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SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 13, No. 17, October 27, 2014

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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Balochistan: Targeting 'Outsiders'
Anurag Tripathi
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management

At least eight Punjabi poultry farm labourers were found dead in the Sakran area of Hub tehsil (revenue unit) in Lasbela District of Balochistan on October 19, 2014. Police sources said that unknown armed men had kidnapped nine labourers from a poultry farm in Sakran on October 18 and killed eight of them after checking their identity cards.

Earlier on April 15, 2014, at least two Punjabis were killed and a child was injured when unidentified militants opened fire at a barber shop on Sariab Road in Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan. The Superintendent of Police (SP) Imran Qureshi disclosed that the victims belonged to Punjab and were working on Sariab Road for a long time. "This was an act of targeted killing," he added.

After the killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti in August 26, 2006, in a military operation in the Chalgri area of the Bhamboor Hills in Dera Bugti District, a series of attacks on Punjabi and other non-Baloch settlers in Balochistan, as well as the destruction of national infrastructure, commenced. On August 23, 2007, Punjabi-speaking hair salon owners in Quetta said that they felt insecure after attacks on their shops in preceding months and demanded that the Government provide them security. An unnamed Barbershop Owners’ Association member said they were facing security problems due to their ethnic background. "Since Nawab Akbar Bugti’s killing last year, more than 12 attacks have been made on barbershops. The number of attacks in interior Balochistan is higher," he claimed, adding that around 800 barbers worked in Quetta and that most of them hailed from Punjab: "Business is affected badly, as workers are fleeing the city in order to avoid ethnic attack."

In the wake of the Bugti killing, Baloch militant organisations such as the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) began to paint slogans such as 'down with Punjabis', 'Long Live Azad Balochistan', etc. Punjabis were mainly targeted, but other ethnic groups have also been hit — Urdu-speaking people from Karachi and Hindko-speaking settlers from Haripur in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), 17 Punjabi settlers have already been killed in the current year (data till October 23, 2014). In 2013, the number of such fatalities stood at 29; in 2012, at 26; in 2011, at 13; in 2010, at 21; and 18 and 1 in 2009 and 2008, respectively. Data also suggests that the civilians killed by insurgents are either Punjabi settlers, who have been located in Balochistan under Islamabad’s design to alter the region's demography, or people suspected to be spying for state agencies.

According to the SATP database, at least 125 Punjabi settlers have been killed in Balochistan since 2008. Most of the Punjabi settler killings are recorded in South Balochistan (principally in Bolan, Turbat, Gwadar, Panjgur, Khuzdar, Sibi and Lasbela Districts) which accounts for 101 killings; followed by 24 in North Balochistan (mostly in Nushki, Quetta and Mustang District). The overwhelming concentration of such killings in the South is because South Balochistan is dominated by Baloch insurgent groups, while the North is dominated by Islamist extremist formations such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ).

Of the 3,274 civilian fatalities recorded in Balochistan since 2004, at least 807 civilian killings are attributable to one or another militant outfit. Of these, 305 civilian killings (182 in the South and 123 in the North) have been claimed by Baloch separatist formations while the Islamist and sectarian extremist formations, primarily LeJ, TTP and Ahrar-ul-Hind (Liberators of India), claimed responsibility for the killing of another 502 civilians, all in the North, mostly in and around Quetta. The remaining 2,467 civilian fatalities - 1,521 in the South and 946 in the North - remain ‘unattributed’. 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 Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Aman Balochistan (TNAB, Movement for the Restoration of Peace, Balochistan). The 305 civilian killings attributed to Baloch formations include at least 125 Punjabis, since 2008.

Baloch Republican Army (BRA) General Secretary Dr. Bashir Azeem observed, on September 19, 2014, “The Baloch has been struggling against the excesses and tyranny of Punjab-dominated establishment of Pakistan for decades.” Resource-rich, though sparsely populated Balochistan is the largest of Pakistan's four provinces, but its roughly seven million inhabitants have long complained they do not receive a fair share of its gas and mineral wealth. Despite its vast natural endowment, Balochistan is Pakistan’s poorest Province.

Some of the prominent major attacks (each resulting in three or more fatalities) targeting Punjabi settlers in Balochistan include:

January 8, 2013: At least six persons were killed and another five sustained injuries in three different firing incidents in Shiekhwasil area of Mastung District. An unnamed Levies official confirmed, “The deceased and injured were residents of Punjab."

August 6, 2013: At least 14 Punjabi persons, including three security personnel, were killed in an attack by BLA militants on five passenger buses in Machh area of Bolan District. The buses were on their way from Quetta to Punjab when 200 militants intercepted them in Machh and abducted the passengers. The militants killed Punjabi passengers after inspecting their national identity cards (NICs).

July 6, 2012: At least 18 Punjabi-speaking persons, who were travelling to Iran, were shot dead and another two were injured when Balochistan Liberation Tigers (BLT) militants attacked their vehicles in the Basoli area of Turbat District.

July 23, 2011: At least five labourers of Punjabi ethnicity were shot dead by unidentified assailants in Kisankuri area of Nushki town in Nushki District.

August 14, 2010: Unidentified assailants singled out Punjabi passengers travelling on a bus, killing 10 and injuring five near Ahd-e-Gham in Mach town of Bolan District.

August 14, 2010: At least six Punjabi speaking persons were shot dead by assailants riding a motorcycle when they were going home from work in the Khilji Colony of Quetta.

February 3, 2009: The BRA admitted to having killed four Punjabis in the Nushki Districts. Unidentified people riding on a motorcycle opened indiscriminate fire on a welding shop owned by a Punjabi. According to sources, the shop had been attacked many times in the past because of its Punjabi links.

The targeted killings have created an atmosphere of fear and terror among settlers across Balochistan. According to a Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) report on October 15, 2014, more than 300,000 people have fled the Province over the past 10 years due to growing unrest. Tahir Hussain Khan, president of the Balochistan chapter of the independent HRCP asserted that 90,000 people who had fled were from Punjabi and Urdu-speaking communities, and had left to avoid violence by Baloch nationalists.

Further compounding ethnically targeted violence, according to partial data compiled by SATP, Balochistan has recorded 218 incidents of attacks on gas pipelines, in which 16 persons have been killed and 31 injured since 2005 (Data till October 23, 2014). In one such attack on September 30, 2014, a gas pipeline was blown up in the Zain Bugti area of Dera Bugti District, suspending gas supply from Well No. 10 to the Sui plant in the area. BRA claimed responsibility for the attack, and its spokesperson vowed to continue targeting gas pipelines and Security Forces in the District.

Baloch separatists allege that the Federal Government is systematically suppressing development in Balochistan to keep the Baloch people weak. The attacks on Punjabi settlers are thus claimed as retaliation by Baloch people against the Pakistan establishment for continuously ignoring the genuine demands of the Baloch people.  

Even as both the Provincial and Federal Governments persist in their neglect of the ground realities of the Province, Islamabad’s strategy of supporting armed Islamist extremist formations and other violent proxies has enormously worsened the situation in Balochistan. State agencies have been active in repressing Baloch groups articulating the genuine demands of the community, even as the most basic issues, including the urgent crisis of extra judicial killings, continue to be ignored. Such a strategy, long embedded in Islamabad's approach to this restive Province is bound to bring more chaos in the already destabilized region.

Interestingly, on December 30, 2013, the Balochistan Government evolved a “smart and effective security policy”. Under the new policy, operations would commence against Baloch militant formations, such as BRA, BLA, BLT, United Baloch Army (UBA), Baloch United Liberation Front (BULF) and Baloch Liberation Front (BLF). Significantly, Islamist terrorist formations find no mention in this listing, though they are responsible for the greater proportion of attributable attacks and killings in the Province. Fortunately or unfortunately, however, nothing much has been done to put this policy into practice.

Conspicuously, SFs remain preoccupied with their “kill and dump” operations, while Islamabad continues to wait out the crisis in the Province. Meanwhile, the problems deepen as legitimate demands and genuine grievances are ignored. The recent and tragic incidents targeting Punjabi settlers highlight the cumulative failures of both the Federal and Provincial Governments, in restoring peace and justice in Balochistan.

INDIA
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Andhra Pradesh: Advantage Sustained
Fakir Mohan Pradhan
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management

In a significant incident, irate tribal villagers lynched three Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres belonging to the Korukonda area committee at Veeravaram village located in Balapam Panchayat (village-level local self-government institution) within the Annavaram Police Station limits in the Chintapalli mandal (Revenue Unit) of Vishakhapatnam District in Andhra Pradesh in the night of October 19, 2014, after the Maoists killed a villager. The Maoist dead were identified as 'divisional committee member' Sindri China Ranga Rao alias Sharath (from Kannavaram village) and militia squad members Palasa Gangapati (Sabbapalli village) and Korra Nageswara Rao (Gillebanda village). The villager who was killed by the Maoists was identified as Gemmeli Sanjeeva Rao (39), a former Maoist, who had stopped taking part in Maoist activities and virtually confined himself to his village, Veeravaram, since 2001.  

Though details of the incident are yet to crystallize, the broad contours of the incident in the night of October 19 are: a group of 30 to 40 Maoists came to Veeravaram village to kill Rao and his friend Satyanarayana alias Simhachalam, a preacher from Boddalaveedhi village, suspecting both friends to be Police informers. While a group of about 10 Maoists led by Sharath entered Veeravaram, other Maoists waited outside the village. As the Maoists in the village caught hold of Sanjeeva Rao and Simhachalam and accused them of being Police informers, tribal villagers gathered around them, pleading with them to spare Rao and Simhachalam as they were innocents. The Maoists, however, killed Rao and announced that Simhachalam was next. Infuriated, the villagers, more than 300 in number, took on the Maoists. The extremists reportedly fired at the mob, but one villager hit Sharath in the head with a stick, killing him on the spot. The villagers then attacked and killed another two Maoists, while the others managed to escape. According to reports two weapons, including an AK-47 in damaged condition, were found at the spot. Later, Andhra Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) J.V. Ramudu told reporters that the Police recovered the bodies of Sharath and the victim, Sanjeeva Rao. The body of Ganapathi was taken by his family members and Nageswara Rao’s body was washed away in a stream.  

As was expected, the Maoists blamed the Police for instigating the tribal villagers. According to the 'East Division Committee secretary' Kailasam, the party cadres killed Sanjeeva Rao and were going to the Korukonda area to make an announcement in a praja court ("people’s" Kangaroo court) but tribals, under the influence of security forces, did not give their armed cadre a chance to explain why they took the decision to kill Rao. Issuing a threat to the locals he stated that the CPI-Maoist had already identified 19 people involved in the murder of three of its cadres: "They should come forward and admit their mistake, otherwise the party will take stern action."

The East Division Committee of the Maoists has called for a bandh (general shutdown) on October 30 to protest the lynching incident. Denying reports that Maoists fired at the villagers, Kailasam asserted that his cadres did not open fire against the tribals to avoid killing them: "Our men did make a mistake at Sagulu in GK Veedhi on February 19, 2013, by killing three tribals and the party has openly admitted the mistake of its armed cadre. Our party took the decision to kill police informer Gemmeli Sanjeeva Rao after he was warned three times earlier."

The Maoists appear to be taking the present incident as just another case of defiance to be dealt with. However, its ramifications are likely to be wider. Though this is the first incident of villagers taking on the Maoists in the Vishakhapatnam Agency Area of Andhra Pradesh, incidents of villagers offering resistance against the Maoists are not new - the salwa judum in Chhattisgarh and Nagrik Suraksha Samiti and Shanti Sena in Jharkhand were, of course, wider 'people's movements' supported and sponsored by the state. Similar, state backed movements have also been seen in West Bengal and Bihar as well, even as the Maoists have retaliated strongly. Just two days prior to the Veeravaram incident, Maoists killed Raghunath Kisku, one founder member of Nagrik Suraksha Samiti (Jharkhand), near Bakra Pool under Musabani Police Station area in Ghatshila subdivision of East Singhbhum District (Jharkhand). In one of the worst incidents of this nature, on February 17, 2010, the Maoists killed 12 persons, burning four of them alive, and gutted nearly 35 huts at Phulwaria village in the Jamui District of Bihar, after the villagers had killed eight Maoists for raping a woman of the village. The initial action by the villagers was said to have had the backing of the Police. Crucially, however, none of the state-backed 'popular' resistance movements have any existence today.

The Veeravaram incident is different as it does appear to be a spontaneous reaction to Maoist excesses. Further, it has occurred in an area where the Maoist base is still considered to be strong, despite all the reverses they had suffered in undivided Andhra Pradesh (now bifurcated into Andhra Pradesh and Telangana). Further, girijans, (the tribals of the Agency area) are considered to be the last pillar of Maoist support in the area, as other classes/categories have gradually moved away from the rebel group.

Septuagenarian K. Sudhakar Patnaik of neighbouring Koraput District of Odisha, a former Naxalite sympathiser who witnessed the movement in Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh as a youth in the late 1960s and early 1970s, recalls similar incidents in 1970, at a time when the Naxalites enjoyed great sway over the area: when the Naxalites abducted three persons from Burja village, the villagers retaliated by taking three Naxalites hostage, and released them only after securing the release of the villagers. At that point of time, such an act of audacious defiance pointed towards the cracks in popular support enjoyed by the Naxalites. Not surprisingly, shortly afterwards, the two tallest leaders of the Srikakulam movement, Vempatapu Satyanarayana and Adibhatla Kailasam, were killed by Police on intelligence provided by villagers, critically weakening the movement.

The Veeravaram incident, consequently, has far greater potential to undermine the Maoists than may immediately be visible. Moreover, other recent incidents in the Vishakhapatnam Agency area reinforce such an assessment. Early this year, the Maoists intervened in a land dispute between two tribal groups – the Kondus and Bhagatas of Saagulu village (G.K. Veedhi mandal). Both parties were brought together at a meeting on February 19, 2013, after which the Maoists pronounced in favour of the Kondus. The Bhagatas protested and pelted stones at the Maoists, while the Maoists, in turn, fired at them, killing three villagers.

Again, on February 25, 2014, the Maoists killed a girijan sarpanch (head of panchayat) of the Balapam panchayat, identified as Seendri Karla of Rallagedda village, suspecting him to be a Police informer, after 75 local sympathisers surrendered before the Police. The killing sparked outrage among girijans in the Agency area.

The waning support base of the Maoists has been acknowledged  by the rebel leadership on more than one occasion, though the very pace of this process must come as a surprise. In Bastar division of Chhattisgarh adjacent to the Vishakhapatnam Agency areas, considered to be the nerve centre of the present Maoist movement, a wave of surrenders has provided compelling evidence of the loss of the support base of the movement. Interestingly, in a surprising incident on October 15, 2014, tribals in the Sukma District of Chhattisgarh forced Maoists to release 40 hostages. According to the Police, the Maoists had, on October 9, 2014, visited the Polampalli, Kerlapal, Sirsatti, Sisma and Pongabheji villages in Sukma District to look for their former cadres who had surrendered before Police, and had taken 40 former Maoists hostage, to try them in Kangaroo courts, with the reported intention of executing them. Enraged, around 2,000 unarmed tribals from these villages gathered at Polampalli, then marched to the jungles of Sisma to successfully free their abducted kin.

The unmistakable erosion of the Maoist support base provides a window of opportunity to the state. The new draft anti-Maoist policy by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), awaiting formal approval of the Cabinet, thus attempts to catch some 'low hanging fruit' in this context. Taking note of the experience of previous counter- insurgency (CI) campaigns in States like Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Tripura, the draft policy suggests that the State Police should take the lead in the campaign, supported by Central Forces. The draft policy observes,
The LWE (Left Wing Extremism) affected States will take the lead in the counter-insurgency campaign with support from the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs). The CAPFs have the responsibility of holding the counter-insurgency grid together, operating seamlessly across state borders in coordination with the State police forces... The CAPF personnel deployed in LWE affected areas would be given incentives on par with the maximum prevailing levels -- those available in Jammu and Kashmir... In the worst left-wing extremism affected areas, security interventions will be followed by development interventions; in moderately affected areas, both the interventions will go hand in hand and in less affected areas, development interventions will take precedence.

These ideas have, of course, been around for a long time, and it is in their implementation that they will, eventually, have to be assessed. Crucially, however, Andhra Pradesh has done extraordinarily well against the Maoists over the past eight years, and the recent incidents suggest an excellent environment to take this process to a logical conclusion, particularly in view of recent Maoist attempts to regain a foothold in the State on the pretext of opposing bauxite mining in the Vishakhapatnam Agency area. The Maoists have reportedly been conducting public meetings in the Agency, and armed Maoist movements have been sighted right up to the East Godavari District. With signs of Maoists weakness in their nerve centre in the Bastar area of Chhattisgarh, the Andhra Pradesh Police would find the situation even more conducive to a further consolidation of past and dramatic CI gains.


NEWS BRIEFS

Weekly Fatalities: Major Conflicts in South Asia
October 20-26, 2014

 

Civilians

Security Force Personnel

Terrorists/Insurgents

Total

INDIA

 

Jammu and Kashmir

1
1
0
2

Arunachal Pradesh

0
0
2
2

Assam

2
0
3
5

Meghalaya

1
1
0
2

Tripura

0
1
0
1

Left-wing Extremism

 

Andhra Pradesh

0
0
3
3

Chhattisgarh

0
0
1
1

Jharkhand

0
0
1
1

Total (INDIA)

4
3
10
17

PAKISTAN

 

Balochistan

14
0
1
15

FATA

7
5
36
48

Sindh

0
0
15
15

Total (PAKISTAN)

21
5
52
78
Provisional data compiled from English language media sources.


INDIA

NSA sees large network behind Bardhaman blast: On the eve of his visit to Burdwan Blast site in West Bengal, National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval said that there appeared to be a large network of the banned group (JMB) that the investigators were working to unravel, reports The Hindu on October 26. He said that both Indian and Bangladeshi Governments were working in close coordination in the fight against terrorism. "Both the countries enjoy excellent bilateral relations and we have been working together," he added. Ajit Doval is expected to visit the blast site in Burdwan and meet Chief Minister (CM) Mamata Banerjee on October 27. The Hindu, October 26, 2014.

National Investigation Agency report reveals details of Maoist planning of the May 25, 2013 Darbha valley attack on Congress Convoy in Chhattisgarh: A three-month long conspiracy culminated into the meticulously planned Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) attack, which was rehearsed over six days, on the convoy of senior Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh on May 25 in 2013, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has concluded after conducting a probe for nearly 16 months. The report was submitted in a court in Bilaspur on September 23 and said the Maoists celebrated with a "macabre dance of death" on the spot after killing Karma. Economic Times, October 24, 2014.

India is capable enough to deal with al Qaeda and ISIS threat, says NSA Ajit Doval: National Security Advisor (NSA), Ajit Doval on October 21 said that there is no threat from either al Qaeda or Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) of a magnitude which the country cannot deal with as security agencies were keeping a "very close watch". Speaking at the Munich Security Conference in New Delhi Doval said that "There is nothing as big or small terrorism. It is not on the basis of geography, but on the basis of groups, it is on the basis of capabilities and tactics. Any group, about whom we have information that has the capability and intention to strike against would be our biggest targets." Sahara Samay, October 22, 2014.

JMB trains Assamese men to carry out terror attacks, says Assam DGP Khagen Sarma: Director General of Police (DGP), Assam, Khagen Sarma on October 21 said that Assamese youths who were arrested in connection with the Burdwan blast (West Bengal) have undergone a training under the Islamic terror network Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) to carry out terror attacks. He said that "We have received information against some youths who have been visiting Bangladesh for getting the training under the Islamic terror networks such as the JMB to carry out terror attacks." Morung Express, October 22, 2014.

NIA team probing the Burdwan blast case faces threat from subversive elements, says report: Specific intelligence reports reaching the Centre suggest that the National Investigation Agency (NIA)'s team probing the Burdwan blast case is facing a serious threat from subversive elements. According to the sources, even though the NIA team has been provided adequate security cover by para-military and local Police, the high threat perception shows that the Burdwan terror module had probably managed to establish a good network within the state (West Bengal) and subversive elements may want to prevent security agencies from busting the entire module. Deccan Chronicle, October 22, 2014.

Al Qaeda plans to attack on oil shipments of India and Western countries: After its near successful hijack bid of PNS Zulfiqar- a missile-equipped warship of Pakistan at Karachi last month, the global terrorist outfit al Qaeda, in the latest issue of its online propaganda magazine 'Resurgence', has revealed terror plot for attack on oil shipments passing through Strait of Hormuz and other key choke points in Turkish straits. Most of the oil shipments passing through the Straits of Hormuz are bound for Japan, India and China. New Indian Express, October 21, 2014.


NEPAL

Constitution through majority if not via consensus, says Deputy Prime Minister Bamdev Gautam: Speaking at Deusi-Bhailo programme organised by Reporters Club at ministers' quarters in Pulchowk in Kathmandu on October 24, Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Minister for Home Affairs Bamdev Gautam has clarified that the constitution will be drafted with a two-third majority on the basis of constitutional provision of voting if the political parties fails to forge consensus on time. "Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, RPP-Nepal and CPN-ML including other fringe parties would create a two-third majority," DPM Gautam said. eKantipur, October 25, 2014.


PAKISTAN

36 militants and seven civilians among 48 persons killed during the week in FATA: Six militants, two civilians and a soldier were killed in fresh clashes during Operation Khyber-1 in Bara tehsil (revenue unit) of Khyber Agency in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on October 23.

The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) fighter jets on October 21 blitzed suspected terrorist hideouts in Madakhel, Dattakhel and Shawal Valley of North Waziristan Agency and reportedly killed 30 militants, including a Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) 'commander' Daud Wazir, and injured dozen others.

Four bullet-riddled bodies were recovered from Akakhel area of Bara tehsil (revenue unit) in Khyber Agency on October 20. Daily Times; Dawn; The News; Tribune; Central Asia Online; The Nation; The Frontier Post; Pakistan Today; Pakistan Observer, October 21-27, 2014.

Nine Hazara Shias killed in Balochistan: Nine members of the Hazara community were shot dead in sectarian target killings in different parts of Quetta (Quetta District), the provincial capital of Balochistan, on October 23. Eight of them were killed in a single incident, which took place early in the morning in the Hazarganji area. The men were gunned down by unidentified militants as they were about to leave the area's vegetable market. "The five masked men boarded the bus in which the victims were seated, forced the driver off, and shot them," Sariab Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Imran Qureshi said. "They killed one man outside the bus and the others inside it before fleeing on their motorcycles," he said. An hour after the Hazarganji killings, armed men on a motorbike shot dead another member of the Hazara community in Kirani Road area. Tribune, October 24, 2014.

TTP sets up new sanctuaries in Afghanistan: Pakistani officials claim to have found evidence of 'new sanctuaries' set up by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its affiliates in the Afghanistan territory near the border with North Waziristan Agency. A senior security official told The Express Tribune that the new sanctuaries have been established to create difficulties for Pakistan's military and disrupt Operation Zarb-e-Azb in the troubled agency. "It is a worrying development that the TTP is regrouping close to the border right under the nose of the Afghan security forces," said the official, who did not wish to be named. Tribune, October 27, 2014.

1100 militants killed so far in Operation Zarb-e-Azb, says ISPR DG Asim Bajwa: The Director General (DG) of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Major General Asim Bajwa said on October 24 that Operation Zarb-e-Azb is going well, adding that 1100 militants have been killed so far,. Moreover, Bajwa said that the operation does not have a specific timeline and will end once all militants are eliminated. Addressing the issue of the IDPs, Bajwa said that the army is working towards making a 'comprehensive plan' to rehabilitate them. Tribune, October 25, 2014.

Sectarian violence claims more than 4,900 lives in 25 years, says report: During the quarter of a century between 1989 and 2014, more than 4,900 Pakistani citizens have perished in around 3,000 incidents of sectarian violence and close to 9,500 have sustained injuries, research conducted by The News reported. Approximately 525 Pakistanis had lost lives in 128 incidents of sectarian violence during 2013, 509 people had died unnaturally in 57 such incidents during 2010, as many as 507 humans (in 173 incidents) were made to travel towards their eternal abodes during 2012 because of their religious beliefs and 441 citizens had succumbed to this mode of terrorism in 341 incidents during 2007. The News, October 24, 2014.

US designates TTP leader Khan Said Sajna as terrorist: The United States (US) on October 21 designated Khan Said Sajna, the deputy leader of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a global terrorist. The designation list also includes Ramzi Mawafi, a former physician of al Qaeda 'chief' Osama bin Laden. Both have been designated under an executive order targeting terrorists and those providing support to terrorists or acts of terrorism. The consequences of these designations include a prohibition against US persons engaging in transactions with Said and Mawafi, and the freezing of all property and interests of Said and Mawafi in the United States, or come within the United States or the possession or control of US persons. Dawn, October 22, 2014.

Cracks in TTP widen as Shahidullah Shahid removed: While declaring that Mullah Fazlullah remains loyal to the Ameer of the Afghan Taliban Mullah Mohammad Omar, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has said in a baffling announcement that "Shahidullah Shahid had been replaced as the TTP 'spokesman' long ago and another brother will be named later to replace him". Shahidullah Shahid had abandoned the TTP on October 15, 2014 along with five other TTP leaders while pledging allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) led by Abu Bakar Al Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed Caliph. The News, October 21, 2014.


SRI LANKA

President Mahinda Rajapaksa links EU decisions to opposition parties 'conspiracies': President Mahinda Rajapaksa on October 18 has charged that the recent decisions taken by the European Union (EU) are a result of the attempts by the opposition parties to oust him. He accused that certain politicians are working with the pro- Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Tamil diaspora to oust him at the much anticipated presidential election. "European Union has lifted the ban on the LTTE. It happened within two weeks of certain opposition leaders having talks with the pro-LTTE diaspora, "the President said. Colombo Page, October 21, 2014.


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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