| |
SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 12, No. 6, August 12, 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
|
Renewed
Misadventures
Ajit Kumar Singh
Research Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management
In the
early hours of August 6, 2013, personnel of Pakistan Army’s
Border Action Team (BAT) along with a group of 20 heavily
armed terrorists entered 450-metres deep into the Indian
Territory along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Poonch
sector (Poonch District) of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).
The intruders ambushed an Indian Army patrol consisting
of six soldiers, killing five of them and injuring another.
Confirming the Pakistan Army’s role in the August 6, 2013,
incident, the Army said, “The ambush was carried out by
approximately 20 heavily armed terrorists along with soldiers
of the Pak Army”.
Prior to
this incident, on January 8, 2013, Pakistani troopers
and Inter Services Intelligence (ISI)-backed terrorists
breached the LoC in the Mankot sector of Mendhar tehsil
(revenue unit) in Poonch District, ambushed an Indian
Army patrol, and killed and mutilated two Indian troopers,
identified as Lance Naik Hem Raj and Lance Naik Sudhakar
Singh. Lance Naik Hem Raj was decapitated and his head
was carried away by the attackers, while fleeing back
into Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) territory.
Giving
details of the January 8, 2013, incident, India’s Military
Intelligence disclosed that the beheading was done by
one Anwar Khan, a local guide who runs a shop in Barmoch
Gali in PoK. Anwar was rewarded with PKR 500,000 by ISI
Colonel Siddiqui, and was part of a group of 15 terrorists,
10 from Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT)
and five from Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
Though investigations into the August 6 incident have
just begun, some reports suggest that the same Anwar Khan
may have been involved in this attack as well. Reports
also indicate that, on both occasions, the LeT founder
and Jama'at-ud-Da'wah (JUD) chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed,
who is very close to the ISI and Pakistani civilian Government,
had visited the territory on the Pakistani side.
There appears
to be a clear intention on the Pakistani side to disrupt
the deepening
peace in J&K, with continuous
violations of the Cease
Fire Agreement (CFA) along the LoC
and the International Border. According to the Ministry
of Defence (MoD), while Pakistani Forces violated the
CFA with India on 44 occasions in 2010, 51 such incidents
were recorded in 2011 and 93 in 2012. The current year
(till August 12, 2013) has already witnessed 65 CFA violations.
More worryingly, while three Army personnel were killed
during these violations between 2010 and 12 (two were
killed in 2010 and another in 2012), the current year
has already recorded nine fatalities. Apart from January
8 and August 6 incidents, Pakistani troops on resorted
to ceasefire violation at Sabjian along the LoC in the
Mandi sub sector of Poonch District June 7, 2013, resulting
in the death of a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) of
the Indian Army. A Border Security Force Head Constable,
who was injured in firing by Pakistani Army in the Ramgarh
Sector of Samba District on August 5, 2013, succumbed
to his injuries on August 11, 2013.
Infiltration
bids by ISI-backed terrorists have also been increasing.
According to Army sources, while there were 49 infiltration
attempts, including 13 successful ones, until the end
of June 2012, the number increased to 69, including 30
successful, in 2013 (till June). The South Asia Terrorism
Portal (SATP) has recorded at least 15 infiltration
attempts resulting in 19 fatalities (18 terrorists and
one SF trooper) since July 1, 2013. The database shows
that a total of 21 infiltration bids have been made through
2013, resulting in 25 fatalities (23 terrorists and two
SF personnel).
The calibrated
Pakistani Army actions at the border have helped Pakistan-based
terrorists infiltrate into J&K. According to Union
Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) data, while 52 terrorists
entered Indian territory in 2011, the number increased
considerably in 2012, with 121 terrorists entering J&K.
The number of terrorists confirmed to have entered the
State in current year is not currently available. However,
given the broad trend in supportive Pakistan Army action
across the border and LoC, it is likely that a larger
number of terrorists would have successfully infiltrated
in the current year. Significantly, the Intelligence Bureau,
in a comprehensive report, noted that at least six terrorists
managed to successfully sneak into Indian territory under
cover of the August 6, 2013, attack.
Unsurprisingly,
escalating efforts by the Pakistani Army and its terrorist
proxies have resulted in a rise in the level of terrorist
violence in J&K. The State had witnessed 57 terrorism-related
fatalities, including nine civilians, eight SF personnel
and 40 terrorists, in 2012; till August 11, fatalities
recorded in the current year have already risen to 108
(including 14 civilians, 42 SF personnel and 52 terrorists).
More worryingly, during the current year, the State witnessed
the deadliest attack [on June 24, 2013, when militants
killed eight Army personnel] as well as a suicide attack
[on March 13, 2013, which killed five Central Reserve
Police Force troopers] in a long
time.
In fact,
the deadliest attack this year, on June 24, 2013, took
place well after Nawaz Sharif had been sworn in as the
Prime Minister of Pakistan for his third tenure on June
5, 2013. Since Sharif assumed power, J&K has recorded
at least 64 fatalities (including four civilians, 23 SF
personnel and 37 terrorists. Similarly, the number of
CFA violations and infiltration bids has increased considerably
since Sharif’s ascent to power. Pakistani Forces have
violated the CFA on at least 19 occasions since Sharif
was sworn in, killing seven Indian soldiers. Moreover,
ISI-backed terrorists have made at least 16 infiltration
bids, in which 22 terrorists and a soldier have been killed.
Indian intelligence assessments suggest that the ISI is
‘increasing pressure’ on the Nawaz Sharif Government to
act on Kashmir. The Pakistani PM has reportedly cleared
a new ‘Kashmir strategy’ and has set up a Kashmir Cell
in his office, to ‘keep track’ of developments on Kashmir.
The escalation
in J&K appears connected to the Pakistani objective
of forcing India out of Afghanistan as well. Significantly,
nine Afghans, including at least eight children, were
killed, and another 24 were wounded on August 3, 2013,
in a suicide attack intended to target the Indian Consulate
at Jalalabad, the capital of the Nangarhar Province of
Afghanistan. The three attackers were also killed. However,
all Indian officials in the Consulate remained unharmed.
Nangarhar Province Police Chief General Sharifullah Amin
confirmed that the Consulate was the intended target of
the blast. Reports now confirm that the attackers were
residents of Punjab Province in Pakistan, from where LeT
recruits most of its cadres.
Sharif’s
rhetoric on improving relations with India clearly fails
to match up with developments on the ground. In this context,
it is useful to re-examine his past
misadventures as well as present
overtures towards terrorist formations.
Advocates of an intensifying ‘peace process’ between New
Delhi and Islamabad have wilfully ignored the subterfuge
of Pakistan’s assertion that it is not the Government,
but the ‘non state actors’, who are behind various ‘adverse
developments’.
Despite
mounting evidence of intentional Pakistani malfeasance,
however, the Indian Government appears to be in an unseemly
hurry to engage with Pakistan. This, perhaps, was the
reason behind Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony’s failure
to confirm the role of the Pakistani Army in the August
6 attack in his first address to the Indian Parliament
on the same date. Better sense was, however, forced on
the Government, both by the growing ire within the Indian
Army and families of the personnel killed, as well as
by strident criticism in the media, with Antony conceding
in Parliament on August 8, 2013,
It
is now clear that the specialist troops of Pakistan
Army were involved in this attack when a group from
the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) side crossed
the LC and killed our brave jawans. We all
know that nothing happens from Pakistan side of
the Line of Control without support, assistance,
facilitation and often, direct involvement of the
Pakistan Army. Those in Pakistan who are responsible
for this tragedy and the brutal killing of two soldiers
earlier this year should not go unpunished. Pakistan
should also show determined action to dismantle
the terrorist networks, organizations and infrastructure
and show tangible movement on bringing those responsible
for the Mumbai terrorist attack in November 2008
to justice quickly. Naturally, this incident will
have consequences on our behaviour on the Line of
Control and for our relations with Pakistan. Our
restraint should not be taken for granted; nor should
the capacity of our Armed Forces and resolve of
the Government to uphold the sanctity of the LoC
ever be doubted.
|
The desperate
farce of India’s talks with Pakistan has been entirely
exposed by the Pakistani military and terrorist misadventures
of the recent past, demonstrating, once again, that a
criminalized state in Islamabad cannot be relied upon
to act within established norms of a civilized relationship,
and that terrorism and brinkmanship remain the principal
instrumentalities of Pakistan’s foreign policy.
|
Gilgit
Baltistan: Terror Thrives
Tushar Ranjan Mohanty
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
On August
6, 2013, terrorists killed Diamer District Senior Superintendent
of Police (SSP), Muhammad Hilal Khan, and two Army officers,
Colonel Ghulam Mustafa and Captain Ashfaq Aziz, in an
ambush at Rohni in the Chilas District of Gilgit Baltistan
(GB) in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK). The officials
were involved in the investigation of the June 23, 2013,
massacre of foreign climbers at Nanga Parbat and were
returning after a meeting in Diamer.
Significantly,
10 foreign mountaineers were among 11 persons killed,
when terrorists wearing uniforms of the GB Scouts (a Paramilitary
Force) attacked the Nanga Parbat base camp in the Bonar
area of Diamer District and shot the climbers and a Pakistani
guide at point-blank range. The victims included an American
with dual Chinese citizenship, three Ukrainians, two Slovakians,
two others from China, a Lithuanian and a climber from
Nepal. One Chinese climber reportedly survived by fleeing
the scene.
Claiming
responsibility of the August 6, 2013, attack, the Tehreek-e-Taliban
Pakistan (TTP)
had declared that its affiliate, Janood-e-Hafsa [JeH,
Army of the Lioness (Hafsa: also the name of one of the
Prophet Mohammad’s wives)], was behind the attack. JeH
was also behind the June 23, 2013, Nanga Parbat attack.
TTP’s then spokesperson, Ehsanullah Ehsan, had stated
that this new faction of the TTP had carried out the attack
to avenge the killing of Waliur Rehman Mehsud, the TTP
‘second-in-command’, who was killed in a US drone strike
in the Chashma area of Miranshah, the main town of the
North Waziristan Agency in the Federally Administered
Tribal Areas (FATA), on May 29, 2013.
On June
25, 2013, the Chief Minister of GB, Syed Mehdi Shah, had
disclosed that 37 suspects detained after the gruesome
attack on the climbers were being interrogated and significant
progress was expected over the following ‘two days’. Gilgit
Inspector General of Police Usman Zakria then claimed,
on June 26, 2013, that 15 terrorists involved in the attack
had been identified. However, no further action has been
taken and, with the killing of the investigating officials,
the probe appears to have hit a wall.
Local analysts
observe that TTP has extended its influence deep into
GB and its local networks have been involved in several
terrorist activities. Sher Ali, a Hunza valley-based political
activist thus notes, "Like in the neighbouring Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa (KP), the TTP has opened a new front in GB
and their terrorists have been found in the region, among
banned sectarian and Jihadi groups." Wazir Baig,
the speaker of the GB Assembly, confirmed, separately,
"The TTP's claim of responsibility indicates that
they have entered the region," and added that stern
action should be taken against any terrorist taking refuge
in Diamer.
The Ahl-e-Sunnat-wal-Jamaat
(ASWJ), the front organisation of the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan
(SSP),
a banned sectarian formation, has a strong presence in
the region. It has made a pledge to ensure that "Gilgit-Baltistan
remains a Sunni province" [GB is, in fact, Pakistan’s
only Shia majority region, under tremendous pressure of
an Islamabad-backed effort of demographic re-engineering].
As SAIR
has noted,
Islamabad has turned Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) –
including both Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and GB – into
a hub of Islamist extremism and terrorism since the 1990s.
Terrorist groups including Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT),
Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM),
Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM)
and many others, have been facilitated in creating bases
and training camps in the region. These terror camps are
‘global in nature’ – including terrorist formations that
have an international agenda. India maintains that “42
terror training camps were very much alive and kicking
in PoK”. On April 6, 2012, China – Pakistan’s ‘all weather
ally’ – indirectly – confirmed the existence of these
terrorist camps, alleging that insurgents of the East
Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) had been trained at
camps in PoK.
All the
terrorist groups operating in GB have primarily been engaged
in state sponsored sectarian violence. According to partial
data compiled by SATP, GB has recorded at least 115 fatalities,
including 89 civilians, 14 SF personnel and 12 terrorists
since 2000. Most of these killings have been sectarian
in nature. The year 2013 has, thus far, registered 16
killings (11 civilians and five SF personnel).
Indeed,
attempts by the political and administrative class to
deepen the sectarian
divide in GB have vitiated the security
environment in the region and have provided ample opportunity
for the terrorists to thrive. According to a March 12,
2012, media report, for instance, large amounts of illegal
arms and ammunition had reached GB, traversing three-hundred
kilometers of heavily securitized territory, passing through
numerous check posts and pickets set up by the law enforcement
agencies. The report also highlighted that a large number
of locals from various areas of GB had been trained for
terrorist activities in camps at Diamer and Mansehra.
Past reports had also indicated that terrorist training
camps had been established, or had been run at different
points of time, in various locations within GB, including
Tangir and Darel, Astore, Darul-Uloom, Juglote, Gilgit,
Madrasa Nusratul-Islam, Konodas, Skardu city, and Ghowadi
village near Skardu.
The spaces
created by the ISI for state-backed terrorist formations
are now being exploited vigorously by the anti-state TTP
as well. This was, in fact, confirmed by former Federal
Minister of the Interior Rehman Malik, who, on August
28, 2012, claimed that ‘criminals’ had been running towards
Gilgit Baltistan as they feared military operation in
Waziristan in FATA. The statement was in conformity with
the widely perceived notion that GB had emerged as a safe
haven for terrorist outfits. On August 2, 2013, Gilgit
Town SSP Ali Zia disclosed that law enforcement agencies
had launched an operation to arrest suspects believed
to have entered Gilgit Baltistan after being trained in
Miranshah to carry out terrorist attacks. These fitful
and selective efforts, however, have done little to alter
the broad trends towards radicalization and state-backed
sectarian extremism in the region.
In an apparent
effort to deal with the ‘alarming situation’, Chief Minister
Shah, on June 6, 2012, handed over 2,000 weapons and 200,000
rounds to the Police. The weapons included a total of
700 G3-rifles with 70,000 rounds, 300 7.62mm sub-machine
guns with 30,000 rounds, and 1,000 9mm MP5 sub-machine
guns with 100,000 rounds. GB presently has a total of
5,500 police personnel, including support staff, such
as drivers and cooks, yielding just 7.37 Policemen per
100 square kilometres in this volatile region and its
harsh terrain.
Earlier,
on May 28, 2012, the Gilgit Baltistan Legislative Assembly
(GBLA) had enacted a Code of Conduct (CoC) in order to
curb the ‘sectarian menace’, becoming the first provincial
legislature to have enacted a law dealing with sectarianism.
GB Chief Secretary Saifullah Chatha, while addressing
lawmakers, observed, “I’m hopeful that the rest of (the)
Assemblies would also emulate GBLA in order to root out
religious extremism from their respective regions.” Indeed,
sectarian violence has engulfed
the region in the aftermath of the August 16, 2012, targeted
attack, in which 25 Shias from GB were killed at Babusar
Top, which connects GB to the rest of the country, in
the Naran Valley of Mansehra District of neighbouring
KP.
Such initiatives,
however, remain cosmetic and, in continuing attempts to
deepen the sectarian divide, the GB Government suspended
60 Shia Government officers [48 on July 25, 2012 and another
12 on August 2, 2012], to ‘punish’ them for allegedly
attending a function of the Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslimeen
(MWM), a Shia Muslim religio-political party in Pakistan.
Chief Allama Nasir Abbas Jaffri. Allama Aijaz Behishti,
head of MWM Youth Affairs, claimed that the Government
was trying to intimidate Shia officials and warned that
the community was aware of this ‘conspiracy’. This order
evoked instant reaction from all parts of Pakistan, with
thousands of people thronging Gilgit Baltistan’s streets
in protest. According to an unconfirmed August 12, 2012,
report, the Government has reinstated 59 of these officers.
Islamabad’s
intentions to radicalize and demographically re-engineer
the GB region remain unchanged, though its Forces have
suffered some losses as a result of the ‘blowback’ of
renegade terrorist formations targeting them as well.
There is, nevertheless, no evidence of any change in the
devious strategy to push this Shia majority region into
Sunni domination, both through demographic transformations
and terrorist action.
|
Quetta:
Unending Bloodbath
Anurag Tripathi
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
On August
8, 2013, at least 38 persons, including 21 Policemen,
were killed and another 40 were injured in a suicide bombing
at a funeral in the Police Lines area of Quetta, the provincial
capital of Balochistan. Among those killed were Deputy
Inspector General (DIG) Operations, Fayyaz Ahmed Sumbal;
Superintendent of Police (SP), Headquarters, Mehrullah;
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Shamsur Rehman;
SP Traffic, Mohammad Anwer Khilji; Inspector Shakeel Akbar;
and five personnel of the Anti-Terrorist Force (ATF).
The majority of the injured personnel were from the Balochistan
Constabulary, ATF, and Police.
According
to sources, Inspector General (IG) Balochistan, Mustahq
Ahmed Shukera and Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Mir
Zubair Mehmood were the prime targets of the attack. However,
they escaped the blast since they arrived at the location
just minutes later.
The bomber
struck when the officers and personnel had gathered to
pay their last respects to the Station House Officer (SHO)
of the City Police Station, Mohibullah, who had been killed
by terrorists in the Killi Almo area of Quetta earlier
in the day. The terrorists had opened indiscriminate fire
on a Police van, killing the SHO and injuring six others.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban
Pakistan (TTP)
claimed responsibility for both incidents.
A day later,
on August 9, 2013, eight persons were killed and several
others were injured when terrorists opened fire targeting
former Provincial Minister Ali Madad Jattak, in the Eastern
bypass area of Quetta, during Eid prayers. Jattak,
however, survived in the attack.
According
to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism
Portal (SATP), Quetta alone has recorded at least
1,325 fatalities [1,091 civilians, 189 Security Force
(SF) personnel, and 45 terrorists] out of a total of 4,217
fatalities (2,813 civilians, 787 SF personnel and 617
terrorists) in the Balochistan Province, since 2004 (all
data till August 11, 2013). The Province has already recorded
702 fatalities (537civilians, 105 SF personnel and 60
terrorists) in 2013, of which 369 fatalities (309 civilians,
43 SF personnel, and 17 terrorists) were killed in Quetta
alone. The current year has already recorded the highest
fatalities in Quetta.
Fatalities
in Quetta: 2004-2013*
Years
|
Incidents
|
Killed
|
2004
|
13
|
64
|
2005
|
47
|
14
|
2006
|
52
|
41
|
2007
|
104
|
95
|
2008
|
81
|
62
|
2009
|
94
|
82
|
2010
|
83
|
153
|
2011
|
114
|
240
|
2012
|
148
|
205
|
2013
|
117
|
369
|
Total*
|
853
|
1325
|
Source:
SATP, *Data till August 11, 2013
|
Some of
the major incidents (involving three or more killings)
in Quetta in 2013 include:
June 30:
At least 28 Shias were killed and 60 were injured when
a suicide bomber blew himself up near the Abu Talib Imambargah
(Shia place of worship) in the Aliabad area of Hazara
Town in Quetta.
June 15:
At least 14 female students, four nurses and four SF personnel,
including Quetta Deputy Commissioner of Police Abdul Mansur
Khan, were killed and another 27 sustained injuries when
unidentified terrorists first blew up a bus of the Sardar
Bahadur Khan (SBK) Women’s University in Quetta, and subsequently
carried out a blast inside the Bolan Medical College’s
teaching hospital in the city, where the injured were
admitted.
May 23:
13 persons, including 12 Balochistan Constabulary (BC)
personnel, were killed and another 17 sustained injuries
in an explosion near Link Badini Road in Quetta.
May 12:
Balochistan Inspector General of Police Mushtaq Sukhera
narrowly escaped a suicide attack in the high security
zone on Zarghoon Road in Quetta that killed at least six
persons and injured 46.
February
16, 2013: A remote-controlled bomb targeting Shias killed
84 persons, including women and children, and wounded
another 200 in Quetta.
January
10: At least 117 persons were killed and over 216 were
injured in three separate bomb blasts in Quetta. At 8.30
pm, a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a snooker
club on Alamdar Road, which has two Shia prayer halls.
Within 10 minutes, as Police, rescuers and media persons
rushed to the site, another bomb fixed to a vehicle parked
nearby went off. The twin blasts killed 105 persons and
injured another 169. Earlier in the day, at 3.50 pm, a
powerful bomb exploded under a Frontier Corps (FC) vehicle
near a public plaza and crowded food market at the busy
Bacha Khan Chowk, killing 12 persons and injuring 47.
Anti-Shia
extremist formations including the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan
(TTP) and the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ)
are the principal perpetrator of violence in Quetta. In
2013 five incidents resulting in 239 fatalities have been
claimed by the LeJ, and another two incidents, resulting
in 39 fatalities, were claimed by the TTP. Separately,
Baloch nationalist groups have claimed responsibility
for six killings in two incidents. The remaining the fatalities
remain unclaimed.
Significantly,
Northern Balochistan, of which Quetta is a part, is dominated
by Islamist terrorist outfits and Sunni sectarian formations
such as the TTP and the LeJ. A multiplicity of Baloch
nationalist groupings operate principally in South Balochistan.
According to the SATP database, since 2004, the Baloch
insurgency-affected regions of South Balochistan have
accounted for at least 1,684 fatalities, including 940
civilians, 413 SF personnel and 331 terrorists. The Northern
areas of the Province, under the influence of Islamist
and Sunni sectarian terrorist formations, LeJ and TTP,
recorded 2,533 fatalities, including 1,981 civilians,
403 SF personnel and 149 terrorists, over the same period.
Since 2004,
243 civilian killings (141 in the South and 102 in the
North) have been claimed by Baloch separatist formations
such as the Baloch Republican Army (BRA), Baloch Liberation
Army (BLA), Balochistan Liberation Tigers (BLT) and United
Baloch Army (UBA). The Islamist extremist formations,
primarily LeJ and TTP, claimed responsibility for the
killing of 422 civilians, all in North, mostly in Quetta.
The remaining 2,103 civilian fatalities remain unattributed.
As SAIR has noted,
a large proportion of the ‘unattributed’ fatalities, particularly
in the Southern region, are believed to be the result
of enforced disappearances carried out by state agencies,
or by their proxies, prominently including the Tehrik-e-Nafaz-e-Aman
Balochistan (TNAB, Movement for the Restoration of Peace,
Balochistan). Sectarian violence orchestrated by Islamabad-backed
Islamist formations is also responsible for a significant
proportion of civilian fatalities.
Evidently,
the Islamist terrorist formations have created havoc in
Quetta in particular and Balochistan at large, with Government
failing to respond. On July 2, 2013, Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif, during his visit to Quetta, indirectly conceded
the failure of an adequate state response, “The administration
here needs to bring improvement in their governance and
the authorities in police need to realize their duty.”
Sharif pointed out that Quetta was a ‘small city of around
20 lanes’ and that it should not be too hard to secure
such a place.
As in other
areas of Pakistan, it is the collusion and complicity
of elements within the state establishment that have created
spaces for the proliferation of terrorist groupings, and
have inhibited effective state responses against the terrorists.
It is significant that Quetta has long been the operational
base of a number of terrorist formations operating in
Afghanistan with the backing of the Inter Services Intelligence.
Given Islamabad’s unchanged game plan to continue with
its mischief in Afghanistan, and to use Sunni extremist
mobilization and terror as an instrument for domestic
political management, the present crisis can only deepen.
|
Weekly Fatalities: Major
Conflicts in South Asia
August 5-11,
2013
|
Civilians
|
Security
Force Personnel
|
Terrorists/Insurgents
|
Total
|
BANGLADESH
|
|
Islamist Extremism
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
Left-wing
Extremism
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
Total (BANGLADESH)
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
3
|
INDIA
|
|
Assam
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
4
|
Jammu and
Kashmir
|
0
|
5
|
0
|
5
|
Manipur
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
Meghalaya
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Nagaland
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
Left-wing
Extremism
|
|
Chhattisgarh
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
Jharkhand
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Odisha
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Total (INDIA)
|
6
|
6
|
5
|
17
|
PAKISTAN
|
|
Balochistan
|
41
|
24
|
11
|
76
|
FATA
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
PoK
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
3
|
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
Punjab
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
5
|
Sindh
|
14
|
0
|
1
|
15
|
Total (PAKISTAN)
|
|
|
|
|
Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
|
BANGLADESH
Supreme
Court
turns
down
JeI's
petition
for
stay
on
Dhaka
High
Court
verdict
declaring
registration
of
JeI
illegal:
The
Dhaka
High
Court
(HC)
verdict
declaring
illegal
Jamaat-e-Islami's
(JeI)
registration
with
the
Election
Commission
as
a
political
party
will
remain
in
force
as
the
chamber
judge
of
the
Bangladesh
Supreme
Court
has
turned
down
JeI's
petition
for
stay
on
the
verdict
on
August
5.
The
Chamber
Judge,
Justice
A.H.M.
Shamsuddin
Choudhury
Manik,
rejected
Jamaat's
petition,
saying
that
there
is
no
logical
ground
in
the
petition
for
staying
the
HC
verdict.
Daily
Star,
August
6,
2013.
INDIA
Five
soldiers
killed
as
Pakistan
violates
ceasefire
in
Jammu
and
Kashmir:
Violating
the
ceasefire,
Pakistani
troops
along
with
militants
attacked
an
Indian
Army
patrol
along
the
Line
of
Control
(LoC)
in
the
Poonch
Sector
of
Poonch
District
on
August
6,
killing
five
Indian
soldiers
and
injuring
another.
Reports
said
that
the
Pakistani
soldiers
and
the
militants
intruded
450
meter
deep
into
the
Indian
Territory
and
ambushed
the
Indian
Army
patrol.
Times
of
India,
August
6,
2013.
IB
issues
alert
on
LeT
attack
in
New
Delhi:
The
Intelligence
Bureau
(IB)
on
August
8
issued
a
substantial
alert
to
Delhi
Police
over
a
Lashkar-e-Toiba
(LeT)
terror
attack.
Communications
among
LeT
militants
that
were
intercepted
by
intelligence
officials
disclosed
the
planning
of
a
spectacular
attack
by
LeT
modules
who
managed
to
sneak
into
Indian
Territory.
Senior
intelligence
officials
confirmed
that
12
terror
modules
crossed
over
to
the
Indian
side
recently
and
inputs
forwarded
to
Police
are
based
on
the
technical
interception
by
the
agency.
Indian
Express,
August
9,
2013.
ISI
is
making
attempts
to
infiltrate
India's
strategic
organisations
by
snooping
telephone
calls
and
using
malware,
says
IB:
The
Intelligence
Bureau
(IB)
has
said
that
the
Inter-Services
Intelligence
(ISI)
is
making
attempts
to
infiltrate
India's
strategic
organisations
by
snooping
telephone
calls
and
using
malware.
Sounding
an
alert
regarding
such
"espionage"
attempts
from
across
the
border,
the
IB
warned
that
Pakistan's
intelligence
operatives
(PIOs)
were
targeting
defence
forces'
headquarters
and
other
strategic
organisations
to
collect
sensitive
information.
The
Hindu,
August
7,
2013.
Terrorists
getting
funds
through
foreign
embassies,
says
Union
Minister
of
State
for
Home
Affairs
R.
P.
N.
Singh:
There
are
reports
of
terrorist
funding
through
foreign
embassies
and
foreign
intelligence
agencies
of
neighbouring
countries,
the
Lok
Sabha
(Lower
House
of
Indian
Parliament)
was
informed
on
August
6.
"Yes,"
said
Union
Minister
of
State
for
Home
R.
P.
N.
Singh
when
asked
whether
there
are
reports
of
terrorists
funding
in
the
country
through
foreign
embassies
and
foreign
intelligence
agencies.
He
said
on
the
basis
of
the
inputs
obtained
from
central
and
state
law
enforcement
agencies,
since
2006
and
till
June
30,
2013,
a
total
of
218
FIRs
have
been
registered
and
in
65
cases
charge
sheets
have
been
filed.
"These
include
the
10
terror
funding
cases
being
investigated
by
National
Investigation
Agency
(NIA),"
he
added.
Zee
News,
August
7,
2013.
FICNs
from
Pakistan
being
routed
to
India
via
China
and
Nepal
route,
says
Union
Minister
of
State
for
Finance
Namo
Narain
Meena:
The
Union
Minister
of
State
for
Finance
Namo
Narain
Meena
in
a
written
reply
to
Rajya
Sabha
(Upper
House
of
Indian
Parliament)
said
on
August
6,
"The
ministry
of
home
affairs
has
informed
that
instances
have
come
to
notice
where
Fake
Indian
Currency
Notes
(FICN)/counterfeit
currency
printed
in
Pakistan
has
been
routed
to
India
via
China
and
Nepal
route."
Meena
said
that
this
is
an
attempt
by
Pakistan
based
FICNs
suppliers
to
devise
an
alternative
route
for
injecting
counterfeit
notes
into
India.
He
said
the
government
has
recovered
199,000
FICNs
worth
INR
101.4
million
as
on
June
30,
2013.
Times
of
India,
August
7,
2013.
ISI
is
'increasing
pressure'
on
Pakistan
Prime
Minister
Nawaz
Sharif
to
act
on
Kashmir,
says
report:
Indian
intelligence
officials
have
submitted
a
report
to
the
Union
Ministry
of
Home
Affairs
stating
the
Inter
Services
Intelligence
(ISI)
is
increasing
pressure
on
Pakistan
Prime
Minister
Nawaz
Sharif
to
act
on
Kashmir.
Nawaz
Sharif
has
reportedly
cleared
a
new
Kashmir
strategy
and
set
up
a
Kashmir
Cell
in
his
office.
The
purpose
of
the
cell
is
to
keep
'track'
of
developments
on
Kashmir.
Zee
News,
August
8,
2013.
Pakistan
needs
stronger
laws
to
'nab'
Hafiz
Saeed,
Shahryar
Khan
says:
The
former
foreign
secretary
of
Pakistan
and
Prime
Minister
Nawaz
Sharif's
present
special
envoy
to
India
Shahryar
Khan
in
an
Interview
on
August
11
said
that
present
laws
in
Pakistan
will
have
to
be
changed
in
order
to
'nab'
Lashkar-e-Toiba
founder
and
JuD
chief
Hafiz
Mohammad
Saeed.
"It
is
not
possible
to
nab
him
with
the
present
legal
system
in
Pakistan.
The
solution
therefore
is
to
have
stronger
laws
in
Pakistan,
"he
added.
He
added
that
there
has
never
been
enough
evidence
to
arrest
Saeed.
Times
of
India,
August
12,
2013.
'Dawood
will
be
brought
to
justice
wherever
he
is',
says
MEA
spokesperson
Syed
Akbaruddin:
The
Ministry
of
External
Affairs
(MEA)
spokesperson
Syed
Akbaruddin
said
on
August
10
that
India
will
not
rest
until
those
responsible
for
the
1993
Mumbai
blasts
are
brought
to
justice.
"The
1993
blast
dossier
has
never
been
closed
by
us.
Now
that
we
have
received
more
information,
we
will
not
rest
till
those
responsible
for
the
attack
against
our
citizens
are
brought
to
justice
wherever
they
are.
We
will
continue
to
pursue
this,"
Syed
Akbaruddin
said.
The
MEA
spokesperson
was
reacting
to
former
foreign
secretary
of
Pakistan
and
Prime
Minister
Nawaz
Sharif's
present
special
envoy
to
India
Shahryar
Khan's
August
9
remark,
"Dawood
was
in
Pakistan
but
I
believe
he
was
chased
out
of
Pakistan.
If
he
is
in
Pakistan,
he
should
be
hounded
and
arrested.
We
cannot
allow
such
gangsters
to
operate
from
the
country,"
Khan
had
said.
Khan,
however,
backtracked
on
August
10
and
said
the
Pakistan
Foreign
Ministry
had
no
idea
of
Dawood's
whereabouts
and
the
Ministry
of
Interior
would
probably
have
known
about
him.
The
Hindu,
August
11,
2013.
Andhra
Pradesh
extends
ban
on
Maoists
for
one
more
year:
Andhra
Pradesh
Government
on
August
8
extended
ban
on
the
Communist
Party
of
India-Maoist
(CPI-Maoist)
and
its
several
front
organisations
for
a
period
of
one
year
from
August
17.
The
Government
had
declared
the
Maoists
organisation
as
an
unlawful
association
in
2005
for
one
year
and
has
been
extending
the
ban
every
year
since
then.
The
front
organisations
against
whom
the
ban
has
been
extended
include
the
Radical
Students
Union,
Radical
Youth
League
and
Rythu
Coolie
Sangham
(Rythu
Porter
Association),
among
others.
Deccan
Chronicle,
August
9,
2013.
NEPAL
NPR
20
billion
spent
from
State
coffer
to
manage
disarmed
Maoist
insurgents,
says
Ministry
of
Peace
and
Reconstruction:
The
Ministry
of
Peace
and
Reconstruction
on
August
10
said
that
around
NPR
20
billion
has
been
spent
so
far
on
behalf
of
the
Government
to
manage
disarmed
Maoist
insurgents,
who
gave
up
arms
in
2006
after
10
years
of
insurgency.
Of
the
total
amount,
the
cantonment
management
office
spent
around
NPR
10
billion,
while
the
Secretariat
of
the
Special
Committee
on
Reintegration
spent
around
NPR
8
billion.
The
remaining
amount
was
spent
for
other
administrative
purposes.
Nepal
News,
August
11,
2013.
PAKISTAN
41
civilians
and
24
SFs
among
76
persons
killed
during
the
week
in
Balochistan:
Security
Forces
(SFs)
on
August
11
shot
dead
eight
militants
in
the
Machh
area
of
Bolan
District.
At
least
10
persons
were
killed
and
15
others
injured
when
unidentified
militants
attacked
the
Jamia
Masjid
Farooqia
in
Quetta
(Quetta
District),
the
provincial
capital
of
Balochistan,
on
August
9.
Thirty
eight
persons,
including
21
Police
officials,
were
killed
and
40
others
were
injured
in
a
suicide
blast
at
a
funeral
in
the
Police
Lines
area
of
Quetta
on
August
8.
At
least
14
persons,
including
three
SF
personnel,
were
killed
on
August
6
in
an
attack
by
Baloch
Liberation
Army
(BLA)
militants
on
five
passenger
buses
in
the
Machh
area
of
Bolan
District.
Daily
Times;
Dawn;
The
News;
Tribune;
Central
Asia
Online;
The
Nation;
The
Frontier
Post;
Pakistan
Today;
Pakistan
Observer,
August
6-12,
2013.
Bajaur
Agency
militant-free,
claims
Lieutenant
General
Khalid
Rabbani:
Peshawar
Corps
Commander
Lieutenant
General
Khalid
Rabbani
on
August
8
announced
that
Security
Forces
(SFs),
along
with
the
help
of
tribesmen,
had
eliminated
militants
from
Bajaur
Agency
in
the
Federally
Administered
Tribal
Areas
and
that
the
region's
borders
have
now
been
secured.
Rabbani
thanked
the
soldiers
and
the
locals
for
restoring
the
Government's
writ,
adding
that
the
residents
of
the
agency
were
the
"most
loyal"
and
"peace
loving"
of
the
country.
Central
Asia
Online,
August
11,
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.
|
|
|