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SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 9, No. 45, May 16, 2011
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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Terror
in Allah's Name
Ambreen Agha
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management
"I
heard someone shouting ‘Allah-o-Akbar’ and then
I heard a huge blast," Ahmad Ali, a wounded Frontier
Constabulary (FC) trooper reported, after two suicide
bombers attacked FC trainees on May 13, 2011, in the Shabqadar
tehsil (revenue unit) of Charsadda District, 19
miles from Peshawar, the capital city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
(KP) Province, killing 73 FC personnel and 17 civilians,
and injuring another 140.
Soon after,
claiming responsibility for the attack, the Tehreek-e-Taliban
Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan declared, "This
was the first revenge for Osama's martyrdom. Wait for
bigger attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan." Significantly,
confirming the death of Osama bin Laden on May 2, 2011,
the TTP spokesman had threatened to attack Security Forces
(SFs). “Pakistan will be the prime target followed by
United States (US). The US had been on a man-hunt for
Osama and now Pakistani rulers are on our hit-list as
we also killed Benazir Bhutto in a suicide attack",
the spokesman added in an audio message.
The bin
Laden killing, however, is more a platform than cause
or provocation. The TTP has been executing a relentless
stream of attacks against Pakistani SFs from the moment
of its formation in the wake of the Army’s Lal Masjid
[Red Mosque] operation in 2007, after which suicide bombings
targeting the SFs increased dramatically. An Interior
Ministry report published on September 17, 2007, conceded
that the Lal Masjid military
operation
had caused an increase in suicide attacks on Army and
paramilitary forces. The report also revealed that the
SFs were mostly targeted in KP and Federally Administered
Tribal Areas (FATA). Significantly, the Lal Masjid radicals,
prior to their declaration of a parallel judicial system
to enforce Islamic laws in Islamabad, were trained and
supported by the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI)
to fuel the insurgency in Kashmir, a fact confirmed by
Shuja Nawaz, author of Crossed Swords: Pakistan, its
Army and the Wars Within.
Moreover,
the Charsadda District, which borders Pakistan’s volatile
Mohmand tribal Agency in the FATA, has long been the location
of a major Army
onslaught against the TTP. Further,
Pakistan’s alliance with the US and its, albeit ambivalent,
‘cooperation’ with the US ‘war on terror’ has further
escalated TTP violence against Islamabad and the SFs.
Conspicuously,
on April 3, 2011, TTP spokesman Ehsan had reiterated,
immediately after the Sakhi Sarwar shrine attack that
killed 41 people and injured more than 100, “Our men carried
out these attacks and we will carry out more in retaliation
for Government operations against our people in the northwest."
Four days before Operation Geronimo killed Osama, the
TTP killed nine persons and injured another 64 in two
separate attacks at Naval establishments on April 26 and
April 28. Claiming responsibility for these attacks, the
TTP spokesman had declared, "Security Forces (SFs)
will be targeted in the future as well, because they are
killing their own people in Waziristan and elsewhere on
the behest of the US. Our organisation is still strong
in cities of Pakistan".
Fatalities
in Direct Attacks on Pakistan Armed Forces: 2001-2011
Years
|
No. of Incidents
|
Killed
|
Injured
|
2001
|
1
|
2
|
25
|
2002
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2003
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2004
|
14
|
33
|
38
|
2005
|
9
|
3
|
17
|
2006
|
42
|
128
|
190
|
2007
|
77
|
304
|
427
|
2008
|
59
|
214
|
252
|
2009
|
80
|
327
|
952
|
2010
|
98
|
149
|
365
|
2011*
|
43
|
162
|
316
|
Total
|
423
|
1322
|
2582
|
Source:
South Asia Terrorism Portal [*Data till May 15, 2011]
Between
2001 and May 15, 2011, 423 incidents in which the Armed
Forces were directly targeted, have been recorded, accounting
for at least 1,322 SF personnel killed, and another 2,582
injured. This data includes the fatalities that occurred
as a result of direct attacks either on a military camp,
a Police check post or a SF convoy. Overall fatalities
among the SFs, including a range of other terrorist incidents
in which the SFs were not the primary target, stood at
3,631 over the same period.
Even more
troubling is the fact that, despite the mounting SF fatalities
in terrorist attacks across the country, there appears
to be a substantial extremist infiltration into the military,
and vice versa. Covert state support has hardened and
strengthened extremist elements over the years. Immediately
after the May 13 suicide attack, an unnamed Police official
was reported to concede, “Certainly, the militants have
an effective networking and some insiders may be leaking
information to them.”
More obviously,
there is clear collusion between a range of Islamist terrorist
formations and the Army and intelligence establishment
in Pakistan, even as the SFs struggle to contain ‘renegade’
groups that have escaped or rebelled against military-intelligence
control. The Osama
killing itself, within the garrison
town of Abbottabad and in close proximity to major military
establishments, fairly clearly established the link between
state security structures and the terrorist forces. Pakistan’s
Army and military intelligence apparatus has evident links
with terrorist networks within the country. It is, indeed,
the extremist-terrorist spaces created for state supported
groups that allow the anti-state groups to flourish as
well, since all these are mobilized on a pan-Islamist
ideology of jihad that makes clear distinctions
between cadres of different groups impossible.
Crucially,
it is continuing state support to Afghanistan and India
directed terrorist groupings that provides the context
for domestic terrorism of the TTP variety. Indeed, Admiral
Mike Mullen, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff,
has repeatedly accused the ISI of having ties with the
Afghan Taliban in the Northwest tribal belt, specifying,
further, the links between the Pakistani military intelligence
and the Haqqani network, an al Qaeda allied outfit run
by Sirajuddin Haqqani and based in the North Waziristan
District of FATA. These links have further been confirmed
by statements of Pakistani detainees held at Guantanamo
Bay, disclosed by WikiLeaks. According to the testimony
of one such detainee, Ziaul Shah, his direct supervisor
in the Afghan Taliban was a man named Qari Saleem Ahmed,
the ‘commander’ of the Punjab Chapter of Taliban, who
was reportedly arrested around 1999 for being a member
of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM),
Harkatul Jihad al Islami (HuJI)
and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT)
with “connections to subversive elements of the ISI”.
In another revelation, on April 12, 2011, Pakistani-American
terrorist David Coleman Headley alias Daood Gilani
and Pakistani-Canadian terrorist Tahawwur Hussain Rana,
who allegedly planned and aided the attacks in Mumbai
(November 26, 2008, also known as 26/11), implicated the
Pakistani Government and the ISI in the attack.
In its
second charge sheet in the 26/11 attacks, the US Government
has named a serving ISI officer, Major Iqbal, as a key
conspirator charged with providing funds to Headley. Major
Iqbal, posted in Lahore during 2007 and 2008, was handling
David Coleman Headley on behalf of the ISI. He provided
USD 25,000 and fake Indian currency notes to Headley,
to meet the latter’s expenses during surveillance operations
in India. Headley provided all his surveillance videos
first to Major Iqbal and then to the LeT.
Such revelations
only add to Pakistan’s culture of impunity, with terrorists
often going scot-free. The SFs have, of course, launched
widespread campaigns against the TTP and some other renegade
terrorist factions, including indiscriminate bombing and
artillery barrages targeting civilian clusters across
KP and FATA. Indeed, Chief of Army Staff (CoAS), General
Ashfaq Kayani, in his address at Kakul, the Military Academy
at Abbottabad on April 23, 2011, had boasted,
“The Army has broken the back of militants linked to al
Qaeda and TTP and the nation will soon prevail over this
menace.” The data on fatalities however, does not indicate
any dramatic diminution in the capabilities of anti-Islamabad
formations such as the TTP, even as state supported groupings
such as the Taliban and the LeT, among others, continue
to flourish with visible state support. Despite the rising
instability within, and the escalating international pressure
on Islamabad, it is evident that the terrorist state,
operating in the name of Allah, and its many terrorist
proxies and renegades, remain alive and vibrant within
Pakistan.
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Assam:
A Divided Peace
Veronica Khangchian
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
Even
if the talks fail, ULFA leaders will never return
to jungle life
Hiren
Gohain, convenor of Sanmilita Jatiya Abhivartan
(SJA)
Do not ever pick up guns. You should never take
the path we had adopted.
Pro-Talks
ULFA 'chairman' Arabinda Rajkhowa, February 11,
2011
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Internal
divisions in the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA)
are emerging as a major obstacle in the peace process
in Assam. While ‘chairman’ Arabinda Rajkhowa’s Pro-Talks
Faction (ULFA-PTF) has entered into formal talks for the
first time in ULFA's 31-year-old history, ‘commander-in-chief’
Paresh Baruah’s Anti-Talks Faction (ULFA-ATF) is vehemently
opposing negotiations with the Government.
Central
Government efforts for talks with ULFA began on December
7, 2004, when ULFA was invited for unconditional talks
to end the insurgency in the State, with a letter from
the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) handed over to mediator,
Indira Goswami. Within three days, on December 9, 2004,
however, ULFA rejected the PMO’s invitation for talks,
with ULFA’s ‘commander-in-chief’, Baruah declaring that
the PM’s letter was ‘self-contradictory and confusing’.
On December 10, 2004, the ULFA Pariyal Committee, an organization
of family members of ULFA cadres, criticised the group’s
rejection of the peace offer by the PMO, stating, "By
rejecting the offer, Baruah has closed all avenues of
progress for the State." A succession of subsequent
peace
initiatives also failed to yield results.
However,
after decades of Bangladeshi support to insurgent groups
active in India’s northeast, the Sheikh Hasina led Government
changed Dhaka’s policy and arrested ULFA ‘chairman’, Arabinda
Rajkhowa, and ‘deputy commander-in-chief’ Raju Baruah,
along with the ‘chairman’s’ bodyguard, Raju Bora, in the
country’s capital, on December 2, 2009. Earlier, Bangladesh’s
security agencies had arrested ULFA’s ‘foreign secretary’
Sashadhar Choudhury and ‘finance secretary’ Chitraban
Hazarika from a house in Dhaka’s up-market Uttara locality
on November 1, 2009. The ULFA leaders were handed over
to Indian authorities without fuss, despite the fact that
the two countries are yet to ink an extradition agreement.
A gradual
process of attrition had already decimated the ULFA leadership
over the years. Bangladeshi authorities had arrested ‘general
secretary’ Anup Chetia on December 21, 1997, and ‘vice
chairman’ Pradip Gogoi on April 8, 1998. Founding member
and ideologue Bhimakanta Buragohain, ‘publicity secretary’
Mithinga Daimary and ‘assistant secretary’ Bolin Das were
arrested during military operations in Bhutan in December
2003. ‘Cultural secretary’ Pranati Deka had been arrested
at Phulbari in the West Garo Hills District of Meghalaya
in India on October 25, 2003. After the last spate of
arrests in Bangladesh, Paresh Baruah, who is reportedly
hiding along the Myanmar-China border, the entire top
brass of ULFA had been accounted for.
ULFA had
also suffered a vertical
split in June 2008. Militants of the
‘Alpha’ and ‘Charlie’ companies of the ‘28th
Battalion’ had, on June 24, 2008, declared that they were
parting ways with the parent organisation, and announced
a unilateral cease-fire with the Government. In a statement
distributed at Chapakhowa in Tinsukia District after a
meeting at Amarpur in Sadiya village of Tinsukia District,
Mrinal Hazarika, speaking for the breakaway ‘Pro-Talks’
faction of ULFA, stated:
To
facilitate a congenial atmosphere for the talks,
we are declaring a unilateral cease-fire from June
24, 2008, and we hope our gesture would result in
reciprocation from the Assam Government and the
Government of India.... We have given up our original
demand for sovereignty. We are now looking for an
acceptable solution to our problems within the framework
of the Indian Constitution.
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On October
29, 2009, the Union Government initiated formal talks
with ULFA-PTF. Leaders of PTF, Mrinal Hazarika, Jiten
Dutta and Prabal Neog, held nearly an hour-long meeting
with Assistant Director, Intelligence Bureau, R. N. Ravi,
in Guwahati, in the “first meeting with any Central Government
representative”.
Subsequently,
the new batch of top leaders also joined the peace process
after their release from jail between February 25, 2010
and January 12, 2011. The broadened ULFA-PTF held its
first round of talks with Union Minister of Home Affairs
(MHA) P. Chidambaram on February 10, 2011. At a time when
ULFA has come under its worst existential threat since
its formation on April 7, 1979, the Government – both
at the Centre and the State – has displayed extraordinary
alacrity in pushing for a negotiated solution.
The meeting
with Chidambaram was followed by a full session with senior
Home Ministry officials led by Home Secretary G K Pillai.
Besides Rajkhowa, the other ULFA leaders present included
‘vice-chairman’ Pradip Gogoi, ‘political adviser’ Bhimakanta
Buragohain, ‘foreign secretary’ Shashadhar Choudhury,
‘finance secretary’ Chitrabon Hazarika, ‘cultural secretary’
Pranati Deka, ‘publicity secretary’ Mithinga Daimary and
‘deputy commander-in-chief’ Raju Barua. The ULFA-PTF leadership
started threadbare discussions on the charter of demands
prepared and handed over by the SJA, a forum of prominent
citizens, intellectuals and organisations from Assam,
instrumental in bringing the leadership of the ULFA forward
for talks, to the ULFA-PTF leadership at Guwahati on May
7, 2011. The SJA charter demands constitutional amendments
to give Assam a greater control over her natural resources,
revenue generation, participation in the planning process,
ensuring a secure demographic situation, besides accelerated
and balanced development.
After the
meeting, ULFA 'foreign secretary' Sasadhar Choudhury noted,
“We are here with the aim to resolve the conflict through
political dialogue,” and stressed that the group's core
demand of 'sovereignty' would not be discussed. Choudhury
stated, further, "Through the talks, therefore, we
proposed to evaluate various facets of the Constitution
and to explore the viability of protection and enrichment
of the sovereignty of the people of Assam in all its dimensions
– political, social and cultural, within the flexibility
as mentioned by the Prime Minister."
On February
14, 2011, ULFA leaders met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
for the first time in New Delhi for an informal discussion.
Though no substantive developments were disclosed, the
PM described the discussions as “a good beginning” and
gave “hope for Assam and North East."
A second
round of talks with the Centre is now scheduled to begin
in June 2011. Earlier, the talks had been tentatively
scheduled for the first week of May, but were pushed back
as the Union Government’s condition, that the militants
should deposit their weapons before a substantial dialogue,
remained unfulfilled. The weapons are reportedly in the
possession of two of ULFA’s eight senior leaders (whose
names have not been disclosed), but the outfit is undecided
on whether it wants to ‘double-lock’ the weapons – keep
them in joint custody with one set of keys in the Government’s
possession and the other with the militants. Double-locking
is a ‘standard practice’ that the Government seeks to
impose on surrendered militant groups during negotiations.
Nevertheless, Chidambaram stated, on April 29, 2011, that
the issue of surrender of weapons by the militants was,
in fact, part of the talks.
Meanwhile,
the MHA has released the first instalment of INR four
million in financial assistance to the ULFA-PTF leaders,
including 'chairman' Arabinda Rajkhowa, 'vice-president'
Pradip Gogoi, and others, in addition to an estimated
400 cadres. On April 24, 2011, an unnamed Home Ministry
official claimed, "We have disbursed the money to
the ULFA through the Assam Government. The money has been
given to take care of the daily expenses of ULFA members
and other family requirements." However, on April
26, Arabinda Rajhowa denied receiving any such money from
the Government and claimed that the reports were baseless
and part of a sustained campaign to tarnish the outfit's
image. There was no further clarification on this from
the MHA.
The Centre
and the Assam Government have also agreed to allocate
land to the group in the Nalbari District to set up a
designated camp for its cadres. Officials indicated that
the group’s weapons could be deposited on the double lock
system at this location.
The Government
is also contemplating an offer of jobs to the surrendered
cadres in Central Paramilitary Forces as in the case of
surrendered militants in Jammu and Kashmir. The idea is
to offer something which could help surrendered cadres
into the mainstream, if they fulfilled certain conditions.
Reciprocating the goodwill gesture, the PTF, on March
25, 2011, had announced that another four leaders, Mrinal
Hazarika, Prabal Neog, Jiten Dutta and Jun Bhuyan, would
be a part of the peace process initiated by the central
leadership.
Unsurprisingly,
the Paresh Baruah led ULFA-ATF has rejected the
talks, claiming that the PTF had no right to enter into
any negotiating process. Prior to the February 10, 2011,
talks, Arunodoi Dohotia, ‘publicity secretary’ of ULFA-ATF
had claimed, on February 7, "The decision taken by
the general council to hold peace talks with the Government
cannot be considered legal as the general council itself
was unconstitutional."
However,
Arabinda Rajkhowa had told journalists on February 5,
2011, that ULFA’s general council had held a meeting on
February 2, 2011, and decided to initiate unconditional
peace talks with the Union Government, and that all resolutions
adopted at that meeting had been conveyed to Paresh Baruah.
Further, he insisted that there were no factions in ULFA,
and Baruah was still “our commander-in-chief” and that
he had never directly opposed the peace process.
Rajkhowa’s
claims fall flat in the context of a video clip sent to
local TV channels on January 21, 2011, in which Paresh
Baruah and his followers made it clear that they were
opposed to the 'so-called peace process’. The video clip
contained slogans rejecting the peace talks and reiterated
Baruah’s original demand for an ‘independent’ Assam. One
of the slogans raised was, “We don’t support the so-called
talks….Independence is our birth right and we will continue
with our armed struggle until we achieve our goal.” The
video clip showed over 100 ULFA cadres, including some
women, in uniform, wielding sophisticated weapons.
In an e-mail
to the Press on February 20, Arunudoy Dohotia, added,
further, that Arabinda Rajkhowa and other surrendered
leaders had to sit for talks since they were now under
the control of the "enemy camp".
On March
16, 2011, moreover, Paresh Baruah initiated an all out
effort to revitalise the outfit and, according to intelligence
sources, "promoted" more than a hundred militants.
On April 21, the ATF re-organized its armed wing by dismantling
its existing battalions and bringing all cadres under
the ‘mobile military headquarters’. Again, on April 27,
sources reveal that the group was carrying out recruitment
in the rural areas of lower and central Assam, particularly
from villages in the interior, taking recruits to Myanmar
for training. Intelligence agencies noticed reports of
Baruah procuring weapons from China to strengthen the
outfit’s armoury. According to security sources, at least
150 cadres are still with Baruah in the outfit’s camps
in Myanmar, and a few other are in Assam. Though ULFA
no longer has any camps in Bangladesh, a few elements
belonging to the group remain in hideouts in Bangladesh.
Sources in the MHA also confirm intelligence that the
Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist)
is making efforts to establish a tactical alliance with
the ATF.
The ATF
still has the wherewithal to jeopardize security in Assam.
Five persons were thus injured when the ULFA cadres triggered
an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast at Rajiv Bhavan,
the State head office of the ruling Congress Party, at
Guwahati on March 14, 2011, in the run-up to the Assembly
Elections.
Nevertheless,
on April 8, 2011, Union Home Minister Chidambaram reiterated
his invitation to the ATF to join the peace process. Earlier,
on March 4, Union Home Secretary G. K. Pillai had said
that the Government was expecting Paresh Barua to come
for talks once the formal dialogue process wasa underway.
At the present juncture, however, this appears to be extremely
unlikely.
Nevertheless,
with Tarun Gogoi’s re-election as Chief Minister for a
third consecutive term, there is an air of optimism in
Assam. Talking about his priorities, Gogoi stressed, “I
will try and end the insurgency problem in the State.
I will bring Paresh Baruah and the anti-talks National
Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB)
to the negotiating table.”
This will
be a very real challenge for the Chief Minister. Nevertheless,
given the participation in the election process – 76.04
per cent of the electorate turned out to vote – and the
rising popular exasperation with the unending and directionless
militant violence, there is certainly unprecedented pressure
on Paresh Baruah and the ATF to ‘rationalize’ their stance.
The backdrop in Assam is, today, more amenable to a resolution
to conflict than it has been in decades. Whether or not
the principals in the conflict have the sagacity to seize
the moment, remains to be seen.
|
Weekly Fatalities: Major Conflicts in
South Asia
May 9-15, 2011
|
Civilians
|
Security
Force Personnel
|
Terrorists/Insurgents
|
Total
|
INDIA
|
|
Jammu &
Kashmir
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
Nagaland
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Left-wing
Extremism
|
|
Bihar
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
Jharkhand
|
0
|
0
|
5
|
5
|
Maharashtra
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
4
|
Total (INDIA)
|
6
|
1
|
8
|
15
|
PAKISTAN
|
|
Balochistan
|
7
|
0
|
1
|
8
|
FATA
|
2
|
0
|
19
|
21
|
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
|
21
|
75
|
5
|
101
|
Punjab
|
6
|
0
|
0
|
6
|
Sindh
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
3
|
Total (PAKISTAN)
|
37
|
77
|
25
|
139
|
Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
|
BANGLADESH
BNP
leader Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury threatens War Crimes
investigators: Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)
leader Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury threatened to exact
revenge on the investigators of the International Crimes
Tribunal (ICT) on May 10 during interrogation over his
involvement in crimes against humanity. Salahuddin, however,
claimed that the allegation of War Crimes (WCs) against
him were false. The investigation agency will appeal to
the ICT to quiz him again if need be. Daily
Star , May 11, 2011.
INDIA
Attack
on Indian envoy foiled in Afghanistan: A Pakistani
Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) officer had promised
two hit men PKR 1.2 lakh to kill the Indian consul general
in Afghanistan's Jalalabad Province, spokesperson for
the Afghanistan National Intelligence Agency Lutfullah
Mashal said on May 12. Afghan security services arrested
the two men. "The person, whose name these two Afghans
have given us is Colonel Noman, who is said to be the
ISI's chief officer in North-West Frontier Province (now
known as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)," Mashal said. Times
of India, May 14, 2011.
Wikileaks
reveals more about al Qaeda connections of Tablighi Jamaat:
The Wikileaks based on statements made by the Guantanamo
Bay detainees, revealed that the Delhi based religious
organisation Tablighi Jamaat (TJ) is under increasing
suspicion for having links with the al-Qaeda. According
to the Guantanamo Bay files, al-Qaeda members at various
times had used the network of TJ and often posed as missionaries
to access visas to Pakistan and other destinations, and
used the Jamaat's premises as shelter. PTI,
May 10, 2011.
142
wanted terrorists removed from India's 'blacklist':
The Central Government has removed from its 'blacklist'
the names of 142 wanted terrorists and their associates,
including the heads of various Sikh extremist groups.
The wanted persons whose names have been deleted are believed
to be currently based in countries like Pakistan, the
US, Canada, Norway, France and Germany. The names have
been deleted in two phases after a review of 169 cases
in consultation with the Punjab Government and security
agencies. While 25 names were deleted in August 2010,
117 names were deleted in May 2011, according to the Home
Ministry. Times
of India, May 16, 2011.
Manipur
State Cabinet approves tripartite talks with UNC:
A meeting of the State Cabinet on May 13 has given its
approval to holding tripartite talks involving the United
Naga Council (UNC), the State Government and the Centre
at Senapati District on May 30. The meeting also decided
to communicate with the Union Home Ministry the exact
demand of UNC ahead of the proposed tripartite talk.
Sangai
Express, May 14, 2011.
Jammu
and Kashmir Government gives final touch to its "summer
strategy": The State Government gave a final touch
to its ''summer strategy'' to maintain peace in the Valley.
In meeting chaired by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah the
Government decided to implement the Standing Operation
Procedures (SOPs), which has been approved by Union Home
Minister P Chidambaram with immediate effect.
Jammu and
Kashmir Government sent a list of 20 youths, currently
in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK), to the Centre seeking
their return to the State and their rehabilitation. "We
have cleared cases of 20 persons. The names have been
sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Ministry
of External Affairs (MEA) for further follow up," State
Home Commissioner B. R. Sharma said. Daily
Excelsior, PTI,
May 13-14, 2011.
Pakistan
may send more militants in India after Osama's death,
says Army: The Army on May 14 said Pakistan may sneak
in more militants into Jammu and Kashmir to divert attention
from its "internal problems" after the killing of al Qaida
chief Osama bin Laden. "It is quite likely that Pakistan
under pressure, because of so many questions being asked
(about Osama), could adopt a strategy of diverting attention
which they have always done," General Officer Commanding-in-Chief
of Army's northern command Lieutenant General K. T. Parnaik
told reporters. Times
of India, May 15, 2011.
Government
plans to recruit 20,000 more women in paramilitary forces
in 3-5 years: The Government has decided to recruit
20,000 more armed women personnel in Central Paramilitary
Forces (CPMFs) in the next three to five years. With this
the women will comprise 5% of the total strength of CPMFs.
As of now, it is not even 1% of the total strength of
all the CPMFs together. Times
of India, May 13, 2011.
India
releases dossier linking 26/11 plotters with ISI:
The Indian authorities on May 9 released detailed dossiers
on five Pakistani nationals, including a serving Major
of Pakistani Inter services Intelligence(ISI) who have
been charge sheeted by US authorities in connection with
the 26/11. The individual identified as 'Major Iqbal'
also figures in a US charge sheet accusing him of being
one of the conspirators behind 26/11. Times
of India, May 10, 2011.
NEPAL
Maoists
still on UN watch list for using child soldiers:
The United Nations (UN) continues to list Unified Communist
Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M) "as a party to conflict
using child soldiers" in its latest report. The Secretary
General's report on Children and Armed Conflict presented
before the UN Security Council on April 23 has included
Maoist in the list of 52 armed forces from Asian and African
countries that recruit or use children, kill or maim children
or commit sexual violence against children during the
armed conflict. This is the sixth annual report that has
put the Maoists on a watch list for using minors.
ekantipur, May 14, 2011
Government
proposes one-year CA term extension: The Government
on May 12 registered a proposal in Parliament to amend
the Interim Constitution and extend the tenure of the
Constituent Assembly (CA) by one more year. The proposal
seeks to amend Article 64 that states that the tenure
of the CA would expire three years after its first sitting
- to "four years" from the first sitting held in May 28,
2008. The Bill says that Article 82 of the Interim Constitution
envisages that the responsibility of the CA would cease
only after a new constitution comes into effect.
ekantipur, May 13, 2011.
PAKISTAN
75
SFs personnel and 21 civilians among 101 persons killed
during the week in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: 90
people, including 73 paramilitary forces and 17 civilians,
were killed when twin suicide bombers attacked Frontier
Constabulary (FC) personnel as they were about to leave
from a FC training centre in the Shabqadar tehsil
(revenue unit) in Charsadda District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
on May 13.
The Security
Forces (SFs) killed three militants, including a would-be
suicide bomber, during an operation in Mula Banda area
of Munda tehsil in Lower Dir District on May 10.
A bomb
attack targeting a court in Nowshera District killed four
persons, including two Police constables, and injured
four others including two Policemen.
Dawn;
Daily
Times; The
News, Tribune;
May 10-16, 2011.
Documents
recovered from Osama bin Laden's hideout reveal potential
terror targets: The private journal and other documents
recovered from Osama bin Laden's hideout in Abbottabad
revealed that he intended to target Americans through
trains and planes. Osama had urged to kill more Americans
in a single attack and to drive them from the Arab world.
Dawn,
May 13, 2011.
LeT
trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction with help
from al Qaida: One of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT)'s most
important leaders who was indicted by the United Sates
(US) Treasury Department for the July 2006 Mumbai train
bombings, Arif Qasmani, is trying to acquire biological
weapons and anthrax through his al-Qaida links. The interrogation
report of a Pakistani businessman and Guantánamo Bay detainee,
Saifullah Paracha, has revealed that LeT was in touch
with a US-based "al-Qaida anthrax operative'' as it tried
to acquire weapons of mass destruction. Times
of India, May 11, 2011.
Osama
had some support networks inside Pakistan, says US President
Barack Obama: US President Barack Obama said that
he thought that "there had to be some sort of support
network for [Osama] bin Laden inside of Pakistan". He
said, "We don't know whether there might have been some
people inside of government, people outside of government,
and that's something that we have to investigate, and
more importantly, the Pakistani government has to investigate."
He added that there were not only individual terrorists
in Pakistan but "also a climate inside of Pakistan that
sometimes is deeply anti-American. And it makes it more
difficult for us to be able to operate there effectively."
The
Hindu, May 10, 2011.
Pakistan
bribed British Parliamentarian for promoting its case
on Kashmir: Pakistan Government paid British
Parliamentarian George Galloway 135,000 pounds from a
secret fund for promoting its case on the Kashmir issue.
The issue came to light when the Public Accounts Committee
(PAC) of the National Assembly or Lower House of Parliament
examined an audit report on May 11. The amount was paid
to him from the "Pakistan projection fund" by the Pakistan
High Commission in London but it was never credited to
the Government account. Daily
Excelsior, May 12, 2011.
ISI
chief admits 'failure' over Osama bin Laden operation
and offers resignation: Inter Services Intelligence
(ISI) Director General Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja
Pasha on May 13 'surrendered' himself before Parliament
for accountability after conceding intelligence failure
of the agency in the Abbottabad operation in which al
Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was killed by US Special Forces
on May 2.
Prime Minister
Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on May 9 asserted in Parliament
"the war against terrorism is our own national priority''
and described the ISI as a "national asset'' which has
full support of the Government. Daily
Times, The
Hindu, May 10-14, 2011.
Secret
deal sanctioned US raid against Osama, indicates report:
Pakistan struck
a clandestine deal in 2001 that allowed the United States
(US) to carry out a unilateral raid on its territory similar
to May 1-2 raid that killed the al Qaeda leader Osama
bin Laden, Guardian reported on May 9. The agreement
was finalised between then military ruler Pervez Musharraf
and US President George W. Bush after Osama bin Laden
eluded capture in Afghanistan's Tora Bora mountains, the
newspaper said, citing serving and retired Pakistani and
US officials. Under the terms of the agreement, Pakistan
would allow US troops to conduct a raid inside Pakistan
in search of Bin Laden, his second in command Ayman al
Zawahiri, and the group's third-ranking official.
Tribune,
May 10, 2011.
Ilyas
Kashmiri to head al Qaeda, reveal US media reports:
Pakistan Army's commando-turned global terrorist
Mohammad Ilyas Kashmiri could succeed Osama bin Laden
as the chief of al Qaeda. It was reported that Kashmiri
may succeed bin Laden as Ayman al-Zawahiri the presumed
successor, is deeply unpopular in some circles and his
elevation is by no means guaranteed.
Times
of India, May 12, 2011.
Ministry of Defence seeks 18% rise in defence budget:
The Ministry of Defence sought an increase in the
PKR 495 billion defence budget proposed by the Ministry
of Finance to PKR 524 billion, or 18.4 per cent more than
the budget for the outgoing fiscal year. The chairperson
of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance
Fauzia Wahab said the defence budget can be increased
up to three per cent of the total size of the economy,
while the proposed budget is 2.5 per cent of GDP.
Tribune,
May 12, 2011.
SRI LANKA
President
says LLRC report would be credible unlike Darusman report:
Sri Lankan President Mahinda
Rajapaksa on May 10 said the report of the Lessons Learnt
and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) would be credible
unlike the Darusman report (the report of panel of experts
appointed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon). The President
also said that the term of the Commission had been extended
following a request made by it, as the Government was
keen on ensuring the credibility of the LLRC report.
Colombo
Page, May 11, 2011.
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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