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SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 11, No. 7, August 20, 2012
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
|
Forces
in Terror
Tushar Ranjan Mohanty
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
The Minhas
Air Force Base at Kamra in the Attock District of the
Punjab Province, Pakistan, believed to be one of the centres
where Pakistan has stockpiled its nuclear arsenal, was
attacked by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)
militants in the early morning of August 16, 2012. Nine
attackers dressed in military uniforms and armed with
rocket propelled-grenades and suicide vests targeted the
base and the adjacent Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC).
The attack commenced at about 0210 hrs, and the Air Base
was declared clear only after almost eight hours. Two
Pakistan Air Force (PAF) personnel were killed and one
Saab 2000 surveillance aircraft was damaged during the
clash.
TTP ‘spokesperson’
Ehsanullah Ehsan, meanwhile, claimed that four suicide
bombers had carried out the attack to take revenge for
the killings of the former chief of TTP, Baitullah Mehsud,
and al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden. The attackers, Ehsan
declared, had succeeded in achieving their targets and
had delivered a “lethal blow”. Claiming that dozens of
security personnel had been killed in the attack, Ehsan
stated, further, that the TTP could ‘attack at will’ and
would also target other locations.
These are,
evidently, not empty threats. The Federal Ministry of
Interior, citing intelligence reports, stated, on August
17, 2012, that the terrorists had chalked out a plan to
hit Islamabad and Lahore simultaneously, allegedly with
the collaboration of the Afghan National Directorate of
Security (NDS). “Attacks, using explosive laden trucks,
will be launched in Islamabad and Lahore at the same time,”
sources claimed, adding that the key leader of a terrorist
outfit, Yaseen, was the mastermind of the proposed vehicle-borne
improvised explosive device attacks. The attacks were
planned against a top hotel and a sensitive building in
the Red Zone of Islamabad, and an airbase and airport
in Lahore.
This is
the fourth attack targeting the Minhas Air Force Base
since December 2007. On December 10, 2007, a suicide bomber
exploded his car targeting a PAC bus carrying PAF employees’
children at the outskirts of the PAC factories on the
Qutba-Attock Road. Eight persons, including five schoolchildren,
were injured. On January 18, 2008, militants fired four
rockets at short intervals. One landed on the roof of
senior Non Commissioned Officer's (NCO) Mess, and two
inside the Mirage Rebuild Factory in the PAC. No casualties
were reported. On October 23, 2009, eight persons were
killed and 17 sustained injuries when a suicide bomber
blew up a Police check-post on GT Road near the PAC, when
Security Force (SF) personnel intercepted him at the check-post.
The latest
assault refreshes the wounds inflicted in the terrorist
attacks on Pakistan Naval Station (PNS) Mehran within
the Faisal Naval Airbase in Karachi, the provincial capital
of Sindh, on May 22, 2011. Ten SF personnel and four TTP
militants were killed, and nine SF personnel were injured
in the attack. Claiming responsibility, TTP spokesman
Ehsanullah Ehsan had stated, "We had already warned
after Osama's martyrdom that we will carry out even bigger
attacks."
The first
retaliatory attack on a security establishment after the
death of Osama bin Laden on May 2, 2011, came just after
10 days, when two suicide bombers hit Frontier Constabulary
(FC) trainees on May 13, 2011, in the Shabqadar tehsil
(revenue unit) of Charsadda District, 19 miles from Peshawar,
the capital city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Province,
killing 73 FC personnel and 17 civilians, and injuring
another 140. At this stage, TTP spokesman Ehsan had declared,
“Pakistan will be the prime target followed by United
States (US). The US had been on a man-hunt for Osama and
now Pakistani rulers are on our hit-list as we also killed
Benazir Bhutto in a suicide attack."
The reopening
of the of the NATO supply routes on July 5, 2012, further
instigated the TTP’s resolve to attack the SFs. On July
3, 2012, Islamabad had accepted the US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton’s ‘long pending’ apology for the November
26, 2011, Salala Checkpost incident, in which 24 Pakistani
troopers were killed, and which led to the closure of
the supply routes.
A few days
later, TTP militants killed eight SF personnel at an Army
camp near Wazirabad town in the Gujranwala District of
Punjab, on July 9, 2012, hours after a protest march by
the Difa-e-Pakistan (Defense of Pakistan) Council (DPC)
led by the founder of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and the Chief
of Jama’at-ud-Dawa (JuD) Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, passed
through the area. A group, Idara Pasban-e-Sharia’h
(Centre of the Guardians of the Sharia’h), a TTP offshoot,
on July 10, 2012, criticised the political and military
leadership for striking a deal with the US, saying the
leadership had betrayed the nation by resuming supplies
to NATO forces in Afghanistan. The cadres of the group
distributed pamphlets in Miranshah bazaar in North Wazistan
Agency (NWA) of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
Other major
attacks particularly targeting SFs since bin Laden’s killing
include:
July 16,
2012: Army and Police commandos foiled an attack by burqa-clad
TTP militants who planned to take over a Police Station
in Bannu city, KP. Four Taliban fighters were killed and
another captured following a heavy exchange of fire. Two
militants wearing suicide vests blew themselves up, while
another two were shot dead.
July 12,
2012: Militants shot dead nine trainee jail staff and
wounded three after storming a building in the Ichra complex
in Lahore, where they were sleeping. TTP claimed responsibility
for the attack.
May 4,
2012: A suicide attack targeting SFs killed at least 29
persons, including four Policemen, and injured another
73 at Khar Bazaar in Khar town, Bajaur Agency, FATA. The
target of the attack was the Levies Force. TTP claimed
responsibility for the attack.
January
5, 2012: TTP militants killed 15 FC personnel in Mir Ali
area of NWA in FATA to avenge, in the words of a TTP spokesman,
the death of one of their 'commanders' at the hands of
SFs, in another tribal area.
September
19, 2011: At least eight people were killed and 30 injured
in a suicide car bomb attack targeting Senior Superintendent
of Police [SSP, Crime Investigation Department (CID)]
Chaudhry Aslam in the Darakhshan area of Karachi. TTP
claimed responsibility for the attack on Aslam’s residence,
saying Aslam had arrested and killed many of its fighters.
September
7, 2011: At least 26 people were killed and over 60 were
injured in two suicide attacks targeting the residence
of the Deputy Inspector General of FC, Brigadier Farrukh
Shehzad, in Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan.
The TTP claimed responsibility for the twin attacks.
June 25,
2011: Ten Policemen were killed and another five sustained
injuries when two suicide bombers, one of them burqa-clad,
blew themselves up inside a Police Station in Kolachi
Town of Dera Ismail Khan District, KP. TTP claimed responsibility
for the attack.
May 25,
2011: Nine persons were killed and over 39 were injured
when militants drove a car packed with explosives into
a CID Police Station at University Road in Peshawar. The
TTP claimed responsibility for the attack.
While bin
Laden’s killing and the reopening of NATO supply routes
have had an escalatory impact on TTP attacks, the group
has, in fact, relentlessly targeted Pakistani SFs from
the moment of its formation in the wake of the Army’s
Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) Operation in 2007. It was from
this point on that suicide bombings targeting the SFs
increased dramatically. According to data compiled by
the Institute for Conflict Management, militants
have carried out a total of 22 major attacks against SFs
since 2007.
Crucially,
several of these attacks have been successfully executed
despite the availability of definite intelligence well
in advance. In the latest case, the attack at the Kamran
Base, intelligence reports received by the Home Department
on August 9, 2012, noted that the TTP was planning attacks
on the PFA base and other military and security establishments
in Lahore before Eid. The intelligence reports, which
have been forwarded to the Inspector General of Punjab
Police and other officials concerned, stated that at least
two TTP teams had been deployed for these attacks, in
revenge for the killing of Ghaffar Qaisarani alias
Saifullah, a TTP leader, in a shootout with the Police
at Dera Ghazi Khan District in Punjab on August 1, 2012.
According to another report, members of the Qari Yasin
Group, initially a part of the Harkat-ul -Mujahideen (HuM),
which started in Punjab and was later based in Miranshah,
were planning to attack the PAF base and installations
near the PAF Market on August 21 or 22. Another intelligence
report dating back to August 1, 2012, also indicated that
TTP Chief Hakimullah Mehsud had decided to increase terrorist
attacks in Punjab, with emphasis on inflicting maximum
damage, especially in Lahore. In a covert meeting held
at Asad Khel village in NWA, Mehsud allocated PKR 25 million
to carry out attacks on the PAF base in Lahore, and the
Inter-Services Intelligence, Military Intelligence, Intelligence
Bureau and the Counter Terrorism Department offices in
the province. The meeting was attended by prominent Taliban
‘commanders’, including the Qari Yasin aka Qari
Aslam group, a group mentioned as a high-profile terrorist
outfit. Another intelligence report exposed TTP plans
for attacks similar to the one on the PNS Mehran Base.
The attackers had allegedly already carried out reconnaissance
of the PAF base, with some local employees collaborating
with the terrorists, while weapons and ammunition were
to be provided by concealing them using cargo companies.
Indeed,
Federal Minister of the Interior Rehman Malik claimed,
on August 17, 2012, that because of advance warnings about
a possible attack on PAF installations, the terrorists’
attempt to harm assets at Kamra was foiled and all the
attackers were killed. Malik disclosed that four of the
assailants had been identified. They had received training
in Waziristan and the raid, he said, could be traced back
to North and South Waziristan Agencies.
Nevertheless,
Corps Commander Lieutenant General Khalid Rabbani, on
August 16, 2012, dismissed as ‘speculative’ reports of
an impending military operation in the militants-infested
NWA and insisted that no decision had been taken so far.
Islamabad
is evidently fighting a losing battle with self-inflicted
terrorism, and, as its core security assets are targeted
with increasing frequency, the capacity to contain this
threat appears to be diminishing, aggravating international
concerns regarding the security of the country’s nuclear
arsenal, and the capacity of Army to maintain the tenuous
stability that still survives in the country.
|
Gilgit
Baltistan: Sectarian Offensive
Ajit Kumar Singh
Research Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management
On August
16, 2012, in a targeted attack, 25 Shias from Gilgit-Baltistan
(GB) were killed at the Babusar Top, which connects GB
to the rest of the country, in the Naran Valley of Mansehra
District of the neighboring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Province.
According to reports, around 50 assailants wearing Army
uniform stopped three buses heading from Islamabad to
Astore District in GB and a van heading for Gilgit. Some
reports, however, suggested that the vehicles were travelling
from Rawalpindi to Astor. The assailants forced people
off the bus, identified Shias from their documents, and
shot them dead at point blank range. Khalid Omarzai, the
local administration chief in Mansehra stated, "After
checking [their] papers, [the attackers] opened fire."
After the killing, the assailants allowed Sunni passengers
to continue on their journey towards Astore and Gilgit.
The spokesman
of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan’s (TTP)
Darra Adamkhel District (KP) and Khyber Agency [Federally
Administered Tribal Areas (FATA)] unit, Muhammad Afridi,
who was in the past reportedly associated with the anti-Shia
militant outfit Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP),
subsequently stated that the killings were in retaliation
for ‘excesses’ committed by Shias against Sunnis in GB.
He warned that more such attacks would be carried out
in other parts of the country.
At the
time or writing, retaliatory violence had engulfed GB.
On August 16 itself, the day of the incident, angry mobs
burnt tyres and blocked roads in some parts of Gilgit
city, as extra Police patrolled deserted streets and closed
markets. Two truck drivers were killed in the Nagar Valley
of Hunza-Nagar District in GB on August 18, 2012. One
of the victims was identified as Muhammad Ishaque from
Mohmand Agency of FATA. In Skardu District, armed men
ambushed one Maulana Bashir, injuring him seriously. In
the third incident of the day, a Gilgit District official
was shot at and injured by unidentified men in Gilgit.
Meanwhile, a partial strike was observed on August 18
in Skardu, Gilgit and other Districts of GB, as business
centers, offices and educational institutions remained
closed and people avoided going outside their homes due
to tension in some areas. Astore Deputy Commissioner
Momin Jan, on August 18, 2012, expressed some relief on
the day of the burial of the victims of the Babusar Top
massacre, noting, “We are thankful to God there was no
untoward incident anywhere during the burial in the district.”
Meanwhile,
hundreds of passengers, including women and children,
who were to visit their families in GB to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr,
which marks the culmination of the fasting month of
Ramzan of the Islamic calendar, have been
stranded in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi,
as public and private transport for the region was suspended.
The Babusar
Top massacre took place despite availability of intelligence
with the Federal Ministry of Interior, which in turn was
passed to the Home Department of the GB, that extremists
could target Shias returning home during Eid holidays.
On August 5, 2012, terrorists had exploded a passenger
van, coming from Islamabad, in Gilgit killing one person
and injuring five.
The August
16 attack is the third
attempt in the current year to push
the GB region into a deep sectarian divide.
Significantly,
in reaction to the reported attack on a rally of the banned
Sunni formation, Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ), a reincarnation
of the banned SSP, on April 3, 2012, in which seven ASWJ
cadres were killed, unidentified assailants had opened
fire on buses on the Karakoram Highway (KKH) near Gonar
Farm in Chilas, headquarter of Diamer District, on the
same day, killing 12 Shias. The ASWJ had called for a
strike in Gilgit, to press the Government to release its
‘deputy secretary general’, Maulana Ataullah Sadiq, who
was arrested on March 28, 2012, in connection with firing
on a Shia procession on March 4, 2012. This resulted in
complete chaos in GB. Curfew was imposed in Gilgit and
its adjoining areas on April 3, 2012, and the Army was
out on the streets to control the situation. All transport,
including flights, into GB, was suspended, in a region
that depends overwhelmingly on supplies from outside.
The curfew was finally lifted in the night of April 28,
2012.
Significantly,
four under-trial prisoners, who were allegedly involved
in the attack on the the bus in Chilas on April 3, 2012,
escaped from a jail in Astore District late in the night
of August 6, 2012.
Earlier,
on February 28, 2012, gunmen in military uniforms had
dragged 18 Shias, travelling home to GB from their jobs
and businesses in Islamabad, out of buses and shot them
dead in the in the Harban area of Kohistan District, KP.
Farooq Ahmed, editor of the Mountain Times, a weekly
newspaper published in Gilgit, noted, “Both attacks [August
16 and February 28, 2012] are identical in method, so
it’s clear that they were carried out by the same militant
groups, if not the same people.” The convoy of the vehicles,
attacked on August 16, 2012, was plying on the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad
road. The transporters had diverted their passenger vehicles
from the KKH to the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad road following
the February 28, 2012, attack as they felt this route
was safer.
Despite
the severity of the February 28, 2012, attack, GB remained
more or less calm, except for the killing of a man, identified
as Naveed, in a clash with Law Enforcement Agencies in
Gilgit District on February 29, 2012. Even the incidents
of April 2012, which had the potential to engulf the whole
region in a deep rooted sectarian confrontation, failed
to create violent polarization. The people of GB, who
have traditionally lived in harmony, have largely been
successful in thwarting the designs of outside elements
seeking sectarian polarization, actively initiating corrective
measures after each major incident. On August 8, 2012,
for instance, four religious parties decided to form a
joint conciliatory body, Milli Yekjehti Council (MYC),
in GB to marginalize sectarian influences and to maintain
peace in the region. An MYC statement noted, "It
is not the Ulama (Religious Clergy) who stimulate sectarian
hatred. It is those selfish elements who, for their own
heinous interests, divide people on sectarian lines.”
They also decided that the MYC ‘cabinet’ would be set
up on September 5, 2012.
On the
other hand, the Government of GB, in continuing attempts
to deepen the sectarian divide, suspended 60 Shia Government
officials [48 on July 25, 2012 and another 12 on August
2, 2012]. Allama Aijaz Behishti, chief of the Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslimeen
Youth Affairs, pointed out that the Government was trying
to intimidate Shia officials. Further, in its attempt
to silence dissent, Ghulam Shehzad Agha, ‘general secretary’
of the Gilgit Baltistan United Movement (GBUM) was arrested
in Skardu on August 13, 2012. GBUM Chairperson, Manzoor
Parwana, disclosed that Agha had been arrested since he
was emerging as a unity candidate of the opposition parties
for the next general election.
Despite
the manifest perversity of their actions, authorities
in GB claimed to have taken several administrative measures
to improve the law and order situation in the region.
On April 23, 2012, the GB Cabinet approved the setting
up a 410-strong new Force to ‘eliminate’ sectarian violence
in the region. The Force started patrolling the KKH from
May 1, 2012. On May 12, 2012, the Federal Ministry of
Interior banned two organizations, Anjuman Imamia GB and
Muslim Students Organization GB. The Ministry explained
that these organizations were allegedly involved in sectarian
killings and riots in Gilgit city, over the preceding
months. With these bans, the totl number of proscribed
organizations in GB reached 29.
On June
6, 2012, GB Chief Minister Mehdi Shah reportedly handed
over 2,000 weapons and 200,000 rounds to the Police Force,
and declared that efforts were also underway to build
the capacity of intelligence agencies. GB presently has
a total of 5,500 police personnel deputed, including support
staff, such as drivers and cooks. This yields just 7.37
Policemen per 100 square kilometers in such a volatile
region. There are, moreover, urgent concerns about the
impartiality of the Police Force on sectarian ground.
Thus, the Balawaristan National Movement chairman Abdul
Hamid Khan, on August 16, 2012, called for the deployment
of impartial law enforcers.
Meanwhile,
Islamabad, expectedly, has failed to take any significant
action against the perpetrators of successive massacres.
The sectarian divide has long been an instrument of political
and administrative management of this restive region,
and attempts
to deepen sectarian polarization date back at least to
May 1988, under the regime of military dictator General
Zia-ul-Haq. Washington based Gilgit Baltistan National
Congress (GBNC) explained Islamabad’s strategy and intent
in a statement dated August 17, 2012:
The
region [GB] connects Pakistan with China and Central
Asia and intelligence agencies see Shia majority
as a threat to their control over this strategic
corridor. Shia killings will continue until the
strategic region of Gilgit Baltistan has a Shia
majority population. Similar attacks by pro-Pakistan
militants on Shia majority populations in the strategic
valley of Parachinar [in FATA] have forced tens
of thousands of Shias to abandon their homes, thereby
converting Parachinar into a Sunni region. Parachinar
provides direct access to Pakistani troops to Ghazni,
Gardez and Central Afghanistan. It is feared that
similar strategies are being implemented in Quetta
[Balochistan], which neighbors Kandahar and Helmand
Provinces of Afghanistan, and where Hazaras make
up almost one-third of capital's population.
|
Balochistan
has witnessed at least 71 incidents of sectarian attacks
in which 304 persons have been killed since 2009, according
to the South Asia Terrorism Portal database (all
data till August 19, 2012). 93 persons have already been
killed in 34 such incidents in 2012, the most recent of
which was the killing of three Shias on August 16, 2012.
Pakistan has recorded at least 2,642 sectarian attacks,
inflicting 3,963 fatalities since 1989.
The sectarian
thrust in GB, as in other parts of the country, remains
powerfully backed by the establishment, particularly including
the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), in Islamabad, even
as demographic engineering to diminish or remove Shia
majorities in various regions remains a principal objective
of successive regimes in the country. The people of GB
have managed to maintain – or in cases of occasional breakdown,
quickly restore – sectarian harmony within local populations.
But as the demographic balance shifts, and more and more
outsiders are settled in the region, the delicate equilibrium
will inevitably be disturbed under sustained assault by
Sunni extremist groupings, backed by powerful state institutions.
|
Weekly Fatalities: Major
Conflicts in South Asia
August 13-19,
2012
|
Civilians
|
Security
Force Personnel
|
Terrorists/Insurgents
|
Total
|
INDIA
|
|
Assam
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Manipur
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
Meghalaya
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
Jammu and
Kashmir
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
Left-wing
Extremism
|
|
Chhattisgarh
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Odisha
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
Total (INDIA)
|
3
|
1
|
5
|
9
|
PAKISTAN
|
|
Balochistan
|
11
|
7
|
1
|
19
|
FATA
|
6
|
6
|
53
|
65
|
Gilgit-Baltistan
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
|
32
|
0
|
0
|
32
|
Punjab
|
0
|
2
|
9
|
11
|
Sindh
|
31
|
1
|
0
|
32
|
Total (PAKISTAN)
|
82
|
16
|
63
|
161
|
Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
|
INDIA
LeT
training
para
gliders
for
aerial
attacks
on
Indian
cities,
reveals
Abu
Jundal:
One
of
the
prime
handlers
of
the
November
26,
2008
(26/11)
Mumbai
attacks
and
arrested
Lashkar-e-Toiba
(LeT)
operative
Abu
Jundal
has
told
Mumbai
Police
that
terror
group
LeT
is
planning
to
carry
out
aerial
attacks
on
Indian
cities
and
has
trained
150
Para
gliders
for
this.
He
also
said
that
he
got
to
know
of
the
LeT's
plans
when
he
visited
what
he
calls
the
"Jumbo
Jet
Room"
in
2010.
According
to
him,
the
"Jumbo
Jet
Room"
is
actually
a
huge
bungalow
in
eastern
Karachi
(Pakistan)
where
top
Lashkar
commanders
plan
aerial
and
sea
route
attacks
on
India.
These
attacks,
claims
Jundal,
are
supervised
by
a
man
called
Yakub
who
is
also
in
charge
of
LeT's
accounts.
NDTV,
August
14,
2012.
Pakistan-based
terror
groups
use
FICN
for
financing
their
activities
in
India,
says
Defence
Minister
AK
Antony:
In
a
written
reply
to
the
Lok
Sabha
(Lower
House
of
Parliament),
Defence
Minister
AK
Antony
on
August
13
said
that
Fake
Indian
Currency
Notes
(FICNs)
are
being
used
by
Pakistan-based
terror
groups
for
financing
their
activities
in
India.
"As
per
available
information,
militants
active
in
India
are
also
funded
by
their
outfits
based
abroad,
particularly
in
Pakistan,
often
routed
through
third
countries.
For
the
past
several
years
FICN
has
been
a
well-known
source
for
terror
financing
in
India,"
Antony
said.
Daily
Excelsior,
August
14,
2012.
Intelligence
warning
on
Maoist
plans
in
Punjab,
Assam
and
Manipur:
Amid
concerns
over
growing
presence
of
Communist
party
of
India-Maoist
(CPI-Maoist)
in
Punjab,
Assam
and
Manipur,
the
intelligence
agencies
have
asked
the
forces
involved
in
anti-Maoist
operations
to
keep
a
tab
on
the
movement
of
cadres
from
the
Maoist-dominated
areas
to
these
States.
The
Central
Reserve
Police
Force
(CRPF)
has
been
asked
to
collect
any
information
about
the
Maoists'
strategy
to
expand
their
base
in
the
three
states.
"The
intelligence
agencies
have
informed
us
about
at
least
four
meetings
held
by
Maoists
in
the
past
three
months
in
Punjab
alone.
These
meetings
were
held
under
the
garb
of
addressing
the
issues
of
farmers
and
migrant
labourers
from
Bihar,
Jharkhand
and
West
Bengal,"
said
an
unnamed
senior
official.
Indian
Express,
August
17,
2012.
Naxalism
is
still
a
serious
problem,
says
Prime
Minister
Manmohan
Singh:
Asserting
that
Naxalism
[Left
Wing
Extremism]
is
still
a
serious
problem,
Prime
Minister
Manmohan
Singh
on
August
15
said
the
United
Progressive
Alliance
(UPA)
Government
has
initiated
new
schemes
of
development
in
areas
affected
by
Naxal
violence
to
ensure
that
the
grievances
of
the
people
are
addressed.
He
said:
"We
have
initiated
new
schemes
of
development
in
areas
affected
by
Naxal
violence
to
ensure
that
the
grievances
of
the
people
residing
there,
especially
our
brothers
and
sisters
belonging
to
Scheduled
Tribes,
can
be
removed
and
their
lot
can
be
improved."
Zee
News,
August
17,
2012.
Maoists
creating
hurdles
in
developmental
projects
in
Gadchiroli,
says
Maharashtra
Home
Minister
RR
Patil:
Maharashtra
Home
Minister
RR
Patil
on
August
14
said
that
there
was
no
dearth
of
funds
for
development
projects
in
Gadchiroli
District
but
the
Communist
Party
of
India-Maoist
(CPI-Maoist)
were
putting
up
hurdles.
"There
is
no
dearth
of
funds
for
developmental
projects
in
the
district.
The
state
government
has
provided
ample
funds
to
all
the
departments.
Funds
are
not
the
problem
but
the
Naxalites
create
hurdles
in
carrying
the
developmental
works,"
the
Minister
said.
Zee
News,
August
16,
2012.
GNLA
continues
to
be
a
cause
of
concern,
says
Meghalaya
Chief
Minister
Mukul
Sangma:
Meghalaya
Chief
Minister
Mukul
Sangma
on
August
15
said
that
the
activities
of
Garo
National
Liberation
Army
(GNLA)
militants
continue
to
be
a
cause
of
serious
concern
in
the
State.
Even
after
the
arrest
of
GNLA
'chairman'
Champion
Sangma,
there
has
been
no
slowdown
of
their
criminal
activities.
Telegraph,
August
17,
2012.
Maoists
killed
5,665
civilians
and
2036
SF
personnel
since
2001,
says
MHA:
The
Communist
Party
of
India-Maoist
(CPI-Maoist)
has
killed
5,665
civilians
and
2036
Security
Force
(SF)
personnel
since
2001,
Union
Minister
of
State
for
Home
Affairs
Jitendra
Singh
told
the
Lok
Sabha
(Lower
House
of
Parliament)
on
August
14.
"During
the
last
three
years,
Left
Wing
Extremists
(LWE)
outfits
have
abducted
1,594
persons.
Some
of
these
abductions
are
for
ransom,"
he
said.
The
civilians
killed
by
the
Maoists
are
usually
branded
as
'police
informers',
'class
enemies'
etc.
Zee
News,
August
15,
2012.
Issue
of
illegal
and
forcible
occupation
of
areas
in
J&K
by
Pakistan
remains
to
be
resolved,
says
Defence
Minister
A
K
Antony:
Defence
Minister
A
K
Antony
told
the
Lok
Sabha
(Lower
House
of
Parliament)
on
August
13
that
the
issue
of
illegal
and
forcible
occupation
of
areas
in
Jammu
and
Kashmir
by
Pakistan
remains
to
be
resolved.
"A
part
of
the
territory
of
the
State
(J&K)
is
under
illegal
and
forcible
occupation
of
Pakistan.
The
issue
that
remains
to
be
resolved
in
J&K
is
the
vacation
by
Pakistan
of
the
area
under
its
illegal
occupation,"
Antony
said.
Daily
Excelsior,
August
14,
2012.
NEPAL
President
Ram
Baran
Yadav
turns
down
two
election-related
ordinances:
President
Ram
Baran
Yadav
on
August
17
turned
down
two
election-related
ordinances,
presented
to
him
by
the
Government
on
July
27.
The
ordinances
were
related
to
the
amendment
to
the
Election
Act
and
the
Election
to
the
Constituent
Assembly
(CA).
According
to
the
President
Office,
President
did
not
see
any
relevance
of
introducing
the
ordinance
at
the
moment
in
view
of
the
Election
Commission's
official
notice
to
the
Government
that
the
conducting
the
election
on
November
22
would
not
be
possible
due
to
lack
of
political
consensus
and
necessary
laws.
Nepal
News,
August
18,
2012.
21-party
'federal
alliance'
unveiled
formally:
Unified
Communist
party
of
Nepal-Maoist
(UCPN-Maoist)-led
Federal
Democratic
Alliance
(FDRA)
of
21
political
parties
was
formally
announced
on
August
15.
UCPN-M
'chairman'
Pushpa
Kamal
Dahal
aka
Prachanda
heads
the
alliance.
The
FDRA
consists
of
all
the
allies
in
the
ruling
coalition,
including
the
Madheshi
Front
and
some
fringe
political
parties.
Prem
Bahadur
Singh,
a
former
minister
and
the
chairman
of
Loktantrik
Samajbadi
Dal,
has
been
appointed
its
spokesperson.
Nepal
News,
August
16,
2012.
PAKISTAN
53
militants
and
six
civilians
among
65
persons
killed
during
the
week
in
FATA:Thirteen
persons
were
killed
and
nine
others
injured
in
two
US
drone
attacks
on
Mana
village
in
the
Shawal
tehsil
(revenue
unit)
of
North
Waziristan
Agency
(NWA)
in
Federally
Administered
Tribal
Areas
(FATA)
on
August
19.
At
least
six
militants
were
killed
and
five
others
injured
in
jet
planes
shelling
by
Security
Forces
(SFs)
on
suspected
militant
hideouts
in
Tirah
Valley
of
Khyber
Agency.
In
addition,
at
least
six
militants
were
killed
in
a
drone
attacks
in
Shuwedar
village
in
NWA
on
August
18.
Also,
at
least
eight
terrorists
were
killed
and
four
others
injured
in
clashes
with
SFs
in
Mamuzai
area
of
Orakzai
Agency.
Four
bodies,
including
that
of
a
father
and
son,
were
found
in
Yakh
Ghund
area
of
Mohmand
Agency
on
August
17.
Around
20
militants
and
five
soldiers
were
killed
in
a
clash
in
Ghaljo
area
of
Orakzai
Agency
on
August
14.
Daily
Times;
Dawn;
The
News;
Tribune;
Central
Asia
Online;
The
Nation;
The
Frontier
Post;
Pakistan
Today;
Pakistan
Observer,
August
14-20,
2012.
31
civilians
and
one
SF
among
32
persons
killed
during
the
week
in
Sindh:
A
fresh
wave
of
sectarian
and
ethnic
killings
claimed
15
more
lives
in
Karachi,
the
provincial
capital
of
Sindh,
on
August
18.
Eleven
persons
killed
in
separate
incidents
of
target
killing
in
Karachi
on
August
17.
Five
people,
including
three
activists
of
the
Awami
National
Party
(ANP),
were
killed,
while
another
activist
sustained
severe
injuries
in
an
attack
in
the
Frontier
Colony
No-1
of
the
Peerabad
Police
jurisdiction
in
Karachi
on
August
13.
Daily
Times;
Dawn;
The
News;
Tribune;
Central
Asia
Online;
The
Nation;
The
Frontier
Post;
Pakistan
Today;
Pakistan
Observer,
August
14-20,
2012.
32
civilians
killed
during
the
week
in
Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa:
Militants
forced
passengers
to
step
out
of
three
buses
in
the
Lulusar
area
of
Manshera
District
in
Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa
(KP)
and
shot
dead
25
of
them
in
an
apparent
sectarian
attack
on
August
16.
Six
dead
bodies
dumped
in
gunnysacks
were
recovered
from
three
separate
places
in
Peshawar,
the
provincial
capital
of
KP,
on
August
15.
Daily
Times;
Dawn;
The
News;
Tribune;
Central
Asia
Online;
The
Nation;
The
Frontier
Post;
Pakistan
Today;
Pakistan
Observer,
August
14-20,
2012.
No
joint
operation
in
NWA,
says
Army
chief
General
Ashfaq
Parvaiz
Kayani:
The
Chief
of
Army
Staff
(COAS)
General
Ashfaq
Parvaiz
Kayani
on
August
17
ruled
out
any
joint
Pakistan-US
operation
against
militants
in
North
Waziristan
Agency
(NWA),
saying
such
an
operation
would
be
unacceptable
to
the
people
and
armed
forces
of
Pakistan.
The
Army
Chief
categorically
dispelled
the
speculative
reporting
in
the
US
media
regarding
an
understanding
given
to
ISAF
Commander
General
John
Allen
about
Pakistan
Army's
readiness
to
launch
joint
operations
in
NWA.
Daily
Times,
August
18,
2012.
SRI
LANKA
Eelam
project
still
alive,
says
President
Mahinda
Rajapaksa:President
Mahinda
Rajapaksa
on
August
15
said
that
the
Eelam
project
is
still
alive.
"The
aim
of
the
Eelamists
is
to
break
the
unity
and
trust
among
us
and
reduce
the
feeling
for
the
country
and
make
us
criticise
the
motherland",
the
President
said,
adding,
no
one
should
be
allowed
to
tarnish
the
unblemished
image
of
the
country
while
in
Sri
Lanka
or
abroad,
by
the
patriotic
people
of
this
country.
President
Rajapaksa
said
although
Eelam
is
welcome
elsewhere
they
don't
want
this
to
happen
in
their
own
country.
Daily
News,
August
16,
2012.
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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