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SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 8, No. 48, June 7, 2010

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


ASSESSMENT

 


PAKISTAN
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Reports from the Dark
Tushar Ranjan Mohanty
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management

Reporting out of the murk of conflict has always been fraught with danger, but the controversy surrounding Hamid Mir, Executive Editor of GEO News, exposes a dimension of risk that is rarely seen out in the open – that of collusion between the media and extremists to engineer specific acts of terrorism.

The audio-taped conversation between Hamid Mir and a man purportedly linked to the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), indicates that information Mir passed on to the TTP, and direct exhortations by Mir, could have led to the execution of Khalid Khawaja, a former Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) officer, allegedly killed by a group calling themselves the Asian Tigers, a little known TTP-linked outfit. The tape, which has Mir divulging ‘dirt’ on Khawaja, ostensibly to TTP militant Usman, who was to ‘cross examine’ Khawaja, was first posted by the ‘Let Us Build Pakistan’ blog, and subsequently picked up by other online publications. It is still unclear who made the tape, with online speculation suggesting that it could be the militants themselves, or intelligence agencies who released the recording. While Mir claims the tape is a fabrication, several sources, including the ISI and Khawaja’s son, Osama Khalid, have confirmed that the voices on the tape belong to Mir and to Usman. Usman had spoken to the Khawaja family during negotiations for his release.

The content of the conversation suggests that this call was made before Khawaja’s execution on April 30. Mir gives details of Khawaja’s purported background, linking him to the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and to the Lal Masjid operation [July 3-11, 2007]. Mir claims that Khawaja and his wife were responsible for the death of Ghazi Rasheed [on July 10, 2007] and the humiliating capture of Maulana Abdul Aziz and his family [on July 4, 2007] at Lal Masjid. Mir then urges the man to cross-examine Khawaja about his relationship with the Qadiani sect, which he describes as "Worse than kafirs (unbelievers)", as well as with two ‘CIA agents’, William Casey and Mansur Ejaz.

Khawaja’s son Osama insists that Mir had hatched a conspiracy to murder his father: "This audiotape is enough proof to show Hamid Mir’s role in the murder."

Intelligence agencies, including the ISI, presented an investigation report to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani regarding the Mir-Usman audiotape on May 19, confirming that the tape was authentic.

While Mir will certainly bring disgrace upon himself and raise wider questions about the complicity of sections of the Pakistan media with terrorists, most journalists in the country are confronted with a distinctly unenviable task, at once threatened by extremists and by an arbitrary and despotic State – dominated by an overbearing Army. Significantly, following a suicide attack on the Peshawar Press Club on December 22, 2009, Adnan Rehmat, Executive Director of Intermedia, disclosed: "At least 45 journalists have been killed in Pakistan in the last five years, several by suspected militants, but this is the first time that suicide squads of terrorists have targeted media persons as a specific, overt target, indicating a dramatic increase in the level of threats facing the media in the country." According to the Paris-based Reporters without Borders, suicide bombings have made Pakistan one of the "world’s most dangerous countries for the Press".

In 2009 alone, there were 163 cases of direct attacks on the media in Pakistan, and 10 journalists paid the ultimate price for practicing a difficult trade against a backdrop of rising terrorism in the country. Of these, four were killed in Punjab, three in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP, formerly the North West Frontier Province) and one each in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Balochistan and capital Islamabad, according to Intermedia’s annual research on the state of the media in Pakistan.

The total of 163 cases included murders, assaults, abductions, explicit threats and attacks on media properties and establishments. Punjab bore the brunt of these attacks with 54 cases and KP a close second, with 52. Islamabad accounted for 28 cases; Sindh, 12; six each in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and FATA; and three in Balochistan.

10 journalists were abducted through 2009 — four in KP, two in Islamabad and one each in Balochistan, FATA, Punjab and Sindh. At least 24 cases of assault on working journalists were also recorded in 2009. A total of 70 journalists were injured in these assaults — 36 in Punjab, 12 in Islamabad, 10 in the NWFP, seven in Sindh and five in AJK.

10 cases of physical and armed attacks were reported on media property and establishments, peaking in the suicide attack on the Peshawar Press Club on December 22. Three people, including a woman, were killed and another 24 persons injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the main gate of the Peshawar Press Club. Subsequently, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) warned that it was a sign of a new "war on media" by political extremists. IFJ General Secretary Aidan White observed, "This targeted attack, far from the frontline of conflict, illustrates that the war on media by extremists is being taken into the heart of the cities."

Attack on Media: 2000-2010

Year
Killed
Assault/ Injured
Arrested/ abducted
Intimidated
Banned/Barred
/Censored
Damage to Property
2000
5
14
10
24
6
6
2001
2
2
5
3
4
2
2002
1
37
10
13
8
2
2003
2
7
4
17
2
1
2004
2
2
8
17
3
2
2005
3
7
13
18
28
3
2006
5
31
12
22
15
9
2007
11
215
325
79
43
16
2008
13
74
40
118
20
4
2009
10
70
10
28
35
10
2010*
2
5
1
1
0
2
Total
56
464
438
340
164
57
Source: 2000-2009: Intermedia
*Data till June 6, 2010: South Asia Terrorism Portal

Assaults against Press freedom in 2009 were, however, far from new, and the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) had, earlier, described 2008 as a "dangerous year," for journalists in Pakistan, with Swat [KP] and Bajaur [FATA] identified as the most dangerous areas for reporting. The PFUJ blamed both Government agencies and "non-state actors," for the rise in violence, noting that no prosecution, or for that matter even arrest, took place in any of the cases relating to the killing of journalists in 2008. The Government also failed to take action against those personnel of intelligence agencies, who were responsible for illegal detention of journalists (there were 40 cases of arrest and abduction of journalists in 2008) in different parts of the country, including capital Islamabad. Noting the rising danger for journalists, PFUJ had warned, "The situation may worsen in the coming months" – fears that were substantially realized in 2009.

Khalid Khishgi, former Secretary General of the Khyber Union of Journalists and a senior journalist working for The News in Peshawar, noted on January 26, 2010,

Both the military and the militants are monitoring each and every report from the conflict zones. I cannot predict which sentence or word in my report goes against the "strategic interests" of the powerful groups. In Peshawar, so many organisations received threatening letters from a certain militant group for not giving "enough space" to their side of the story. Words like Press freedom become meaningless in such horrible situations.

Journalists are routinely abducted either by militant groups or arrested by the security and intelligence agencies for not observing the "code of conduct" enforced by the one or the other. Under such pressure, there have been several cases where family members have compelled journalists to quit their jobs or migrate to other countries. Rahman Buneri, who fled the country and took asylum in the United States when a group of militants bombed his house on July 9, 2009, in the Buner valley of KP, notes, "When your home and your family members are not safe, you cannot do justice to your profession." Dr. Khalid Mufti, a Peshawar-based psychiatrist, observes that these tensions have resulted in a marked increase in mental health problems among journalists and their families.

There is little subtlety in these campaigns of intimidation and terror. On April 14, 2010, for instance, TTP spokesman Azam Tariq told journalists in the North Waziristan Agency that the "pro-America" media was spreading false propaganda about the ‘Taliban’, and would be punished. Similarly, on April 23, 2010, a TTP spokesman, Muhammad Umar, warned the media for "the last time" against "ignoring" his group’s viewpoint, and claimed newspapers and TV channels were "hiding the truth". This warning by the "spokesman for the Taliban Media Centre" in North Waziristan – was emailed to the media hours after a deadly attack targeted an army convoy in North Waziristan, and declared:

Why is the media only conveying the army’s point of view? Is this proof that the media is also working as an ally for the government and the army? Or they are being forced to hide the truth? ...This email should be considered a last warning for the media of Pakistan. If the media doesn’t stop working as an ally of the Government and the Army, the Taliban would have to treat the media as they want to be treated."

Muhammad Umar added, further, that the media could either be with "the terrorists (state agencies) or the truth".

There was more troubling news for the media. On January 10, 2010, the National Crisis Management Cell (NCMC) of the Interior Ministry warned that TTP had decided to attack newspaper offices and renowned journalists across the country. According to Intelligence reports, the TTP was "not happy" with Pakistan’s media policy and want to teach the media a lesson. The NCMC sent circulars to the Provincial Governments, Police and other law-enforcement agencies to put security on high alert in order to protect newspaper offices and journalists. The report noted that the attack on the Peshawar Press Club on December 22, 2009, was to be seen in this context.

Apart from the direct targeting of the media, escalating risks of collateral fatalities among journalists have also been noted. On May 10, 2010, 26 journalist organisations from around the world called on the Taliban, al Qaeda and other jihadi organisations in Pakistan to stop targeting civilians with their attacks, observing that journalists also lost their lives in such incidents. The appeal from the organisations, which included PFUJ and Reporters Without Borders declared,

We appeal with the utmost urgency to the leaders of the Taliban, jihadi movements and al Qaeda in Pakistan to put a stop to all further suicide bombings on public gatherings… As journalists, we have to cover official events first-hand but that does not mean that we support this or that politician or public figure. By targeting large gatherings, the organisations are endangering the lives of innocent civilians and reporters. This is not acceptable. We can no longer accept the loss of lives of our fellow journalists… We, the undersigned journalists of Pakistan and defenders of press freedom around the world, condemn with the utmost firmness all recourse to suicide bombings in the middle of crowds of civilians that result in the deaths of innocent people, including media workers.

The appeal came more than a week after two TV journalists were killed in two days in suicide bombings in Balochistan and KP. Malik Arif, a Quetta-based TV cameraman and Azamat Ali Bangash, a Kohat-based reporter for the same network, were both covering stories at the time of the bombings.

Meanwhile, Zulfiqar Ali, a Dawn columnist, on September 6, 2009, had detailed a multiplicity of ills that had come to afflict the media in Pakistan, blaming "monetary benefits and sensationalism", as well as reliance on unnamed "intelligence sources" for much of the decline in the quality and accuracy of reportage. Crucially, well before the Hamid Mir scandal, he had pointed to a "deepening nexus between militants and journalists".

The media is under unprecedented, multiple and escalating pressures in Pakistan, even as both state repression and terrorism rise. As conditions in the country worsen, however, the media’s role will become even more crucial. Sections of the Pakistani media have displayed extraordinary determination under relentless pressure through decades of relentless crisis, establishing standards of reportage and commentary that are sometimes astonishing. It is not clear, however, how long this fortitude can survive the sheer brutality of the focused attacks against individual journalists and media institutions that appear now to have been initiated; or the increasing proclivity of a new breed of journalists who are eagerly ‘embedded’ with the state’s agencies, or with the terrorists.

INDIA
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Manipur: Another False Peace
Sandipani Dash
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management

A Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement between the Kuki armed groups and the Union Government was signed in August 2005, but has done little to contain violence by these groups. While the agreement with Kuki National Organisation (KNO) and the United People’s Front (UPF), two umbrella organisations of as many as 19 militant groups, continues to hold, the conflict simmers on, with little progress in resolving the Kuki militancy in the Manipur Hills.

Kuki Insurgency related Fatalities in Manipur: 2001-2010

Year
Incidents
Civilians
SFs
Militants
Total
2001
2
0
0
3
3
2002
8
0
0
4
4
2003
10
0
0
20
20
2004
17
0
0
22
22
2005
18
1
1
11
13
2006
18
5
0
7
12
2007
67
3
1
51
55
2008
82
4
0
44
48
2009
43
4
1
20
25
2010*
25
0
0
3
3
* Data till June 6, 2010
Source: South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP)

The violence unleashed by the Kuki armed groups in Manipur has registered an irregular trajectory in 2005-2010 with sharp increase in the years 2007 and 2008. Despite a subsequent deceleration, the overwhelming fratricidal violence remains well above the 2005-06 level.

‘Area domination’ exercise carried out by warring Kuki groups, primarily in the Hills region, have resulted in relentless internecine clashes, almost across the State of Manipur. In a total of 136 Kuki-related insurgent fatalities, at least 69 Kuki insurgents were killed and 16 others wounded in some 29 factional clashes in Senapati, Churachandpur, Chandel and Ukhrul Districts in the Hills and Imphal East and Thoubal Districts in the Valley through 2005-2010 (till June 6). While Senapti was the worst affected District, with 16 recorded clashes, Churachandpur reported nine clashes, while there was one each in Chandel, Ukhrul, Imphal East and Thoubal.

The worst of the intra-Kuki clashes since 2005 include:

July 24, 2007: At least 10 Kuki Liberation Army (KLA) militants were killed in a clash between Bongbal and Rongyang under Yairipok Police Station in Thoubal District.

May 29, 2007: The Zougam faction of the Kuki National Front (KNF) killed five of its cadres, who deserted the outfit's camp at T. Bijang in Churachandpur District.

March 13, 2007: Six Kuki National Army (KNA) militants were killed and another injured in a factional fight with the KNF at Phaijang village in Senapati District.

February 22, 2008: Five Kuki Revolutionary Army (KRA) militants were abducted and subsequently killed by suspected KLA militants along the road leading to Thangal Surung from Ekou Bazar under Saikul Police Station in Senapati District.

May 25, 2008: Four KLA militants and one KRA cadre were killed during an internecine clash at New Saikhul under Saikhul Police Station in Senapati District.

This fratricide has even spread far beyond the State’s territory. On November 12, 2007, for instance, the KRA ‘commander-in-chief’, Thangkeng Hangshing, was killed by alleged cadres of the rival Kuki Revolutionary Army-Unification at his brother’s residence at Sriniwaspuri in the national capital, Delhi.

The ethnic rivalry between Nagas and Kukis adds another lethal dimension to the turf wars in the Manipur Hills. While the large-scale massacres of the early 1990s have not recurred, the faultlines of a festering conflict have remained intact. In the first week of May 2010, the apex community group of the Kuki tribe, the Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM), sent an open letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying the Kuki people also opposed National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah’s visit to his native village, Somdal, in Manipur’s Ukhrul District [Tamenglong, Senapati, Ukhrul and Chandel Districts figure in the projected territory of Nagalim (Greater Nagaland) conceived of by the NSCN-IM]. The KIM letter stated, "His proponents may call him the ‘champion of peace in South East Asia, but he is a Champion of Peace because he was killing over 900 Kukis, uprooting 350 Kuki Villages and rendering over 100,000 Kukis refugees in their own land during the 1990s? (sic)." Though Muivah was forced to defer his visit to his birth place due to the Manipur Government’s decision not to allow him to enter the State and a subsequent intervention by the Union Government, the stalemate still persists, with the Naga insurgent leader insisting that he will go ahead with his visit. Violent protests and counter protests have virtually paralysed normal life across Manipur.

Meanwhile, the Manipur Hills have, over the years, continued to witness sporadic clashes between Naga and Kuki insurgent groups. At least 14 Kuki insurgents were killed by NSCN-IM militants in three clashes in Ukhrul and Tamenglong Districts since 2005. In a major confrontation on September 3, 2007, at least 12 KLA cadres were killed by the NSCN-IM in a forest near Tangkhul Hundung Khunou under the Litan Police Station in Ukhrul District. KLA cadres had earlier hijacked two passenger vehicles from the Maphou Dam area. The clash ensued following the KLA militants’ violation of an ‘understanding’ between the outfits not to intrude into each others’ area of operation without prior information. In retaliation, on September 8, 2007, five NSCN-IM militants were shot dead by suspected KLA cadres between Jotsoma and Khonoma in the Kohima District of Nagaland.

Almost five years of cease-fire have failed to curb extortion and other insurgency-related offences committed by the Kuki militants across Manipur. The Kuki groups continue to extract ‘levies’ and ransoms from residents and transients over the years, targeting Government offices and beneficiaries, educational institutions, commercial establishments, transport agencies, and the wider civilian population alike. According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal, at least 56 extortion cases have been ascribed to various Kuki armed groups since 2005 (a preponderance of such cases go unreported). Manipur Legislator Morung Makunga, on March 10, 2010, confirmed, in the State Legislative Assembly, that militant groups under the truce were not in compliance with the conditions laid down under the SoO agreements, and that such agreements should, consequently, be suspended. The Minister disclosed that Kuki armed groups had been collecting as much as 50 per cent of the compensation given by the Government to land owners at the Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Moreh town in Chandel District along the India-Myanmar border in the Hills. This is confirmed by a trickle of refugees who have fled Moreh under threat of extortion, or of reprisals for refusal to pay.

The Kuki insurgents’ forays outside the Hills have provoked incidents of occasional public protest and even vigilantism in the Valley. In one such incident, on December 22, 2009, two alleged cadres belonging to Prithvi faction of the KNF were reportedly lynched at Nongbrang in Thoubal District. Three women were injured in the attack. Police subsequently clarified that the two persons who were lynched were students belonging to the Kuki community.

On May 24, 2010, employees of the Manipur Sericulture Department demonstrated in front of their office, in protest against the May 20, 2010, abduction of a senior official of their department by cadres belonging to the Military Council faction of the United Kuki Liberation Army at Sangaipat in Imphal East District, for his department’s failure to meet the demand of INR five million. The group had reportedly made the demand nearly a year earlier. Subsequent to the abduction, the outfit had raised its demand to INR ten million. While the Police are yet to trace the abducted official, the Kuki group has denied involvement in his abduction.

The South Asia Terrorism Portal database records that 133 cadres belonging to various Kuki groups have been neutralized by Security Forces (SFs) in Manipur since 2005. While 105 Kuki militants were arrested in 61 search operations, 28 militants were killed in at least 23 standoffs with the SFs. Two civilians and three SF personnel were also killed in these confrontations.

There are 11 designated camps constructed for the cadres of the Kuki outfits under the SoO agreement, in the Manipur Hills. Periodic meetings of the KNO and UPF, representing the Kuki groups, and the Manipur and Union Government, have been held in capital Imphal, the most recent of these on March 25, 2010. However, the KNA, a signatory to the SoO agreement, had declared, in January 2010, its objective of creating an autonomous Kuki State under the relevant articles and provisions of the Indian Constitution. Similarly, the KNF, another signatory to the SoO agreement, raised the demand of separate State for Kukis within the Constitution of India before the Union Home Secretary G. K. Pillai during his visit to Manipur on February 26, 2010.

With little evidence of tribal reconciliation in Manipur, fratricidal turf wars and continuous criminal activities by Kuki groupings even under the cease-fire, there is little possibility of substantive resolution of the Kuki conflict. The collapse of governance in the State and the enveloping milieu of violence can only enormously compound a perverse dynamic that has birthed scores of insurgent groups in this tiny State of 2.4 million people.


NEWS BRIEFS

Weekly Fatalities: Major Conflicts in South Asia
May 31-June 6, 2010

 

Civilians

Security Force Personnel

Terrorists/Insurgents

Total

INDIA

 

Assam

0
0
2
2

Jammu and Kashmir

0
0
8
8

Manipur

0
0
1
1

Left-wing Extremism

 

Andhra Pradesh

0
0
1
1

Bihar

0
0
2
2

Chhattisgarh

0
0
2
2

Jharkhand

1
0
0
1

Maharashtra

0
0
1
1

West Bengal

3
0
0
3

Total (INDIA)

4
0
17
21

NEPAL

0
0
1
1

PAKISTAN

 

Balochistan

2
0
0
2

FATA

7
0
143
150

Punjab

5
0
0
5

Sindh

3
0
1
4

Total (PAKISTAN)

17
0
144
161
Provisional data compiled from English language media sources.


INDIA

Indian Mujahideen declared terrorist outfit: The Union Government declared the Indian Mujahideen (IM), suspected to be a shadow outfit of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), a terrorist organisation. The IM was reportedly involved in the serial bomb blasts in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bangalore and Mumbai. "An order has been issued adding the Indian Mujahideen and all its formations and front organisations to the list of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967," the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) statement noted on June 4. The Government has banned 34 groups under the Act. The IM came to light after the February 23, 2005, blast in Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh). In 2008, it was reportedly involved in several terrorist attacks. Intelligence agencies believe that the outfit is also a closely connected with the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI). The Hindu, June 5, 2010.

Hills Tiger Force reappears in Assam: Another militant outfit masquerading as Hills Tiger Force (HTF) has appeared in Dima Hasao District. The floating of HTF is linked to the raging protest by various non-Dimasa groups across the District against the renaming of North Cachar Hills as Dima Hasao. Community bodies of Zemes, Kukis, Karbis, Jaintias, Hmars, Vaipeis, Baetis and Hrangkhals have opposed the re-naming, apprehending discrimination by the Autonomous District Council and also an exercise to drive non-Dimasas out of the District. Sentinel Assam, June 5, 2010.

India granted access to Headley, says US National Security Adviser: US National Security Adviser James Jones said that India has been granted access to Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operative David Headley. The report adds that a team of Indian investigators has been camping in Chicago for the last four days to question the LeT operative in connection with the November 26, 2008, Mumbai terrorist attacks (also known as 26/11). NDTV, June 5, 2010.

We will fight terror ‘root and branch', says Prime Minister Manmohan Singh: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in New Delhi on June 1, "We will fight against the scourge of communalism and political extremism. We will fight terrorism root and branch. We will ensure that this great, liberal and plural nation of ours is not weakened by hatred and bigotry." He added, "In dealing with Naxalism (Left Wing Extremism), we will pursue a policy that genuinely seeks to address developmental concerns at the grassroots, while firmly enforcing the writ of the State.". The Hindu, June 2, 2010.

Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram asks Naxal-hit States to double Police recruitment: Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram, on June 2, asked Naxal-hit (Left Wing Extremism affected) States to double the capacity of their Police training institutes as also Police recruitment, in order to fight the menace of Left Wing Extremism. Addressing the inaugural function of the 40th All India Police Science Congress at Chhattisgarh State capital Raipur, Chidambaram pointed out how the existing Police vacancy of over 335,000 personnel and dismal Police-population ratio (160 per 100,000 of the population) made the task of securing 1.1 billion people quite difficult. Currently, as against the sanctioned strength of 2,100,000 Police personnel, about 335,000 posts are vacant. PTI News; Times of India, June 3, 2010.

No link between Pakistan militants and Naxals, says CRPF: Special Director General of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Jammu and Kashmir zone, N.K. Tripathi, on June 2, during the passing out parade of the 78th batch of CRPF recruits at the Recruit Training Centre, Humhama, ruled out links between Pakistan-based militant groups and Naxalites (Left Wing Extremists). He also stated that the Force was fully equipped and focusing on new strategies to deal with Naxal problem in the country. "There are no links between them (Pakistan-based militant groups) and the Naxalites… we constantly focus on new strategies to deal with such problems… we are fully equipped to deal with the Naxalites," Tripathi said. Daily Excelsior, June 3, 2010.

Union Government holds talk with NSCN-IM in Nagaland: The Union Government held talks with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) in Kohima on June 1. The representatives of the Government were headed by interlocutor R.S. Pandey, former Chief Secretary of Nagaland, and the 12-member NSCN-IM team by their General Secretary Thuingaleng Muivah. Imphal Free Press, June 2, 2010.


PAKISTAN

143 militants and seven civilians among 150 persons killed during the week in FATA: The Security Forces (SFs) killed 44 Taliban (Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, TTP) militants and injured another 11 in various areas of Upper Orakzai of Federally Administered Tribal areas (FATA) on June 6.

14 militants were killed on June 6 in the ongoing clash between the Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) and the TTP that began in Khyber Agency on June 5.

25 TTP militants were killed and 22 were injured when SFs, backed by helicopter gunships, pounded militant hideouts in the Orakzai Agency on June 5. The SFs also destroyed nine hideouts of the militants in the airstrikes carried out in Ghaljo, Tali, Mamozai, Sephan Dara, Mullah Pati, Toti Mela, Sara Gara and Shakar Tangi areas of Ismail Zai tehsil (revenue unit) in Upper Orakzai Agency.

At least seven militants and two civilians were killed in an armed clash between the TTP and LI militants in the Tabai Bazaar area of Zakha Khel in Landikotal of Khyber Agency.

At least 33 TTP militants were killed during clashes with SFs in different parts of Orakzai Agency on June 2.

Helicopter gunships targeted TTP positions in Teri and Kot Kalay areas in Upper Orakzai, destroying three hideouts and killing 20 militants. Orakzai is the stronghold of TTP chief Hakeemullah Mehsud. Dawn; Daily Times; The News, May 31-June 06, 2010.

Army declares victory in Operation Khwakh Ba De Sham in Orakzai Agency: The Pakistan Army declared victory over militants in Operation Khwakh Ba De Sham (I will see you) in Orakzai Agency of Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) on June 1 and declared that the military operation in the area had been completed and civilians could expect to return home soon. The announcement about the operation’s end was contained near the end of a short press release describing a visit to Orakzai and neighbouring Kurram tribal regions by Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. "Kayani’s visit to Orakzai Agency marks the successful conclusion of operations in the agency," the statement said, adding: "He appreciated the professional conduct of the operation which has cleared the agency of terrorists." The statement also said civilians who fled Orakzai could expect to return home soon. More than 200,000 people are believed to have poured out of the area since the end of 2009.

Meanwhile, a SF official said on June 2 that the total number of people killed in Orakzai since May 1 in action against the TTP was estimated at 719.

Despite the Pakistan Army’s announcement on June 1 of "successful conclusion of the operation in Orakzai Agency", locals and officials said on June 2 that more than half of the Agency was yet to be cleared of the TTP. "The military has cleared only Lower Orakzai, while the situation in upper and central Orakzai has not changed much, as the Army is yet to evict the Taliban (TTP) from these areas. The battle is far from over," locals of Lower and Upper Orakzai said. Dawn; Daily Times, June 2-3, 2010.

Punjabi Taliban have grown dangerous, says Interior Minister Rehman Malik: Interior Minister Rehman Malik, addressing the Senate Standing Committee on Interior on June 2, said that the Punjabi Taliban, holed up in south Punjab, have become more dangerous and are geared up for large-scale sabotage in the country. Malik revealed that the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) had been behind the Marriott Hotel bombing, the General Headquarters attack, the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team and the recent incidents in Lahore.

Meanwhile, the Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said that Interior Minister Rehman Malik’s statement about the Punjabi Taliban was aimed at creating disharmony among the provinces. Daily Times, June 3, 2010.

The final political solution in Afghanistan can involve reformed Taliban in the Government, says US Special Envoy Richard Holbrooke: US Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, in an international conference to discuss non-military ways to help end the Afghan conflict held in Madrid (Spain) on June 6, said that Washington accepts that the final political solution in Afghanistan could involve reformed Taliban in the Government if certain "red lines" are respected. Holbrooke said that the peace jirga (tribal council) in Kabul, in which the Afghan President was given a mandate to negotiate with the insurgents, was an important step in efforts to "reach out" to the Taliban and the US supported that effort. Asked whether that support extended to even top leaders, such as supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, he said, "Let me be clear on one thing, everybody understands that this war will not end in a clear-cut military victory. It’s not going to end on the deck of a battleship like World War II, or Dayton, Ohio, like the Bosnian war," Holbrooke said. "It’s going to have some different ending from that, some form of political settlements are necessary ... you can’t have a settlement with al Qaeda, you can’t talk to them, you can’t negotiate with them, it’s out of the question. But it is possible to talk to the Taliban leaders."

Holbrooke said, if a member of the Taliban repudiated al Qaeda, laid down his arms and worked within the political system to join the Government, "there’s nothing wrong with that". "The door is open and this jirga was a benchmark event on the road to the effort toward reconciliation," he said, but did not specifically mention the leadership. Washington has been wary of overtures to senior Taliban leaders who sheltered al Qaeda before the September 11, 2001, attacks, as opposed to the "reintegration" of the insurgency’s foot soldiers. Daily Times, June 7, 2010.


SRI LANKA

New Tamil political alliance to emerge: Sri Lanka is to see the emergence of a new Tamil political party, with former Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian N. Sri Kantha deciding to register his party, the Tamil National Liberation Alliance (TNLA), as a new party in the country. The TNLA General Secretary, former TNA parliamentarian M.K. Sivajilingam, said that the necessary registration papers would be handed over to the Elections Commissioner this week. The TNLA is hopeful of contesting the Northern Provincial Council election as a new Tamil political front. According to Sivajilingam, the TNLA is planning on holding several rounds of discussions with other Tamil political parties before the elections to explore the possibilities of forming a broad political coalition. Colombo Page, June 3, 2010.


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.

South Asia Intelligence Review [SAIR]

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Dr. Ajai Sahni


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