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SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 12, No. 47, May 26, 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
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Balochistan:
Taliban's Southern March
Ambreen Agha
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management
Exploiting
the restive and conflict ridden environment in Balochistan,
terrorist outfits that share their ideology with the Tehreek-e-Taliban
Pakistan (TTP)
are spreading their influence in the Province. The TTP
and its proxies, as SAIR
has noted earlier, have long had a strong base in the
northern part of the Province. In the recent past, however,
they have extended their networks into the Makran Division,
including Turbat, Panjgur and Gwadar Districts, which
lies deep in the South Balochistan. Significantly, the
region has witnessed attacks on private schools with the
extremists professing abhorrence for western and girls'
education.
On May
21, 2014, at least six people, including a Government
school teacher, identified as Master Hameed, were shot
dead when terrorists entered his residence and opened
fire, killing him and five of his relatives in the Dasht
area of Turbat District. The attack came in the wake of
threatening letters sent to private schools by a newly
surfaced terrorist group, Tanzeem-ul-Islami-ul-Furqan
(TIF, Oragnisation of Islam and the Holy Standard) in
Panjgur District, warning the people to completely shut
down girls’ education or to prepare themselves for “the
worst consequences as prescribed in the Quran”.
Earlier,
on May 13, 2014, four armed TIF terrorists, wearing headbands
with Allah-o-Akbar (Allah is Great) imprinted
on them, set ablaze the vehicle of Major (Retired) Hussain
Ali, owner of The Oasis School, in the same District,
while he was driving girls to school. The masked terrorists
asked him and the girls to de-board the vehicle, before
setting it ablaze.
On May
7, 2014, TIF threatened 23 English Language Learning Centres
in Panjgur to shut down and stop imparting co-education
and teaching in English, which they referred as “Haram
(forbidden) in Islam”. In their letter, TIF warned, “Private
schools should completely stop girls’ education, both
co-education and separate education. We urge all van and
taxi drivers to refrain from taking girls to schools.
Otherwise, they will also be targeted... Any institution
or persons defying the warning will be deemed as an enemy
of Islam and therefore punished.” On the same day, masked
terrorists barged into a language centre, threatening
the teachers and young male and female students against
co-education and learning English, and destroyed the school’s
furniture and textbooks.
In the
aftermath of the May 13 attack, some 2,000 protesters
marched through the streets in the District on May 14,
raising slogans against TIF and its radical ideology,
demanding that the Government immediately arrest the terrorists
who had been threatening private schools. The head of
a local school, who confirmed receiving threats over the
phone, stated, on condition of anonymity, “All these attacks
seem to be a part of the fresh campaign against girls’
education.” Narrating his experience, he disclosed that
he had been instructed by the terrorists to shut down
his school where hundreds of girls were currently enrolled.
Calling the closure of the girls’ school a “national tragedy”
he recounted, “When I asked the reasons for their demand
to stop educating the female students, they spoke rudely
and said they would teach me a lesson if I did not stop
educating girls.”
These attacks
in Panjgur and Turbat Districts indicate the penetration
of the Taliban ideology of intolerance and religious bigotry
into the Southern regions of Balochistan, which had, thus
far, escaped the influence of TTP and its likes. South
Balochistan was affected by the Baloch
nationalist insurgency, while the
North had been under the influence of Islamist terrorist
formations, including the TTP and the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
(LeJ).
Partial
data compiled by the Institute for Conflict Management
(ICM) shows that Balochistan has recorded at least 3,149
civilian fatalities since 2004. 294 civilian killings
(192 in the South and 102 in the North) have been claimed
by Baloch separatist formations such as the United Baloch
Army (UBA), Baloch Republican Army (BRA), Baloch Liberation
Army (BLA) and Balochistan Liberation Tigers (BLT). The
Islamist and sectarian extremist formations, primarily
LeJ, TTP and Ahrar-ul-Hind (Liberators of India) claimed
responsibility for the killing of another 502 civilians,
all in North, mostly in and around Quetta. The remaining
2,360 civilian fatalities - 1,451 in the South and 899
in the North - remain ‘unattributed’. A large proportion
of the ‘unattributed’ fatalities, particularly in the
Southern region, are believed to be the result of enforced
disappearances carried out by state
agencies, or by their proxies, prominently including the
Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Aman Balochistan (TNAB, Movement for
the Restoration of Peace, Balochistan).
The recent
spate of attacks in South Balochistan by Islamist terrorist
outfits is an alarming indication of a change in these
trends. The trickle-down of Islamist ideology into the
South indicates a progressive radicalization that threatens
a further spread into currently non-Taliban influenced
Districts.
Though
the attacks by Islamist extremists in the North have been
primarily sectarian in nature, against the Shia Hazaras
living in the region, the latest attacks on schools in
the South are a tribal phenomenon, borrowed from TTP terrorists
operating in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Province and
the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). According
to partial data compiled by SATP at least 527 schools
have been destroyed in KP and FATA since 2007 (data till
May 25, 2014), including 330 in KP and 197 in FATA.
Balochistan
had not recorded any terrorist or insurgent attacks on
education facilities till this point. This new threat
further compounds the already poor educational access
and high dropout rate in the Province. A November 20,
2013, media report, for instance, noted that more than
2.3 million children had no access to education in Balochistan.
The report quoted the Provincial Secretary for Education,
Ghulam Ali Baloch, noting that only 1.3 million out of
a total of 3.6 million children were going to schools
in the Province. Recognising the problem, Balochistan
Chief Minister Abdul Malik Baloch on March 12, 2014, observed,
“A high dropout rate and poor access of children to school
have emerged as the biggest challenges in the Province.”
Expressing
concern over the current situation that has prevented
students from securing education, the President of the
Government Teachers Association, Quetta, A.N. Sabir, noted
that militancy was the 'chief culprit' behind Balochistan's
illiteracy rate, the highest in the country. This increasing
illiteracy was making the youth an easy target of religious
extremism and terrorism, against the backdrop of an increase
in the number of madrassas (religious seminaries)
in the Province. According to the latest figures, released
by an unnamed official from the Department of Industries
and Commerce in December 2013, Balochistan has 2,500 Government
registered madrassas and 10,000 unregistered ones.
These are
the first recorded incidents of Islamist extremist activity
in South Balochistan. State Agencies have done little
to contain the spread of Islamist extremism, which is
endemic in the northern part of the Province. Instead,
the Agencies have been persistent in suppressing the Baloch
nationalist insurgency in the southern region by launching
covert
military operations against the insurgents,
including operations through Islamist extremist proxies.
Baloch nationalist sentiments have also been inflamed
by a multiplicity of mega ‘development’ projects, particularly
in Gwadar, which have not benefited the Baloch. The insurgents’
have demanded a greater share in the resources and a stake
in the decision making structures of the state. This,
however, has led to an epidemic of enforced
disappearances and extra-judicial killings
in the Province. Addressing this brutal silencing by the
State Agencies, the Voice of Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP)
Chairman Nasrullah Baloch and Vice-Chairperson Mama Qadeer
Baloch, on April 27, 2014, observed that Pakistani forces
have illegally abducted 19,200 Baloch activists and more
than 2,000 among them have been 'killed and dumped'. Significantly,
the World Report 2014 released by Human Rights Watch (HRW)
noted:
The human rights
crisis in the mineral-rich province continues
unabated. As in previous years, 2013 saw enforced
disappearances and killings of suspected Baloch
militants and opposition activists by the military,
intelligence agencies, and the paramilitary Frontier
Corps. Baloch nationalists and other militant
groups stepped up attacks on non-Baloch civilians...
The military continued to resist government reconciliation
efforts and attempts to locate ethnic Baloch who
had been subject to “disappearances.” Successive
Pakistani governments have appeared powerless
to rein in abuses by the military and both sectarian
and nationalist militant groups. As a result,
many members of the Hazara community and non-Baloch
ethnic minorities under attack by militants fled
the province or country, while Baloch nationalists
have continued to allege serious abuses by the
military.
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Islamabad
continues with its old policy of pitting one communal
or ethnic group against the other, with the Government
facilitating the mass settlement of ‘outsiders’ in South
Balochistan through a range of policies such as allocation
of land holdings to migrants from other Provinces, including
preferential allocation to ex-Army personnel, in order
to change the demography of the region and weaken Baloch
separatism. This has created a sense of siege among Balochis
in the region, precipitating ethnic violence. There is
a visible rivalry between Baloch and ethnic Punjabi workers,
with a majority of the latter group employed by the state
for its ‘development’ projects. Partial data compiled
by ICM indicates that at least 104 Punjabis have been
killed by Baloch nationalist insurgents, mostly in South
Balochistan, either in retaliation against the perceived
demographic engineering in the Province, or for working
as alleged spies for the state.
In the
war between Baloch nationalists and Islamabad, state-backed
radical Islamist forces are expanding their influence
towards Southern Balochistan. The recent attacks on schools,
and widening networks of madrassas in the region
indicate an intensification of this strategy, with the
state continuing to appease and support Islamist extremist
forces within its established game plan of undermining
Baloch separatism through the use of extreme Force, both
by state agencies and their proxies.
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Meghalaya:
Militant Outbreak
Veronica Khangchian
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
On May
20, 2014, in a major drawback to the United Achik Liberation
Army (UALA), five of its cadres were killed in a gun battle,
during a pre-dawn raid by Police Commandos from the Special
Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit, together with the Central
Reserve Police Force's Combat Battalion for Resolute Action
(CoBRA) commandos, at Chiokgre village near Williamnagar
in East Garo Hills District. One Police Officer was also
injured. The Operation was launched after reports about
the presence of a large group of armed men in a makeshift
camp, close to the family residence of the outfit’s ‘chairman’
Singbirth Marak alias Norrok X Momin. Marak, along
with six others, managed to escape during the fire fight.
There were reportedly as many as 30 cadres in two separate
locations when the raid was conducted. The District Police
Chief, Davis Nestell R. Marak also disclosed that as many
as 20 militants were taking shelter in a makeshift camp
in a forested area just metres from Singbirth Marak's
house. The Police had been on their trail since the April
30, 2014, attack on a petrol station by UALA militants.
In that attack, the militants had fired from the boundary
wall of the District Industries Complex before fleeing
across the Simsang River, towards Sampalgre and Chiokgre
villages, which are known to be the outfit's strongholds.
The incident
is the second major engagement of the Security Forces
(SFs) with the militant group since the latter's formation
in February 2013 ‘for the cause of the Garos in Assam’,
by the then ‘action commander’ of the Breakaway faction
of the Achik National Volunteer Council (ANVC-B),
Singbirth Marak. In April 2013 the UALA, had accused
the ANVC-B leadership headed by Rimpu Barnard N. Marak
(earlier known as Torik Jangning Marak, former ‘spokesperson’
of ANVC) and ‘commander-in-chief’ Mukost Marak, of aligning
with the Rabha Hasong leadership in Assam, to merge the
Garo inhabited areas in Assam into the Rabha Hasong Autonomous
Council (RHAC), ‘against the wishes of the people’.
Earlier,
on November 28, 2013, three UALA militants were shot dead
and another was captured alive, after the Williamnagar
Police attacked their camp at Chiokgre village in East
Garo Hills District.
The UALA,
since its formation, has been involved in killings, extortion
and abduction in both Assam and Meghalaya.
On March
11, 2014, three UALA militants were beaten to death by
villagers at Majhipara village along the Assam–Meghalaya
border in Goalpara District of Assam. Police said the
three had recently served extortion notes to the people
of the area and had come to collect the extortion money
when the locals caught them and beat them up, leading
to their deaths.
On February
1, 2014, two UALA militants demanding 'tax' from a civilian
ended up in a hospital with injuries, leading to the death
of one of them, in a botched extortion drive at Darengre
village on the outskirts of Tura town in West Garo Hills
District. The deceased, Sanjay Ch Sangma, and his accomplice,
Bijoy Ch Sangma, were extorting money from a victim when
villagers rushed in and caught them. The UALA, however,
subsequently denied that the two belonged to the outfit.
In 2013,
five coal labourers were shot dead by UALA militants in
the afternoon of May 20, in retaliation for the quarry
owner's failure to pay up extortion money on time in the
Nangalbibra region of South Garo Hills District. The armed
group is said to have served demand notes on coal mine
owners throughout the Nangalbibra region in the month
of April, demanding amounts ranging from INR 500,000 to
INR 10 million. UALA had reportedly ordered the closure
of the Darangdura Coal Mine in Nangalbibra, on the same
day they had masterminded the killing of five labourers.
South Garo Hills Police disclosed that the militants came
down to the mine in the morning, ordering its closure
reportedly over failure to meet extortion demands, and
later returned to commit the cold blooded killings when
a few labourers were still found present on the mining
site. The five labourers identified as Hobibul Ali, Anwar
Ali, Mokidur Islam, Rizabul Ali and Motalif, all hailed
from the Goalpara District of Assam.
Again on
August 22, 2013, the UALA attacked the District Council
weigh bridge at Nengkra in East Garo Hills District, killing
one employee, identified as T. Sangma. South Garo Hills
Police recovered a UALA demand note at the site, for INR
two million as 'tax' from the lessee of the Garo Hills
Autonomous District Council (GHADC) weigh bridge.
In the
worst
incident executed by the outfit, on
November 3, 2013, UALA militants opened indiscriminate
fire on a group of people, killing seven persons belonging
to the Rabha tribe. The victims were gambling on the occasion
of Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights, at
the remote Gendamari village under Agia Police Station
in the Goalpara District of Assam. Another nine persons
were seriously injured. One militant who masterminded
the Goalpara incident was killed during the November 28,
2013, attack on their camp by the SFs.
In another
incident, UALA militants abducted a villager, Milard Marak
(30), and later shot him dead in the Nangalbibra region
of South Garo Hills District. A group of armed militants
barged into the house of the deceased at Nengbrak village
on October 11, 2013, and took him away. His bullet-ridden
body was recovered a day later, from a jungle in Jongsingittim,
near Nangalbibra.
Security
in Meghalaya continues to deteriorate with the proliferation
of insurgent factions and particularly since the formation
of the Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA)
in 2009.
Interestingly,
on March 29, 2014, GNLA, the most
lethal outfit in the State, headed
by Sohan D. Shira, a former ANVC leader, urged six other
Garo outfits to shun violence and participate in a negotiation
process with the Government in the interest of the peace
and development of the region. The six outfits included
the Liberation of A’chik Elite Force (LAEF);
UALA; A’chik Tiger Force (ATF); GNLA’s breakaway faction
- A'chik Songna An'pachakgipa Kotok (ASAK, "vanguards
of Garoland”); A’chik National Liberation Central Army
(ANLCA); and A’chik National Cooperative Army (ANCA).
In a statement Shira declared, “If these six outfits are
sincere in their intention to work for the cause of the
Garo people, they should join hands and come forward to
form a single organization called Garo United Liberation
Front (GULF) which will be welcomed by the people of the
region”. He also said that it was the right time for militant
groups in Garo Hills to advocate peace by holding talks
with the State and Central Governments.
However,
on March 31, 2014, the UALA turned down a proposal for
the unification of all insurgent groups within the Garo
Hills region, the idea floated by the GNLA. The UALA 'chairman',
in a press statement, asserted: "We will never welcome
the proposal of the GNLA, unless and until they initiate
a discussion on the issue of a separate State. We are
dedicated, humble and responsible soldiers fighting for
Garo people's rights. We will support the peace process,
if Government makes their intentions clear on the issue
of separate State". Significantly, on March 25, 2014,
GNLA militants shot dead three over ground workers of
the UALA at Darang Dachit village in South Garo Hills
District.
The repeated
emergence of new insurgent groups continues to worry the
State. Security sources indicate that the Garo militants,
including some small and splinter groups in Meghalaya,
are currently armed with a large number of AK-47s, AK-74s,
AK-81s, rocket launchers, Chinese grenades, Heckler and
Koch rifles, Glock and sophisticated US-made pistols.
Sources added that the Assam-based United Liberation Front
of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I) faction was also helping
small groups like UALA by providing them with firearms.
2013 saw
the formation of seven new Garo militant outfits: UALA;
A’chik Matgrik Liberation Front (AMLF); Achik National
Liberation Army (ANLA); Achik Tiger Force (ATF-formed
by some cadres of the ANVC); Achik National Liberation
Central Army (ANLCA); Garo National Liberation Army-Faction
(GNLA-F, rechristened ASAK in 2014); and Achik Youth Liberation
Front (AYLF). 2014 have already seen emergence of another
three new Garo groups: ANCA, formed on January 3, 2014;
Matchadu Matchabet - a popular phrase used in
Garo Hills, meaning an animal which looks a bit like a
tiger and a bit like a man, formed by cadres of ANVC-B
in March; and A'chik Revolutionary Front (ARF), formed
on April 1. Even as the Government is 'still working on’
a final settlement with UALA’s parent group ANVC-B
and ANVC and reportedly working on modalities of peace
talks with another splinter group, GNLA, a veritable rash
of new outfits continues to break out in Meghalaya.
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Weekly Fatalities: Major
Conflicts in South Asia
May 19-25,
2014
|
Civilians
|
Security
Force Personnel
|
Terrorists/Insurgents
|
Total
|
INDIA
|
|
Assam
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
Jammu and
Kashmir
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
4
|
Manipur
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
Left-wing
Extremism
|
|
Jharkhand
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
Maharashtra
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Odisha
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Total (INDIA)
|
2
|
4
|
5
|
11
|
PAKISTAN
|
|
Balochistan
|
8
|
8
|
0
|
16
|
FATA
|
0
|
12
|
88
|
100
|
KP
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
Punjab
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
Sindh
|
17
|
0
|
8
|
25
|
Total (PAKISTAN)
|
|
|
|
|
Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
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INDIA
Terrorists
Groups
united
to
kill
Narendra
Modi
under
ISI
directive,
reveals
IM
operative
Haider
Ali:
Indian
Mujahideen
(IM)
operative
Haider
Ali
alias
'Black
Beauty'
revealed
to
his
interrogators
that
major
terror
outfits
operating
in
the
Kashmir
Valley
like
Lashkar-e-Toiba
(LeT),
Jaish-e-Mohammed
(JeM)
and
Hizb-ul-Mujahideen
(HM)
had
joined
hands
with
Indian
Mujahideen
(IM)
and
Students
Islamic
Movement
of
India
(SIMI)
with
the
objective
of
eliminating
Prime
Minister
(PM)-designate
Narendra
Modi.
Following
the
Patna
(Bihar)
blast
of
October,
2013,
ISI
top
operatives
directed
that
all
major
terror
outfits
should
pool
their
resources
in
targeting
Modi,
he
added.
Deccan
Chronicle,
May
23,
2014.
IM
leader
Riyaz
Bhatkal
fears
being
eliminated
by
ISI,
says
report:
Indian
Mujahideen
(IM)
leader
Riyaz
Bhatkal
has
told
IM
cadres
that
Pakistan's
Inter
Service
Intelligence
(ISI)
might
now
eliminate
him.
He
is,
hence,
planning
to
flee
Pakistan
and
join
hands
with
al
Qaeda.
DNA,
May
24,
2014.
SIMI
swearing
allegiance
with
Taliban
and
al
Qaeda,
according
to
Madhya
Pradesh
ATS:
The
interrogation
of
cadres
of
banned
Student
Islamic
Movement
of
India
(SIMI)
revealed
that
the
organisation
wants
to
be
the
real
face
of
home-grown
terror,
swearing
allegiance
to
Taliban
and
al
Qaeda,
looking
beyond
ISI
patronage
enjoyed
by
Indian
Mujahideen.
Questioning
of
SIMI
operatives
by
Madhya
Pradesh
Anti-Terrorist
Squad
(ATS)
revealed
SIMI
and
IM
had
common
terror
targets,
despite
difference
in
ideology.
And
most
importantly
both
don't
work
in
tandem
as
perceived.
Times
of
India,
May
22,
2014.
New
terror
threats
for
India,
according
to
Intelligence
sources:
Intelligence
officials
are
warning
that
Indian
Islamist
groups
are
preparing
for
a
fresh
round
of
attacks.
Intelligence
sources
said
at
least
six
former
Indian
Mujahideen
(IM)
operatives
are
believed
to
be
training
at
al
Qaeda-linked
camps
in
Pakistan's
North
Waziristan
Agency.
Mirza
Shadab
Beg,
Shahnawaz
Alam,
Muhammad
'Bada'
Sajid,
Alamzeb
Afridi,
Shafi
Armar
and
Sultan
Armar
all
members
of
IM's
Azamgarh
and
Bhatkal
cells
who
fled
India
in
2008-2009
broke
with
IM
after
Pakistan's
Inter-Services
Intelligence
(ISI)
forced
its
Karachi-based
military
commander,
Riyaz
Bhatkal
to
scale
back
operations.
The
Hindu,
May
21,
2014.
CPI-Maoist
operating
through
128
frontal
organisations
across
India,
says
Intelligence
Bureau
report:
The
Communist
Party
of
India-Maoist
(CPI-Maoist)
is
operating
through
128
frontal
organisations
in
Haryana,
Delhi
(National
Capital
Region),
Uttarakhand,
Punjab,
Uttar
Pradesh,
Haryana,
Bihar,
Orissa,
Chhattisgarh,
Jharkhand,
Gujarat,
Tamil
Nadu,
West
Bengal,
Andhra
Pradesh,
Karnataka,
Maharashtra,
and
Kerala,
says
a
recent
Intelligence
Bureau
(IB)
analysis.
Though
IB's
internal
report
has
established
growing
Maoist
activities
in
Punjab,
there
is
no
information
about
the
exact
number
of
frontal
organisations
active
in
the
state.
Daily
Mail,
May
21,
2014.
NEPAL
CA
members
to
act
to
reform
judiciary:
On
May
22,
the
Constituent
Assembly
(CA)
members
said
the
judiciary
is
encroaching
on
the
jurisdiction
of
Parliament,
and
that
it
should
be
corrected
while
drafting
a
new
constitution.
Unified
Communist
Party
of
Nepal-Maoist
(UCPN-M)
lawmakers
lobbied
for
adopting
a
system
in
which
a
special
parliamentary
committee
controls
overall
judiciary.
eKantipur;
My
Republica,
May
23,
2014.
PAKISTAN
88
militants
and
12
SFs
among
100
persons
killed
during
the
week
in
FATA:
Five
militants
were
killed
in
a
clash
with
Security
Forces
(SFs)
in
the
Manro
Jangal
area
near
the
Pak-Afghan
border
in
Bajaur
Agency
of
Federally
Administrative
Tribal
Areas
(FATA)
on
May
25.
At
least
eight
militants,
including
a
'commander'
and
two
SF
personnel
were
killed
in
the
evening
of
May
24
during
a
clash
in
Landi
Kotal
tehsil
(revenue
unit)
in
Khyber
Agency,
after
a
security
vehicle
was
ambushed
by
the
militants.
At
least
six
SF
personnel
were
killed
and
three
injured
in
an
Improvised
Explosive
Device
(IED)
blast
in
the
Shati
Kandao
area
of
Pandyali
tehsil
in
Mohmand
Agency
on
May
24.
Four
suspected
militants
were
killed
and
several
others
were
injured
when
SFs
intensified
military
action
in
the
Machis
Camp
area
of
North
Waziristan
Agency
(NWA)
on
May
23.
At
least
15
persons,
including
11
militants
and
four
SF
personnel,
were
killed
during
a
clash
in
Mir
Ali
area
of
NWA
on
May
21.
At
least
60
militants,
including
foreign
fighters,
were
killed
when
Air
Force
warplanes
bombarded
militant
hideouts
in
Mir
Ali
and
other
areas
of
NWA
in
the
early
hours
of
May
21.
Daily
Times;
Dawn;
The
News;
Tribune;
Central
Asia;
The
Nation;
Frontier
Post;
Pakistan
Today;
Pakistan
Observer,
May
20-26,
2014.
Alert
sounded
across
Country
amidst
fears
of
TTP
backlash:
Fearing
a
backlash
from
Tehreek-e-Taliban
Pakistan
(TTP)
in
Islamabad,
the
Pakistan
Muslim
League-Nawaz
(PML-N)
Government
on
May
22
decided
to
use
both
the
Security
Forces
(SFs)
and
the
Police
on
high
alert
to
maintain
peace
in
the
capital-
Islamabad
as
well
as
other
parts
of
the
country.
Sources
in
SFs
informed
that
an
operation
of
sorts
had
been
started
with
air
strikes
on
the
militant
hideouts
on
May
21,
2014.
Dawn,
May
23,
2014.
Prosecution
Lawyers
of
26/11
attacks
case
demand
more
security:
On
May
21,
Prosecution
lawyers
asked
the
Anti-Terrorism
Court
(ATC)
trying
the
seven
accused
in
the
26/11
(November
26,
2008)
Mumbai
(Maharashtra)
terror
attacks
case
to
increase
their
security
saying
Jamaat-ud-Da'wah
(JuD)
activists
had
been
threatening
them
and
the
witnesses.
The
lawyers
along
with
Chief
Prosecutor
Chaudhry
Azhar
submitted
an
application
in
the
ATC
in
Rawalpindi
informing
it
that
"We
and
the
witnesses
have
been
receiving
threats
from
the
JuD
activists
who
want
us
to
stop
representing
and
pursuing
the
case,
respectively".
Outlook,
May
22,
2014.
Jobless
turn
to
Taliban,
reveals
Al
Jazeera
report:
According
to
Al
Jazeera
report,
unemployment
in
the
Swat
Valley
of
Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa
Province
could
force
many
jobless
people
towards
joining
the
Taliban.
The
report
said
that
the
area
was
struggling
to
mend
its
economy
after
years
of
conflict
in
the
valley.
Daily
Times,
May
20,
2014.
Over
60
percent
of
drone
targets
homes
in
Pakistan,
says
report:
The
Central
Intelligence
Agency
(CIA)
has
been
bombing
Pakistan's
domestic
buildings
more
than
any
other
targets
over
the
past
decade,
the
Russia
Today
news
channel
reported
while
quoting
a
latest
research
by
the
Bureau
of
Investigative
Journalism.
"Almost
two
thirds,
or
over
60
percent,
of
all
US
drone
strikes
in
Pakistan
targeted
domestic
buildings,"
the
channel
reported.
Daily
Times,
May
26,
2014.
SRI
LANKA
Minister
Champika
Ranawaka
demands
Norway
to
hand
over
Oslo-based
LTTE
terrorist:
Jathika
Hela
Urumaya
(JHU)
General
Secretary
and
Minister,
Champika
Ranawaka,
in
a
letter
to
Norwegian
Ambassador
in
Colombo
has
demanded
Norway
to
immediately
hand
over
Oslo-based
Liberation
Tigers
of
Tamil
Eelam
(LTTE)
leader
Perinbanayagam
Siwaparan
alias
Nediyavan
to
Sri
Lankan
authorities.
The
Minister
said
that
Nediyavan
who
is
believed
to
have
financed
the
terrorist
activities
of
LTTE,
lives
freely
in
Oslo
despite
the
Interpol
arrest
warrant
against
him.
Colombo
Page,
May
23,
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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