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SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 8, No. 32, February 15, 2010
 
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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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The Northeast:
Tentative Antidotes for Rebellion
Wasbir Hussain
Associate Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management,
New Delhi; Director, Centre for Development and Peace
Studies, Guwahati.
The Indian
Government, fighting armed bands of separatist rebels
for the past six decades or more in the far-flung States
of the country’s troubled Northeast, have a new challenge
at hand — of talking peace – as almost all the major
separatist groups in the region, with the exception
of Manipur, have now cut deals with the authorities
and entered into ceasefire agreements. Virtually every
significant group, or at least factions within each,
is now in a truce with the Government in insurgency-hit
Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Tripura. Hundreds of
rebel fighters are lodged by the Government in what
are called ‘designated camps’, as they await ‘acceptable
solutions’ to their ‘problems’ through negotiations
with the authorities.
All frontline
rebel groups in the key insurgency-hit States of Assam
and Nagaland — the National Democratic Front of Bodoland
(NDFB),
the two factions of the Dima Halim Daogah, United People’s
Democratic Solidarity (UPDS),
and now, the Karbi Longri North Cachar Hills Liberation
Front (KLNLF),
the two factions of the National Socialist Council of
Nagaland (NSCN) and a section of the United Liberation
Front of Asom (ULFA),
besides several Adivasi militant groups in Assam, have
struck truce deals with the Government.
With
this bagful of insurgents in a cease-fire with the authorities,
the Government is saddled with the critical responsibility
of taking multiple ‘peace processes’ to the next level
– and this is a thorny affair, with many of the groups
at cross purposes, one with the other. Evidently, multiple
formulae or a clear idea of what is to be offered to
each group, are necessary for the ‘peace processes’
to go forward to a logical conclusion (the restoration
of normality in a particular area and an enduring solution
to the insurrection). This is precisely what the Government
does not appear ever to have had. In a significant development,
however, the central Government appears to have worked
out the contours of a possible peace formula that it
could offer to some of the major insurgent groups, particularly
the NSCN and ULFA.
In a
lengthy conversation with this writer last week, for
instance, Union Home Secretary Gopal K. Pillai disclosed:
"The NSCN-IM has accepted the Government of India’s
invitation for resumption of peace talks and Mr (Thuingaleng)
Muivah is coming to Delhi in April." The National
Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM)
has had a truce agreement with the Government in 1997,
and the two sides have held more than 60 rounds of talks
at various international capitals, and in New Delhi.
By all indications, however, New Delhi has now firmed
up its mind on a possible solution formula to bring
the curtains down on the six-decade-old Naga insurrection.
As far
as the Government of India is concerned, two things
are ‘out of question’ — a sovereign Nagaland and ‘greater
Nagaland’ (or Nagalim) that
envisages unification of all Naga inhabited areas in
the Northeast under one administrative unit. While the
Centre has been unambiguous that sovereignty is not
negotiable, the redrawing of inter-state boundaries
in the Northeast is a near-impossible proposition considering
the passions any such move would provoke across the
entire region. The sense one gets from various Government
and other sources is that the Government may offer constitutional
sanction for the setting up of a political-social-administrative
body to look after Naga affairs in different parts of
India. The body could have its headquarters anywhere
in the Northeast or outside, within India, as desired
by the Naga leaders. There are substantial populations
of Nagas outside the State of Nagaland, mainly in Assam,
Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh. The proposed body would
be empowered to sanction schemes and funds for the welfare
of Nagas wherever they are in the country.
This
tentative scheme could be amended or modified in case
the idea finds favour within the Naga rebel leadership.
New Delhi may, indeed, go a step further: the current
thinking is that the proposed body could also offer
schemes for the uplift of Nagas living in adjoining
Myanmar. That offer, as and when it is placed before
the NSCN-IM, could be something that the rebel leaders
might find hard to reject, since the rebel group has
long regarded the Naga inhabited areas in Myanmar as
‘Eastern Nagaland.’
Union
Home Secretary Pillai’s recent visit to Myanmar acquires
particular significance against this backdrop. The effort
is to mop up surviving pools of resistance, even as
positive avenues of negotiated resolution are explored.
Pillai said, "We hope to have, in the next few
weeks, a joint security operation against the Northeast
Indian rebels having bases in Myanmar and operating
from that country," confirming that he had discussed
the issue with Myanmar authorities. Of course, Pillai
and the Government remain tight-lipped at this stage
about whether the two sides have discussed proposed
schemes for financial assistance from New Delhi for
the Nagas in Myanmar. However, since India has been
engaged in infrastructure development projects, mainly
roads, with its own funding in Myanmar, there is reason
to believe that the military junta in that country would
not have any insurmountable objections to such an idea.
In Assam,
it is now clear that New Delhi is keen on talks with
the ULFA under the leadership of its jailed ‘chairman’,
Arabinda Rajkhowa. Pillai has indicated that the Centre
would no longer insist on a letter from the jailed ULFA
leaders expressing an interest in initiating a dialogue
with the Government of India, as long as these leaders
demonstrate their sincerity in holding talks. This contrasts
with Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s earlier insistence
on such a letter from the jailed ULFA leaders. There
is, consequently, some indication that the Government
may have revised its stand on this. More significantly,
the Centre does not appear to be too worried about detained
ULFA leaders (‘chairman’ Arabinda Rajkhowa, ‘vice-chairman’
Pradip Gogoi, ‘foreign secretary’ Sasadhar Choudhury,
‘finance secretary’ Chitraban Hazarika, ‘cultural secretary’
Pranati Deka and others) jumping bail and disappearing,
in case they are set free to engage in talks. Unlike
the past, the ULFA leaders have arrived in India with
their wives and children in tow, and their families
have since been allowed to go home. Government sources
claimed the ULFA leaders, when they were picked up in
Bangladesh, had requested authorities there that their
wives and children be sent along with them to India,
a plea the authorities conceded. The Centre, moreover,
is not particularly concerned whether or not ULFA’s
elusive military chief, Paresh Baruah, takes part in
the proposed dialogue.
If talks
are, in fact, initiated, the core issues of irreducible
conflict would, nevertheless, remain. The ULFA has,
for instance, not diluted its ‘sovereignty’ demand.
Moreover, the ULFA leadership has not articulated any
coherent ‘wish list’ that could constitute the basis
of the initial dialogue. The Government would, moreover,
have to evolve a holistic package for Assam, reconciling
the demands of the multiplicity of radical and political
factions in the State, even as it offers a formula that
the ULFA would find hard to reject. Constitutional safeguards,
the prevention of illegal infiltration, an acceptable
National Register of Citizens to detect illegal migrants,
jobs, infrastructure development, massively enhanced
royalty to the State on natural resources, are all issues
the ULFA has been associated with, and would need to
be part of the Government’s proposals. There is also
the demand for maximum autonomy made by at least a section
of ULFA leaders – the pro-talk ULFA group headed by
Mrinal Hazarika and others from the group’s dreaded
‘28th battalion’, which had declared a unilateral
cease-fire in June 2008. For the record, this faction
of the ULFA has already established contact with the
jailed ULFA ‘chairman’ and other leaders in custody
– a move obviously facilitated by the authorities.
It is
evident that the Centre has firmed up certain ideas
and proposals to advance negotiations with two principal
rebel formations in the Northeast – ULFA and NSCN-IM.
This is, however, a road littered with political minefields.
Nevertheless, more and more of the rebel groups coming
to the negotiating table, and military pressure on the
surviving groups in the jungles mounting, there is a
greater scope for a qualified optimism in the region
than at any point in the past decade.
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Arunachal
Pradesh: Insurgent Overflows
Sandipani Dash
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
Arunachal
Pradesh — one of India’s most critical frontiers, along
China’s Tibet region — remains at the receiving end of
a spillover of insurgencies from the rest of the country’s
troubled Northeast. What adds to Arunachal’s woes is its
geographical contiguity to Myanmar, which is now the lone
safe haven for the militant groups of India’s Northeast,
since their alternative refuge in Bangladesh was shut
down by the Shiekh Hasina regime.
There is
a constant overflow of the Naga insurgency into Arunachal
territory, which has long been a hunting-ground for the
National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM)
and National Socialist Council of Nagaland – Khaplang
(NSCN-K).
These warring groups have been in cease-fire agreements
with the Union Government since 1997 and 2001, respectively,
but the terms of the cease-fire apply only to the territory
of Nagaland – a loophole that the militants have exploited
to engage in continuous armed activities in neighbouring
States. Meanwhile, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram,
on July 28, 2009, expressed concern in Parliament over
the violation of the cease-fire agreements by both the
groups active in the Tirap and Changlang Districts of
Arunachal Pradesh. The NSCN-IM has engaged in extortion
and has also employed some locals for the purpose. Further,
the Naga group targeted political activists in the run-up
to the Arunchal Pradesh Assembly Election held on October
13, 2009.
What makes
cease-fire violation much more glaring is the Naga fratricide
carrying over into Arunachal territory, where the Assam-based
United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA)
and the Manipur-based United National Liberation Front
(UNLF)
have also become party to area-domination exercises by
the NSCN groupings. In one incident on March 12, 2009,
at least four militants were killed during a clash between
the combined cadres of the NSCN-K, UNLF and ULFA, on one
side, and the NSCN-IM on the other, in Tirap District.
Again, on March 13, 2009, two NSCN-IM militants and a
cadre of the rival NSCN-K were killed in two separate
factional clashes in the same District. On March 19, 2009,
another clash between the NSCN-IM and NSCN-K occurred
at Lapnam village in Tirap District. While some sources
claimed that two NSCN-IM militants were killed, others
reported that three NSCN-K cadres were killed in this
clash.
The struggle
for area-domination in Arunachal Pradesh is a function
of the recruitment drive in the Naga-populated regions
of the State. A December 1, 2009, report, for instance,
mentioned that 14 youth were abducted from Ninu village
under Wakka Circle of Tirap District in November 2009
by the NSCN-IM, as part of its ongoing recruitment exercise.
According to another source, a local man of Ninu Village,
suspected to be an NSCN-IM cadre, had reportedly recruited
16 youths from the village, besides two from Longsom,
three from Bera and one from Khonsa, in the District,
with a target to recruit 50 youth from Khonsa, Longding
and Kanubari Circles. The report added that the District
Administration was not sure whether the youth had been
abducted or had voluntarily joined the outfit.
Reports
also mentioned that the ULFA and NSCN-K were conducting
joint training for 30 newly recruited ULFA cadres in Mahadevpur,
Pongchau and Bordumsa Circles of Lohit, Tirap and Changlang
Districts, respectively, in anticipation of a possible
Army crackdown in Assam and Nagaland. The All Arunachal
Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU) also disclosed that 18
youth, aged between 18 and 23, were recruited by the Khaplang
group from Pongchau circle in Tirap District on November
19, 2009.
There is
a significant Naga population in Tirap and Changlang Districts,
provoking frequent intrusions by the warring Naga factions
for their ongoing recruitment drive. Tirap District shares
a State border with Nagaland and Assam, an international
border with Myanmar and a District border with Changlang.
Much of its tribal population consists of the Naga-related
Nocte, Konyak and Wancho community. Tirap is used by insurgents
as a transit route from Myanmar. The NSCN-IM has, over
the years, managed to reverse the domination that its
bete noire, the NSCN-K, had earlier established
across this vital Naga populated Arunachal corridor. The
NSCN-IM has, in fact, extended its recruitment network
beyond its traditional catchments zones in the State.
The Assam Police, on the basis of confessional statement
of an NSCN-IM cadre arrested in May 2009, disclosed that
many youth from the West Siang District in Arurnchal Pradesh
and the bordering areas of Assam had recently joined the
Naga group and were being trained at Camp Hebron near
Dimapur in Nagaland. "The recruitment process is
still on," a Police official noted. However, the
Naga militants’ campaigns to make Changlang part of the
projected Nagalim
(Greater Nagaland) have substantially failed to take off,
due to their rejection by the locals, including the Wancho
and Nocte tribes, in the District.
Nevertheless,
the Naga populated Arunachal corridor has emerged as one
of the principal routes for a frontal militant formation
like ULFA to carry out its focused activities in upper
Assam, through cadres based in Myanmar. The ULFA’s dependence
on its camps in Myanmar has become all the more acute
after the crackdown in Bangladesh due to change in regime
after the December 2008 General Elections (the group had
already lost all its bases in Bhutan after the Army crackdown
of December 2003 in that country). This increasing dependence
has deepened existing ties, which ULFA cadres had developed
with the NSCN-K while using its camps in the Sagaing Division
of Myanmar. The pressures on the ULFA to join hands with
the NSCN-K in the recruitment drive in Arunachal increased
dramatically as a result of the need to replenish the
cadre crunch the group has faced in upper Assam, as a
result of the unilateral cease-fire declared by leaders
of the ‘A and C companies’ of ULFA’s striking "28th
Battalion" in June 2008. A leader of the pro-talks
group of the ULFA disclosed that the NSCN-K had been providing
logistical support to the ULFA in exchange of money for
a long time. There were several militant camps in Arunachal
Pradesh, bordering Nagaland, where ULFA militants would
take shelter with Khaplang militants.
The NSCN-K
also entered into a functional alliance with the UNLF
in Manipur and the Kachin Independent Army (KIA) in Myanmar
during the course of its operations in Arunachal territory.
Newly recruited NSCN-K cadres undergo training under the
guidance of the KIA in the Sagaing region of Myanmar.
"NSCN-K has turned to the Kachin Independent Army
for logistical help to build up bases in the twin districts
of Arunachal Pradesh — Tirap and Changlang — and heavily
armed KIA fighters have already entered these two districts
along the Indo-Myanmar border," an unnamed senior
Police official said. The NSCN-IM has a similar operational
understanding with the National Democratic Front of Bodoland
(NDFB)
in Assam, for logistics such as training, movement and
arms procurement from Myanmar, with transit through the
Arunachal corridor. The General Officer Commanding (GOC)
of 3 Corps, Lieutenant General N.K. Singh, declared that
there were approximately 40 to 50 camps of the Northeast-based
militant groups in Myanmar. He revealed that, out of these
camps, 25 to 30 were identified as bigger camps or of
established nature, while the remaining were ‘temporary’.
Another
source of concern for Arunachal Pradesh is the steady
procurement of arms by Northeast militants from neighbouring
China. Sources indicate that a major modernization drive
in the Chinese Army has released vast quantities of old
weapons, some of which are being offloaded to arms dealers,
to reach militant groups. Weapons, including AK series
rifles, MI 15 rifles, LMGs and ammunition, discarded by
the Chinese Army, are still good enough for militant groups.
There is official confirmation of frequent visits by Northeast
Indian militant leaders to China. The ULFA ‘commander-in-chief’
Paresh Barua had been traced to Ruili in the Yunan Province
of China, bordering Myanmar. Military sources indicate,
"Most of the arms deals are struck at Ruili and from there
the Chinese arms are brought to Bamo in Myanmar, from
where they are routed to different places, mostly through
the Irrawaddy and its tributaries. ULFA and other militant
outfits of the northeast also bring their arms and ammunition
through this route… Since the Myanmar junta and…
(Myanmarese) rebel groups are in ceasefire, the Indian
insurgent outfits like NSCN-K, ULFA, and Meitei groups
of Manipur have found safe haven in the areas under control
of the Kachin and Wa rebels (in Myanmar)." Sources mentioned,
further, that after the Bangladesh Government had stepped
up action against the ULFA, Barua shifted base to the
China-Myanmar border and also set up camp in rebel-administered
areas in Myanmar's Kachin territory. Meanwhile, Tirap
and Changalang, on one side, and Lohit, Upper and Lower
Dibang Valleys, on the other, across the Arunachal corridor,
remain the principal transit routes for the ULFA for its
respective transfer of men and material from both Myanmar
and China.
The densely
forested terrain along the Arunachal-Assam border also
provides safe haven to the ULFA and NDFB. Both the groups
have reportedly heightened their activities in as many
as six Districts of Arunachal Pradesh: East Siang, West
Siang, Lower Dibang Valley, Upper Dibang Valley, Lohit
and Papum Pare. Arunachal Pradesh Home Minister Tako Dabi,
on January 10, 2010, stated that he had recently toured
and taken stock of the situation in Mebo and the adjoining
areas of East Siang, and the Likabali area of West Siang,
where NDFB and ULFA cadres were engaged in extortion activities.
He said these outfits’ cadres were also smuggling timber
from the forests in Seijosa in East Kameng and the Balijan
area of Papum Pare District. Deputy Inspector-General
of Police (East Range), Tashi Lama, confirmed, further,
"The substantial presence of ULFA cadres in East
Siang, West Siang, Upper and Lower Dibang Valley Districts,
besides movements of NDFB militants in belts of Papum
Pare and East Kameng Districts, have raised security concerns
in the State." Another Police officer in East Kameng
District stated that NDFB cadres had intensified extortion
activities and set up camps in Seijosa, adding that the
fact that a suspected NDFB cadre was shot dead in a joint
operation in the Khanamukh area under Missamari Police
Station of Sonitpur District in Assam, bordering East
Kameng District, on January 5, 2010, indicated that the
violent anti-talk faction of the Bodo group was quite
active in the area.
The Arunachal
Pradesh Government has sought the Assam Government’s help
in conducting joint counter-insurgency (CI) operations
to flush out ULFA and NDFB militants sheltering in forest
areas along the inter-State border. Arunachal Home Minister
Tako Dabi, stated, on January 10, 2010, "As the Home
Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, I prioritised the matter
with urgency and sought help from Assam Chief Minister
Tarun Gogoi to destroy the hideouts in the Districts…
Gogoi assured all possible help from his side and considered
a joint strike involving the forces of both the states
and the Army to tackle the rebels." The Minister
added that the Arunachal Pradesh Police had launched three
offensives in a span of two months to drive out militants
from the forests of bordering Districts. "The security
scenario in Tirap and Changlang has showed signs of improvement
with the recent surrender of NSCN rebels in Khonsa. However,
the situation in East Siang, West Siang, Lower Dibang
Valley, Upper Dibang Valley, Lohit and Papum Pare remains
a concern because of the presence of Ulfa and NDFB militants,"
the Minister stated.
The Army
has revealed constraints on its CI responses in the shape
of joint militant encampments in the conjoining border
region. There was concrete evidence regarding ULFA militants
taking shelter in NSCN-K camps in Nagaland, bordering
Myanmar, and also at a few places along the Nagaland-Arunachal
border. An Army officer stated, on December 22, 2009,
"Our spotters have located these camps but the fear
is that there are also a large number of Naga militants
there and we do not want any kind of confrontation with
the NSCN" [since the NSCN-K group is in cease-fire
with the Centre].
With the
source of the insurgency in Arunachal Pradesh located
in territories beyond the State’s borders, and the absence
of unity of purpose and a coordinated strategy across
the Northeast region, there is little scope of ending
the overflow of militancy within the existing CI framework.
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Weekly
Fatalities: Major Conflicts in South Asia
February 8-14, 2010
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|
Civilian
|
Security
Force Personnel
|
Terrorist/Insurgent
|
Total
|
|
BANGLADESH
|
|
|
Islamist Extremism
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
|
Left-wing Extremism
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
|
Total (Bangladesh)
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
|
INDIA
|
|
|
Assam
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
3
|
|
Jammu and Kashmir
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
|
Manipur
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
5
|
|
Maharashtra
|
10
|
0
|
0
|
10
|
|
Left-wing Extremism
|
|
|
Bihar
|
0
|
1
|
3
|
4
|
|
Chhattisgarh
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
|
Jharkhand
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
|
West Bengal
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
|
Total (INDIA)
|
13
|
3
|
14
|
30
|
|
NEPAL
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
|
PAKISTAN
|
|
|
Balochistan
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
|
FATA
|
13
|
34
|
31
|
78
|
|
NWFP
|
7
|
8
|
1
|
16
|
|
Sindh
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
|
Total (PAKISTAN)
|
24
|
42
|
32
|
98
|
|
Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
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INDIA Nine persons
killed and over 60 injured in bomb blast in Pune: Nine
persons, including two foreigners, were killed and over 60,
including 12 foreigners, were injured in a bomb blast in the
German Bakery on North Main Avenue in Koregaon Park near the
Osho Ashram in Pune in Maharashtra at around 7.30 pm (IST)
on February 13. The bag containing the bomb was said to be
under a table, according to one eyewitness. The explosion
devastated the bakery, located near the Jewish Chabad House.
The bakery is a popular spot with foreign tourists. Initial
investigations reveal that that it is an Improvised Explosive
Device (IED) blast. Sources with the Army's bomb disposal
squad have hinted at the possible use of RDX
Meanwhile,
the Union Government said the incident site was very close
to Osho Ashram which had been surveyed by the Lashkar-e-Toiba
(LeT) operative David Coleman Headley. It also said that the
Maharashtra Government had been alerted about this in the
month of October, 2009.
Earlier,
on February 5, Abdur Rehman Makki, the ‘deputy’ to the Jama’at-ud-Da’awa’s
(JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, addressing a rally in Islamabad in
Pakistan, had warned that Pune was a potential target. Makki
said that, at one time, jihadis were interested only
in the liberation of Kashmir, but the water issue had ensured
that "Delhi, Pune and Kanpur" were all fair targets. The JuD
is a front organisation of the LeT.
The
Hindu ; Times
of India; India
Today, February 14-15, 2010.
KLNLF lays
down arms in Assam:
The
Karbi Longri North Cachar Hills Liberation Front (KLNLF) laid
down arms at a public function at the Kasa stadium in the
Diphu area of Karbi Anglong District on February 11. Acting
‘chairman’ of the group Hage Khaathar led his top leaders,
including ‘commander-in-chief’ Songja Timong and ‘general
secretary’ Thong Teron, along with 416 cadres, in the decommissioning
programme.
PTI
News, February 12, 2010.
Union Government
for peace talks with NSCN-IM in Nagaland: The
Union Government would resume peace talks with the National
Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) in April
2010. The Union Home Secretary G.K. Pillai on February 9 said,
on the invitation of the Government, the NSCN-IM leadership
has proposed to come to India between April 1-10 to hold talks
and carry forward the peace process. The last round of peace
talks between the Union Government and the NSCN-IM was held
in March 2009 in Zurich in Switzerland and the talks ended
in a stalemate.
Nagaland
Post, February 10, 2010.
Union Home
Minister P. Chidambaram reiterates his call to Maoists to
shun violence: The
Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on February 9 reiterated
his call to the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist)
to shun violence after a meeting in Kolkata to discuss the
Left Wing Extremism (LWE) being faced by four eastern States.
"… The operations against Maoists were making slow but
steady progress, and areas under Naxalite domination would
soon be reclaimed and civil administration established,"
the Minister added. Expressing confidence that further progress
would be made in six months, he said that he was satisfied
with what was happening all over the country.
Meanwhile,
the CPI-Maoist offered to hold talks with the Union Government.
The CPI-Maoist ‘general secretary’ Muppala Laxman Rao alias
Ganapathi said, on February 9, that his party was ready for
talks with one of the pre-conditions being Maoist leaders
like Narayan Sanyal, Amitabha Bagchi, Sushil Roy and Kobad
Gandhi be released from custody. The Maoist leader said talks
would mean a halt to the Government’s crackdown and that would
be in the interest of the people. He also said, "By waging
guerrilla war, in Andhra, we had a setback but we have not
completely abandoned. Godavari valley to Maharashtra, Orissa,
Bihar, and Jharkhand till Bengal border. We have to intensify
and expand guerrilla war. We have to retaliate, but it must
be according to our advantage based on the situation."
Further,
the CPI-Maoist backed People’s Committee against Police Atrocities
(PCPA) offered to hold unconditional talks with the Union
Government as well as the West Bengal Government on February
9.
The
Hindu; Times
of India, February 10-11, 2010.
NEPAL
PLA’s
discharge process comes to an end: The
release of 268 disqualified People’s Liberation Army (PLA)
combatants from the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist’s
(Unified CPN-Maoist) Fifth Division Cantonment in Rolpa
District on February 8 brought one month of rigorous discharge
process to an end. During the United Nations Mission in
Nepal (UNMIN)-monitored verification, a total of 452 combatants
were rendered disqualified. However, only 268 of them turned
up in the discharge ceremony, with the rest leaving their
camps in advance.
Meanwhile,
the Unified CPN-Maoist has adopted a policy to recruit the
PLA combatants recently discharged from various cantonments
across the country in its youth wing, Young Communist League
(YCL). Nepal
News; The
Himalayan Times, February 9-10,
2010.
PAKISTAN
34 Security
Forces and 31 militants among 78 persons killed during the
week in FATA: A
United States (US) drone killed seven Taliban militants at
a training compound in the Mir Ali town of North Waziristan
Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on
February 14. The dead included "four foreigners, possibly
Uzbeks." In addition, the Security Forces (SFs) killed
three Taliban militants in the Charmang area of Nawagai tehsil
(revenue unit) in the Bajaur Agency. Further, a would-be suicide
bomber and three of his accomplices were killed in Manizoo
area of Khar tehsil.
Four
militants were killed and several others sustained injuries
during a clash with the SFs at Charmang in Nawagai tehsil
of Bajaur Agency on February 12.
A
suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into a khasadar
(tribal police) patrol vehicle, killing 17 persons, including
11 khasadar personnel, and injuring 10 others in the
Wazir Dhand area of Jamrud tehsil in the Khyber Agency
on February 10. Official sources said Pakistan Ranger’s Captain
Saleem and six civilians were among the dead. Eyewitnesses
said that an 18-year-old bearded youth hit a white car into
the khasadar van coming from the opposite direction.
Also, four Taliban militants and two women were killed in
bombings in various areas of Mamoond tehsil in Bajaur
Agency.
At
least 12 troopers were killed and two others were injured
in a clash with militants during the ongoing operation Rah-e-Nijat
(path to salvation) in Ahmed Wam area of South Waziristan
Agency on February 8. Six militants were also killed in the
exchange of fire with the SFs.
Dawn;
Daily
Times; The
News, February 9-15, 2010.
15 persons
killed in twin blasts in NWFP: At
least 15 persons were killed and 24 others injured in twin
bomb blasts in the Bannu District of North West Frontier Province
(NWFP) on February 11. Official sources said two explosions,
at least one of which was caused by a suicide bomber, went
off in quick succession outside a Police training centre in
Bannu just as a patrol headed by local District Police Officer
Iqbal Marwat was returning. Eight Policemen, a child and six
civilians had been killed, the doctor said, having mentioned
an earlier toll of 12 Policemen. He said another 24 people,
including two children, were brought in wounded. "There
were two blasts. The first one was near the gate. The second
was a suicide attack. We have confirmed reports it was a suicide
attack," said Sardar Abbas, the Senior Administrator
of Bannu District said.
Daily
Times, February 12, 2010.
Al Qaeda
killed 2,000 Pakistanis in a few months, says US Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton: The
United States (US) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,
while condemning the recent terrorist events in Karachi, said
on February 14 that al Qaeda had killed more than 2,000 people
in Pakistan within a few months.
The
News, February 14, 2010.
Credible
reports show Hakeemullah Mehsud is dead, says Interior Minister
Rehman Malik: Interior
Minister Rehman Malik said on February 10 that he had credible
reports regarding the death of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)
chief Hakeemullah Mehsud in a drone attack in North Waziristan
on January 14. Answering a question of reporters, Malik said,
"Yes, he is dead." Meanwhile, the TTP denied its
leader’s death but appeared to hold off on the idea of releasing
another message proving he is alive, after an audio recording
in January.
Daily
Times, February 11, 2010.
Terrorists
from Swat and FATA active in Karachi, says Interior Minister
Rehman Malik: The
Interior Minister Rehman Malik on February 9 indicated that
militants who had fled military operations in Federally Administered
Tribal Areas (FATA) and Swat in the North West Frontier Province
(NWFP) are active in Karachi. "Some of the terrorists
who are on the run as a result of successful military operations
have taken refuge in various parts of the country ... [they
have] especially focused on Karachi," he said, adding
that "these elements" were active in Karachi.
Daily
Times, February 10, 2010.
Pakistan
is my biggest worry, says US Vice-President Joe Biden: The
United States (US) Vice-President Joe Biden on February 10
said that his greatest concern was not Afghanistan, not Iraq,
nor the Iranian nuclear crisis, but Pakistan. In an interview
with CNN he said, "I think it’s a big country.
It has nuclear weapons that are able to be deployed. It has
a real significant minority of radicalised population. It
is not a completely functional democracy in the sense we think
about it, and so that’s my greatest concern."
Meanwhile,
the US military is planning to set up new training centres
inside Pakistan where American special operations trainers
would work with Pakistani forces close to the Afghanistan
border battle zone, an unnamed senior defence official said
on February 11. The new centres would supplement two already
operating in Pakistan, and they would be used to accelerate
and expand the training of Pakistani forces considered key
to rooting out al Qaeda leaders hiding along the mountainous
border, the official added. Daily
News, February 11-12, 2010.
SRI LANKA Former Army
Chief General (Retired) Sarath Fonseka arrested for committing
military offences: Sri
Lankan Military Police arrested the former Army Chief and
defeated Presidential Election candidate General (Retired)
Sarath Fonseka on February 8 at his office for committing
military offences. Fonseka would face charges in a military
court of conspiracy against the Government. The Government
has accused Fonseka of plotting to assassinate the President
Mahinda Rajapakse and overthrow the Government by a coup.
However, Fonseka denies all Government's accusations against
him. The Government has also arrested over 50 of his loyal
retired military officers on planning the coup.
Meanwhile,
the President Mahinda Rajapakse dissolved the Parliament with
effect from midnight of February 9 under the powers vested
in him under Article 70 (1) of Chapter 11 of the Constitution.
The present Parliament was elected in April 2004 and will
complete its tenure of six years in April 2010. The election
is likely to be held on April 8 and the new Parliament would
meet on April 22. The Commissioner of Elections will announce
the official schedule for the general elections. Daily
News; Colombo
Page, February 9-10, 2010.
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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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