| |
SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 14, No. 47, May 23, 2016
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
|
Border
Perils
Ajit
Kumar Singh
Research
Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management
The Myanmar
operation will leave behind no lasting legacy
beyond the sorry spectacle of people in high office
claiming undeserved victories, seeking undeserved
honours… This was a relatively minor operation,
and will have only transient tactical and psychological
significance. An operational success has been
imposed, and the rebels, who have till now had
almost undisturbed sanctuary in Myanmar, will
lose their sense of impunity. Over time, however,
they will adapt and draw deeper into the jungles
and take fuller precautions against discovery
and neutralization, unless the present operation
is followed up by a more sustained and enveloping
campaign.
"Covert should remain Covert"
|
On May
22, 2016, at least six personnel of 29 Assam Rifles (AR),
including one Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO), were
killed, and another seven personnel were injured in an
ambush laid by militants at Hengshi village, near the
India-Myanmar border, in the Chakpikarong tehsil
(revenue unit) of Chandel District in Manipur. An official
Army statement disclosed,
A convoy of Assam Rifles while returning after assessing
a landslide area in Holingjang to the Battalion
headquarters location at Joupi [a village in Chakpikarong
tehsil] in Chandel District of South Manipur
had an encounter with suspected valley based insurgent
groups… In the ensuing fire fight, one Junior Commissioned
Officer and five soldiers were martyred. The troops
retaliated but the insurgents managed to get away
under thick forest cover and bad weather.
|
The militants
had triggered an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) before
opening fire on the AR convoy. The militants also took
away four AK-47 rifles, one light machine gun, one INSAS
rifle and ammunition from the soldiers. Search operations
are still going on at the time of writing.
Just under
a year earlier, on June 4, 2015, 18 Army personnel had
been killed and another 11 were injured when militants
ambushed a convoy of 46 troopers of the 6 Dogra Regiment
of the Army at Moltuk village, near the India-Myanmar
border, in the Khengjoy tehsil of the Chandel District.
Initiating the attack with an IED, the militants subsequently
opened fire.
Evidently
these incidents are very similar in nature. Moreover,
the distance between the two villages, Hengshi and Moltuk,
where the attacks were carried out is just about 30 kilometers,
falling under the same District, Chandel. The only difference
was that, this time, the 29 AR was in the line of fire
and not the Army’s 6 Dogra Regiment. AR had replaced 6
Dogra in the area in the aftermath of the June 4, 2015,
attack.
Significantly,
just five days after the June 4, 2015, attack, the Indian
Army had carried out ‘surgical operations’ inside Myanmar
on June 9, 2015, to target militant groups believed to
be ‘responsible’ for the killing. According to reports,
nearly 20 insurgents were killed in two different camps.
Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore later on June 10, 2015, boasted,
"Our PM [Prime Minister] ordered hot pursuit in which
two camps were completely annihilated. While the Army
carried out the strike, helicopters were on stand-by…
It needed an equally strong leader to take such a bold
decision. We will carry out such attacks". Indeed,
without naming Pakistan, Rathore held out the ‘surgical
operation’ as a warning to ‘others’, declaring, “Friendship
and zero tolerance will go hand in hand. This is a beginning.
India is strong. This message should go to everyone".
Again on June 14, 2015, he reiterated, "It was a
much-needed decision that was taken by the Prime Minister.
This decision was extremely bold in nature. And it involved
our Special Forces crossing the border and going deep
into another country." Rathore also chose #56inchRocks
as hash-tag in his tweets to send out a message that the
action was possible only because of the PM Narendra Modi’s
courage [the Prime Minister had boasted, in the past of
his “56 inch chest”]. Similarly, Defence Minister Manohar
Parrikar had declared on June 11, 2015, “A simple action
against insurgents has changed the mindset of the full
security scenario in the country... Those who fear India’s
new posture have started reacting.”
Pakistan
dismissed these statements with contempt, and there was
much backtracking in by New Delhi as well, as Myanmar
denied that any operation had been executed on its soil.
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval spent much of his
subsequent trip to Naypyidaw soothing ruffled feathers
of the Myanmarese authorities. Crucially, subsequent disclosures
made it apparent that the ‘insurgents’ killed in the ‘surgical
strike’ had nothing to do with the June 4 attack, and
that the operational capacities of the rebels remained
completely unaffected. This relatively minor operation,
which was given a completely disproportionate ‘spin’ by
Raisina Hill, had no impact whatsoever on the security
scenario in the region.
The May
22, 2016, incident is, indeed, a manifestation of this,
and of the fact that the political leadership has failed
to learn any lessons. Indeed, according to the South Asia
Terrorism Portal (SATP) database, at least 38 fatalities,
including 24 militants, nine civilians and five Security
Force (SF) personnel, have been reported from the region
along India-Myanmar border across three Indian States,
between June 5, 2015, and May 21, 2016. Chandel District
in particular accounted for 10 of these fatalities, including
four SF personnel, four militants and two civilians.
The region
along the India-Myanmar border, consequently, remains
volatile and insurgent capacities across the border, intact.
According to partial data compiled by the Institute
for Conflict Management, between January 1, 2000,
and May 22, 2016, there have been at least 686 fatalities,
including 126 civilians, 129 SF personnel and 431 militants,
in 10 Districts, spread across four Northeast Indian States
[Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, and Nagaland],
along the India-Myanmar border. In terms of such fatalities,
Chandel District is the worst affected, accounting for
311 fatalities (54 civilians, 67 SF personnel and 190
militants), followed by Churachandpur with 237 fatalities
(60 civilians, 38 SF personnel and 139 militants); Ukhrul,
with 159 fatalities (40 civilians, 40 SF personnel and
79 militants). The other border Districts which witnessed
fatalities include Mon (120), Tirap (72), Tuensang (59),
Phek (35), Changlang (23), Longding (4) and Khipre two.
There are 15 Districts along the India-Myanmar border
in the region, including Phek, Tuensang, Mon and Khipre
Districts in Nagaland; Tirap, Changlang, Anjaw and Longding
in Arunachal Pradesh; Chandel, Ukhrul and Churachandpur
in Manipur; and Champhai, Serchhip, Lunglei and Chhimtuipui
in Mizoram. Champhai, Serchhip, Lunglei, Anjaw and Chhimtuipui
have not recorded any such fatality so far.
CorCom [Coordination Committee],
a conglomerate of six Manipur Valley-based militant outfits
– the Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP),
Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL),
People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK), its
Progressive faction (PREPAK-Pro),
Revolutionary People's Front (RPF, the political wing of
the People’s Liberation Army– PLA), and United National
Liberation Front (UNLF)
– has taken responsibility for the May 22, 2016, attack.
CorCom was formed in July 2011 with seven members but, in
a Press Release issued on February 1, 2013, stated that
it had expelled the United Peoples Party of Kangleipak (UPPK)
from its membership. CorCom as a group has been involved
in at least 32 killings – three civilians, 22 SF personnel
and seven militants – since its formation in July 2011.
The June
4, 2015, attack had been claimed by the United National
Liberation Front of Western South East Asia (UNLFWESEA).
The Khaplang faction of the National Socialist Council
for Nagaland (NSCN-K)
had joined hands with three of the most active terrorist
formations in the Northeast: the United Liberation Front
of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I);
IK Songbijit faction of the National Democratic Front
of Bodoland (NDFB-IKS);
and the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO),
to form UNLFWESEA. Worryingly, CorCom is reported to have
extended ‘moral support’ to the Front and agreed to take
part in joint operations against ‘common enemies’. The
latest May 22 incident suggests the consolidation of this
common purpose.
There has
been visible – indeed, dramatic – improvement in the insurgency
situation in the Northeast. Among
several factors that contributed was better coordination
with the Bangladesh Government which helped
India in its fight against the rebel
groups operating in the Northeast region by destroying
their sanctuaries inside Bangladesh and handing over several
of the top insurgent leaders. Earlier, Bhutan had played
a similar positive
role. Myanmar remains the last sanctuary
for the Northeast rebels. It is imperative for New Delhi
to abandon its jingoism and take Myanmar on board to fight
the residual menace which continues to disturb the border
between the two countries and threatens the stability
of India’s northeastern region.
|
Chronic
Crises
Deepak
Kumar Nayak
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management
On May
17, 2016, 13 persons, including 11 cadres of the Federal
Alliance, an alliance of 30 ethnic and Madhesi parties
formed on July 31, 2015, and two Policemen, were injured
when Police clashed with the demonstrators outside Prime
Minister K.P. Sharma Oli’s residence at Baluwatar in the
national capital, Kathmandu. On May 15 and May 16, the
Alliance had picketed Singha Durbar (Lion's Palace,
which houses the Prime Minister’s and other Government
offices) as part of its protest program to pressure the
Government to meet their demands, which include provisions
for proportional representation and rewriting of the newly
promulgated Constitution of September 20, 2015.
Nevertheless,
the Federal Alliance announced its protest program on
May 18, 2016, for the next 12 days, including mass rallies
and public gatherings in different places in the Kathmandu
Valley and some other cities. According to the program,
the Alliance had organized stage demonstrations at Patan
(Lalitpur District) on May 19, at Baneshwar (Sankhuwasabha
District) on May 20, and at Swayambhu (Kathmandu) on May
21. Likewise, a mass gathering at Chabahil (Kathmandu)
on May 22, at Kirtipur (Kathmandu) on May 23, at Bhaktapur
District on May 24, at Balaju (Kathmandu) on May 25, at
Kalanki (Kathmandu) on May 26, at Thimi (Bhaktapur District)
on May 27 and at Kathmandu Durbar Square on May 28, had
also been scheduled. The Alliance also declared that protest
rallies and public gatherings would be held in Birgunj
(Parsa District) and Pokhara (Kaski District) respectively
on May 29 and May 30.
Earlier,
on April 15, 2016, Sadbhawana Party (SP) Chairman Rajendra
Mahato had said that there was no option for them but
to launch another movement to force the Government and
the major political parties to address the demands of
Madhesi forces. Similarly, on April 18, 2016, Federal
Socialist Forum-Nepal (FSF-N) Chairman Upendra Yadav had
noted, "The Constitution is discriminatory and it
does not address the feelings of Madhesi, indigenous and
ethnic communities, thus, it is necessary for all ethnic
communities from Madhes to mountains to participate in
the next uprising." Later, on April 27, 2016, the
Federal Alliance submitted a 26-point memorandum to Prime
Minister Oli, stating that the new Constitution was promulgated
on the basis of numerical strength and the use of coercive
power of the whip by the political parties, and violated
the mandate of the past movements of indigenous nationalities,
Madhesis, Khas, Dalits, Muslims, OBCs and minority communities.
Nepal has,
in fact, been going through a cycle of new agitations
since July 2015. Cadres of the United Democratic Madhesi
Front (UDMF), comprising the Upendra Yadav-led FSF-N,
the Mahantha Thakur-led Tarai Madhes Democratic Party
(TMDP), the Rajendra Mahato-led SP and the Mahendra Raya
Yadav-led Tarai Madhes Sadbhawana Party (TMSP), commenced
the agitation on July 1, 2015, by burning the copies of
the preliminary draft of the new Constitution in capital
Kathmandu, as it failed to incorporate their demands.
UDMF is a constituent of the subsequently formed Federal
Alliance. The Madhesi protestors are demanding redrawing
of the proposed boundaries of Provinces in the Himalayan
nation under the new Constitution, and the restoration
of rights granted to Madhesis in the Interim
Constitution of 2007 which, they claim,
the new Constitution has snatched away.
According
to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism
Portal (SATP), since July 1, 2015, at
least 61 persons, including 41 civilians and 20 Security
Force (SF) personnel, have been killed and another 728,
including 561 civilians and 167 SF personnel, injured,
in violent protests across the Terai region and its
adjoining Districts (data till May 22, 2016).
Significantly,
a Cabinet meeting held on May 20, 2016, decided to call
the Federal Alliance for talks, assuring ‘utmost flexibility’
in discussions with the protesting parties. The response
of the Federal Alliance is awaited. Earlier on May 8,
2016, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs
Kamal Thapa, who heads the Government talks’ team, had
invited the protesting UDMF for talks. The UDMF, however,
responded that talks under the present circumstances were
irrelevant. There is no indication that this situation
has changed manifestly. Indeed, the violent confrontations
between Federal Alliance protestors and the Police are
likely to have hardened the resolve of the Madhesi and
minority communities to push their confrontation with
the Government even further.
Amidst
continuing protests by the Madhesis against the Government,
the Government itself has been confronted by an existential
crisis. The Nepali Congress (NC), the main opposition
party, on May 4, 2016, held talks with leaders of the
second-largest ruling coalition partner, the Unified Communist
Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M),
at the Legislature-Parliament building in New Baneshwor,
Kathmandu, to woo away the aggrieved Maoists from the
coalition. UCPN-M Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal accused
the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist
(CPN-UML) of failing to resolve major political issues,
including implementation of the new Constitution through
dialogue, and to carry out the reconstruction of Nepal
(in the wake of the devastating earthquakes of April 25
and May 12, 2015), despite his party drawing attention
to these issues repeatedly. The UCPN-M’s real grievance
was, however, the issue of ‘transitional justice’ relating
to ‘crimes against humanity’ during the armed conflict
between 1996 and 2006. To give further confidence to the
Maoists to come out of the Government the NC, on the same
day, held a separate meeting with leaders of the agitating
UDMF, at the same venue. In the meeting the discussion
was about toppling of the Oli-led Government. The UDMF
leaders expressed their readiness to find an alternative
to PM Oli, and agreed to support a new Government to be
formed under the NC’s initiative, but also said they would
remain outside the Government until their concerns were
addressed.
However,
realising the imminent threat to the Government, CPN-UML,
the senior partner in the ruling alliance, signed a pre-emptive
nine-point
agreement with the UCPN-M on May 5,
2016. The fact that five of the nine points in the agreement
address issues of transitional justice show just how worried
the Maoists are about having to answer for the crimes
they committed between 1996 and 2006. One of the points
of the agreement oblige CPN-UML and the Maoists to amend
the laws on transitional justice within 15 days, so that
they ‘reflect the spirit of the Comprehensive Peace Accord
(CPA)’
— an euphemism for immunity from prosecution. The two
leaders also agreed to register the ownership of the lands
that were transacted (often forcibly) on the strength
of household papers during the conflict era on the basis
of those same documents. They also agreed to immediately
initiate the process to withdraw or give clemency on insurgency-era
cases and other ‘politically-motivated’ cases filed on
various occasions.
Meanwhile,
reacting against the nine-point agreement, Suman Adhikari,
Chairman, and Ram Bhandari, General Secretary, of Conflict
Victims Common Platform Nepal (CVCP), in a statement on
May 6, 2016, declared, “We are shocked by the major two
ruling parties’ intent to interfere in the current transitional
justice process and withdraw the cases from the court
and grant clemency to the accused.” Further, on May 17,
2016, members of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
(TRC) and Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared
Persons (CIEDP) observed that the recent nine-point agreement
has shattered thousands of conflict-victims’ hopes for
justice. In fact, TRC had started receiving complaints
from conflict victims from April 17, 2016, and had already
received 7,789 complaints from across the country by May
18, 2016. On May 19, 2016, TRC started preliminary investigation
on complaints received. TRC is scheduled to start detailed
investigations on the complaints from June 15, 2016.
Interestingly,
in a joint convention in Kathmandu on May 19, 2016, 10
of the fragments of the original Communist Party of Nepal
– Maoist, the UCPN-M led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, CPN-Revolutionary
Maoist led by Ram Bahadur Thapa, CPN-Maoist led by Matrika
Yadav, Revolutionary Communist Party led by Mani Thapa,
Gauravshali Party leader Jayapuri Gharti and some leaders
from Netra Bikram Chand-led CPN-Maoist and the Baburam
Bhattarai-led Naya Shakti (New Force), have united
to form a party under Dahal, the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist
Centre (CPN-Maoist Centre). Addressing the function, Dahal
claimed that the unity of Maoist parties would ensure
that the TRC and CIEDP would work as per the CPA, creating
a path that would lead the nation towards socialism. Earlier,
on April 21, 2016, four Maoist parties, including the
Mohan Baidhya-led CPN-Revolutionary Maoist, CPN (Maoist)
led by Matrika Yadav and Revolutionary Communist Party
Nepal led by Mani Chandra Thapa and UCPN-M, had issued
a joint statement calling the Government to scrap conflict-era
cases, claiming that such cases violated the CPA.
The Oli-led
Government is evidently confronted by a multiplicity of
increasingly irreducible crises. The first of these, of
course, is the internal crisis within the Government,
with UCPN-M flirting with other parties to push its agenda
– crucially including the disruption of the transitional
justice process. This pits the government directly against
those who demand a fair trial for atrocities inflicted
during the conflict, and justice for victims. Equally,
the Government and major parties have demonstrated extreme
intransigence on the issue of accommodating the aspirations
of the Madhesis and other minority communities in the
constitutional scheme. These two issues, if unresolved,
have the potential of pushing Nepal over the brink into
another protracted cycle of mass disorders, threatening
the tenuous peace that has held for nearly a decade now.
|
Weekly Fatalities: Major
Conflicts in South Asia
May
16 - 22, 2016
|
Civilians
|
Security
Force Personnel
|
Terrorists/Insurgents
|
Total
|
BANGLADESH
|
|
Islamist Terrorism
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
INDIA
|
|
Jammu and
Kashmir
|
1
|
1
|
8
|
10
|
Manipur
|
0
|
6
|
0
|
6
|
Left-Wing
Extremism
|
|
Bihar
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
Chhattisgarh
|
0
|
1
|
3
|
4
|
Jharkhand
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Maharashtra
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Total (INDIA)
|
6
|
8
|
11
|
25
|
PAKISTAN
|
|
Balochistan
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
KP
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
6
|
Punjab
|
0
|
0
|
14
|
14
|
Sindh
|
4
|
2
|
0
|
6
|
Total (PAKISTAN)
|
|
|
|
|
Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
|
BANGLADESH
National
and
international
quarters
were
now
hatching
conspiracy
against
country,
says
Home
Minister
Asaduzzaman
Khan:
Referring
to
recent
spate
of
targeted
killings,
Home
Minister
Asaduzzaman
Khan
on
May
16
said
that
national
and
international
quarters
were
now
hatching
a
conspiracy
against
the
country.
"The
peace-loving
people
of
the
country
are
against
extremism
and
terrorism
and
that
is
why
big
terror
attacks
are
not
taking
place
here,"
the
Home
Minister
said
after
a
meeting
with
a
15-member
US
delegation
led
by
US
State
Department's
Principal
Deputy
Assistant
Secretary
for
South
and
Central
Asian
Affairs
William
E
Todd
at
the
secretariat.
New
Age,
May
17,
2016.
INDIA
Six
Assam
Rifles
personnel
killed
in
Manipur:
On
May
22,
2016,
at
least
six
personnel
of
29
Assam
Rifles
(AR),
including
one
Junior
Commissioned
Officer
(JCO),
were
killed,
and
another
seven
personnel
were
injured
in
an
ambush
laid
by
militants
at
Hengshi
village,
near
the
India-Myanmar
border,
in
the
Chakpikarong
tehsil
(revenue
unit)
of
Chandel
District
in
Manipur.
The
militants
had
triggered
an
Improvised
Explosive
Device
(IED)
before
opening
fire
on
the
AR
convoy.
The
militants
also
took
away
four
AK-47
rifles,
one
light
machine
gun,
one
INSAS
rifle
and
ammunition
from
the
soldiers.
Times
of
India,
May
23,
2016.
Five
JeM
militants
including
'commander'
killed
in
Jammu
and
Kashmir:
Five
militants
of
Jaish-e-Mohammad
(JeM)
including
a
'commander'
were
killed
in
a
fierce
gun
battle
at
village
Drugmulla
in
Kupwara
District
on
May
21
while
two
Army
personnel
were
injured.
Sources
said
that
they
were
part
of
Fidayeen
squad
and
had
recently
infiltrated
into
Kashmir
and
one
of
their
members
was
killed
in
Zunreshi
forests
of
Kupwara
on
May
16
while
the
others
fled
under
the
cover
of
darkness.
Daily
Excelsior,
May
22,
2016.
IS
releases
new
video
showing
Kalyan
youth
Fahad
Shaikh,
says
report:
The
Islamic
State
(IS)
on
May
19
released
a
new
22-minute
Arabic-language
documentary
featuring
Indian
jihadist,
which
seems
to
be
their
first
official
interview
of
the
Kalyan
youth,
Fahad
Shaikh
who
fled
to
Syria
two
years
ago,
where
they
joined
the
terror
group.
According
to
media
reports,
this
one
is
the
first
propaganda
video
uploaded
by
the
IS
with
special
content
focusing
jihad
in
India
and
South
Asia.
India,
May
21,
2016.
170
LWEs
surrendered
in
two
years,
says
Odisha
Government:
170
cadres
of
the
Communist
Party
of
India-Maoist
(CPI-Maoist)
have
surrendered
in
past
two
years,
said
the
Odisha
Government
on
May
16.
Furnishing
a
reply
in
the
State
Assembly,
Chief
Minister
Naveen
Patnaik
said
highest
65
LWEs
had
laid
down
their
arms
in
Koraput
while
42
surrendered
in
Malkangiri
District
during
2014-15
and
2015-16.
As
many
as
42
LWEs
returned
to
mainstream
in
Sundargarh
District
during
the
period.
According
to
the
Chief
Minister,
the
State
Government
had
come
out
with
first
surrender
policy
in
June
2006
and
the
same
had
been
made
attractive
in
2014.
The
Hindu,
May
17,
2016.
NEPAL
Federal
Alliance
announces
protest
programs
for
next
12
days:
The
Federal
Alliance
on
May
18
announced
protest
programs
for
the
next
12
days.
It
decided
to
organize
mass
rallies
and
programs
of
public
gathering
in
different
places
of
Kathmandu
valley
and
some
other
cities.
Meanwhile,
Minister
for
Information
and
Communications
Sherdhan
Rai
on
May
18
said
that
the
Kathmandu-centric
protest
by
Federal
Alliance
is
pointless.
Minister
Rai
claimed
that
there
was
no
public
participation
in
the
protest,
adding
that
the
Alliance
would
be
left
with
no
option
than
holding
talks
at
the
last.
"The
Constitution
was
not
promulgated
by
someone's
mercy.
The
agitators
are
for
pushing
the
country
toward
another
civil
war
by
hindering
implementation
of
the
Constitution,"
he
claimed.
My
Republica,
May
19,
2016.
People's
Government
and
people's
courts
would
be
revived
as
new
Constitution
was
promulgated
without
consulting
his
party,
says
CPN-Maoist
General
Secretary
Netra
Bikram
Chand:
General
Secretary
of
Communist
Party
of
Nepal-Maoist
(CPN-Maoist)
Netra
Bikram
Chand
on
May
20
said
his
party
would
revive
the
people's
Government
and
people's
courts
at
the
local
level
as
the
new
Constitution
was
promulgated
without
consulting
his
party.
He
also
claimed
that
Prime
Minister
KP
Sharma
Oli
was
plotting
to
frame
Maoist
leaders
and
cadres
on
false
charges.
He
said
some
Maoist
leaders
had
deviated
from
the
original
Maoist
ideology
and
therefore
the
leaders,
including
Pushpa
Kamal
Dahal,
were
not
real
Maoists.
The
Himalayan
Times,
May
21,
2016.
PAKISTAN
Afghan
Taliban
leader
Mullah
Akhtar
Mansour
killed
in
US
drone
strike
in
Balochistan:
Afghan
Taliban
leader
Mullah
Akhtar
Mansour
was
killed
in
a
United
States
(US)
drone
strike
in
the
Kuchaki
area
of
Naushki
District,
over
200
kilometers
off
Quetta,
on
May
21.
According
to
sources,
Mansour
entered
Pakistan
from
Iran
at
Zero
Point
in
Taftan,
a
town
in
Chagai
District,
which
shares
border
with
Iran,
and
hit
by
US
drone
while
traveling
in
a
rented
car
to
take
him
to
Quetta.
The
crime
scene
is
identified
as
Kuchaki
in
Nushki
District.
Meanwhile,
Afghan
Government
Chief
Executive
Abdullah
Abdullah
confirmed
the
incident,
saying,
"Taliban
leader
Akhtar
Mansour
was
killed
in
a
drone
strike
in
Quetta,
Pakistan,
at
04:30
pm
yesterday.
His
car
was
attacked
in
Dahl
Bandin."
Afghanistan's
main
intelligence
service,
the
National
Directorate
for
Security
(NDS)
also
confirmed
Mansour's
death.
US
President
Barack
Obama
also
confirmed
on
May
23
that
Mansour
was
killed.
Tribune,
May
22,
2016.
Reuters,
May
23,
2016.
SRILANKA
Government
is
committed
to
strengthen
national
reconciliation
to
prevent
another
war,
says
President
Maithripala
Sirisena:
President
Maithripala
Sirisena
on
May
18
said
that
the
Government
is
committed
to
strengthen
the
national
reconciliation
in
order
to
prevent
another
war.
The
President
said
"The
new
government
is
now
working
for
fulfilling
the
responsibility
to
prevent
another
war
in
the
country
through
strengthening
of
the
national
reconciliation.
It
is
not
an
easy
task
to
unite
the
hearts
of
the
people
while
fulfilling
of
the
responsibilities
of
a
post-conflict
era
after
ending
the
war
physically.
Politicians,
war
heroes
and
the
people
of
the
entire
country
should
get
together
to
strengthen
the
reconciliation
process."
Colombo
Page,
May
19,
2016.
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.
|
|
|