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SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 10, No. 6, August 16, 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
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Manipur:
The Slippery Slope, Again
Veronica Khangchian
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
On August
1, 2011, five persons were killed and eight others 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. Later, on August
2, Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh announced that the
National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak Muivah (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, named Anthony. He noted, further, that
the NSCN-IM cadre, who rode the scooter with the explosives,
might have had a specific target, but the device may have
exploded prematurely. The Chief Minister claimed that
the blast was aimed at the members of Autonomous District
Council (ADC), who are housed in a nearby guest house
complex of District Councils. The explosion reportedly
occurred just after the vehicles of ADC members had passed
past the spot.
Earlier
on July 23, 2011, suspected NSCN-IM militants exploded
a bomb in the office of the ADC 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 the threat
held out by the NSCN-IM.
Significantly,
the United Naga Council (UNC), the NSCN-IM linked apex
Naga body in Manipur, had opposed the ADC 2010 elections,
held in two phases, on May 26 and June 2, 2010, under
the Manipur (Hill Areas) District Councils (3rd
Amendment) Act, 2008, since these were not under the 6th
Schedule of the Constitution of India. The UNC argues,
'Local
adjustment' has been spelt in the form of the Manipur
(Hill Areas) District Councils (3rd Amendment)
Act, 2008, which has been carefully doctored and
stripped off of all the provisions that go into
self governance and the rights of the hill people
over their land and resources and removing the primacy
of the traditional institutions of the tribals which
is enshrined in the Constitution of India. The 6th
Schedule of the Constitution of India has provisions
of self governance and the rights of the hill people
over their land and resources and the primacy of
the traditional institutions of the tribals.
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The UNC’s
relations with the State Government have been deteriorating
since the killing of two students in Police firing on
supporters of NSCN-IM 'general secretary' Thuingaleng
Muivah, while they were taking out a rally at Mao Gate
in Senapati District, when the State Government blocked
Muivah from entering Manipur on May 6, 2010. The situation
worsened further with the ADC elections, held after a
gap of 20 years, and the UNC announced a severing of ties
with the Government of Manipur. The UNC approached the
Union Government with the demand for an ‘alternative administrative
arrangement', declaring that the Manipur (Hill Areas)
District Councils (3rd Amendment) Act 2008
failed to meet tribal aspirations or to provide any sort
of autonomy, leaving the ADCs at the mercy and under the
control of the State Government.
Subsequently,
in a memorandum submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
on September 14, 2010, the UNC stated that on July 1,
2010, the Nagas in Manipur had resolved, through their
highest decision-making forum, the Naga People’s Convention
(NPC), that the Nagas would sever all political ties with
the ‘communal’ Government of Manipur and, consequently,
the vacuum in governance and administration created as
a result, must be filled with an ‘alternative arrangement’
by the Government of India (GoI) in consultation with
the Naga people at the earliest possible. It was also
asserted that the ‘imposed’ ADC elections were “null and
void” and, under no circumstances, would the ADCs be allowed
to function in the Naga areas.
Shortly
thereafter, on October 12, 2010, the Manipur Police Department
received intelligence inputs that the NSCN-IM had decided,
at the ‘highest level’, to selectively target and eliminate
elected members of the ADCs belonging to the Naga community,
since they had failed to ‘honour’ the group’s diktats
for the boycott of ADC elections and, after getting elected,
refused to resign from their posts despite specific ‘directives’.
On June
30, 2011, however, the UNC demand for an ‘alternative
administrative 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
earlier declaration that a separate administrative model
for the Nagas of Manipur was out of the question. The
State Government indicated that the elected ADCs in the
Hill region had enough power to develop their Hill Districts
and redress grievances of the tribal people. Moreover,
the Joint Secretary (Northeast) in the Union Ministry
of Home Affairs, Shambhu Singh, added, “We could not understand
what ‘alternative arrangement’ means and the Centre is
not going to do anything on the issue.”
Meanwhile,
on April 15, 2011, eight persons, including six Policemen,
were killed and six injured in an ambush laid by the NSCN-IM
on the convoy party of the Phungyar Member of the Manipur
Legislative Assembly (MLA), Wungnaoshang Keishing, near
Riha village in Ukhrul District. On April 19, 2011, the
outfit accused Wungnaoshang of working hand in glove with
the Ibobi Government's policy to ‘disintegrate Naga territories’
by creating a new cosmopolitan District, Phungyar. Keishing,
who supported the initiative, had been warned of “drastic
action” by the UNC, if he did not withdraw his support
for the new District. As the demand for the creation of
Phungyar District becomes sharper, the UNC, on April 8,
2011, without naming the Phungyar District Demand Committee,
stated,
It
is implicit that the demand for new District(s)
at this point of time in Naga/Hill areas of Manipur
is the handiwork of the adversaries to vitiate and
derail the 'Alternative Arrangement' process which
is in progress peacefully and democratically. The
UNC reminded that the Naga people in the State of
Manipur have severed all political ties with the
Government of Manipur, demanding the intervention
of the Government of India for an 'Alternative Arrangement'
outside the Government of Manipur.
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Despite
the threat to his life, Keishing has said that there was
no question of his withdrawing support to the demand for
the upgradation of the Phungyar Assembly Constituency
into a full-fledged revenue District, in the interest
of bringing about development and the meeting the aspirations
of the people.
In another
gruesome incident on July 24, 2011, a young couple was
killed at Lungpha village in Ukhrul District. Claiming
responsibility for the killing, the NSCN-IM said that
Vareignam Mahongnao was killed for his anti-Naga activities
as he was allegedly working with the Manipur Naga Revolutionary
Front (MNRF). However, on July 28, MNRF denied any links
with Vareignam. MNRF, an NSCN-IM splinter group in Manipur,
was formed in 2008 under the leadership of Allen Siro,
and claims to be an autonomous revolutionary group with
the avowed aim of protecting the territorial integrity
of Manipur and working for communal harmony between different
ethnic groups in the State.
Evidently,
the whole issue is intertwined with the NSCN-IM’s larger
ambition for the integration of Naga areas under one administrative
unit, and this is the cause of the spike in violence by
the group in Manipur. According to the partial data compiled
by South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), out of
the 43 insurgency related killings in 2011, 15 are associated
with the NSCN-IM, including eight civilians and seven
Security Force (SF) personnel. In 2010, out of a total
of 138 fatalities, the NSCN-IM was involved in only one
incident – on May 18, 2010, one of its cadres was killed
while the bomb he was planting under a bridge along the
stretch of the Imphal-Mao section of the National Highway-39
in Senapati District, blew up accidentally.
On August
2, 2011, the Manipur Chief Minister, disclosed that the
State Government has advised the Central Government to
revoke the ongoing cease-fire with the NSCN-IM, since
it continued to engage in open acts of terrorism in the
State. Such advice is, however, unlikely to impact on
the ‘peace process’ that has survived continuous breaches
of ‘ground rules’ since the ceasefire agreement of 1997.
Amidst
rising NSCN-IM activities in Manipur, reports indicate
that major Meitei insurgent outfits in the State are making
serious efforts to form a “united front” in pursuit of
their own ethnically polarized goals. On August 9, 2011,
Union Minister of State for Home Affairs M. Ramachandran
told the Lok Sabha (Upper House of Parliament) that these
groups included the People’s Liberation Army (PLA),
United National Liberation Front (UNLF),
Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL),
Noyon faction of Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP-Noyon),
Vice Chairman faction of People’s Revolutionary Party
of Kangleipak (PREPAK-VC),
Progressive faction of PREPAK (PREPAK-P) and United People`s
Party of Kangleipak (UPPK).
Manipur
has experienced rapid improvement in its security scenario
as steep
declines in fatalities have been recorded
in the State since 2008. All this is now in jeopardy,
with the NSCN-IM’s rising ambitions, and the ‘reactivation’
of a coalescing Meitei insurgent front. Much of the escalating
NSCN-IM violence has, of course, been directed against
Naga leaders who have refused to toe the rebel group’s
line. Nevertheless, the fundamentals of this violence
are directed against the integrationist impetus of the
Valley based politics and Meitei insurgent groups. Unless
these inherent contradictions are managed – if not resolved
– the spiral of violence can only push this unfortunate
State back into the cycles of bloodletting that have wracked
it for nearly five decades now.
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The Persistence
of Hate
Ajit Kumar Singh
Research Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management
On August
4, 2011 the Government of Sri Lanka rejected the Tamil
National Alliance’s (TNA) two-week ultimatum to come out
with ‘devolution’ details saying it is now set to embark
on the process of Parliament Select Committee (PSC) to
find a political solution to the ethnic conflict that
has engulfed the nation for over three decades. The TNA
had set the deadline earlier in the day, during the course
of 10th round of talks.
The talks
between the two sides, which commenced on January 10,
2011, appear to have hit a dead end for now. The TNA,
which had publicly dropped the demand for a separate State
immediately after the defeat of the Liberation Tigers
of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
in May 2009, was hoping to reach what it called an “acceptable
political solution”. Alleged to be a proxy of the LTTE,
the TNA had even dropped the demand for a federal-style
solution and had agreed to talks under the provisions
of the controversial 13th Amendment, which
excludes any devolution of Police and lands powers.
Meanwhile,
elections for 299 of the 335 local authorities in the
country were held in two phases on March 17 and July 23,
2011. The elections for another 23 local authorities,
including the Municipal Councils of Colombo, Kandy and
Nuwara Eliya, which were postponed under the Public Security
Ordinance (PSO) due to the Cricket World Cup and other
reasons, as noted by Election Commission, are now scheduled
to be held on or before October 17, and the tenure of
these local authorities has been extended up to December
31, 2011. Surprisingly, all, except one in Ampara, of
the postponed elections fall outside the Tamil dominated
Northeast region. Elections to another two local authorities
in Mullaitivu District are due, but have been repeatedly
postponed due to alleged delays in resettling internally
displaced persons (IDPs). The elections to the remaining
11 local authorities in the Northeast were held in 2008-09,
and were not due in the present cycle. Local authorities
are elected for a term of four years, which can be extended
up to five. The last round of these elections for all
other constituencies was held in 2006, when elections
were conducted for 288 of the then 330 local authorities.
Elections were not held in the remaining constituencies
due to the then ongoing civil war.
The ruling
United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) dominated the
elections and won 249 local authorities, (including two
contesting as the National Congress). The TNA won 32 local
authorities (including two contesting as the Tamil United
Liberation Front, TULF); the United National Party (UNP)
won 9; the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) won 4; and
a UPFA-backed independent group won one local authority.
There was no overall control in the four remaining local
authorities, but the UPFA was the largest group in three,
and the Up-Country People's Front (UPF) in one. The UPF,
which represents Tamils of Indian origin, is an ally of
UPFA.
Predictably,
the UPFA swept the polarised elections in the South. It
also dominated the elections in the Eastern Province,
winning 23 out of 35 local authorities, leaving just 7
for the TNA, 4 for SLMC and 1 for UNP. However, in the
Northern Province, unsurprisingly, the TNA – as was the
case in the 2010
General Elections when it won 14 out
of 24 parliamentary seats in the North and East in the
225-seatre Parliament – swept the local bodies’ elections
this time as well, winning 25 local authorities out of
30 and thus leaving just five for the UPFA.
The latest
results have simply confirmed the deep and unchanging
ethnic divide in the country, and will have an inescapable
impact on TNA’s stand and politics. Indeed, immediately
after the election results, the TNA stepped up its bargaining
with the Government. In a Press Statement on August 4,
2011, it served its two weeks’ ultimatum on Colombo to
come out with ‘devolution’ details, the structure of governance,
the division of subjects and functions between the Centre
and the devolved units, and on fiscal and financial powers.
The statement argued, further, “As no response has been
forthcoming for several months from Colombo’s side, no
meaningful or purposeful discussion could be held on the
discussion papers tendered by the TNA.” In addition, “Immediate
concern was resettlement and rehabilitation of the IDPs,
removal of High Security Zones, disarming the para-military
forces operating in the North and East and the issue of
political prisoners and detainees.” The TNA had talked
about almost same set of demands in its Election
Manifesto for the General Elections
of April 2010.
The Government’s
response has been far from encouraging. On August 4, 2010,
the Government rejected the TNA’s demands, alleging that
the Tamil party’s ultimatum for future talks reflected
the attitude of the LTTE. UPFA parliamentarian Sajin Vas
De Gunawardane, who is also the Secretary of the UPFA
delegation, declared,
It
is certainly not possible, nor is it consistent
with the national interest, to make a final pronouncement
on all these crucial issues, hastily and without
wider consultation, at this stage. As much as the
SLFP does not solely represent any community in
particular, the TNA also does not solely represent
the Tamil community. In the circumstances which
have now arisen on account of the demarche of the
TNA, the government will proceed with the appointment
of a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC).
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The proposed
PSC will comprise 31 members, including 19 nominated by
the UPFA and 12 by the Opposition. In response to TNA’s
allegation that this was no more than a delaying tactic,
President Mahinda Rajapakse argued that the PSC could
work within a time frame to reach its mandated conclusions,
avoiding any undue delays.
As of
now, the PSC has not even been constituted. Even if it
is assumed that, once constituted in the proximate future,
it would come out with a report within a given (yet to
be decided) time frame, its possibilities of success are
already in question, with focused opposition coming from
the TNA. Even if it were able to arrive at a consensus,
its implementation would remain in question, as was the
case of the Final
Report of the much talked about All
Party Representative Committee (APRC), submitted on July
19, 2010. The Final Report, based on a total consensus
among all members on a power sharing solution within a
“unitary” constitutional framework, has been swept under
the carpet by the Rajapakse Government, and is now all
but forgotten.
Meanwhile,
international pressure to start a war crimes’ probe as
well as to reach a political solution to the ethnic problem
has increased, in the expectation that this would force
Colombo to reason. The impact, however, has been far from
salutary, provoking an even further hardening of stances.
On August 9, 2011, Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne noted
that, although the LTTE no longer existed in Sri Lanka,
pro-LTTE organizations such as the Global Tamil Forum
(GTF), Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE),
British Tamil Forum (BTF), Tamil National Council (TNC)
and anti-Sri Lankan NGOs, backed by western countries,
were working under an agenda to tarnish the Sri Lankan
image. With TNA and other political parties seeking to
secure political benefits out of the international demands
and pressures, the Government has become more inflexible.
Unsurprisingly,
any solution to the ethnic conundrum in Sri Lanka remains
as elusive as ever. Colombo evidently feels it has a mandate
which cannot be challenged. Asked for his comments on
the TNA winning a majority of local authorities’ elections
in the Tamil areas and the consequent necessity of devolution
of powers, Basil Rajapakse, Senior Advisor to the President,
declared, brusquely, “The President has a bigger mandate
not to give those powers. They are talking of the mandate,
how about ours, one accepted by a larger majority in the
country?” Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse, claiming
that that the “political solution talk is simply irrelevant”,
observed, “We don't have to talk about solution and various
things any longer, because we have ended this terrorism
in Sri Lanka. We have a Constitution. If there is further
amendment needed then Government can speak with the elected
representatives. Now we have representation from these
areas.”
At least
some residual problems do, however, persist. Despite resettling
almost 95 percent of the IDPs (28,5000 out of 30,0000)
and over 8,000 ex-LTTE cadres, out of 11,664 who were
arrested or surrendered, the country is still under a
state of emergency. Moreover, reports continue to emerge
that LTTE cadres are in the process of re-grouping in
Tamil Nadu (India), Canada and Europe. Cells of the Tigers
allegedly survive in France, Great Britain, Norway and
several Asian countries. A concerned Government has requested
the European Union to ban all LTTE front organisations.
Colombo
rightly sees no imminent danger from the surviving fragments
of the LTTE, but this is poor grounds for the continued
neglect and alienation of a large segment of the country’s
population. Over time, the present orientation can only
produce increasing frustration among the Tamils, and will
eventually come to jeopardise the peace
that has been won at tremendous cost, even as it slows
down Sri Lanka’s recovery and the quantum and quality
of support that would otherwise flow from the international
community.
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Weekly Fatalities: Major Conflicts in
South Asia
August 8-15, 2011
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Civilians
|
Security
Force Personnel
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Terrorists/Insurgents
|
Total
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INDIA
|
|
Assam
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
3
|
Jammu &
Kashmir
|
0
|
0
|
6
|
6
|
Meghalaya
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
4
|
Left-wing
Extremism
|
|
Chhattisgarh
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Odisha
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Total (INDIA)
|
4
|
0
|
11
|
15
|
PAKISTAN
|
|
Balochistan
|
28
|
3
|
0
|
31
|
FATA
|
7
|
8
|
55
|
70
|
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
|
11
|
3
|
4
|
18
|
Punjab
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Sindh
|
49
|
0
|
0
|
49
|
Total (PAKISTAN)
|
96
|
14
|
59
|
169
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Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
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BANGLADESH
Government
won't allow its land for use of
terrorism, states Bangladesh Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed:
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina Wajed on August 10 said that
the present Government will not
allow anyone to use land of the
country for terrorism. Hasina added,
"Terrorists have no borders they
are the problems of the whole world.
We all have to fight against terrorism
in a united form as it is not possible
to eradicate this problem by solo
effort." Financial
Express,
August 11, 2011.
INDIA
Nearly
40000 persons killed in Jammu and
Kashmir in militancy-related violence
since 1990, says Union Government:
Nearly 40,000 people have been killed
in militancy-related violence in
Jammu and Kashmir in the last two
decades, the Government said on
August 10. Union Minister of State
for Home Affairs Jitender Singh
told the Rajya Sabha (Upper House
of Parliament) in reply to a question
that 39, 918 persons have been killed
in Jammu and Kashmir in violent
incidents between 1990 and 2011(April).
13,226 civilians were killed and
5,369 Security Force (SFs) personnel
lost their lives. All together 21,323
terrorists were killed SFs during
the same period, the Minister said.
In
the first six months of 2011, 52
terrorists attempted to infiltrate
into the Indian Territory from the
Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and
Kashmir (J&K) as against 489 in
2010, the Rajya Sabha was informed
on August 10. Replying to a question
on infiltration in Jammu and Kashmir,
Defense Minister A. K. Antony said,
"As per the assessment of Multi
Agency Centre (MAC), till June 2011,
52 terrorists attempted to infiltrate
as compared to 489 in 2010." PTI;
Daily
Excelsior,
August 11, 2011.
Intelligence
inputs suggest al Qaeda planned
to target India: The Centre
on August 10 said intelligence inputs
have suggested that al Qaeda and
one of its terrorists Ilyas Kashmiri
were planning to target India. Minister
of State for Home Jitendra Singh
stated, "There are some intelligence
inputs, though not specifically,
regarding plan to target India by
al Qaeda and Ilyas Kashmiri, an
al-Qaeda-HUJI operative and his
group". Times
of India,
August 11, 2011.
Manipur
militants coming together to form
'united front': There are reports
to suggest that major Meitei insurgent
outfits in Manipur are making serious
efforts to form a "united front",
the Parliament was told on August
9. Minister of State for Home Affairs
M. Ramachandran told the Lok Sabha
(Upper House of the Parliament)
that these groups included the Revolutionary
People's Front/People's Liberation
Army (RPF/PLA), United National
Liberation Front (UNLF), Kanglei
Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL), People's
Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak
(PREPAK), Noyon faction of Kangleipak
Communist Party (KCP-Noyon), (PREPAK-VC),
Progressive faction of PREPAK, and
United People's Party of Kangleipak
(UPPK). Sentinel,
August 11, 2011.
ISI
has reactivated terror camps in
PoK, says Minister of State for
Home Affairs Jitendra Singh:
The Inter Services Intelligence
(ISI) has 'reactivated' terror camps
in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK)
with some 2,500 terrorists present
there. "The Government is aware
that the ISI has reactivated terrorist
training camps in Pakistan occupied
Kashmir," Minister of State for
Home Affairs Jitendra Singh told
the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament)
in a written reply. IANS,
August 10, 2011.
ISI
trained ULFA, says ULFA's 'Foreign
Secretary' Sashadhar Choudhury:
During the last two decades United
Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA)
received help from Inter Services
Intelligence (ISI) and Bangladeshi
agencies. ULFA 'Foreign Secretary'
Sashadhar Choudhury, who joined
ULFA in 1985, said, "Pakistan's
ISI trained ULFA. In 1991, I was
part of the first batch of ULFA
members to go to Pakistan for training
in small arms, including main battle
rifles." Times
of India,
August 9, 2011.
Pakistan
and China flooding FICN into India:
A secret report prepared by Research
and Analysis Wing, Intelligence
Bureau and the Department of Revenue
Intelligence and the Central Bureau
of Investigation reveals that the
infusion of Fake Indian Currency
(FICN) into India to destabilize
the economy and fund terror activities
were being actively supported by
Pakistan's High Commissions in Dhaka
(Bangladesh) and Kathmandu (Nepal)
through Inter Services Intelligence
(ISI). It has also been reported
on August 12, that China was emerging
as a major staging post for FICN
flooding into India. DNA,
August 13, 2011.
Government
extends SoO with Kuki militants
by another year: A meeting of
the Joint Monitoring Group of Suspension
of Operation (SoO) on August 11
approved the extension of the agreement
by another year on August 11. It
had been approved earlier by the
state cabinet during a recent meeting.
Kangla
Online,
August 12, 2011.
West
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee
announces new surrender package
for Maoists: Renewing her appeal
to the Communist Party of India-Maoist
(CPI-Maoist) cadres to give up arms
and return to the national mainstream,
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on
August 12 announced a fresh financial
and rehabilitation package for those
who surrender. The package includes
a revised incentive for every weapon
laid down. The
Hindu, August
13, 2011.
Nearly
1,300 Pakistanis missing in India:
Nearly 1,300 Pakistanis on visit
to India are traceless after their
visa expired, and the Government
has created an online data sharing
system to track every person travelling
from Pakistan, the Government said
on August 10. Minister of State
for Home Affairs Jitendra Singh
said "As per information available,
1,283 Pakistani nationals remain
untraced and missing as on June
30, 2011". Times
of India,
August 11, 2011.
NEPAL
"I resigned for sake of peace,
statute, National unity Government",
says Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal:
Prime Minister (PM) Jhala Nath
Khanal on August 15 said that there
was no alternative to National unity
Government. PM Khanal stepped down
on August 14. ekantipur,
August 15-16, 2011.
PAKISTAN
55
militants and eight SFs among 70
persons killed during the week in
FATA: A soldier was killed when
a landmine planted by terrorists
exploded, while six terrorists were
killed in a retaliatory attack in
Orakzai Agency of Federally Administered
Tribal Areas (FATA) on August 14.
In addition, three paramilitary
soldiers were killed and 25 others
injured in a rocket attack on their
camp in Miranshah, the main town
of North Waziristan Agency (NWA).
Six
militants were killed and five others
injured during a search operation
conducted by Security Forces (SFs)
in Sholaam area of Sarokai tehsil
(revenue unit) in South Waziristan
Agency (SWA) on August 13.
Five
persons, including three women and
two children, were killed and one
minor was injured as a result of
a landmine explosion in the house
of peace lashkar (militia)
commander Shah Jee, in Zaka Khel
village in Tirah Valley of Khyber
Agency on August 11.
A
US drone strike killed at least
25 suspected Haqqani Network militants
near Miranshah in NWA on August
10. Also, nine persons, including
five militants, were killed in clashes
between local tribesmen and militants
in the Shawal area of SWA.
A
United States (US) drone fired two
missiles killing at least seven
militants of the Haqqani Network
and injuring three others near Miranshah
in NWA on August 10. Separately,
five Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan
(TTP) militants were killed and
two others received injuries in
a roadside explosion in Mamozai
area of Orakzai Agency.
Six
militants were killed and four others
injured when SFs targeted their
hideouts in upper tehsil
of Orakzai Agency on August 8.
Dawn; Daily
Times; The
News; Tribune,
August 9-16, 2011, 2011.
49
persons killed in Sindh during the
week: A total of 49 persons
were killed in Sindh. Seven persons
were killed in Karachi on August
8; another five on August 9; nine
on August 10; one on August 11;
five on August 12; eight persons
on August 13; six on August 14 and
eight on August 15.
Dawn; Daily
Times; The
News; Tribune,
August 9-16, 2011, 2011.
28
civilians and three SFs among 31
persons killed during the week in
Balochistan:
A blast at a hotel on the National
Highway close to Dera Allah Yar
town in Jaffarabad District of Balochistan
killed 15 persons and injured 23
others on August 14.
Four
people, including to two Bugti tribesmen,
were killed in a gun battle between
two groups in the Eastern Bypass
area of Quetta on August 8.
Dawn; Daily
Times; The
News; Tribune,
August 9-16, 2011, 2011.
168
children killed in drone attacks,
reveals Bureau of Investigative
Journalism: EAmerica's covert
drone war on al Qaeda and the Tehreek-e-Taliban
Pakistan (TTP) has killed up to
168 children in Pakistan over the
last seven years, an independent
study released on August 11 said.
The London-based Bureau of Investigative
Journalism said its research
showed there had been many more
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
attacks on alleged militant targets,
leading to far more deaths than
previously reported. It said 291
CIA drone strikes had taken place
in Pakistan since 2004, and that
under President Barack Obama there
had been 236 strikes - one in every
four days. Dawn,
August 12, 2011.
Over
3,000 terrorists arrested over the
past three years in Pakistan:
Pakistani Law Enforcement Agencies
arrested 3,143 terrorists over the
past three years, with a majority
of the arrests being made in the
restive northern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
province. A total of 4,240 weapons
were seized from the arrested terrorists,
including rocket launchers, missiles,
suicide jackets, bombs, grenades,
mines and anti-aircraft guns. Times
of India,
August 12, 2011.
Security
agencies struggle to dismantle Hizb-ut-Tahrir
network: Security Agencies are
trying to dismantle a 'multi-faceted'
communication network of Hizb ut-Tahrir
(HuT) but there has been little
headway so far, an unnamed senior
military official said on August
8 after some mid-ranked army officers
were detained for alleged links
with the organisation. The revelation
came three months after Brigadier
Ali Khan, a serving army officer,
and some other unnamed personnel
were detained for their alleged
links with the HuT, an organisation
that seeks to establish a caliphate
in Pakistan by overthrowing the
democratic Government. Tribune,
August 9, 2011.
Karachi
will be de-weaponised in phases,
says Federal Minister of Interior
Rehman Malik: Federal Minister
of Interior Rehman Malik on August
8 said that no arms licences, except
issued by National Database and
Registration Authority (NADRA),
would be valid after August 31 while
all the arms licences issued by
the Ministry of Interior would stand
cancelled with effect from September
1. He said that Karachi would be
de-weaponised in phases and extensive
measures would be taken for the
purpose. Daily
Times, August
9, 2011.
Pakistani
intelligence officer passed the
information of Osama bin Laden's
whereabouts to US, says report:
A Pakistani intelligence officer,
who wished to secure American citizenship
for his family, gave details of
Osama bin Laden's whereabouts to
the US, in a deal worth USD 25 million,
a Daily Mail report said.
The Pakistani officer also informed
the US officials that Saudis were
paying off Pakistan and ISI to keep
bin Laden hidden in the Abbottabad
compound. Indian
Express,
August 4, 2011.
SRI LANKA
150
rehabilitated LTTE cadres to be
released on August 12: Sri Lankan
authorities are making arrangements
to release another batch of 150
rehabilitated Liberation Tigers
of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres on
August 12 in Vavuniya District upon
their completion of the rehabilitation
program. The former combatants were
given training vocational, language
and communication training to improve
their skills and their educational
knowledge. Colombo
Page, August
10, 2011.
All
Ceylon Makkal Congress calls for
devolution of Police and land powers:
An ally of the ruling United People's
Freedom Alliance (UPFA), the All
Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC), called
for the devolution of land and Police
powers to the provinces. ACMC General
Secretary Y.L.S. Hameed said that
the Muslim community was concerned
over the Central Government handling
all these subjects and the party
was supportive of a joint commission
to handle land and Police powers.
Colombo
Page, August
9, 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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