas (FATA). They said banning the movement
of supplies through Pakistan was an insufficient response.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Jama'at-e-Islami
(JeI) were also represented at the protest. Tribune,
December 3, 2011.
SRI LANKA
TNA
yet to name representatives to the PSC on political
solution: Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is yet to
hand in names of the party representatives who would
be appointed to the parliamentary select committee (PSC)
on finding a solution to the ethnic issue. The PSC received
parliamentary approval in November 2011 and the Leader
of the House requested the Chief Opposition Whip to
hand over the list of names of the opposition members
to be appointed to the Committee. However, the constitution
of the PSC has been delayed due to the delay on the
part of the TNA to hand over names of its representatives.
Colombo
Page, December 2, 2011.
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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