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SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 11, No. 43, April 29, 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


PAKISTAN
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Targeting Hazaras
Anurag Tripathi
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management

At least six people were killed and another 37 were wounded when a suicide bomber detonated a truck carrying an estimated 80 kilograms of explosives, when he was stopped by Frontier Corps (FC) personnel at a check post near Alamdar Road, a Hazara Shia dominated area, in Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, on April 23, 2013. The bomber was heading to the area with the intention of targeting Abdul Khaliq Hazara, the chairman of the Hazara Democratic Party (HDP).

Earlier, on February 16, 2013, at least 84 Hazara Shias were killed and 200 were injured in a remote controlled bomb blast in Hazara Town, Quetta.

On January 10, 2013, at least 105 Hazara Shias were killed and 169 were injured in a suicide car bomb blast in the Alamdar Road area.

Partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) indicate that at least 191 Hazara Shias have been killed so far in the current year (till April 28, 2013). SATP recorded at least 396 Hazara Shia fatalities during 2001 and 2012. While 98 Hazara Shias were killed through 2012, the number stood at 95 in 2011, 70 in 2010, 13 in 2009, nine 2008, one 2007, and none in 2006 and 2005. In 2004, however, 42 Hazara Shia were killed; another 60 were killed in 2003; none in 2002; and eight in 2001.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s (HRCP’s) annual report, State of the Human Rights in 2012, released on April 4, 2013, suggests that the SATP numbers are a significant underestimate. The report records 505 Hazara Shias killed (all in Balochistan) between 2001 and 2012. 119 of them were killed in 2012; 106 in 2011; 105 in 2010; 41 in 2009; 36 in 2008; one in 2007; four in 2006; 16 in 2005; none in 2004; 64 in 2003; three in 2002; and 10 in 2001.

On either dataset, there is a clearly rising trend since 2007.

Some of the prominent major attacks (involving three or more fatalities) targeting Hazara Shias since 2007 include the following:

February 16, 2013: At least 84 Hazara Shias were killed and 200 were injured in a remote controlled bomb blast in Hazara town of Quetta.

January 10, 2013: At least 105 Hazara Shias were killed and 169 were injured in suicide car bomb blast in Quetta’s Alamdar Road area.

June 28, 2012: At least 14 persons, including two Policemen and a woman, were killed and another 30, including women and children, sustained injuries in a suicide attack on a bus of pilgrims coming from Iran, in the Hazar Ganji area of Quetta. Sources indicated that the majority of the passengers belonged to the Hazara community.

October 4, 2011: At least 14 Hazaras were killed and seven were seriously injured after unknown extremists fired indiscriminately at a bus in the Akhtarabad area of Quetta.

October 28, 2010: Four Hazaras were shot dead by unidentified assailants in Quetta.

January 14, 2009: Unidentified assailants killed four Policemen, including a Deputy Superintendent of Police, in a shootout in Quetta. Motorcyclists ambushed a Police team on Sariab Road at around 11am, killing the four Policemen. Three of the murdered Policemen were Hazara Shias.

Hazara Shias, a Dari-speaking ethnic tribe, believed to be of Turk-Mongol descent, have an estimated population of over 800,000, settled mostly in and around Quetta.

In a media interview, Abdul Khaliq Hazara, the HDP chairman, observed,
Hazara community in Balochistan overwhelmingly belongs to the Shia sect and they are also easily recognisable because of their features… The LeJ (Lashkar-e-Jhangvi), in fact, wants to provoke us, so we start attacking our innocent Sunni Pushtun and Baloch brothers in Quetta.

The anti-Shia, Sunni extremist formation, LeJ, is the principal perpetrator of the massacres of Hazara Shias in Pakistan. Significantly, in a June 2011 letter to the Shia Hazaras, the LeJ openly declared:
…our mission [in Pakistan] is the abolition of this impure sect and people, the Shias and the Shia Hazaras, from every city, every village, every nook and corner of Pakistan. Like in the past, [our] successful Jihad against the Hazaras in Pakistan and, in particular, in Quetta is ongoing and will continue. We will make Pakistan their graveyard — their houses will be destroyed by bombs and suicide bombers… Jihad against the Shia Hazaras has now become our duty… We will rest only after hoisting the flag of true Islam on the land of the pure – Pakistan…

Reiterating the threat, LeJ spokesman Abu Bakar Siddiq, on February 16, 2013 (immediately after the February 16 attack), warned, “Let me inform the Shia Hazaras that we have 20 more such vehicles which are packed with lethal explosives and ready to hit the enemy. We are only waiting for next orders from our leadership to hit our targets in Alamdar Road, Mehrabad and Hazara Town. We will continue to kill Shia Hazaras in their homes”.

Earlier, following the January 10 attack, reminding the Hazaras that they had been warned to leave Balochistan by the end of 2012 or face severe consequences, Siddiq had threatened, “Many of the Hazara enemies had fled but there were those who decided to stay back as they loved their jobs and properties. God willing, the Lashkar will not allow any of these Hazaras to leave Balochistan alive.”

Despite these often repeated and brazen threats, Governments, both at the centre and in the Province, have initiated no corrective measures. Instead, soon after the June 2011 LeJ threat, on July 14, 2011, Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered the release of Malik Ishaq – the former operational chief of LeJ, who was involved in 44 cases involving the killing of at least 70 people, mostly belonging to the Shia sect – on bail from Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail, because of the prosecution’s failure to produce sufficient evidence to support its charges. On February 10, 2012, Ghulam Rasool Shah, another co-accused in various cases of sectarian strife and terrorism, was released.  According to media reports, an official of the Interior Ministry disclosed, on condition of anonymity, that the Ministry had received some intelligence reports that the LeJ had stepped up its anti-Shia campaign after Ishaq’s release.

These developments give credence to allegations that the Hazara Shias in particular and Shias at large, like other minorities across Pakistan, are persecuted with connivance of the state. According to the SATP data, a total of 1,921 Shias have been killed across Pakistan since 2001. Unsurprisingly, in a direct indictment of the authorities at the helm, Ali Dayan Hasan, the head of Human Rights Watch (HRW) in Pakistan, on January 11, 2013, observed,
As Shia community members continue to be slaughtered in cold blood, the callousness and indifference of authorities offers a damning indictment of the state, its military and security agencies. Pakistan’s tolerance for religious extremists is not just destroying lives and alienating entire communities, it is destroying Pakistani society across the board.

HDP chairman Abdul Khaliq Hazara also noted:
Extremism, sectarianism, and terrorism are being promoted in Balochistan with the help of elements in our state institutions… In several incidents of targeted killings of Hazara community, motorbikes of local police were used, while many of the attackers were in FC uniforms. They attacked people close to FC check posts but were never apprehended. I strongly believe that some elements in our security agencies help terrorists to identify the targets and then also support them to reach their targets with ease.

There is little relief or refuge for the Hazara Shias in Balochistan, as state inaction sends out an unambiguous and alarming message that Federal and Provincial authorities will not act to protect religious and sectarian minorities, leaving them at the mercy of Sunni extremist and terrorist formations.

INDIA
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J&K: Orchestrated Disorders
Ajit Kumar Singh
Research Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management

Unsettled by the Deepening Peace in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), as well as the continuous and cumulative failures of the separatists to orchestrate disorders within J&K over the past two years and to revive a 2010 type ‘uprising’, Pakistan-backed separatists have been in search of an ‘event’ that could be exploited to create an environment of unrest and provoke intifada-like situation. After the February 9, 2013, hanging of December 13, 2001, Parliament Attack case convict Mohamad Afzal Guru in New Delhi’s Tihar Jail, Lieutenant General Baljit Singh Jaswal, former General Officer Commanding (GoC), Northern Command, who commanded the Army during the stone pelting campaigns of 2010, noted, “Pakistan always tries to exploit an event and they got an event”. The Guru hanging created a space for Pakistani proxies in J&K to engineer disruptive protest campaigns.

According to partial data compiled by the Institute for Conflict Management (ICM), as many as five protestors have been killed in Security Forces’ (SFs) action since February 9, 2013 (data till April 28, 2013). At least 400 SF personnel also got injured during this period. Large parts of the Valley, including Srinagar, witnessed intermittent curfews even as terrorists executed a suicide attack on a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp in Bemina in Srinagar on March 13, 2013, killing five troopers and injuring another seven. The two terrorists who carried out the attack were also killed. The last suicide attack in J&K was on January 6, 2010, when terrorists had hit a CRPF camp at Lal Chowk in Srinagar, killing a Policeman and injuring nine persons, including one CRPF trooper.  

The present disorders were initiated soon after the news of Guru’s hanging was made public on February 9, 2013. The separatists called for protests and, as in the past, violent protesters clashed with the SFs. 40 persons, including 23 SF personnel, were injured on the very first day of protests. On February 10, three protesters jumped into a river when they were allegedly chased by the SFs. Two of them, Tariq Ahmad Bhat and Zameer Ahmad Dar, drowned, while the third one managed to swim ashore. While Bhat’s body was recovered the same day, Police fished out Dar’s body in the morning of February 11. Police, meanwhile, maintained that the duo drowned when their boat capsized in the river while they were crossing. In another incident on the same day, a 16-year-old boy, Ubaid Mushtaq, wounded in alleged SF firing in the Watergam area of Baramulla District, later succumbed to his injuries. The death of the three youth led to a fresh cycle of protests, and large parts of the Valley remained under curfew till February 22. Normalcy was fast returning thereafter.

However, the separatists were in search of another ‘event’ and this came about when a Kashmiri student committed suicide in Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh) on March 2, 2013. Protesters quickly returned to the streets and one of them, Tahir Latief Sofi, was killed, and another two were injured in Baramulla town (Baramulla District) on March 5, in alleged SF firing on violent protesters. The Army, however, denied involvement in these deaths, claiming that troops had fired in the air when they were trapped by violent demonstrators in the township. Sofi, the Army claimed, was shot dead by someone else, with a view to trigger large-scale violence. On March 13, another protester, Altaf Ahmad Wani, was killed when SFs allegedly opened fire after protesters pelted stones on a vehicle carrying CRPF troopers, who were rushing to donate blood to the victims of the suicide attack that morning. These incidents led to the imposition of curfew in some areas of the State between March 5 and March 17.

Such orchestrated unrest is not something new for J&K. Since 2008, a succession of protest movements, styled on the intifada, have been organized, peaking in 2010, when at least 112 lives were lost to street violence. This strategy has, however, produced diminishing returns thereafter. In 2011 and 2012, none of the incidents succeeded in sparking the wider troubles they were intended to provoke.

A cursory look into the background of the present, as well as past disorders reinforces the widely-held belief, backed by intelligence inputs, that these have been the handiwork of Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and its proxies. Indeed, seven separatist leaders, led by the chairman of the All Party Hurriyat Conference-Mirwaiz (APHC-M), Mirwaiz Omar Farooq, met with ISI chief Lieutenant General Zaheer ul Islam as well chiefs of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), Hafiz Mohammad Saeed and Mohammad Yusuf Shah aka Syed Salahuddin, respectively, in Pakistan, in December 2012. Similar visits had also been organized for the separatist leadership in 2008, and quickly resulted in an escalation of street protests over the Amarnath Land Allocation controversy, and recurrent street mobilization over a range of ‘issues’ and ‘codes of conduct’, thereafter.

In the meantime, separatist and religious organizations in J&K formed a coordination committee, Muttahida Majlis-e-Mushawarat (MMM, Joint Consultative Council), after two meetings at an undisclosed location in Srinagar town. The committee includes both factions of APHC, led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani (APHC-G) and Mirwaiz Omar Farooq (APHC-M), the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association, Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) and Dukhtaran-e-Millat (DeM). Disclosing its aim, an MMM Press statement of February 25, 2013, declared, "To seek return of Afzal Guru's body and mortal remains of Maqbool Bhat [co-founder of JKLF who was hanged to death in Tihar jail on February 11, 1984], we have decided to launch a coordinated protest programme. People should observe shutdown on Friday and keep shops open on Sunday. On Saturday, they should tie red ribbons on their vehicles and houses.” This is the first time since 2008 Amarnath land row agitation, that the separatists have formed a coordination committee with all major separatist organizations coming together on a single platform.

While SF responses to the recent campaigns have been far better calibrated than they were in the past, the State Government and various parties have chosen to engage in dangerous and petty politicking. In order to score some brownie points over political adversaries, the Omar Abdullah Government has made the CRPF, the main force involved in maintaining law and order in the State, a sitting duck, issuing various and conflicting directives. In one such directive on February 11, 2013, it asked CRPF personnel not to carry weapons while on law and order duty. The controversial directive resulted in injuries to over 350 CRPF personnel, including officers, and damage to 150 SF vehicles damaged in stone pelting and violence after February 9. Media reports, quoted an unnamed senior CRPF official as stating, "It is not possible to undertake such responsibilities without arms, especially when the Islamists are known to attack people and the security forces in the garb of a crowd or taking cover behind women and children. It is increasingly becoming difficult to handle our men." The State Government has also forced the removal of 46 bunkers from Srinagar, over the past two-and-a-half years, while parroting the demand for the removal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from Srinagar in particular and the rest of the State at large, in a ‘phased manner’. The State Government’s assessment is in complete contrast to that of the SFs. Indeed, the Army has been forced to extend operations in the recent past. In the night of April 24, 2013, an Army camp was set up in village Hergam Wuyan on the outskirts of Srinagar city, to put pressures on militants in the area, where they had been re-grouping over the past year. In October 2012, the Army had set up a camp at village Chattergam in Budgam District, on the outskirts of Srinagar District. The camp had been closed three years earlier, but had to be re-established as increasing terrorist movement was noticed.

Worse, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, added to tensions in the aftermath of Guru’s hanging, with the observation, on February 11, 2013, that “Afzal Guru's execution may fuel a feeling of alienation among the Kashmiri youth… The onus rests on the judiciary and the political leadership to show that this wasn't a selective execution." Abdullah has, indeed, often adopted the language of the ‘soft separatist’ constituency in J&K, despite visible and overwhelming evidence of declining public alienation in the State.

The Chief Minister’s remarks were compounded by a six-point resolution passed by the Working Committee of his party, the ruling National Conference (NC), on April 7, 2013. The resolution noted, inter alia, that “the restoration of Autonomy continues to be the bedrock of the National Conference’s policy and agenda and the party shall continue to strive for the honour, dignity and self respect of the people of the State.” Going a step further, NC President and Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Farooq Abdullah, observed, in the party's online newsletter, “If there existed solution better than autonomy, which is acceptable to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, his party, the National Conference would have no problem in accepting it. But there is no viable solution (other) than autonomy.”

The Congress Party which is in alliance with the NC in the State Government, added to the confusion with conflicting statements on AFSPA. The Centre, led by the Congress, has repeatedly spoken out in support of the continued application of AFSPA. However, senior Congress leader Saifuddin Soz, on March 6, 2013, joined the chorus for revocation of AFSPA from J&K, arguing, “Omar Abdullah has been asking for the repeal of AFSPA for a long time. Today I want Omar and Union Home Minister to sit and come forward for a decisive proposition… The Act is a temporary law. It has to go. I want to know when.”

Not to be left behind, the President of the main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which still stands by its “self rule” resolution, passed in 2008, has been quite provocative whenever tensions have risen in the Valley. On March 23, 2013, Mehbooba Mufti, President, PDP, declard, “Kashmiri youth have become fodder for Indian politicians and security agencies for rewards and medals. Kashmiris are the fodder for these security agencies and it seems only Kashmiri blood can satisfy their thirst. They are pushing the youth to (the) wall. They are leaving them with no option, but to resort to violence and take to (the) gun. They have shut all the means of dissent and some kids may say, we had enough of it and resort to violence.” 

The relative peace in J&K remains fragile, and the politics of the State has displayed little sensibility to the need of a deepening stabilization. Politics has remained opportunistic and completely unprincipled – though this is hardly a problem unique to this State – with little appreciation of the enormous sacrifices that have been necessary even to secure the presently incomplete victory over terrorism. The separatist constituency, its handlers in the ISI, and its terrorist associates principally located across the border, continue to look for an opportunity for escalation. Under the circumstances, circumspection is the most urgent need in politics. Regrettably, competitive communal manipulation remains the sheet-anchor of politics in the State, undermining the restoration of a democratic discourse that could provide the basis of an enduring peace.


NEWS BRIEFS

Weekly Fatalities: Major Conflicts in South Asia
April 22-28, 2013

 

Civilians

Security Force Personnel

Terrorists/Insurgents

Total

BANGLADESH

 

Islamist Extremism

4
0
1
5

INDIA

 

Jammu and Kashmir

0
4
0
4

Left-wing Extremism

 

Bihar

1
0
0
1

Chhattisgarh

0
3
0
3

Jharkhand

1
0
0
1

Odisha

2
0
0
2

Total (INDIA)

4
7
0
11

PAKISTAN

 

Balochistan

8
2
0
10

FATA

2
0
0
2

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

11
3
4
18

Sindh

36
7
1
44

Total (PAKISTAN)

57
12
5
74
Provisional data compiled from English language media sources.


INDIA

Four Policemen killed in an ambush in Jammu and Kashmir: Militants in the evening of April 26 laid an ambush and killed four Policemen personnel near Haigam locality along the Sopore-Kupwara road in Baramulla District. Inspector General of Police (IGP) A G Mir said that four Policemen were on their way to Haigam to probe a complaint of robbery when they were ambushed by militants in a lane of the village. Baleeg-ud-Din, 'spokesperson' of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), through a phone call to a local new agency claimed responsibility of the attack. The militants took away three AK-47 rifles from the slain troopers. Daily Excelsior; Kashmir Times; Times of India, April 27, 2013.

Splinter groups spreading LWE violence in Jharkhand, says DGP Rajeev Kumar: Jharkhand Director General of Police (DGP) has blamed the presence of a number of Naxal [Left Wing Extremist (LWE)]-splinter groups for the increasing number of Naxal incidents in the first quarter of 2013. DGP Rajeev Kumar said, "As these splinter groups have no ideology and resort to killing on trivial issues, the Naxal violence has gone up in the state. On the other hand, other Left Wing Extremism affected States do not have such splinter groups." According to a report by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Jharkhand recorded the highest incidents of LWE violence in the first quarter of 2013. Pioneer, April 22, 2013.

Agents of terrorists in Kerala sourcing out two-wheelers to plant bombs and trigger blasts in various parts of India, says Intelligence report: Terrorist organisations like Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) have agents in Kerala to source two-wheelers which are used to plant bombs and trigger blasts in various parts of India. Whether it is scooter or bike, according to state intelligence officials, large number of two-wheelers are stolen or sourced by the agents of terrorist organisations from various parts of Kerala and smuggled out to Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. As per the latest data of Police, 409 two-wheelers were reported missing from Kerala in 2012 while it was 559 motorcycles in 2011. "We will be tracking the activities of regular bike lifters in the state. Though the terrorists largely depend on their trustworthy agents to source bikes, there is a possibility of terrorists themselves lifting bikes to avoid any possible detection through the agents," Intelligence officials said. "We are tracking the agents who have been in touch with SIMI activists identified as Abu Faizal, Mohammed Abrar Babu Khan and Akhil Khilji who have been to Kochi many a times," the officials said. Times of India, April 26, 2013.

262 ex-militants returned to India via Nepal border since 2010, says Government: 262 ex-militants have returned to India via the Nepal border since 2010, the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) was informed on April 23. "As per report of J and K police, in the past three years, from 2010 to 2012 and the current year up to April 10, 262 ex-militants have returned via Nepal," Union Minister of State for Home Affairs R P N Singh said in a written reply. Daily Excelsior, April 24, 2013.

Ceasefire with NSCN-K and NSCN-KK extended: The ceasefire agreement signed between Central Government and National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang ((NSCN-K) was reviewed and extended for another one year with effect from April 28, 2013. In addition, ceasefire agreement between Government of India and NSCN-Khole-Kitovi (NSCN-KK) has also been reviewed and extended for one more year with effect from April 28, 2013. Sangai Express, April 25, 2013.


NEPAL

Government and EC agree to elect 601 CA members: The Government and the Election Commission (EC) on April 26 agreed to hold fresh polls to elect a new Constituent Assembly (CA) with 601 members. The Government reached a conclusion to retain the old strength of 601 when the big four parties decided to reduce the CA's strength from 601 to 491. Himalayan Times, April 26, 2013.

85 percent of political parties ready for polls, says President Ram Baran Yadav: President Ram Baran Yadav on April 26 expressing hope that the election to Constituent Assembly (CA) would be held on time, said 85 percent of all the active political forces have already ready for elections. He further said as head of the state he was taking initiatives to persuade some dissident political parties, including Mohan Baidya-led Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist-Baidya (CPN-Maoist-Baidya), to come on board the election process.

Meanwhile, CPN-Maoist-Baidya on April 25 reiterated that it would not participate in the election to the CA but disrupt the electoral process. Republica, April 26-27, 2013.


PAKISTAN

36 civilians and 7 SFs among 44 persons killed during the week in Sindh: At least six people, including an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI), were killed while a religious cleric was injured in separate acts of violence across the Karachi (Karachi District), the provincial capital of Sindh, on April 27.

At least 11 persons, including a minor, were killed and 45 others were injured in a bomb blast at an election gathering of the Awami National Party (ANP) in Orangi town of Karachi on April 26.Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan claimed responsibility for the blast.

At least six persons were killed while around 13 persons were injured when a high intensity bomb shattered the election office of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) located in Nusrat Bhutto Colony of North Nazimabad area of Karachi on April 25. TTP 'spokesman' Ehsanullah Ehsan has reportedly claimed the responsibility for the blast. Daily Times; Dawn; The News; Tribune; Central Asia Online; The Nation; The Frontier Post; Pakistan Today; Pakistan Observer, April 23-29, 2013.

Pakistan-trained three British nationals jailed in Britain: Three British nationals, including the ringleader of a terror cell trained in Pakistan, have been jailed for masterminding a plot to set off up to eight bombs in the United Kingdom (UK) that could have been more devastating than the 9/11 in the US and the July 7 attacks. Irfan Naseer (31) will have to serve a minimum of 18 years behind bars, while his accomplice Irfan Khalid (28) was jailed for 18 years and Ashik Ali was sentenced to 15 years. The three men had raised an estimated 39,000 pounds for terror training and to fund the UK attacks. Zee News, April 26, 2013.

TTP plans to abduct former President General (retired) Pervez Musharraf, warns intelligence agencies: The intelligence agencies have warned that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have made plans to abduct former President General (retired) Pervez Musharraf, who is currently being held at his private residence, on the outskirts of Islamabad, after being arrested in several criminal cases. The intelligence agencies have issued an advisory that the TTP might attempt to abduct Musharraf while he is being taken from his farmhouse to court. Times of India, April 27, 2013.

Stay away from polls, warns TTP: The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has distributed pamphlets in several Pakistani cities, including Peshawar (Peshawar District), the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Karachi (Karachi District), the provincial capital of Sindh, warning people not to participate in next month's general election. Meanwhile, religious scholars and the members of the All Pakistan Ulema Council have issued a 40-page edict, which declares the non-casting of vote a sin, saying that casting vote is compulsory under Islamic injunctions. Times of India; Daily Times, April 25, 2013.

TTP joins Afghan Taliban to wage spring offensive: As the Afghan Taliban announced on April 27 the launching of annual spring offensive against the US-led Allied Forces in Afghanistan, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has also joined them. The TTP has released a video which shows the TTP fighters belonging to the "Saad bin Abi Waqas Front" [which is named after a TTP commander] already carrying out military and suicide operations against the ISAF Forces in Logar Province of Afghanistan. The News, April 29, 2013.

Former President General (retired) Pervez Musharraf arrested in Benazir murder case: Former President General (retired) Pervez Musharraf was on April 26 formally arrested over the murder case of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Musharraf will remain in his villa on the edge of Islamabad (Federal Capital) where he is already under a two-week house arrest over his decision to sack judges when he imposed emergency rule in November 2007. "Today FIA (Federal Investigative Agency) formally arrested General Musharraf in the Benazir Bhutto case," said prosecution lawyer Chaudhry Azhar. Daily Times, April 27, 2013.


SRI LANKA

TNA threatens continuous protest against military's acquisition of private lands in the North: The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) on April 25 threatened a continuous protest campaign against the military's acquisition of private lands in the North. TNA will commence a protest campaign in Jaffna from April 29 against the military acquisition of lands. The TNA claimed that the military has acquired over 6,400 acres of private lands in the North. ColomboPage, April 26, 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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