Eight Afghan Local Policemen (ALP) were killed and eight others were injured in a clash with Taliban militants in Dara-i-Sauf Payeen District of Samangan Province on October 4, reports Pajhwok Afghan News.
Four Taliban militants were killed and three others were injured, and 60 landmines were recovered and neutralised in Awkal village of the Shindand District in Herat Province, reports Pajhwok Afghan News on October 5.
Six militants of Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) were arrested from different places, reports Dhaka Tribune.
In Jhenaidah District of the Khulna Division, Police arrested three JMB militants from a hotel in Jhenaidah town on October 3. The arrested are Abu Sayed Ansary, 23, Urmi Khatun, 21 and Habibur Rahman, 25. Police recovered two firearms and some Jihadi books from the spot.
In Joypurhat District of Rajshahi Division, Police arrested three JMB militants from Matirgarh area of on October 4. The arrested are Nur-e Alam alias Prince, 28, Azizar Rahman, 52, and Nur Mohammad, 32. 14 cocktails and some locally made guns were recovered from them.
Police arrested four militants of Allah'r Dal from Meherpur town of Meherpur District in Khulna Division on October 2, reports The Daily Star. The arrestees are Abdul Hamid, 32, Jahidul Islam, 22, Tipu Parvez, 22 and Sohel Rana, 22. Police recovered three petrol bombs, eight cocktails, some bomb making materials, three machetes and leaflets of the organisation from their possession.
Police thwarted a Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) bid to target security personnel by defusing two powerful Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) near Charla in Bhadradri Kothagudem District in Telangana on October 4, reports The Hans India. According to Police, the explosives weighing around 5 to 6 kilograms were fitted inside a tiffin box and pressure cooker with other materials used in the IEDs. A team of central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Special Police Party engaged in combing operations found the IEDs buried under a road near Taliperu Medium Irrigation Project left canal. Superintendent of Police (SP), Sunil Dutt said, the IEDs were powerful and could have caused severe impact if remained hidden. Later, the Police exploded the IEDs to neutralise them.
The Police seized immovable property of a Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadre, identified as Jharilal Mahato, in Giridih District on October 4, reports The Week. Mahato had earned huge property in the form ‘levy’ (extortion money) collected in the name of top Maoist leaders, Superintendent of Police (SP), Surendra Kumar Jha said. The immovable property of Mahato were worth crore of rupees, the Police said. Among the immovable property, Mahato had land at several places in the District including Dumri, the SP said adding that Mahato’s huge land was identified and seized in Dumri. The administration has also imposed ban on sale of the land, he said. Police had registered cases against Mahato in Pirtand Police Station in 1999 and 2008 under relevant sections in connection with Maoist activities as well as explosive act.
The Security Forces (SFs) conducted a raid and arrested two persons, identified as Shakir Ahmad Wani and Ghulam Mustafa Sheikh, for links with Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) who were providing logistics to the outfit and luring youth into militancy from Lolab in Kupwara District on October 3 night, reports Daily Excelsior. Shakir is a Border Security Force (BSF) jawan (trooper) posted outside the State and was on leave when he along with his associate was arrested by the SFs. A Police spokesman said that, “A pistol was recovered from them and the module was engaged in providing logistics support to militants apart from luring youth into militancy. A case (FIR number 77 under relevant sections of law) has been registered and further investigation is going on”.
Meanwhile, Tral area in Pulwama District on October 4 observed shutdown against booking of a shopkeeper under Public Safety Act (PSA), adds Daily Excelsior. A shopkeeper Hilal Ahmad Dhobi of Hamdania Bazar Tral was booked under PSA on October 1 and was sent to Jammu jail. Police said he was working as over ground worker (OGW) for HM.
A shutdown was also observed for the sixth consecutive day on October 4 in Qoimoh area of Kulgam District against the establishment of a new army camp at Redwani village, reports Daily Excelsior. Shops and business establishments remained closed and traffic was off the roads in Qoimoh, Khudwani, Redwani, Ghat, Hawoora and Mishpoora areas of the Kulgam District.
Seven cadres of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), including a female cadre, surrendered before Inspector General of Police (IGP), Bastar Range, Vivekanand Sinha in Bijapur District of Bastar division in Chhattisgarh on October 4, reports Newsonair. The surrendered Maoists, whose identity was not yet revealed, had reward on their head, also handed over a rifle and a hand grenade to the Police. Police said that the surrendered Maoists will be provided necessary assistance as per the rehabilitation policy of the State Government.
Meanwhile, the Maoists released the student abducted by them on October 5, after hundreds of tribal students in different parts of Sukma District of Chhattisgarh walked out of their schools to take out rallies in protest against the abduction, reports The New Indian Express. The students sent out a warning saying that they would sit on a hunger strike till the student was released, which finally led to the Maoists giving in to the demands of the students and releasing the boy. “The boy was safely released by the Naxals [Left Wing Extremists, LWEs] who responded positively to the students' appeal for his freedom,” a senior Police officer said. The boy was abducted when he was returning from Bhejji to his home at Konta in Sukma District on October 3.
With the Multi-Agency Centre (MAC), an intelligence-sharing ‘Fusion Centre’, suggesting a new trend in Jammu and Kashmir where former militants are again joining the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), the top security brass has advised forces on the ground, including the Army, to keep tabs on such elements in their respective operational theatres, reports The Tribune. Following the input received by MAC, an advisory was sent to the Army, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), J&K Police and the CID to corroborate the information, sources said.
“In their respective responses, the Army and the CRPF contended that they had nothing to share on the input. But the CID and the J&K Police confirmed that as per their records, six militants, who had come through Nepal and surrendered in the Valley, had again joined militancy,” said a Senior Officer. As per the details provided by the CID and the J&K Police, surrendered militant Mohammad Iqbal Ganie, a resident of Anantnag, had joined the LeT on May 5, 2018.
Meanwhile, sources said based on intelligence inputs, former militants — Mohammad Shafeeq Bhat of Batamaloo, and Rahi-ul-Amin Dar of Kulgam, were back on the radar of the security agencies. The trend of former militants joining militancy is being taken seriously and a detailed exercise has been started to ascertain more such cases so that remedial measures are taken, sources said.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) investigating the nexus between the arrested Hawala (illegal money transfer) operative—Mohammad Salim (62) and terror funding network spread in India; the NIA confiscated the computer data from Salim’s employer [Salim worked in a garment company] for further investigation, reports The Times of India on October 5. On September 25, the NIA cracked an alleged terror funding module having ties with terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)’s front organisation Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation (FIF), and Mohammad Salim—resident of Kuchaman City in Nagaur district of Rajasthan.
After more than a year in exile, the Jumhooree Party (JP) leader Gasim Ibrahim along with his family, returned to the Maldives and was greeted by the President-elect Ibrahim Solih at the airport on October 4, reports Maldives Times. Gasim Ibrahim was allegedly found guilty of attempted bribery and sentenced to more than three years in Prison in August 2017. Later, Gasim was granted medical leave to seek treatment in Singapore, from where he secured a ‘special permit’ from the German government to travel to Frankfurt in Germany. On September 30, the High Court ordered Gasim’s release pending a judgment on the appeal of his bribery conviction. The bail amount was set at MVR70,000 (USD 4,500).
In a bid to pressure the authorities, a group of rights activists led by Ram Kumar Bhandari collected items belonging to over 100 disappeared persons for exhibition titled 'Memory, Truth and Justice', reports Republica on October 4. Family members have preserved items of clothing, household weapons, books, letters and other belongings of the disappeared. The exhibition will continue for a week. The items will then be returned to the respective families. “When the government's mechanisms turn dysfunctional such things remind them of the plight of the conflict victims and create some pressure. We will keep collecting such mementos in the coming days also so that the authorities will listen,” said Bhandari.
Meanwhile, amid the failure of the federal government to provide reparation to the victims of Maoist insurgency, local governments in Bardiya District ofProvince No. 5 have started naming local infrastructure after the deceased and disappeared, and felicitating the victims’ families, reports Kathmandu Post on October 4. The District’s Barbardiya Municipality has named seven major roads after victims, either killed or forcefully disappeared, during the decade-long insurgency. Municipality Mayor Durga Bahadur Tharu told, “It is our duty to pay tribute to our martyrs who gave their lives to bring about huge political and social changes in the country. This move could provide some relief to their families who are waiting for justice for more than a decade.”
Separately, Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Chief Surya Kiran Gurung speaking at a function in Kathmandu on October 4 has complained that the Government's delay in providing necessary funds and staffers for the transitional justice mechanism has hindered investigation into war-era cases, reports Republica. He said “We have been repeatedly asking the government to allocate adequate resources and staffers but in a vain. This has seriously affected our work.
Earlier, Rastriya Janata Party Nepal (RJPN) leader Rajendra Mahato speaking at a press meet held at Rajbiraj on October 3 has stated that the incumbent two-thirds majority government should consider amendment in the new constitution, reports The Himalayan Times. Mahato stressed the need for revising the national statute taking into consideration the sentiments of the Madhesh-movement. He said that the government should consider constitution amendment, holding swearing-in ceremony for lawmaker Resham Chaudhary, and revoking the cases of RJPN cadres who have been detained on false charges.
Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) leader Maulana Ismail Derwish who was the former amir of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) for District Peshawar, and his Police guard were gunned down by unidentified motorcyclists in Chairman Daftar area on Phandu Road of Peshawar, the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, reports The Express Tribune. One Police official said that Derwish was traveling in a Khyber car along with his guard Ayub when the attackers opened fire at them in Chairman Daftar area. “The gunman was killed on the spot while he [Derwish] was critically wounded, and later succumbed to his injuries at Lady Reading Hospital,” said the official, adding that it was clearly a target killing incident. Derwish, who was also reportedly contesting by-elections from PK-78 as ASWJ candidate, had served multiple times as the party’s provincial chief.
President Maithripala Sirisena on October 3 said the occupied lands in the North and East should inevitably be returned to the rightful owners and instructed the relevant authorities to sort out the problems and complete the process to release the lands before December 31, reports Colombo Page. The President instructed the officials when the Presidential Task Force on Development of the Northern and Eastern Provinces met for the third time at the Parliamentary Complex. The President gave further instructions to prepare a proper timeframe to launch the relevant program and present the progress of the program at the next Presidential Task Force meeting next month. Special attention was focused on releasing military occupied buildings and lands belong to schools in the North and East. The President, noting that people in certain areas of the Trincomalee district, are facing a severe water shortage inquired about the program being implemented to resolve the drinking water issue.