| |
SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 12, No. 28, January 13, 2014
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
|
Surge
of Optimism
Ajit Kumar Singh
Research Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management
In a remarkable
achievement after decades of turmoil, the Himalayan Nation
remained completely free of insurgency-related violence
through 2013. Militant violence has registered a constant
decline
since the signing of the Comprehensive
Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2006, but
it is for the first time since March 2000, when the
South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) database commenced
compiling data on insurgency-related fatalities in Nepal,
that the country did not record a single insurgency-related
incident during the course of a year. According to partial
data compiled by the SATP, the country witnessed 11 fatalities
(10 civilians and one Jantantrik Terai Mukti Morcha cadre)
in six such incidents in 2012. At its peak in 2002, the
insurgency saw 4,896 persons, including 3,992 Maoists,
666 Security Force personnel and 238 civilians, killed
in a single year.
In a worrying
development, however, political violence did increase
considerably during 2013. Activists of political parties
clashed with each other on at least 22 occasions resulting
in four deaths and 167 injuries. There were four such
incidents resulting in seven injuries and no fatalities
in 2012. Further, activists of political parties clashed
with law enforcement personnel on at least four occasions
in 2013, with 14 persons injured.
Moreover,
till the fag-end of 2013, the political environment remained
extremely volatile, with a looming threat of violent escalation.
Indeed, the clouds of political uncertainty that had enveloped
Nepal in 2012, after the dramatic
gains of 2011, had deepened, exasperating
the political class. Political developments thereafter
have, however, made freedom from insurgency-related violence
sustainable, even as they have resulted in a diminution
in political violence itself.
The successful
holding of elections for the second Constituent Assembly
(CA) on November 19, 2013, was the critical development
that transformed the political environment of the country,
despite repeated delays, hiccups and rising bitterness
in some political formations during the run-up to the
elections. Eventually, a voter turnout of 78.34 per cent
conferred tremendous legitimacy on the process, and this
could not be undermined by the angry reactions of the
Unified Communist Party of Nepal - Maoist (UCPN-M)
who were smarting under the brutal electoral rebuff they
received. Under the first-past-the-post (FPTP) electoral
system, the Nepali Congress (NC) won largest number of
seats, 105; followed by the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified
Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML), 91; with the UCPN-M getting
just 26. The NC got an additional 91 seats under the proportional
representation (PR) system; the CPN-UML got 84 PR seats
and the UCPN-M, 54. The NC consequently emerged as the
largest party in the 601-member CA, with 196 seats; followed
by CPN-UML at 175 seats; and UCPN-M with 80 seats. The
often strident and disruptive Madhesi parties have, however,
been substantially marginalized, securing just 53 seats
(12 under FPTP system and 41 under PR system).
On January
3, 2014, the Election Commission submitted the list of
240 lawmakers elected under the FPTP electoral system
and 335 lawmakers under the PR system. The remaining 26
members of the 601-member CA will be nominated by the
Cabinet, once formed. The submission was delayed because
of the UCPN-M’s earlier decision not to submit names for
its PR seats. The party had alleged that the elections
were not fairly conducted and had challenged the veracity
of the results.
Significantly,
in the last CA elections held in 2008, the CPN-Maoist
(the parent party of the present UCPN-M) had emerged as
the largest party in the CA, securing 229 seats (120 FPTP,
100 PR and nine nominated); followed by NC, with 115 seats
(37 FPTP, 73 PR and five nominated); and CPN-UML, with
108 seats (33 FPTP, 70 PR and five nominated).
Clearly,
the UCPN-M faced a rout in the recent elections. Party
Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda's personal
loss
from Kathmandu Constituency No. 10, would have been unimaginable
a few months earlier, despite the considerable weakening
of the party following the vertical
split in June 2012. Clearly, as of
now, the party has lost its pole position in Nepali politics.
The Maoists had emerged as the main political force in
Nepal after the signing of the CPA in 2006 and the subsequent
2008 polls for the first CA.
Eventually
accepting the current ground realities, the Maoists, who
had boycotted the counting of votes, later retracted from
their defiant position and confirmed that they would cooperate
with the new Government in framing of the new Constitution.
This is a major development, since UCPN-M, in the past,
had created many unwarranted obstacles in the writing
of the Constitution and had repeatedly threatened to go
back to the ‘path of revolution’. With diminishing influence
and its own willing participation in the electoral process,
it cannot credibly threaten the prevailing peace. In a
more recent setback, differences have emerged between
Prachanda and senior party leader and former Prime Minister
Baburam Bhattarai, in the aftermath of the electoral debacle.
The differences widened further over the selection of
candidates by the party leadership under the PR system.
As of now, however, Bhattarai has declared that he has
no intention of splitting the party, though he has warned
of 'serious consequences' if Prachanda continues with
his "undemocratic working style".
Crucially,
the failure of the Mohan Baidya-led faction of the CPN-Maoist
to obstruct the elections, or even to significantly impact
on the process, despite constant threats and full-throttle
opposition, demonstrated that this group is also a spent
force, with little current capacity to adversely influence
the relative stability that prevails in the country.
These developments
have thus created ample opportunity for the two main parties
– NC and CPN-UML - to complete the process of drafting
the Constitution to place Nepal squarely on the path of
establishing a strong democratic system. There are, of
course, some contentious
issues that will need to be thrashed
out, including, inter alia, the question of the
form of governance and federalism. Given the appreciable
political maturity these two parties have demonstrated
over the past few years, it is expected that these issues
may be solved sooner rather than later.
Initial
hurdles, however, remain. The first and foremost is the
confrontation between President Ram Baran Yadav and the
Chairman of the Interim Election Government, Khilraj Regmi,
about who will call the first meeting of the second CA.
Though the President is reported to have now agreed to
allow Regmi to call the meeting, the final word on the
issue is yet to be spoken. According to Article 69 of
the Interim Constitution, the first meeting of the elected
CA should be convened within 21 days of submission of
the final list of CA members to the President. It is,
of course, anticipated that this confrontation will play
itself out within a few days, and the meeting will be
called.
Nevertheless,
with no party securing a clear majority, the fractured
mandate in the CA elections is expectedly creating challenges
in Government formation. While the CPN-UML wants the issue
of power sharing - including a division of the top posts
of President, Vice President, Prime Minister, Speaker
and Chairman of the Constitutional Committee among the
major political parties – to be decided first, the NC
is giving little importance to this issue. On January
8, 2014, NC President Sushil Koirala, when asked to comment
on CPN-UML's call for a concrete proposal on power sharing,
responded, “What is a concrete proposal? I am not sure.
I am not convinced why some parties are unnecessarily
propping up the issue of power sharing. The Constitution
drafting process is my top priority.” Optimistically,
he added, “Political developments are heading in a positive
direction and I am hopeful that the CA will convene on
time and gradually the government formation process will
take shape." He did, nevertheless, concede, "Without
consensus among the major parties, it is difficult to
write the Constitution. So it’s not a time to distrust
any political force. No single party can meet the current
challenges before the nation by stonewalling the other.”
Again on January 10, 2014, NC leader Ram Sharan Mahat
claimed that leaders of both parties – NC and CPN-UML-
had already begun talks on government formation, and asserted
that a new government led by his party would be formed
by the first week of February 2014.
The CA
elections have been a powerful lesson to all political
formations in Nepal, with a clear popular mandate against
the fractious and obstructive politics of the past. Any
political party choosing to ignore the public mood can
only attract further, and potentially permanent marginalization.
While the mandate remains somewhat fractured, it has created
conditions that, with a measure of political sagacity
on the part of the main players, could result not only
in stable arrangements for governance, but, crucially,
a final resolution of the issues that have obstructed
the drafting of the Constitution.
|
Tripura:
Marginal Concerns
Giriraj Bhattacharjee
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management
The stabilisation
process gained further momentum in Tripura through 2013,
and, remarkably, the State did not record a single terrorism-related
fatality through the year - a signal achievement secured
for the first time since
1992. 2012 had recorded two fatalities,
both militants, in two separate incidents. Significantly,
at its peak in 2004, the militancy had claimed as many
as 514 lives, including 453 civilians, 45 militants and
16 Security Force (SF) personnel.
Similarly,
abduction-for-ransom by militant groups, one of the major
worries across the entire Northeastern region, registered
a decline in Tripura. As against 11 recorded abductions
in three separate incidents in 2012, seven persons were
abducted in three such incidents in 2013. In one such
incident, militants of the Biswamohan Debbarma faction
of the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT-BM)
abducted two youth from the Harimani Village Committee
area under the Chowmanu Police Station of Dhalai District
on July 29, 2013, and demanded a ransom of INR 2,300 from
each family of the Harimani Village for their release.
The two youth, however, escaped from militant captivity
and returned to the village on August 11, 2013.
Crucially,
constant pressure exerted by SFs in Bangladesh has weakened
the terror outfits operating within Tripura. The two principal
militant groups – NLFT and All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF)
- operating within the State faced major setbacks during
the year, compounding the cumulative reverses of past
years. On January 23, 2013, SFs disclosed that ATTF 'chairman'
Ranjit Debbarma had been arrested from an area under the
Sidhai Police Station in the Mohanpur Subdivision of Tripura's
West District, near the Indo-Bangladesh border. However,
on January 24, 2013, Ranjit Debbarma himself told the
media that he was arrested by the Directorate General
of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) in Dhaka, and was pushed
back into India through Dawki (West Jaintia Hills) in
Meghalaya on January 16, and brought to Tripura on January
18.
In addition,
SFs in the State arrested another 19 subversives, including
nine NLFT cadres, four ATTF militants, five Bangladeshi
infiltrators and one agent of Pakistan's Inter-Services
Intelligence (ISI), during the year.
The NLFT,
which had been weakened by several splits between 1994
and 2001, suffered another jolt in 2013 when one of its
prominent leaders Nayanbashi Jamatiya alias Nakbar,
head of the Nayanbanshi faction of NLFT (NLFT-NB), surrendered
to the Police in Khowai District on August 9, 2013. Jamatiya
had sneaked into Indian Territory through Malda District
in West Bengal. Earlier, following peace
talks in 2004 NLFT-NB cadres had surrendered
en masse in 2006, along with Jamatiya. Jamatiya,
however, returned to the jungles, asserting that the talks
had failed to secure 'satisfactory' terms for him. Another
faction of NLFT, jointly led by Montu Koloi and Kamini
Debbarma, had already become defunct after the surrender
of the two top leaders on May 5, 2004. Presently, of all
the factions of the NLFT, NLFT-BM alone remains active,
though mounting pressure by the SFs resulted in the surrender
of 14 of its cadres in 2013 alone. In a more recent setback,
'Chief of Army Staff' of NLFT-BM, Pasaram Tripura alias
Parshuram alias T. Thomas alias Wathak (51)
surrendered in Agartala in West Tripura District on January
10, 2014. He joined undivided NLFT in the year 1994 and
was holding the rank of 'Chief of the Army Staff' of NLFT.
On May
16, 2013, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar disclosed
that a total of 8,831 militants and their collaborators
had laid down arms over the past decade. Among the surrendered
militants, just three persons reneged to rejoin their
respective militant outfits. Further, according to Chief
Minister Sarkar, Police had seized and recovered arms
and ammunition over the past three years, including 61-country
made guns, one AK-47 rifle, four grenades, three pistols,
two revolvers, a large number of bullets, empty shells
and ammunition.
Despite
dramatic and positive transformations, however, some residual
concerns persist.
On January
2, 2014, Tripura Director General of Police (DGP) C. Balasubramanian
stated that the presence of camps of both NLFT-BM and
ATTF in Bangladesh remained a worry: “The NLFT headed
by Biswamohan Debbarma is still a powerful outfit running
around 15/16 hideouts in Bangladesh. One camp is still
maintained by the ATTF, that too by two women.” Further,
he disclosed that about four to six hideouts were adjacent
to the Indo-Bangladesh border while, others were far from
it. He also admitted that insurgents were using the Tripura-Mizoram-Bangladesh
tri-junction as a transit corridor.
Indeed,
NLFT-BM has been active beyond Tripura as well. Over the
past two years, areas along the Mizoram-Bangladesh border
have become a principal focus of its activities. During
2013, NLFT-BM cadres abducted eight civilians in two separates
incidents, in neighbouring Mizoram. In one incident, NLFT-BM
militants abducted an engineer of the Delhi-based Telecom
Network Solutions, Deep Mondal of West Bengal, along with
two Mizos - Sanglianthanga, working with Airtel, and Lalzamliana
Aizawl - from Damparengpui village, adjoining the Bangladesh-Tripura
border, in the Mamit District of Mizoram, on November
23, 2013. The outfit later demanded a ransom of INR 50
million for Deep Mondal's release. The abductors made
no demand for the release of the two Mizos. According
to the latest reports, the militants have taken the abductees
to Bangladesh, where they still are being held. In 2012,
NLFT-BM had abducted 12 civilians from Mizoram.
Another
concern is the renewed demand for the formation of a tribal
State. The declaration by the Congress Working Committee
(CWC) on July 30, 2013, supporting the formation of a
separate Telangana State, to be carved out of Andhra Pradesh
in South India, and the subsequent endorsement of the
idea by the Union Cabinet on October 3, 2013, encouraged
the demand for a tribal State to be carved out of Tripura.
The Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) now wants
the Central Government to create such a separate State
by upgrading the Tripura Tribal Autonomous District Council
(TTADC). However, on December 30, 2013, Chief Minister
Sarkar stated that he would resist any such move with
all his might. The Chief Minister went on to say that
“some people are trying to revive militancy for narrow
political interests”.
In addition,
some 81 kilometres, along difficult terrain, on the 856-kilometer-long
Indo-Bangladesh border in Tripura, still remains unfenced
creating opportunities for the movement of militant and
criminal elements across the international boundary. Some
1309.35 kilometers of the entire 4,096.70 kilometer Indo-Bangladesh
border are still to be fenced. However, on December 17,
2013, the Government claimed that only 569.22 kilometers
of the border (72.30 in Tripura's case) remained unfenced,
and that fencing along 2,787.35 kilometers (775.70 in
Tripura's case) out of the sanctioned 3359.59 kilometers
(848 kilometers in Tripura's case) had been completed,
and fencing along the remaining 3.02 kilometers was 'unfeasible'.
The Government further claimed that the sanctioned work
would be completed by March 2014. Significantly, India
has managed to fence just a two-kilometer stretch on the
Indo-Bangladesh border in the past one year.
Summing
up Tripura's situation on November 14, 2013, Chief Minister
Sarkar, observed:
NLFT-BM
is trying to recruit new cadres and extort money
for its revival. The militants have become weak
and cornered but they are not totally uprooted.
I made it clear to 14th FC (Finance Commission)
that insurgency in Tripura is contained but not
eradicated, though we have a remarkable success
in dealing with militancy. The State's security-related
expenditure has increased to 16 percent of the total
committed expenditure and the figure continues to
rise for maintaining peace and fight against the
militants.
|
In view
of the situation, the State Government, in December 2013,
decided to extend the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act
(AFSPA) in 32 Police Station areas of the State for another
six months, commencing January 1, 2014. AFSPA has been
effective fully in 25 Police Station areas and partially
in another seven since June 5, 2013. AFSPA was operational
in all 40 Police Station areas of the State, when it was
first imposed in Tripura in February 1997.
The Police
led-Counter-Insurgency
operations in Tripura have successfully
reclaimed peace after some of the most violent decades
in the State. The State has also established a remarkable
Police presence, with 639 Policemen per 100,000 population,
and 223.8 Policemen per 100 square kilometres, well above
the national averages of 138 and 52.9, respectively, as
well as dramatic capabilities to confront any future challenge
of insurgency.
Nevertheless,
the residual presence of militant groups across the unfenced
and remote segments of the Bangladesh border remains a
troubled zone in the otherwise peaceful State. Until such
threats are fully neutralized, a final and irreversible
victory against the insurgency cannot be declared.
|
Weekly Fatalities: Major
Conflicts in South Asia
January 6-12,
2014
|
Civilians
|
Security
Force Personnel
|
Terrorists/Insurgents
|
Total
|
BANGLADESH
|
|
Islamist Terrorism
|
6
|
0
|
1
|
7
|
INDIA
|
|
Assam
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
Jammu and
Kashmir
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
Meghalaya
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
4
|
Left-wing
Extremism
|
|
Bihar
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
Jharkhand
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
Odisha
|
4
|
0
|
1
|
5
|
Total (INDIA)
|
4
|
1
|
10
|
15
|
PAKISTAN
|
|
Balochistan
|
2
|
2
|
0
|
4
|
FATA
|
6
|
3
|
13
|
22
|
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
|
8
|
2
|
2
|
12
|
Punjab
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
Sindh
|
8
|
6
|
6
|
20
|
Total (PAKISTAN)
|
|
|
|
|
Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
|
BANGLADESH
Reelection
in
the
polls
was
legitimate,
asserts
Prime
Minister
Sheikh
Hasina:
Prime
Minister
Sheikh
Hasina
on
January
6
asserted
that
her
reelection
in
polls
was
legitimate.
She
also
appealed
to
her
arch-rival,
Bangladesh
Nationalist
Party
(BNP)
chief
Khaleda
Zia,
to
shun
"terrorism".
Meanwhile,
Zia,
on
January
6
demanded
cancellation
of
the
10th
parliamentary
polls
and
handing
over
power
to
a
non-party
neutral
Government
to
pave
the
way
for
consensus
to
hold
fair
and
participatory
elections.
In
another
development,
the
United
States
(US),
United
Kingdom
(UK),
Canada
and
Commonwealth
on
January
6
termed
the
just-concluded
parliamentary
elections
in
Bangladesh
"disappointing"
as
more
than
half
of
the
seats
were
uncontested
and
the
remaining
ones
showed
only
token
opposition.
Times
of
India;
New
Age;
Daily
Star,
January
7,
2014.
INDIA
Three
major
projects
in
Jammu
and
Punjab
are
on
terror
radar,
says
Intelligence
report:
According
to
an
Intelligence
report,
three
major
projects
in
Jammu
and
Punjab
are
on
terror
radar.
Sources
said
that
Ranjit
Sagar
dam,
also
known
as
Thein
dam,
in
Shahpur
Kandi
town
of
Punjab,
bordering
Lakhanpur
and
Basohli
towns
of
Kathua
District
in
Jammu
region,
Baglihar
hydro-electric
power
project
in
Ramban
District
and
vital
newly
constructed
bridge
over
river
Chenab
in
Akhnoor
town
of
Jammu
District
have
turned
out
to
be
three
major
projects,
which
the
militants
sitting
in
Pakistan
were
planning
to
target.
Daily
Excelsior,
January
6,
2014.
Maoists
are
planning
to
disrupt
Parliamentary
Polls,
says
report:
The
Communist
Party
of
India-Maoist
(CPI-Maoist)
is
planning
to
enforce
"poll
boycott"
in
the
forthcoming
Lok
Sabha
(Lower
House
of
Parliament)
polls
by
disrupting
the
election
process
in
Maoist
affected
states.
According
to
a
Union
Ministry
of
Home
Affairs
(UMHA)
internal
note,
the
Maoists
have
assessed
that
the
deployment
of
Security
Forces
(SFs)
in
Maoist
areas
would
be
comparatively
quite
less
during
Lok
Sabha
elections
and
that
would
place
the
extremists
in
a
better
position
to
enforce
the
"poll
boycott"
call
at
that
time.
Outlook,
January
8,
2013.
Four
suspected
terrorists
living
in
State
are
receiving
funds
from
terror
groups
in
Pakistan,
says
Jharkhand
ADGP
Rezi
Dungdung:
Rezi
Dungdung,
Additional
Director
General
of
Police
(ADGP,
Special
Branch),
has
said
that
according
to
intelligence
inputs
four
suspected
terrorists
living
in
State
are
receiving
funds
from
Pakistan.
"We
have
received
inputs
from
central
investigating
agencies
that
four
suspected
terrorists
are
receiving
funds
from
terror
groups
in
Pakistan.
The
alert
is
based
on
intelligence
inputs
and
has
concrete
information
about
the
recipients
of
these
funds,"
he
said.
Times
of
India,
January
10,
2014.
Dawood
Ibrahim
is
in
Pakistan,
says
Union
Home
Minister
Sushilkumar
Shinde:
Dawood
Ibrahim
is
in
Pakistan
and
joint
efforts
with
the
US
were
being
made
to
nab
him,
Union
Minister
for
Home
Affairs,
Sushilkumar
Shinde
said
on
January
10.
"As
per
our
information,
Dawood
is
in
Pakistan.
When
I
went
to
America
last
year
to
discuss
inland
security,
I
met
the
Attorney
General
who
looks
after
the
FBI.
I
talked
to
him
and
we
decided
that
we
will
pass
whatever
information
we
have
on
Dawood
amongst
each
other.
We
decided
we
will
make
joint
efforts,"
Shinde
said.
Times
of
India,
January
11,
2014.
Top
Maoist
leader
surrendered
after
taking
permission
from
party
chief
Ganapathy,
says
UMHA:
Senior
Communist
Party
of
India-Maoist
(CPI-Maoist)
leader
GVK
Prasad
alias
Gudsa
Usendi
surrendered
on
January
7
before
Andhra
Pradesh
Police
after
taking
due
permission
from
CPI-Maoist
chief
Ganapathy.
An
unnamed
Union
Ministry
of
Home
Affairs
(UMHA)
source
said,
"He
has
surrendered
because
of
failing
health
and
being
unable
to
continue
the
struggle.
He
has
done
so
after
taking
due
permission
from
the
leadership.
Though
he
must
have
been
discouraged,
he
was
allowed
to
go
unharmed
because
of
his
seniority
and
the
three-decade
long
service
that
he
gave
the
party.
Many
others
in
the
lower
rung
have
met
fatal
ends
to
such
decisions".
Times
of
India,
January
11,
2014.
'Chief
of
Army
Staff'
of
NLFT-BM
surrenders:
Pasaram
Tripura
alias
Parshuram
alias
T.
Thomas
alias
Wathak
(51),
'Chief
of
Army
Staff'
of
Biswamohan
Debbarma
faction
of
the
National
Liberation
Front
of
Tripura
(NLFT-BM)
surrendered
in
Agartala
in
West
Tripura
District
on
January
10.
He
joined
undivided
NLFT
in
the
year
1994
and
was
holding
the
rank
of
'Chief
of
the
Army
Staff'
of
NLFT.
He
underwent
several
trainings
in
Pakistan.
Tripura
Info,
January
11,
2014.
Three
top
separatist
leaders
quit
Mirwaiz
Umar
Farooq-led
faction
of
the
Hurriyat
Conference
in
Jammu
and
Kashmir:
Three
top
separatist
leaders
Shabir
Shah,
Nayeem
Khan
and
Azam
Inquilabi
have
quit
Mirwaiz
Umar
Farooq-led
faction
of
the
Hurriyat
Conference
after
the
amalgam's
leader
wrote
a
letter
to
its
Pakistan
occupied
Kashmir
(PoK)
chapter
accusing
the
trio
of
"indiscipline".
On
January
4,
Farooq
had
terminated
the
representation
of
Shabir
Ahmad
Shah
[Democratic
Freedom
Party],
Nayeem
Ahmad
Khan
[National
Front]
and
Mohammad
Azam
Inquilabi
[Mahaz-e-Azadi]
for
their
indiscipline,
anti-Hurriyat
activities
and
continued
absence
from
meetings
for
the
last
over
18
months.
Times
of
India,
January
9,
2014.
PAKISTAN
CID
Superintendent
of
Police
Chaudhry
Aslam
Khan
among
three
Policemen
killed
in
suicide
attack
in
Karachi:
Three
Policemen,
including
Crime
Investigation
Department
(CID)
Superintendent
of
Police
(SP)
Chaudhry
Aslam
Khan,
were
killed
and
10
others
were
injured
when
a
suicide
bomber
smashed
his
car
into
Aslam's
convoy
near
Essa
Nagri
at
the
Lyari
Expressway
in
Karachi,
the
provincial
capital
of
Sindh,
on
January
9.
Claiming
responsibility
for
the
attack,
the
Tehreek-e-Taliban
Pakistan
(TTP)
Mohmand
Chapter
'spokesperson',
Sajjad
Mohmand,
said
that
the
group
has
carried
out
a
"successful"
attack
to
take
revenge
for
several
Taliban
members
killed
by
the
Police.
Dawn,
January
10,
2014.
US
declare
Quetta
based
Taliban
'commander'
Qari
Saifullah
a
global
terrorist:
The
United
States
(US)
Department
of
State
on
January
7
declared
Qari
Saifullah,
a
Quetta-based
Taliban
'commander',
a
specially
designated
global
terrorist.
Qari
Saifullah
is
the
Taliban's
shadow
'deputy
governor'
and
an
operational
'commander'
in
Zabul
province
of
Afghanistan,
but
the
designation
identifies
him
as
a
resident
of
Quetta.
The
designation
includes
a
prohibition
against
US
persons
engaging
in
transactions
with
Qari
Saifullah,
and
the
freezing
of
all
property
and
interests
of
Qari
Saifullah
in
the
US
or
come
within
the
US
or
the
possession
or
control
of
US
persons.
Dawn,
January
8,
2014.
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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