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SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 10, No. 23, December 12, 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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A
Gradual Healing
Sanchita Bhattacharya
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management
Bangladesh
has experienced a dramatic stabilization over the past
year, though contradictory impulses continue to create
some confusion, particularly in view of the Government’s
decision to retain Islamist elements within the Constitution,
against the ruling Awami League’s (AL’s) secular commitments
in the past. The ongoing War Crimes (WC) Trials and sustained
action against extremist elements have, however, pulled
the country back from what appeared, just years ago, to
be the edge of the precipice, and transformed the profile
of governance in the country.
According to partial data
collected by the South Asian Terrorism Portal (SATP),
there have been no fatalities related with Islamists in
2011, same as in 2010.
By November
6, 2011 the Government had arrested 576 militants belonging
to various Islamist extremist groupings, including the
Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS),
Jama'at-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB),
Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT), and Hizb-ut-Towhid, as against 958
such arrests in 2010, and 23 in 2009. The pattern of arrests
over the year suggests that the principal concentration
has been directed against HuT and Hizb-ut-Towhid, because
of their active penetration into the Bangladeshi society.
A total of 165 cadres belonging to these two outfits have
been arrested in 30 incidents throughout 2011, including
Mahmudul Bari, adviser of HuT
and Rajshahi District Ameer (Chief) of Hizb-ut-Towhid,
Mohammad Mizanur Rahman. These two organisations have
been involved in the aggressive propagation of extremist
Islamist ideologies in the country.
Major Islamist
extremist arrests included:
April 25,
2011: The acting ‘Chief’ of Harkat-ul-Jihad Islami – Bangladesh
(HuJI-B),
Abdul Hannan Sabbir was arrested, along with another extremist,
from a hideout at Keraniganj in Dhaka District.
April 26,
2011: One of the most wanted leaders of HuJI-B, Rahmatullah
alias Sheikh Farid alias Shawkat Osman was
arrested at Tongi Railway Station area of Gazipur District.
May 26,
2011: Three JeI leaders, identified as Abu Jafar Mohammad
Saleh (District Chief), Abdul Kader (sub-district chief)
and Shamim Ahsan (secretary), were arrested from Charduani
Dakhil Madrasa in Patharghata sub-district of Barguna
District.
June 10,
2011: The General Secretary of JeI Alpana unit, Nazrul
Islam alias Mamun, was arrested at West Deka of
Chauddagram sub-district of Comilla District.
August
18, 2011: Moulana Yahiya, the newly appointed Chief of
HuJI-B was arrested along with his two accomplices at
Bhairab in Kishoreganj District.
September
3, 2011: A Majlis-e-Shura (central governing body)
member of JMB, Sohag Talukdar, was arrested from his house
in the Nalchhiti Sub-district of Jhalakathi District.
September
25, 2011: Police arrested a JeI 'chief', Mohammad Jane
Alam, from his residence at Katgor in Patenga in Chittagong
District.
A total
of 22 Left Wing Extremists (LWEs) were killed in
2011 (data compiled till November 6, 2011), as against
46 militants, one civilian and three SF personnel in the
preceding year. The District of Pabna has proved to be
the epicenter of LWE violence, with the maximum number
of incidents taking place there, followed by the Mirpur
and Chaudanga Districts.
Significant
incidents involving the LWE included:
February
2, 2011: The ‘military commander’ of Purba Banglar Communist
Party – Janajudhha (PBCP-Janajudhha),
identified as Hafizul Islam Reza, was killed in Santhia
sub-district of Pabna District.
February
3, 2011: A ‘regional commander’ of PBCP-Red Flag, Abdul
Hamid alias Thosha Hamid, was shot dead by Police
in Ataikula Sub-district of Pabna District.
February
9, 2011: A ‘regional commander’ of PBCP-Red Flag, identified
as Mohammad Azibor Rahman was killed at Chatmohor sub-district
of Pabna District.
April 26,
2011: The Ataikula Unit ‘chief’ of PBCP-Red Flag, Tikka
Khan, was killed in Pabna District.
April 29,
2011: The ‘operational commander’ of PBCP-Janajudhha,
Ziarul Rahman, was killed in Pabna District.
The total
number of LWEs arrested through 2011 was 62.
Bangladesh
had, for years under the preceding Bangladesh National
Party (BNP)-led regime, been in focus for harbouring various
Islamist extremist and terrorist elements, and using these
to disrupt the political equilibrium of the region (South
Asia), with repercussions echoing across the world. Traces
of this troubled past continue to surface from time to
time, despite the Sheikh Hasina Wajed Government’s efforts
to suppress Islamist extremism in the country.
On July
20, 2011, for instance, the US demanded the extradition
of Bangladesh born militants who were recruited and trained
by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Senior officials at the
Pentagon submitted a list of Bangladeshi militants and
demanded their extradition. Earlier, on February 28, 2011,
a Bangladeshi Islamist extremist working for British Airways
had been found guilty of plotting to blow up a plane after
conspiring with US-Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. Since
November 8, 2011 Bangladeshi law enforcement officials
have been on high alert after the Government received
information that the Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT)
was planning attacks in Dhaka and Chittagong.
The ‘Islam
Pasand’ (Islamist) Political parties in Bangladesh are
also getting increasingly involved in such conspiracies.
On January 6, 2011, a Chittagong Court placed Mufti Izharul
Chowdhury, President of a faction of the Islami Oikya
Jote (IOJ, Islamic Unity Front), on a four-day remand
in two cases under the Anti-Terrorism Act and Explosive
Substance Act, for alleged involvement in a HuJI-B plot.
It was also reported, on June 26, 2011, that there was
a possibility that Hizb-ut-Towhid was a brainchild of
the Pakistani Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), as its
founder Bayezid Khan Panni aka Selim Panni frequently
reiterated his support to separatist groups as well as
ISI-backed Islamist terrorists in India. Links between
LeT leader Abdul Majed Bhat and HuJI-B, in the context
of the August 21, 2004 Dhaka Grenade Attack, in which
at least 23 people were killed, have been established
by a Crime Investigation Department (CID) chargesheet
filed in July 2011. It has also been alleged that Abdullah
Khan of the Indian Mujahideen (IM), involved in the Mumbai
blast of July 13, 2011, has been hiding in Bangladesh.
Further, India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) has
revealed that the interrogation of Wasim Akram Malik,
a resident of Jammu and Kashmir and key conspirator in
the Delhi High Court Blast of September 7, 2011, has mentioned
the name of ‘Major Yassir’ a Bangladesh Army deserter,
as a co-conspirator. On August 17, the High Court Bench
of Justice A.H.M. Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik and Justice
Gobinda Chandra Tagore, directed the Bangladesh Government
to form a committee to investigate the nexus between IOJ
Chairman Fazlul Haque Amini and JMB, al Qaeda and Taliban.
Linkage
between Bangladeshi Islamist elements and the United Liberation
Front of Asom (ULFA),
the separatist group operating in the north east Indian
State of Assam have also been disclosed by intelligence
sources. Worse, such linkages went up to the highest levels
of the establishment under the previous Government. On
July 5, 2011, security sources in Dhaka disclosed that
former President Khaleda Zia’s son Tarique Rahman was
a business associate of ULFA chief Paresh Baruah. On September
26, 2011, Bangladesh’s National Security Intelligence
(NSI) agency launched a probe to investigate Baruah’s
financial affairs and investments in the country. Baruah
was also involved in the in-famous Chittagong arms smuggling
case of April 1, 2004. Apart from ULFA, a number of other
Indian extremist groups had their bases in Bangladesh,
but these have been dismantled by the Sheikh Hasina Government,
and a large number of militants and leaders have been
handed over to Indian authorities, while some others remain
in Bangladeshi custody. Baruah and the leadership of several
other groups have escaped into the only surviving safe
haven for north-east Indian rebel groupings along the
Myanmar-China border.
In an unfortunate
shift impacting on the innate character of the country,
the Bangladesh Parliament, on June 30, retained Islam's
status as the 'State Religion' with the passage of the
15th Constitutional Amendment Bill. Thousands of protesters
marched in capital Dhaka against the adoption of an Islamic
Constitution by Parliament, which they believe steered
the country away from the secular political culture enshrined
in the 1972 Constitution. Protestors were enraged by Sheikh
Hasina’s turnaround from the AL’s commitments to a secular
ideology from the moment of the country’s birth in 1971.
The retention of an Islamic character in the Constitution
appears to be motivated by an effort to contain an Islamist
backlash against the Government’s widespread arrests of
the extremist leadership and the WC trials.
The WC
trials, initiated on March 25, 2010, moved forward through
2011. On September 16, 2011, an International Criminal
Tribunal (ICT) confirmed the involvement of JeI 'assistant
secretary-general' Muhammed Kamaruzzaman in ‘crimes against
humanity’ during the 1971 liberation war. Earlier, on
August 10, 2011, the ICT opened its first case against
JeI leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee, charged with atrocities
during the 1971 War of Independence, including genocide
and rape. JeI Chief Matiur Rahman Nizami and secretary
general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed have also been formally
charged for crimes against humanity. On June 15, 2011,
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told Parliament
that, "Permanent and qualitative change will come
by in the country's law and order if the War Crimes trial
ends." She said her Government wanted to hold the
trial of 1971 Liberation War criminals "as a unique
symbol of establishing rule of law and we are trying our
level best to complete the process".
The Government
has also initiated a series of trails connected with the
Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) (formerly Bangladesh Rifles,
BDR) mutiny of February 25-26, 2009. The cases include
the mutinies at Jessore, Chittagong, Dinajpur, Shatkhira
and Dhaka, with trails going on in the Special Courts.
In an important development, on September 12, 2011, the
Special Court-8 sentenced 182 troopers of the Signal Sector
of the erstwhile BDR to rigorous imprisonment ranging
from four months to seven years, and fined each of the
convicts BNR 100 in the Pilkhana Mutiny case.
2011 also
proved productive in terms of the bilateral relations
with India, with an official visit by Indian Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh to Dhaka in the month of September, and
the signing of significant agreements, including long-pending
accords relating to border disputes and the Adversely
Possessed Lands (APLs). The Singh’s visit was also preceded
by that of Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna.
Earlier, in July 2011, it was reported that India and
Bangladesh had launched a joint census to count populations
in 162 enclaves on both sides of the border. On July 15,
2011, the Indo-Bangladesh Joint Survey of APLs along the
Meghalaya-Sylhet frontier resumed amid tight security
at the Sonarhat Border point in Gowainghat sub-district
of Sylhet District.
The signing
of the ‘Bangladesh and India Coordinated Border Management
Plan’, on July 30, 2011, dealing with cross-border smuggling
and human trafficking, was also considered a major step
towards achieving the goal of establishing a ‘safe-zone’
across the Indo-Bangladesh border. On August 14, 2011,
Bangladesh Home Ministry officials disclosed that India
and Bangladesh had, for the first time, prepared strip
maps of their 4,156 kilometer International Border (IB),
towards settling outstanding border disputes. This was
followed by the signing, on September 6, 2011, of the
agreement on the demarcation of the entire land boundary
between the two countries, resolving the status of 162
APLs. During the bi-annual conference of the Indian Border
Security Force (BSF) and BGB, held at Dhaka from September
25 to 30, 2011, the BSF handed over a fresh list of Indian
insurgents hiding in Bangladesh to the BGB, requesting
action.
A sea change,
both in the state’s relations with Islamist extremists
and Indian separatist groupings, and in Bangladesh’s troubled
relations with India, has done much to heal the self-inflicted
wounds that Dhaka has suffered over the past decades.
The shift has been far-reaching in its immediate impact,
bringing an unprecedented stability, both to the regime
and to the broader social and political milieu in the
country. Nevertheless, troubling undercurrents persist,
and a mishandling of the complex forces within Bangladesh
could, once again, revive threats to the tenuous stability
that has been secured over the past years.
Error rectified on
January 31, 2012: Earlier, it
was mentioned that 48 Islamist militants, four civilians
and three SF personnel were killed in 2010.
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Nagaland:
The Vanity of Hope
Veronica Khangchian
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
On November
27, 2011, a deserter from the National Socialist Council
of Nagaland-Unification (NSCN-U),
identified as Herato Sumi, was killed by cadres of the
organization in a four-hour gun fight at Sailhem in the
Peren District near the Assam border. Another deserter,
Vihuto, escaped with bullet injuries. The duo was allegedly
involved in the killing of one Daniel Yeptho at a place
between Tokiye Town and Viyilho village under the Zunheboto
District on November 19. They were also alleged to have
been involved in the shooting and injuring of a Sanskrit
teacher of the Sainik School at Punglwa in Peren District
on November 26.
Reports
indicate that Sumi and Vihuto had been ‘on the run’ since
an incident on November 18 at Tokiye town under Aghunato
sub-division during an hour-long gun battle among NSCN-U
cadres, when a 38-member NSCN-U team went on a touring
patrol in the Tokiye area under the command of “Captain”
Hokugha. Sumi and Vihuto deserted with their weapons after
the gun battle.
The infamous
fratricidal
war amongst the Nagas has escalated
through 2011, both within and beyond the State’s frontiers.
According
to the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) database,
at least 45 persons were killed and three injured in 10
fratricidal clashes in 2011 (all data till December 11).
The number of persons killed and injured in two such incidents
stood at two each, respectively, in 2010.
There were
three fratricidal incidents among Naga groups within the
State, through 2011. On June 4, one NSCN-Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM)
militant, identified as Nechizo of the 'Naga Army' (NSCN-IM's
armed wing) was killed by Naga National Council (NNC)
cadres in the Phek District. Another NSCN-IM cadre was
killed when a group of NSCN-IM cadres attacked a camp
belonging to the NSCN-Khaplang (NSCN-K)
near Old Thewati village in Phek District on March 15.
Two days later, on March 17, ‘Brigadier’ Chipu Menon,
the NSCN-K ‘head’ in Tirap, was killed by another NSCN-K
cadre in the Mon District. Sources indicated that Menon
was summoned from Tirap in Arunachal Pradesh to Mon in
Nagaland by higher-ups, to sort out issues related to
‘organizational management’, which included disciplinary
and financial matters. Menon had earlier been warned to
"abide by the organizational discipline" but
"did not pay any heed."
In the
worst such incident outside Nagaland, intelligence sources
disclosed that over 35 cadres of NSCN-K and NSCN-IM were
killed in the night of February 24-25, 2011, on the Tirap-Myanmar
border. The IM faction lost 30 of its cadres when their
100-strong armed group, trying to enter Tirap from Myanmar’s
Sagiang Division, was ambushed by the rival Khaplang faction.
The Khaplang faction lost about five of its cadres. Again,
on July 13, a fierce shootout was reported between NSCN-IM
and NSCN-K cadres at Kothin, 35 kilometres off Khonsa,
the District headquarters of Tirap District. Security
Forces (SFs), however, could not recover any dead bodies,
though they found blood splattered everywhere. Earlier,
two NSCN-K cadres were injured during a factional clash
on February 28 in Myanmar.
Fratricidal
clashes between NSCN-IM and Zeliangrong United Front (ZUF)
cadres, a new Manipur based Naga militant outfit, were
also reported.
In fact, since its formation on February 25, 2011, ZUF
has been involved in four violent incidents with the NSCN-IM.
As many as six NSCN-IM and one ZUF cadres have been killed,
while six NSCN-IM cadres were injured.
In another
significant development, a group of top leaders of the
NSCN-K, led by Khole Konyak, broke away to form a new
group on June 7, 2011, by announcing the expulsion
of NSCN-K ‘chairman’, S.S. Khaplang. Since the split,
the two factions – NSCN-K and NSCN-Khole-Kitovi – have
been at ‘war’ with each other. Though no violent clashes
have been reported, a war of words has broken out, with
NSCN-K on September 2, accusing ‘chairman’ Khole and ‘secretary’
N. Kitovi Zhimomi of the new faction of having become
‘prisoners of the NSCN-IM’. On July 10, the new faction
had described Khaplang as a ‘Burmese national’ and asked
him not to interfere in Naga affairs.
Meanwhile,
insurgency related fatalities within Nagaland have risen
from just three in 2010 to 10 in 2011. More worryingly,
seven civilians were killed in six incidents in 2011.
There were no such killings in 2010. The last civilian
killing before the spike this year was reported on July
23, 2009. While the number of militants killed remained
the same (three) in both 2010 and 2011, there has been
no SF casualty since May 11, 2008.
Annual
Fatalities in Terrorist Violence in Nagaland: 2000-2011
Years
|
Civilians
|
Security Force Personnel
|
Terrorists
|
Total
|
2000
|
13
|
4
|
84
|
101
|
2001
|
25
|
2
|
76
|
103
|
2002
|
5
|
2
|
29
|
36
|
2003
|
3
|
3
|
31
|
37
|
2004
|
35
|
1
|
22
|
58
|
2005
|
9
|
0
|
31
|
40
|
2006
|
10
|
1
|
81
|
92
|
2007
|
20
|
0
|
88
|
108
|
2008
|
42
|
2
|
101
|
145
|
2009
|
7
|
0
|
11
|
18
|
2010
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
3
|
2011*
|
7
|
0
|
3
|
10
|
Source:
SATP, *Till December 11, 2011
Notably,
fatalities in the State have declined sharply since 2008,
following the signing of the Covenant of Reconciliation
(CoR) by top leaders of the NSCN-IM, NSCN-K, and ‘Federal
Government of Nagaland’–Naga National Council (FGN/NNC)
on June 13, 2009, after a Naga Reconciliation meet held
in Chiang Mai in Thailand from June 1 to June 8, 2009.
The Covenant was reaffirmed on September 18, 2010. The
‘highest level meeting’ of the Naga Reconciliation Committee,
which was to be held during the visit of NSCN-IM leaders
to Dimapur in March 2011, however, could not take place
due to the sudden review
of the decision by the NSCN-K. Unlike in the preceding
two years, following the signing of the CoR under the
aegis of Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR), FNR efforts
were marginalized by intense factional fights during the
year. Nevertheless, on December 5, 2011, members of the
High Level Commission (HLC) of the ‘Naga Concordant’ represented
by leaders from the three groups NSCN-IM, NNC and NSCN-Khole-Kitovi,
reaffirmed their commitment to the Naga Reconciliation
and to remain firm in their pledge to work towards “building
a shared Naga future.” The ‘Naga Concordant’ is a joint
declaration signed by all the six leaders – Isak Chishi
Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah of NSCN-IM, 'General' Khole
Konyak and N. Kitovi Zhimomi of NSCN-Khole-Kitovi and
'Brigadier' S. Singnya and Zhopra Vero of NNC, after they
resolved "in principle", on August 26, 2011,
to work towards the formation of one "Naga National
Government".
Nagaland
also witnessed an increased number of abductions, incidents
of extortion, and other violent acts. Six incidents of
abductions were recorded in 2011, as against two in 2010.
SATP data registers 12 incidents of extortion in 2011,
as against nine in 2010. [Recorded incidents are likely
to be a fraction of actual incidents in cases of abduction
and extortion].
In an incident
of abduction for extortion, on May 10, a business man
was abducted by suspected NSCN-IM militants from the Walford
area in Dimapur District. His bullet-riddled body was
later found in the 7th Mile area of the District
on May 12. According to sources, the abductors had sought
an INR 30 million ransom from the trader`s family. In
another incident, on September 15, unidentified militants
abducted Tushar Mehra, a student, from Dimapur and demanded
INR five million for his safe release. He was released
on September 17. Police claimed no money was paid.
In a daring
act, Naga militant factions demanded that all Nagaland
Government Departments, except the Police and District
administration, pay an 'annual salary tax' for the year
2011, at 24 percent of one month’s pay for a year. This
was revealed to the Police on May 12 by a ‘reliable source’.
Unsurprisingly, a December 8, 2011, media report
stated that various Naga militant factions impose ‘taxes’
on all State Government employees, private businesses
and the general population – with the total pegged at
an estimated INR 13 billion each year. When asked how
such ‘tax collection’ from Government employees continued
unhindered, State Home Minister Imkong L. Imchen stated,
“Unfortunately, some Government employees are collaborating
with the underground groups. We have been taking certain
steps, but I don’t think it would be appropriate to discuss
my strategy with the media.” Earlier, on September 15,
he had informed the State Assembly that a total of 528
persons had been arrested in and around Dimapur and Kohima
from 2008 to June 2011, in connection with extortion.
The State
recorded a total of 56 militant arrests in 2011, as against
76 in 2010. In an important development, on December 7,
2011, SFs arrested ‘major’ S. Johnson, stated to be the
second-in-command of the Oklong camp of the NSCN-IM in
Senapati District. On April 15, two NSCN-K militants,
identified as Tatar (core member) Vihele, and ‘sectional
officer’ Peter, were reportedly arrested by the Assam
Rifles in Forest Colony in Kohima District.
Evidently,
the SFs continued to avoid engaging the militants. No
encounter between the SFs and the militants has been recorded
since April 25, 2008. While the militants continue to
breach the terms of the cease-fire agreements and to strengthen
their armed capacities as well enrich their coffers through
extortion and other crimes, the political masters of the
State have forced the SFs to abide by the “sanctity of
the cease-fire.”
With unabated
factional fights between various Naga outfits, rampant
violations of the CoR, never-ending ‘peace talks’ between
the NSCN-IM and the Government of India with no solution
in sight, rampant extortion, abduction and violation of
ceasefire ground rules, and a reported nexus between rebels
and Government employees, Nagaland remains entangled in
a web of crises, and all hopes of an abiding peace among
the Nagas go in vain.
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Weekly Fatalities: Major Conflicts in
South Asia
December 5-11, 2011
|
Civilians
|
Security
Force Personnel
|
Terrorists/Insurgents
|
Total
|
BANGLADESH
|
|
Left-wing Extremism
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
INDIA
|
|
Assam
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
Jammu and Kashmir
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
Meghalaya
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Left-wing
Extremism
|
|
Chhattisgarh
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Jharkhand
|
2
|
1
|
2
|
5
|
Total (INDIA)
|
7
|
3
|
2
|
12
|
PAKISTAN
|
|
Balochistan
|
4
|
1
|
0
|
5
|
FATA
|
4
|
0
|
15
|
19
|
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
3
|
Sindh
|
5
|
3
|
3
|
11
|
Total (PAKISTAN)
|
13
|
7
|
18
|
38
|
Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
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BANGLADESH
International
Crimes Tribunal fixes December 11 as the date of submission
of charges against JeI leaders: The International
Crimes Tribunal on December 6 deferred the date of
submission of formal charges against four top Jamaat-e-Islami
(JeI) leaders for their alleged involvement in crimes
against humanity during the Liberation War till December
11. Daily
Star, December 7, 2011.
INDIA
'Over
500 killed in Naxal violence this year', says Ministry
of Home Affairs: Over 500 people including 124
Security Force (SF) personnel were killed in 1,476
attacks carried out by Naxals [Left-Wing Extremists]
in various States affected by Left Wing Extremism
till November this year. According to latest Ministry
of Home Affairs (MHA) data, out of the total of 513
deaths, the highest of 182 were in Chhattisgarh, followed
by 137 in Jharkhand, 50 in Maharashtra, 49 each in
Bihar and Odisha, and 40 in West Bengal among others.
It said that Naxals carried out 1,476 attacks targeting
various government and private installations, killing
389 civilians and 124 SF personnel. Outlook,
December 7, 2011.
Naxal
violence destroys nearly 260 schools in 5 years, says
MHA report: Nearly 260 schools have been destroyed
in Naxal [Left Wing Extremism (LWE)] violence in Communist
Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist)-affected States
in the last five years, a Ministry of Home Affairs
(MHA) report said.
IBN Live,
December 7, 2011.
Ministry
of Home Affairs identifies 23 active Naxal outfits:The
Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on December 7,
identified 23 active Naxal [Left Wing Extremism (LWE)]
outfits - other than the Communist Party of India-Maoist
(CPI-Maoist) - and disclosed their names for the first
time that have been operating in different States.
Times of India,
December 8, 2011.
Details
of tax imposition by Naga militants revealed by Tehelka:
Various Naga militant factions impose taxes on all
and sundry-State Government, private business and
people- which has been pegged at around a whopping
INR 1300 crore each year. The known yet untold story
was reported in depth by Tehelka Magazine based on
a 'research' conducted by its reporter Jimi Dey Gabriel
titled 'WAGES OF WAR' posted on the Tehelka.com
website. Nagaland
Post, December 8, 2011.
Northeast
militants procuring arms from China and other South
East Asian countries, says Government: Insurgent
groups in the Northeast are procuring arms in China
and some other South East Asian countries before smuggling
them into India through Myanmar and Bangladesh, Government
said on December 7. "There are reports that insurgent
outfits operating in the Northeastern States of India
have been procuring arms through arms smugglers based
in Yunnan province of China, Myanmar and South East
Asian countries," Minister of State for Home Mullappally
Ramachandran said in Rajya Sabha (upper house of the
Parliament of India). Weapons in small consignments
are then transported either via Myanmar or Bangladesh
to India, he said.
Sangai Express,
December 8, 2011.
Integrated
Action Plan extended to 18 more Districts: The
Union Cabinet on December 7 approved the proposal
to extend the Integrated Action Plan (IAP), a scheme
meant for carrying out development works in Naxal
[Left-Wing Extremism]-affected Districts through local
administration - to 18 more Districts with Andhra
Pradesh getting one-third of it as "peace dividend".
The scheme will now be implemented in 78 districts
across nine Naxal-affected States from the next fiscal
(2012-13).
Times of India,
December 9, 2011.
PoK-based
trust funding terror in Jammu and Kashmir, says NIA:
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has said that
Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) backed and Pakistan occupied
Kashmir (PoK) based Jammu and Kashmir Affectees Relief
Fund Trust (JKART) is funding terror in Jammu and
Kashmir. The agency, which registered an FIR under
various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and
Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), named
two Pakistani nationals who are heading the JKART.
Indian
Express, December 9, 2011.
NEPAL
PAC
members want Maoists to return allowance claimed by
proxy combatants: The members of the Public Accounts
Committee (PAC) of Parliament on December 5 asked
Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai to return the allowance
issued in the name of proxy People's Liberation Army
(PLA) combatants. At the meeting of the parliamentary
committee held at Singh Durbar, the lawmakers expressed
their serious concern over an estimated NPR 1 billion
that was released from the state coffers in salaries
and rations for proxy combatants who are believed
to have deserted the cantonments and did not show
up for the regrouping process. Nepal
News, December 6, 2011.
PAKISTAN
Pakistan
wants to rebuild ties with US, says Prime Minister
Yousuf Raza Gilani: Pakistan wants to rebuild
its ties with the United States (US) despite ongoing
retaliation over deadly NATO air strikes on its troops
in Mohammad Agency, the Prime Minister (PM) Yousuf
Raza Gilani said on December 5, stressing that he
believes "it won't take long" to achieve a new relationship
with its uneasy ally. Dawn,
December 6, 2011.
LeJ
claims responsibility for suicide attack on Shia shrine
in Afghanistan: The spokesman of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
(LeJ) claimed responsibility for the suicide attack
on Shia shrine in Afghanistan, India Express
reported quoting reports broadcast by Radio Free
Europe in Pakistan and by the BBC's Pakistan service.
Indian
Express, December 7, 2011.
US
State Department defends Pakistan aid: The United
States (US) State Department on December 6 defended
aid to Pakistan amid calls from senators for a full
review of whether economic and military assistance
there serves the US national interest, reports Dawn.
Dawn,
December 7, 2011.
Pakistan
has an important role to play in any talks with Taliban,
says Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai: Pakistan
has an important role to play in the Afghanistan peace
process, including in any negotiations with the Taliban,
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai said on December
6, reports Dawn. Speaking in Berlin a day after
Pakistan boycotted a conference devoted to helping
Afghanistan, Karzai said the two countries needed
to work closely together. Dawn,
December 7, 2011.
Deaths
from all attacks by militants fell nearly 20 percent,
claims Pak Institute for Peace Studies:
Pak Institute for Peace Studies has claimed that deaths
from all attacks by militants fell nearly 20 percent.
Nearly 1,700 people were killed in "terrorist" or
"insurgent" attacks through November, according to
the institute, excluding those in Balochistan that
were mostly carried out by nationalists, not militants.
The number of persons killed during the same period
in 2010 were around 2,100. Daily
Times, December 8, 2011.
Bin
Laden was not at Qaeda helm before raid, says US source:
Documents found in the Pakistan home in garrison town
of Abbottabad, where slain al Qaeda chief Osama bin
Laden was killed on May 1-2, show that the al Qaeda
leader was no longer had any role in operations, an
unnamed US expert who reviewed the evidence said on
December 7. The
News, December 8, 2011.
US
needs to tackle Pakistan's clout in Afghanistan, says
US Army Chief General Martin Dempsey: The United
States (US) Army Chief General Martin Dempsey on December
9 said there still are sanctuaries for militants in
Pakistan and that the country's influence in Afghanistan
needs to be tackled, reports Dawn. Dawn,
December 10, 2011.
SRI LANKA
TNA
to name members for PSC after reaching an agreement
with Government: The Tamil National Alliance (TNA)
says it would name representatives to the proposed
parliamentary select committee (PSC) to find a political
solution to the ethnic issue only after reaching an
agreement with the Government. TNA parliamentarian
M.A. Sumanthiran told Colombo Page that the TNA would
put forward names of party members to the PSC after
reaching a consensus on a solution, which in turn
would be presented to the PSC for further discussion.
Colombo
Page, December 6, 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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