Troubling Prospects | Assam: Another Faultline | South Asia Intelligence Review (SAIR), Vol. No. 11.33
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SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 11, No. 33, February 18, 2013

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


AFGHANISTAN
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Troubling Prospects
Ajit Kumar Singh
Research Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management

Addressing the Congress during the annual State of the Union speech in the night of February 12, 2013, United States (US) President Barack Obama declared, “America will complete its mission in Afghanistan and achieve our objective of defeating the core of al Qaida”. Outlining his latest Afghan policy he stated,
Already we have brought home 33,000 of our brave servicemen and women. Over the next year, another 34,000 American troops will come home from Afghanistan. This drawdown will continue. And by the end of next year, our war in Afghanistan will be over. This spring, our forces will move into a support role, while Afghan security forces take the lead. Beyond 2014, America’s commitment to a unified and sovereign Afghanistan will endure, but the nature of our commitment will change. We’re negotiating an agreement with the Afghan Government that focuses on two missions: training and equipping Afghan forces so that the country does not again slip into chaos and counterterrorism efforts that allow us to pursue the remnants of al Qaida and their affiliates. Today, the organization that attacked us on 9/11 is a shadow of its former self.

The number of US troops on Afghan soil, which had peaked at about 101,000 in 2011, is presently estimated at around 66,000. With another 34,000 troops leaving in a year, just 32,000 troops will remain in Afghanistan. A studied ambiguity has been maintained over the residual number of troops that may remain after 2014. However, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, US Army General Martin E. Dempsey, stated on February 9, 2013, “we’re not going from number to mission, we’re going from mission to number”, and that the mission in Afghanistan would determine the number of American troops to be deployed there after 2014. Dempsey added, “I will not at any point ask 10,000 troops to do 20,000 troops’ work.” The post-2014 missions is thought to necessarily include some continued counter-terrorism effort against transnational global threats; the training of, and advice and assistance to Afghan troops; and provision of support to other US Government agencies working in Afghanistan.

The ‘drawdown’ of NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops follows a comparable pattern. The present strength of ISAF is 102,052 (including 66,000 US troops) as against a high of 140,000 in 2011. There is no clarity on ISAF troop strength in Afghanistan after 2014. The phased withdrawal of ISAF troops is being done in accordance with the Inteqal (Transition) Framework defined at the London (UK) and Kabul conferences on Afghanistan in 2010. Under the Inteqal Framework, the international community’s civilian and military representatives decided to shift their responsibilities to the Afghans, and to increasingly limit themselves to a supporting, mentoring, and eventually sustaining role in security, governance and development.

"Green-on-blue" attacks (Afghan Forces attacking ISAF personnel) have escalated considerably over the past two years, and can be expected to have an adverse impact on the projected US and ISAF mission. At least 60 ISAF personnel were reported killed in such attacks just through 2012, as against just 10 ISAF fatalities in six "Green on Blue" incidents in 2009; 20 fatalities in six incidents in 2010; and 25 fatalities in 21 incidents in 2011.

Meanwhile, violence continues, albeit with some diminution. According to partial data compiled by the Institute for Conflict Management, at least 5,162 terrorism-related fatalities were recorded in Afghanistan in 2012, as compared to 8,942 in 2011. The first 47 days of the current year have already recorded 352 fatalities.

Terrorism-related Fatalities in Afghanistan: 2007-2013

Year

Afghan National Army
Afghan National Police
ISAF
Civilian
Militant
Total

2007

278
688
232
1523
4500
7221

2008

259
724
295
2118
5000
8396

2009

292
639
521
2412
4610
8474

2010

821
1292
711
2777
5225
10826

2011

511
569
566
3021
4275
8942

2012

229
262
382
1573
2716
5162

2013

32
53
8
116
143
352

Total*

2422
4227
2715
13540
26469
49373
Source: Institute for Conflict Management, *Data till February 17, 2013

Though fatalities have declined continuously since 2010, terrorist formations, including the Mullah Mohammad Omar-led Afghan Taliban, the Haqqani Network and the Hizb-i-Islami – Gulbuddin (HIG), continue to control large swaths of territory. NATO troops have, nevertheless, succeeded in limiting the extremist proliferation in the South. The militants, however, have not been defeated, and have consolidated their presence in much of North and Central Afghanistan. Moreover, the terrorists have retained the wherewithal to strike at will, a capability they demonstrated repeatedly in major attacks through 2012, most prominently including:

October 26: A suicide bomber detonated explosives outside a mosque killing 41 people and injuring 56 others in Maymana, capital of the Faryab Province.

October 1: Three US soldiers, the head of the Provincial Rapid- reaction Police Force, Mubarak Shah, and 12 civilians were killed, and 61 others were wounded, when a suicide bomber blew his explosive-packed motorcycle in Khost city, the capital of Khost Province.

September 18: Eight South Africans, a Kyrgyz citizen, all working for a local aviation company, along with three Afghan civilians, were killed, and 11 others were injured, when a suicide car bomb targeted a minibus carrying the aviation staff near Kabul airport.

September 14: 14 militants and two US Marines were killed and eight coalition jets were destroyed or damaged when the Taliban launched a massive attack against Camp Bastion, a main Coalition base in the north-west of Lashkar Gah, capital city Helmand Province.

September 4: At least 25 people were killed and 65 were injured in a suicide bombing in Dur Baba District of Nangarhar Province.

August 14: About 36 people were killed and 110 were injured in a coordinated shooting and suicide bombing in Zaranj, capital of the Nimroz Province.

August 13: Ishkamesh District Mayor Abdul Aziz, and Takhar High Peace Council (HPC) member Haji Hashim and three others were killed in a roadside-bomb attack in Takhar Province. Local officials blamed the bombing on the Taliban.

June 21: At least 23 people, including 14 civilians, three hotel guards, five Taliban militants and one Afghan Policeman, were killed in a gunfight, between militants and Security Forces (SFs), which occurred following the seizure by terrorists of the Spozhmai Hotel, outside Kabul, in the night of June 21.

June 1: Taliban militants detonated an explosives-laden truck near the gate of Camp Salerno in Khost. At least two US troopers and five civilians were killed in the explosion while 125 others, including 100 US service members were injured. 14 militants were also killed in the gun battle that followed.

May 2: Eight civilians and four suicide bombers were killed and 17 persons were injured when Taliban carried out an attack against a civilian-military Coalition camp in eastern Kabul.

February 27: Nine people were killed and another 12 were injured in a suicide car bombing at an airport in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar Province.

January 18: At least 14 people, including a NATO soldier, were killed and another 22 were injured in a suicide attack in Helmand.

Worryingly, reports indicate that the terrorist formations are uniting, dangerously, across AfPak borders. Hakimullah Mehsud, the chief of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), thus declared, “We are Afghan Taliban and Afghan Taliban are us. We are with them and al Qaeda. We are even willing to get our heads cut off for al Qaeda.”

Unsurprisingly, there are concerns that the ‘spring fighting season’ of 2013 may be bloodier than last year. Indeed, Afghan Taliban warned, "The Afghans should be granted control, choice of government and sovereignty of their country. If not, then our sacred jihad will intensify and forge ahead successfully even if one foreign soldier is present in our country..."

2013 is the first ‘fighting season’ in which the 352,000-strong Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) will be in the forefront of the counter-terrorism effort, leading 90 percent of all operations and already “protecting more than 75 percent of the (Afghan) population”. Though the Government claims that the ANSF, which demonstrated exemplary fighting effectiveness in June 2012, is “completely ready” to take on the militants, it remains to be seen how Afghan Forces perform without direct ISAF backing.

ANSF has already started accounting for the bulk of casualties. General Dempsey thus noted: “Every Sunday, John Allen [General John R. Allen, former ISAF Commander] has a memorial service outside his headquarters to remember the soldiers who were lost in the past week. This past Sunday [February 3, 2013] was the first service he held since he was commander where there wasn’t a single ISAF… soldier killed in action. First week in 19 months. However, there were 25 Afghan soldiers killed.”

Meanwhile, the much-talked-about peace talks have floundered. While “there are no active negotiations now” with the Taliban, General Dempsey has conceded, “there will be irreconcilable parts of the Taliban that are just so ideologically skewed that the idea of any concessions is just anathema to them”. Significantly, a number of Afghan Taliban officials and militants freed by Pakistan, purportedly to help bring peace to Afghanistan, have rejoined their colleagues in waging war against Kabul and the Western Forces. A February 9, 2013, Washington Post report thus quoted US, Afghan and Pakistani officials to observe, "Pakistan's release late last year of several imprisoned Taliban officials and fighters, which it advertised as a good-faith effort to help bring peace to Afghanistan, is now prompting questions about whether the gesture has yielded anything but potential new dangers for NATO and Afghan troops." A Pakistani security official confirmed that 18 men were freed and described them as junior to midlevel Afghan Taliban militants, including ‘field commanders’ and foot soldiers.

America’s ‘drawdown’ is taking place at a time when a troubled Afghanistan has been tainted by large-scale corruption (the country ranked 174th out of 176 in the 2012 Corruption Perceptions Index), and capacities for governance remain deeply suspect. Though apprehensions of an abrupt collapse, comparable to events in the aftermath of the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, have receded, the uncertainties of the situation are monumental. Worse, the future of Afghanistan remains as intimately tied to global peace and stability as has been its recent past. If the Western powers leave chaos behind in this unfortunate country, it is likely to follow them home in their baggage trains.

INDIA
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Assam: Another Faultline
Giriraj Bhattacharjee
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management

On February 12, 2013, at least 20 persons were killed in Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council (RHAC) areas in Goalpara District, Assam, as violence engulfed the region during the third and final phase of Panchayat (village Self-Governing body) elections in Assam. While 13 people died as a result of Police firing, when violent mobs comprising the Rabha people attacked polling centres and polling teams in RHAC areas, another seven were killed in clashes between Rabha and non-Rabha groups on the same day.

Chief Minister (CM) Tarun Gogoi, however, put total fatalities at 19, adding that about 70 persons, including 30 Policemen, were injured, while over a 100 houses were burnt during the violence. Till February 17, 2013, over 17, 949 people had taken shelter in 20 relief camps as the violence triggered an exodus of people from villages in the affected area. The Army was deployed to help Police and Central Paramilitary Forces (CPMFs) maintain order in the region.

The first phase of Panchayat polls held on January 30, 2013, in the Districts of Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Sivasagar, Golaghat, parts of Nagaon, Lakhimpur and Dhemaji, variously recorded between 65 and 70 per cent voting. The second phase of polls, on February 6, 2013, in the Districts of Sonitpur, Darrang, Nalbari, Barpeta, Kamrup (Metro), parts of Kamrup (Rural), Bongaigaon and parts of Dibrugarh and Morigaon, recorded 65 per cent voting. Both phases passed off peacefully, with the exception of a few minor incidents. Elections for the Districts of Goalpara, parts of Kamrup (rural), Dhubri, parts of Nagaon, Morigaon, Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi, were conducted in the third phase on February 12, 2013, and recorded 75 per cent polling.

Violence in the RHAC region started as the Rabha Hasong Joint Movement Committee (RHJMC), an umbrella organisation of 34 Rabha groups, opposed the polls. The RHJMC had been demanding RHAC polls before Panchayat elections in the RHAC areas. Incidents of arson in RHAC areas were engineered on January 24, 2013, during a 72-hour bandh (general shutdown) called by RHJMC. Then, on February 3, 2013, unidentified miscreants set ablaze an All Rabha Student’s Union (ARSU) office at Kalyanpur, amidst a nine-day ‘civil disobedience’ movement called by the RHJMC.

Road blockades were enforced and more violent incidents of arson occurred during the 36-hour Janata (peoples’) curfew ‘imposed’ by the RHJMC from February 11, 2013, preventing poll officials from entering the RHAC areas.

Meanwhile, on February 13, 2013, CM Gogoi, who also holds the Home portfolio, conceded that “there were some lapses and we had no prior information.”

Interestingly, a news report dated September 4, 2012, had stated that the Central Government, following the July-September 2012 Bodo-Muslim clashes, sent at least two advisories to the State Government indicating that the State might face trouble in RHAC areas, as the Rabhas have been demanding elections to the RHAC. The report quoted an unnamed senior Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) official as stating, “Rabhas want elections to the Council and Garos want panchayat elections and are opposed to the autonomous council. The focus is now shifted to the south bank of Brahmaputra and we have told this to the State Government.”

Clashes between Garos, Bengali-speaking Muslims and Rabhas had been reported in 2010-2011 as well. The Rabhas, who constitute just over a fifth of the population in Goalpara, where almost 60 per cent of the population is Muslim, are up against the combined strength of the Garos and Muslims, who are on the same side. In December 2010, the ARSU enforced a blockade of National Highway 37 in Goalpara District, demanding Sixth Schedule status for RHAC. On January 3, 2011, the Garo National Council of Assam responded by calling a 12-hour bandh in Goalpara District, and 30 Rabha houses in Mendipathar in East Garo Hills District were reportedly set ablaze. The ensuing clashes left 12 persons dead and 50,000 displaced. Before this, in 2008, at least nine people were killed in Police firing when an All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF)-backed movement demanded Panchayat polls in the Lakhipur area of Goalpara District, a disputed area, which falls under the RHAC. Panchayat polls had to be suspended in RHAC areas following the violence.

In 2007 and 2009, ARSU had submitted memoranda to Gogoi, demanding the inclusion of the RHAC into the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution and seeking exemption from Panchayat elections in the RHAC area. ARSU had also urged the Government to conduct RHAC election immediately.

Interestingly, on February 14, 2013, the State Government admitted its inability to exclude RHAC areas from the Panchayat Act. The Chief Minister's Office issued a statement signed by the CM's press adviser, Bharat Chandra Narah, stating, "Clause 5 of the Rabha Hasong Accord signed between the Government of Assam and the All Rabha Students Union and the Rabha Hasong Demand Committee on March 10, 1995, at Dispur, was unconstitutional because the State Government had no jurisdiction to exclude Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council areas from the purview of the 73rd Amendment of the Constitution of India under Article 244M." The statement further observed that though Clause 5 existed in the Accord, it was not included when the State Legislative Assembly passed the Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council Act in 1995 to give legality to the Accord. On February 13, 2013, Chief Minister Gogoi had termed the Rabha Accord “faulty”.

The State Government had established the RHAC, Head Quartered at Dudhnoi, on March 10, 1995, with 779 villages in its jurisdiction, and had formed an ad hoc body to protect the political rights and uplift the socio-economic condition of the Rabha and Hasong people living in Goalpara and parts of the then undivided Kamrup District. There are 36 General Council constituencies – 17 in Kamrup (Rural) District and 19 in Goalpara District – under the RHAC. The total number of village constituencies under RHAC is 360. The RHAC however continues to have problems regarding its territorial jurisdiction even after 17 years since its inception in 1995, and not a single Council election has been held, despite the agreement to hold elections within six months of the Accord.

Agitated Rabha groups finally got some relief when the Gauhati High Court, in response to a PIL filed by ARSU President Tonkeswar Rabha, directed the State Government, on November 23, 2012, to hold polls to the RHAC within six months. On January 18, 2013, following the Court order, the State Election Commission, announced that elections to the 360 village council constituencies would take place on April 30, 2013. This did not satisfy the Rabhas, RHAC elections to be held before panchayat polls. On February 11, 2011, in another case, the Court observed, further, that there were no legal complications in holding elections to the Council.

The problem is compounded by the fact that non-Rabha organisations oppose RHAC elections without proper delimitation of non-Rabha villages. The fresh delimitation of 36 RHAC constituencies is yet to be done in accordance with a 2008 notification for ‘exclusion and inclusion of villages’. Garo National Council-Assam President Benedict Areng consequently argues that Garo and various non-tribal groups had opted for the exclusion of their villages from RHAC in 2008. In Kamrup (rural) District, there are 81 Garo villages and in Goalpara, another 272, together accounting for a population of over 200,000, Areng claimed. Chandan Keshav, Advisor to the Non-Tribal Security Forum (NTSF) further asserted that there were 217 non-tribal villages with a population of about 350,000, which had been included in the RHAC area. Further, Non-Rabha groups wanted immediate panchayat elections in villages within the RHAC areas, in direct conflict with the stand adopted by Rabha groups.

Other Autonomous Council areas for Scheduled Tribes (Plains) have also experienced similar contradictions. Assam has Autonomous Councils for six Scheduled Tribe (Plains) communities – Tiwa, Rabha, Mishing, Sonowal-Kachari, Thengal-Kachari and Deuri — in addition to two Autonomous District Councils (Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao) for 14 Scheduled (Hill) Tribes and a separate Autonomous Council comprising four Districts for the Bodo tribe. While the two District Councils have been in existence for over 50 years under the Sixth Schedule, the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) covering four Districts of Kokrajhar, Baksa, Udalguri and Chirang was created in 2003 following an amendment to the Sixth Schedule. Significantly, the BTC areas have experienced repeated cycles of violence, killings and mass displacement, the most recent of which occurred in 2012, claiming 109 lives. This is despite the fact that the BTC has a clearly-demarcated (though contested) geographical area, while the remaining six autonomous councils only identify specific villages, and not any contiguous territory, as their jurisdictions.

The working of the State Autonomous Council was scrutinised by an expert committee constituted by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj in 2006. The report, Planning for Sixth Schedule Areas, and evaluating areas not covered by Parts IX and IX-A of the Constitution, stated:
An examination of the functioning of these councils shows a picture of confusion. The Panchayati Raj system continues to exist in these areas, as there is no constitutional basis for their removal. These areas are not exempt from Panchayati Raj in the same manner as other areas such as Nagaland and hill areas of Manipur have been exempted. The problem of institutional overlap in such areas is thus further compounded by the formation of these councils. There are three authorities operating in parallel in these areas, namely, the Council, the State departmental system and the Panchayati Raj system. These issues must be urgently solved so that there is only one single authority.

The inherent contradictions within the RHAC set-up have widened existing faultlines, and the imposition of panchayat elections in RHAC areas without addressing these incongruities has provoked the current cycle of bloodshed.

The Southern bank of Brahmaputra in Western Assam, dominated by the Rabha-Hasong tribe in the two western Districts of Goalpara and Kamrup (Rural), has now added to the BTC areas on the North Bank of the river, where the Bodos hold sway, to create a widening theatre of ethnic conflict in Assam.


NEWS BRIEFS

Weekly Fatalities: Major Conflicts in South Asia
February 11-17, 2013

 

Civilians

Security Force Personnel

Terrorists/Insurgents

Total

BANGLADESH

 

Islamist Extremism

2
0
3
5

INDIA

 

Assam

1
0
1
2

Meghalaya

1
0
0
1

Nagaland

0
0
1
1

Left-wing Extremism

 

Andhra Pradesh

1
0
0
1

Chhattisgarh

4
0
0
4

Jharkhand

0
0
3
3

Total (INDIA)

7
0
5
12

PAKISTAN

 

Balochistan

97
0
0
97

FATA

10
0
50
60

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

11
7
9
27

Punjab

2
1
0
3

Sindh

40
2
0
42

Total (PAKISTAN)

160
10
59
229
Provisional data compiled from English language media sources.


INDIA

Death toll in violence during Panchayat polls in RHAC areas in Assam rises to 20: On February 12, 2013, at least 20 persons were killed in Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council (RHAC) areas in Goalpara District, as violence engulfed the region during the third and final phase of Panchayat (village Self-Governing body) elections in Assam. While 13 people died as a result of Police firing, when violent mobs comprising the Rabha people attacked polling centres and polling teams in RHAC areas, another seven were killed in clashes between Rabha and non-Rabha groups on the same day. The Hindu, February 13, 2013.

GNLA still a concern, says Meghalaya Governor R. S. Mooshahary: Meghalaya Governor R. S. Mooshahary said that the Garo National Liberation Army remains a concern in the present security situation in the state. The Governor said, "The increased activities of the GNLA and its growing influence in Garo Hills and parts of West Khasi Hills is a matter of concern." He, however, added that the peace agreement with the Garo militant outfit Achik National Volunteer Council (ANVC) would be signed shortly. Shilong Times, February 14, 2013.

Maharashtra ATS announces INR one million each reward for IM India 'chief' Yasin Bhatkal and his three aides: Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on February 12 announced a reward of INR one million each to anyone giving information on elusive Indian Mujahideen's (IM) 'chief' Yasin Bhatkal and his three aides allegedly involved in several terror cases. ATS chief Rakesh Maria said, "We would like to announce a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh [1 million] each to any person providing information leading to the arrest of Mohammed Ahmed Siddhibappa alias Yasin Bhatkal (30), Tahaseen Akhtar Wasim Aktar Shaikh (23), Asadulla Akhtar Javed Akhtar (26) and Waqas alias Ahmed (26)". India TV News, February 13, 2013.

Geographical spread of LWE shrinking in the country, says Prime Minister Manmohan Singh: Prime Minister (PM) Manmohan Singh while addressing a conference of State Governors in New Delhi on February 12 said that Left Wing Extremism's (LWE) geographical spread in the country is showing a shrinking trend even though in Assam, it is expanding, which is "worrisome". Explaining the Centre's "two pronged" policy to tackle the LWE issue, he said, "Even as we have intensified operations against the extremists, we have also endeavoured to bridge the development and governance deficit in these areas, many of which have predominantly tribal population." India Today, February 13, 2013.

Government inks MoU with three armed groups of Manipur: The Centre, State Government and three militant outfits signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on February 13. The three groups which signed the MoU were the United Revolutionary Front (URF), which was constituted by the Lanheiba faction of Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP-Lanheiba), Chingkheinganba faction of KCP (KCP-Chingkheinganba) and Sunil Meitei faction of (KCP-Sunil Meitei) faction; KCP-Lamphel which was constituted after the merger of KCP-Lamphel, KCP-City Meitei and KCP-Taibangnganba; and the Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup-Military Defence Force (KYKL-MDF), with its two factions namely Athouba group and Achouba group. Sangai Express, February 14, 2013.


NEPAL

Taskforce finalizes draft of "consensus" agreement on formation of 11-member neutral cabinet led by Chief Justice to hold fresh CA election: The taskforce, comprising two members from each of the four major parties - Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M), Nepali Congress (NC), Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) and United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) - on February 17 finalized a draft of "consensus" agreement on the formation of 11-member neutral cabinet led by Chief Justice to hold fresh election to the Constituent Assembly (CA). Top leaders of all the four major parties are scheduled to make a formal announcement in this regard on February 18 (today). My Republica, February 18, 2013.


PAKISTAN

84 persons killed and more than 169 injured in bomb attack on Shia Hazaras in Balochistan: A remote-controlled bomb targeting Shias Hazaras killed 84 persons, including women and children, and injured more than 169 others in Hazara town of Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, on February 16. Wazir Khan Nasir, senior Police officer in Quetta said, "It was a sectarian attack, the Shia community was the target". Spokesperson of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), Abubakar Siddique, claiming responsibility for the attack said, "Our suicide bomber carried out the blast and the Shia community in Hazara Town was the target." Daily Times; Dawn, February 17-18, 2013.

50 militants and 10 civilians among 60 persons killed during the week in FATA: At least 10 militants were killed when the jetfighters pounded their hideouts in Jandary Killay, Mir Qalamkhel and other adjoining localities in the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)-controlled Mamozai tehsil (revenue unit) area in Orakzai Agency of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on February 17.

At least eight militants were killed and two hideouts were destroyed in Army air strikes in the Mamozai area on February 15.

An explosion in the village of Hassanzo in Orakzai Agency killed seven persons and injured 13 others on February 14.

The on-going infighting between the TTP and Ansar-ul-Islam (AI) killed 19 more militants from both sides in Drey Stani area of Tirah Valley in Khyber Agency on February 13.

Eight militants were killed and 15 others received injuries as the militants of TTP and AI clashed in Bhuttan area of Tirah valley on February 12.

At least five AI militants were killed and four others were injured in clashes with TTP in Tirah valley of Khyber on February 11. Daily Times; Dawn; The News; Tribune; Central Asia Online; The Nation; The Frontier Post; Pakistan Today; Pakistan Observer, February 12-18, 2013.

40 civilians and two SFs among 42 persons killed during the week in Sindh: As many as 11 persons were killed in separate acts of violence and target killing in Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh, on February 17.

At least 10 persons were killed in separate incidents of target killing in Karachi on February 15.

At least five persons, including an activist of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), were killed in separate acts of violence in Karachi on February 12.

At least 12 persons, including two Policemen, were killed in separate incidents in Karachi on February 11. Daily Times; Dawn; The News; Tribune; Central Asia Online; The Nation; The Frontier Post; Pakistan Today; Pakistan Observer, February 12-18, 2013.

12 civilians and nine militants among 27 persons killed during the week in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: At least 11 persons, including three Frontier Corpse (FC) personnel, two Policemen and one Levies man, were killed and over 23 persons were injured as a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into a security post in Spin Thall area of Hangu District on February 14.

Police and Law Enforcement Agencies (LEA) repulsed a terrorist attack on Miryan Police Station of Bannu District, killing five suicide bombers while another militant blew himself up.

Four persons were killed and another was injured when unidentified persons opened fire on them in Palai area in Malakand District on February 11. Daily Times; Dawn; The News; Tribune; Central Asia Online; The Nation; The Frontier Post; Pakistan Today; Pakistan Observer, February 12-18, 2013.

TTP still recruiting White Jihadis from the West: A recent video released by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), eulogizing two 'martyred' White Jihadis (holy warriors) from the US and UK, confirms that the TTP is still recruiting White Jihadis from the West. Westerners, including Americans, Britons, Germans, French, and Australians, who wanted to join the jihad that al-Qaeda is waging against the US-led Allied Forces in Afghanistan, have travelled to the Pakistani tribal areas in recent years. The News, February 18, 2013.


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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Editor
Dr. Ajai Sahni


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