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SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 13, No. 29, January 19, 2015
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
|
Balochistan:
Persistent Crisis
Tushar
Ranjan Mohanty
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
The Security
Forces (SFs) recovered three bullet-riddled bodies from
Mand area of Turbat District of Balochistan on December
30, 2014. The victims had been shot multiple times in
the head, chest and face at close range.
Earlier,
on December 21, 2014, at least eight bullet-riddled bodies
were found dumped at three separate places across the
Province. At Kalzai in Pishin District, three bodies of
Afghan nationals were found. Two Baloch bodies were found
at Khanozai in the same District. Another three bodies
of Afghan nationals, were found dumped near a river in
the Baghao area of Ziarat District. Ziarat Assistant Commissioner
Abdul Salam Achakzai disclosed. “The bodies bore multiple
torture marks which suggest they were tortured before
being shot in the head.”
According
to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism
Portal (SATP), based on open media sources, at least
153 bullet-riddled bodies were recovered in Balochistan
through 2014, as against 39 such recoveries in 2013. 124
of the bodies found in 2014 where recovered from the Baloch
separatist areas of South Balochistan, and 29 from Pashtun-dominated
North Balochistan.
The staggering
rise in recoveries of such bodies in 2014 was primarily
accounted for by the discovery of three mass graves in
the Totak area of Khuzdar District. Between January 25,
2014, and April 2, 2014, a total of 103 bodies were recovered
from these graves. The bodies were too decomposed for
identification. The local people claimed that 169 bodies
were found in these graves.
The recovery
of these mass graves in Khuzdar has now further confirmed
what SAIR
has been highlighting over years, that there is a relentless
campaign by the state’s covert agencies to target Baloch
nationalists and their sympathisers in campaigns of ‘disappearances’,
and a ‘kill and dump’ policy, both directly and through
sectarian/extremist proxies in Balochistan, particularly
in the south regions of the Province.
According
to SATP's partial database, the Province has recorded
at least 3,295 civilian fatalities since 2004. Of these,
305 civilian killings (182 in the South and 123 in the
North) have been claimed by Baloch separatist formations.
Islamist and sectarian extremist groups, primarily Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
(LeJ),
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)
and Ahrar-ul-Hind (Liberators of India), claimed responsibility
for another 512 civilian killings, 506 in the North (mostly
in and around Quetta) and six in the South. The remaining
2,478 civilian fatalities - 1,498 in the South and 980
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). In
2014, the Province recorded at least 301 civilian fatalities
of which 26 civilian killings (All in North) were claimed
by Baloch separatist formations. Islamist and sectarian
extremist groups claimed responsibility for the killing
of another 37 civilians (31 civilians in the North, mostly
in and around Quetta; and six in south). The remaining
238 civilian killings remain 'unattributed'.
Significantly,
prior to 2014, Islamist and sectarian extremist formations
were not overtly operating in South Balochistan and none
of these outfits had claimed responsibility for any civilian
killing in the region. This, however, is now a thing of
the past. On May 21, 2014, at least six people, including
a Government school teacher identified as Master Hameed,
were shot dead when terrorists entered his residence and
opened fire, killing him and five of his relatives in
the Dasht area of Turbat District. The attack came in
the wake of threatening letters sent to private schools
by a newly surfaced Islamist terrorist group, Tanzeem-ul-Islam-al-Furqan
(TIF, Oragnisation of Islam and the Holy Standard) in
Panjgur District, warning the people to completely shut
down girls’ education or to prepare themselves for “the
worst consequences as prescribed in the Quran”.
Earlier,
on May 13, 2014, four armed TIF terrorists, wearing headbands
with Allah-o-Akbar (Allah is Great) imprinted on them,
set ablaze the vehicle of Major (Retired) Hussain Ali,
owner of The Oasis School, in the same District, while
he was driving girls to school. The masked terrorists
asked him and the girls to de-board the vehicle, before
setting it ablaze. These attacks in Panjgur and Turbat
Districts indicate the penetration of the Taliban ideology
of intolerance and religious bigotry into the Southern
regions of Balochistan, which had, thus far, escaped the
influence of TTP and its likes.
South Balochistan
has long been affected by the Baloch nationalist insurgency,
while the North came under the influence of Islamist terrorist
formations, including TTP and LeJ. While ethnic Baloch
people were targeted by the state machinery, persons from
minority communities were persecuted by state-sponsored
extremist groups. Zohra Yusuf, chairperson of the Human
Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) claimed, on October
12, 2014, that Balochistan had been made a fertile place
for armed religious extremists under a plan and, as a
result, about 300,000 Shias, Zikris, and Hindus had been
forced to migrate to other areas of the country. She expressed
concern over this distress migration of minorities due
to lack of security in Balochistan.
The 'disappearances'
issue has come to dominate the political discourse in
Balochistan. However, while the search for missing persons
continues, their cases have been complicated by gross
discrepancies in the record. For instance, according to
a July 23, 2014, report the Home Department stated that
only 71 people were missing in the Province, while human
rights organisations estimate that the figure is closer
to 8,000. The Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VFBMP),
an advocacy group, insists that more than 19,000 Baloch
political activists and sympathisers have been subjected
to enforced disappearances over the last 13 years. VFBMP
vice-president Mama Qadir told The Express Tribune
on July 23, 2014, “There are more than 19,000 people who
were subjected to enforced disappearance in Balochistan
and none of them have been recovered yet. The Government
has done nothing, except to release those who were detained
for a brief period.” He added that his organisation had
submitted a detailed report to the United Nations with
evidence regarding missing persons. Significantly, on
January 12, 2015, the Pakistan Supreme Court directed
the Federal Government through Attorney General Salman
Aslam Butt to submit comprehensive data within 10 days,
regarding the number of missing persons in the country.
Terrorism
related incidents and fatalities have, however, registered
a decline through 2014 as compared to the preceding year.
According to SATP data, the province recorded 607 fatalities,
including 301 civilians, 223 militants and 83 SF personnel
in 2014, in comparison to 960 such fatalities, including
718 civilians, 137 SF personnel and 105 militants in 2013.
Similarly, the number and lethality of suicide attacks
in the Province has also decreased considerably, with
four such incidents resulting in 12 fatalities and 64
injuries in 2014; as against nine such attacks resulting
in 233 deaths and 407 injuries in 2013. The Province also
witnessed a decrease in bomb blasts and resultant fatality,
from 138 incidents and 440 deaths in 2013, to 84 incidents
and 132 deaths in 2014. Further, as against 63 major incidents
of killing (each involving three or more fatalities) resulting
in 433 fatalities in 2013, year 2014 recorded 56 such
incidents resulting 415 fatalities. The provincial capital
Quetta recorded a considerable decrease in terrorism related
incidents, from 190 in 2013 to 100 in 2014. There were
nine attacks on North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
convoys through 2014, with three killed and six injured,
as against 18 such attacks in 2013, with six killed and
seven injured. Attacks on gas pipelines, however, increased
from 10 in 2013 to 17 in 2014.
Disappearances
and the state's ‘kill and dump policy’ continue to cause
great distress in Balochistan, feeding the crisis of mistrust
between the Baloch people and Islamabad and prolonging
the insurgency. Islamabad's strategy of creating and supporting
Islamist extremist groups to manage domestic political
challenges has enormously aggravated the problem in both
North and South Balochistan, though these groups are most
active in the North. The limited gains in terms of a marginal
reduction in most indices of violence, consequently, offer
little hope of a sustainable improvement in the Province.
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Nagaland:
Evasive Reconciliation
Giriraj Bhattacharjee
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management
The relative
peace achieved in Nagaland was further consolidated through
2014, as insurgency-related fatalities continued to decline.
According to partial data compiled by the South Asia
Terrorism Portal (SATP) the State recorded a total
of 15 fatalities, including 11 civilians and four militants
in 2014; as compared to 32 fatalities in 2013, including
11 civilians and 21 militants; a decline of 53.12 per
cent.
As in 2013,
there was no fatality among Security Forces (SFs) in 2014.
In fact the last fatality in this category was recorded
in 2008, when the Police on May 11, 2008, recovered the
body of an Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) trooper between
the Keyive and Heningkunglwa areas under Peren District.
Earlier, Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak-Muivah
(NSCN-IM)
cadres had killed an IRB trooper at Diphupar village in
Dimapur town on April 25, 2008.
Fatalities
were reported from five Districts in 2014 – Mon, Phek,
Dimapur, Kiphire and Mokokchung - as against seven Districts
in 2013. In 2013, these included Mon, Dimapur, Kiphire,
in common with 2014, as well as Kohima, Tuensung, Zunheboto
and Wokha.
Of the
11 civilians killed in 2014, nine died in a single incident.
On January 3, 2014, the highly decomposed bodies of nine
Karbi tribesmen, who were blindfolded with their hands
tied and shot from close range, were found in a gorge
in Dimapur District. The Rengma Naga Hills Protection
Force (RNHPF), a group supported by the NSCN-IM, claimed
responsibility for the killings. The incident was linked
to Karbi People's Liberation Tiger (KPLT)
militants' killing of a Rengma Naga tribesman in the Karbi
Anglong District of Assam on December 27, 2013.
Two other
civilians were killed in two separate incidents - at Mukalimi
village in Zunheboto District on January 23 and at Phek
Town in Phek District on June 3.
By comparison,
the 11 civilian fatalities in 2013 were recorded in nine
separate incidents
Fatalities
among militants witnessed a steep decline, with just four
killed in 2014. Of these, two were killed in two separate
fratricidal clashes among Naga militant formations – a
cadre each of NSCN-Khole-Kitovi (NSCN-KK) and Federal
Government of Nagaland (FGN). On November 5, 2014, SFs
killed a United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I)
cadre, identified as Ananta Dutta alias Prakash
Baruah, in an encounter at Charing Basti in Mokokchung
District. Another ULFA-I cadre, identified as ‘assistant
finance secretary and operational commander’ Partha Asom
alias Partha Pratim Gogoi, was reportedly killed
on January 15, 2014, by cadres of his own group under
the order of ULFA-I chief Paresh Baruah, who feared that
Gogoi was about to surrender to the SFs on January 26,
2014.
The number
of militants killed in 2013 stood at 21. More importantly,
12 of these militants were killed and another 11 were
injured in 18 fratricidal clashes. The worst of these
took place on December 2, 2014, when three NSCN-Khaplang
(NSCN-K)
cadres were killed while one was injured in a factional
clash with NSCN-KK cadres at Sikiu under Shamator sub-division
in Tuensang District. Another two were killed by SFs in
two separate incidents – one each of NSCN-IM and NSCN-K.
Clearly,
a marked improvement has been witnessed through 2014 in
terms of fratricidal clashes as well, which had undermined
the State’s security environment for several years. According
to SATP data, a total of 426 militants have been killed
in such clashes since 2001, the highest number in 2008,
when a total of 101 militants were killed in internecine
fighting. The worst of recorded incident took place on
June 4, 2008, when at least 15 cadres of the NSCN-IM and
the Unification faction of NSCN (NSCN-U)
were killed in separate factional clashes in and around
Dimapur.
Fratricidal
clashes among Naga groups outside Nagaland, and resultant
casualties, also registered a decline in 2014 as compared
to the preceding year. Five such incidents, resulting
in three deaths and two injuries, were reported in 2014;
as against seven such incidents in 2013, resulting in
nine deaths and two injuries.
The improvement
is primarily due to the signing of the 'Lenten Agreement'
on March 28, 2014, during a two-day reconciliation meeting
of three Naga militant groups - NSCN-IM, NSCN-KK and Naga
National Council/ Federal Government of Nagaland (NNC/FGN)
- at Dimapur, under the banner of the Forum for Naga Reconciliation
(FNR). The agreement, signed by six top leaders of the
three groups, stated that, in accordance with the Naga
Concordant signed on August 26, 2011, they agreed "in
principle to form the NNG [Naga National Government]".
This development led to a sharp decline in fratricidal
clashes. The joint statement, following the agreement,
stated, “While this task is being carried out, we call
for maintenance of the status quo, by vigilantly refraining
from any unwarranted activities by the Nagas”.
Since an
overwhelming proportion of violence in the State had been
the result of turf wars between the Naga factions, various
other parameters of violence, including explosions and
abductions also declined. However, six incidents of explosion,
resulting in injuries to five persons, were reported in
2014; as against eight such incidents, resulting in two
civilian deaths, recorded in 2013.
The SATP
database recorded six incidents of abduction [in which
eight people were abducted] in 2014, whereas 12 persons
were abducted in 10 such incidents in 2013. 10 incidents
of extortion were also recorded in 2014, as against nine
incidents reported in 2013. The numbers relating to both
abduction and extortion are gross underestimates as most
such incidents go unreported, as victims comply without
reporting to the Police.
165 militants
were arrested in 95 incidents during 2014. These included
56 militants of NSCN-IM, 35 NSCN-K, 33 of NSCN-KK, 24
belonging to different Naga National Council (NNC) factions,
nine belonging to the Assam-based United People’s Liberation
Army (UPLA), and five belonging to the Assam-based IK
Songbijit faction of the National Democratic Front of
Bodoland (NDFB-IKS). 146 militants were arrested in 69
incidents in 2013.
Despite
these positive developments, areas of concern persist.
Border clashes along State boundaries remain a challenge.
Indeed, in one of the worst
clashes along the Nagaland-Assam border,
which erupted on August 12, 2014, at least 20 people were
killed in the Golaghat District of Assam. Clashes along
the interstate borders of these two States, over the years,
have claimed many lives. The worst of such clashes took
place in 1979 when at least 54 people were killed. Signficantly,
a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court (SC) headed by
Justice T.S. Thakur, on January 14, 2015, observed that
the boundary dispute between Assam and Nagaland could
be resolved either by deciding the 1988 law suit filed
by Assam or by referring the matter for arbitration. On
the issue as to which State will have control over the
disputed area for maintaining law and order and administrative
purposes, the bench observed, "it is for the political
executive to decide and it cannot be managed by the judiciary."
It is the
prevailing and frequent diktats of the Naga militant formations
that remain the primary public and security concern. For
instance, the 'civilian arm' of NSCN-IM, the ‘Government
of the People’s Republic of Nagalim’ (GPRN), through its
‘ministry of mines and minerals’ on July 9, 2014, wrote
to Metropolitan Oil and Gas Pvt. Ltd. (MOGPL), rejecting
the firm’s prospecting licence, leading to cessation of
work. MOGPL, however, launched the pre-production phase
of its operation at Old Jalukie village in Peren District
in September. Kireshwar Bora, Chief Operating Officer
stated, on September 23, 2014, that drilling operations
had started in Changpang field (Wokha District). The permit
was issued by the State Government of Nagaland in February
2014 to develop the Wokha and Peren oil zones.
In another
development highlighting this crisis, the Angami Youth
Organization (AYO) and Chakhesang Youth Front (CYF), on
April 29, 2014, banned NSCN-K cadres from entering Angami
tribal areas, and cautioned all Government establishments,
institutions, contractors, corporate, public and private
individual business owners against contributing any form
of “tax and percentages” to the group. This came after
a member of the Action Committee against Unabated Taxation
(ACAUT), Abe Mero, was attacked by a suspected NSCN-K
militant on April 9, 2014 in Kohima.
Significantly,
according to a May 27, 2014, report, Joel Nillo Kath,
the ‘co-chairman ‘ of ACAUT, noted that multiple 'taxation'
and illegal collection started right from the entry gates
to the State, where different militants and ‘government
agencies’ charge exorbitant rates in the form of yearly
tax on vehicle, transport, and goods entry on every item,
including essential commodities. He added that militant
groups started the system of 'dealership' for almost all
commodities, as a result of which only a small coterie
of businessmen were allowed to deal in those commodities.
ACAUT was
formed by several organizations under the aegis of the
Naga Council in May 2013, in an effort to check the rampant
imposition of ‘illegal tax‘ on the people, especially
the business community, by various organizations, particularly
including Naga militant outfits.
It is,
consequently, useful to assess the losses and gains as
a result of the cease-fire agreements signed between the
Naga groups and the Central Government, and the several
rounds of talks that have followed. R. N. Ravi, the current
chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC), who
was appointed by Central Government as the interlocutor
for talks with Naga groups on August 9, 2014, in a news
article published on January 23, 2014, observed:
The
reckless ‘ceasefire’ between the Government of India
and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-IM)…
for the last 17 years is pushing the Nagas into
a state of civil war. While the protagonists of
the ‘ceasefire,’ New Delhi and the NSCN (I-M), are
in mutual comfort capering about the mulberry bush
without a stopwatch, the process has landed the
Nagas in an orbit of self-destruction. They are
far more fragmented and fractious than before...
Over 1,800 Nagas have been killed in some 3,000
fratricidal clashes since the beginning of the ‘ceasefire’
(1997-2013). Contrast it with the violence during
the 17 years preceding the ‘ceasefire’ (1980-96)
that took a toll of some 940 Naga lives in 1,125
clashes mostly with the security forces… The crucial
stakeholders — the popularly elected State government,
the traditional Naga bodies that wield wide and
deep influence on their respective tribes and other
active militias in the fray — were excluded from
the process. … NSCN (I-M), notwithstanding its pan-Naga
pretensions, is essentially a militia of the Tangkhul
tribe of Manipur with little resonance with the
broad Naga family. A deal cut with it would not
be acceptable to the Naga society… The ‘ceasefire’
with the NSCN-IM has resulted in the retreat of
the state from the crucial areas of governance and
subversion of democratic politics. The absence of
a credible state has created a power vacuum that
is being filled in by chaotic sub-nationalist forces
often at war with one another.
|
More than
70 rounds of talks have taken place between NSCN-IM and
the Central Government since 1997, without any concrete
gains, other than the fact that the outfit has reportedly
given up its demand for ‘sovereignty’. Likewise, the cease-fire
agreements signed with other prominent Naga insurgent
groups - NSCN-K [signed in 2001] and NSCN-KK [signed in
2012] – have also failed to construct any substantive
solution to the lingering conflict.
For long,
a policy of drift appeared to dominate the approach to
militancy in Nagaland and its overflow into neighbouring
States. The new dispensation in New Delhi has, however,
articulated a time bound strategy of negotiations with
Naga groups. On October 18, 2014, while commenting on
peace talks with NSCN-IM, National Security Adviser Ajit
Doval noted, “There should never be any feeling that it
(talks) is protracted… The (peace) process is the means
to an end and if there is an end, which is a desired end,
it must be found in real time. There should be rule of
law in the Naga insurgency-affected areas for which peace
process must be completed as early as possible."
It remains to be seen how these declarations are translated
into policy and process.
|
Weekly Fatalities: Major
Conflicts in South Asia
January 12-18,
2015
|
Civilians
|
Security
Force Personnel
|
Terrorists/Insurgents
|
Total
|
BANGLADESH
|
|
Islamist
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
Total (BANGLADESH)
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
INDIA
|
|
Jammu and
Kashmir
|
0
|
1
|
8
|
9
|
Left-wing
Extremism
|
|
Chhattisgarh
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
Jharkhand
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
4
|
Total (INDIA)
|
0
|
2
|
14
|
16
|
PAKISTAN
|
|
Balochistan
|
0
|
7
|
0
|
7
|
FATA
|
0
|
2
|
7
|
9
|
KP
|
3
|
1
|
0
|
4
|
Sindh
|
8
|
2
|
5
|
15
|
PAKISTAN
(Total)
|
|
|
|
|
Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
|
INDIA
Pakistan
supporting
proxy
war
in
Jammu
and
Kashmir,
asserts
Army
Chief
General
Dalbir
Singh
Suhag:
On
January
13,
the
Army
Chief
General
Dalbir
Singh
Suhag
said
that
Pakistan
is
continuing
to
support
"proxy
war"
in
Jammu
and
Kashmir.
"Pakistan
is
supporting
proxy
war
in
Jammu
and
Kashmir
despite
suffering
casualties
within
their
country.
Threats
and
challenges
have
been
growing,
both
in
intensity
as
well
as
commitment,
because
of
active
borders
that
we
have."
Talking
about
the
recent
attacks
against
the
Army
in
Jammu
and
Kashmir,
he
said,
"The
recent
strikes
by
the
terrorists
not
only
reflect
their
desperation
but
are
also
a
grim
reminder
that
the
terrorist
infrastructure
in
Pakistan
is
intact."
Daily
Excelsior,
January
14,
2015.
'200
heavily-armed
militants
waiting
in
36
launching
pads
across
the
LoC
in
Jammu
and
Kashmir',
says
Army
official:
General
Officer
Commanding
(GOC),
16
Corps,
Lieutenant
General
Konsam
Himalay
Singh
on
January
15
said
that
200
heavily-armed
militants
were
waiting
in
36
launching
pads
across
the
Line
of
Control
(LoC)
in
Jammu
and
Kashmir
on
the
other
side
of
Pir
Panjal
range.
He
said
that
Pakistan-based
militants
will
try
to
sneak
into
India
and
attack
soft
targets
like
schools,
religious
places
and
civilian
areas
ahead
of
US
President
Barack
Obama's
three-day
visit
to
the
country.
Daily
Excelsior,
January
16,
2015.
70
per
cent
of
Maharashtra's
coastline
still
vulnerable
to
infiltrators,
says
report:
According
to
sources
in
the
State
Home
Ministry,
70
per
cent
of
Maharashtra's
coastline
is
still
vulnerable
and
can
be
used
as
landing
points
by
infiltrators
at
any
time.
Sources
said
it
is
the
state's
1,020
km-long
creek
line
that
poses
more
of
a
threat
to
coastal
security
than
the
720km-long
coastline.
Hindustan
Times,
January
13,
2015.
Centre
to
construct
7,294
kilometres
road
with
an
estimated
cost
of
INR
107
billion
in
eight
LWE-hit
States:
The
Central
Government
is
to
construct
7,294
kilometres
roads
with
an
estimated
cost
of
INR
107
billion
in
eight
Left-Wing
Extremism
(LWE)-hit
states
of
Jharkhand,
Chhattisgarh,
Odisha,
Maharashtra,
Madhya
Pradesh,
Bihar,
Telangana
and
Andhra
Pradesh.
It
will
be
done
under
phase-II
of
Centre's
Road
Requirement
Plan
(RRP),
an
ambitious
strategy
to
combat
LWE
by
linking
remote
areas
that
serves
as
LWE
hideouts.
Telegraph
India,
January
13,
2015.
NEPAL
413
CA
members
submit
signatures
to
Chairman
Subas
Nembang
demanding
promulgation
of
new
constitution
by
January
22:
A
group
of
Constituent
Assembly
(CA)
members
led
by
the
ruling
Nepali
Congress
(NC)
and
Communist
Party
of
Nepal-Unified
Marxist
Leninist
(CPN-UML)
on
January
16
submitted
a
list
of
signatures
of
at
least
413
CA
members
from
the
ruling
and
various
other
parties
to
CA
Chairman
Subas
Nembang.
They
demanded
promulgation
of
new
constitution
by
January
22.
My
Republica,
January
17,
2015.
PAKISTAN
There
will
be
no
peace
if
UN
doesn't
make
international
law
against
blasphemy,
threatens
LeT
founder
and
JuD
chief
Hafiz
Muhammad
Saeed:
Hafiz
Muhammad
Saeed,
the
Chief
of
Jama'at-ud-Dawa
(JuD)
and
the
founder
of
Lashkar-e-Taiba
(LeT),
during
a
rally
in
Lahore
on
January
18
while
urging
Muslims
across
the
world
to
boycott
French
commodities
in
protest
against
the
publication
of
sacrilegious
caricatures
by
French
magazine
Charlie
Hebdo
said
that
the
United
Nations
(UN)
should
declare
blasphemy
as
terrorism
and
pass
an
international
law
against
it.
"…
There
will
be
no
peace
if
international
laws
are
not
made
against
blasphemy,"
threatened
Saeed.
Tribune,
January
19,
2015.
IS
recruiting
members
in
Pakistan
and
Afghanistan,
says
commander
of
The
Resolute
Support
Mission
General
John
Campbell:
The
commander
of
The
Resolute
Support
Mission,
the
new
mission
of
United
States
(US)
and
NATO
forces
in
Afghanistan,
General
John
Campbell
on
January
18
warned
that
the
Islamic
State
(IS)
is
making
recruitment
in
Afghanistan
and
Pakistan.
"We
are
seeing
reports
of
some
recruiting,"
said
General
Campbell,
adding,
"There
have
been
some
night
letter
drops,
there
have
been
reports
of
people
trying
to
recruit
both
in
Afghanistan
and
Pakistan,
quite
frankly."Dawn,
January
19,
2015.
Pakistan
now
has
a
native
IS
Ameer:
A
former
'commander'
of
the
Tehreek-e-Taliban
Pakistan
(TTP),
Hafiz
Saeed
Khan,
has
replaced
an
Afghan
national,
Abdul
Rahim
Muslim
Dost,
as
the
Ameer
(chief)
of
the
Khorasan
Chapter
of
Islamic
State
(IS),
led
by
Abu
Bakar
Al
Baghdadi.
The
previous
IS
Ameer
for
the
Khorasan
chapter,
Abdul
Rahim
Muslim
Dost,
was
a
former
Guantanamo
prisoner,
who
had
earlier
spent
several
years
in
a
Pakistani
prison
after
being
freed
by
the
Americans.
He
had
been
appointed
for
an
interim
period
to
organise
the
Khorasan
chapter
of
the
IS
which
includes
Pakistani,
India,
Afghanistan,
Iran
and
some
Central
Asian
territories.
The
News,
January
13,
2015.
2,000
militants
killed
in
North
Waziristan
Agency
so
far,
claims
ISPR:
Director
General
(DG)
Inter
Services
Public
Relations
(ISPR)
Major
General
Asim
Saleem
Bajwa
on
January
16
calimed
that
Security
Forces
have
killed
2,000
militants
in
North
Waziristan
Agency
of
Federally
Administered
Tribal
Areas
(FATA)
in
the
ongoing
Operation
Zarb-e-Azb.
He
also
said
that
200
soldiers
had
been
killed
during
the
operation,
and
800
others
had
sustained
injuries.
He
reiterated
the
army's
resolve
to
ensure
writ
of
the
state
in
Bajaur
and
North
Waziristan
Agencies
at
all
costs
by
wiping
out
militants.
Tribune,
January
17,
2015.
Target
all
militant
groups
including
LeT,
US
Secretary
of
State
John
Kerry
tells
to
Pakistan:
Telling
Pakistan
to
target
all
militant
groups,
US
Secretary
of
State
John
Kerry
on
January
13
said
terror
outfits
like
Lashkar-e-Taiba
(LeT),
Taliban
and
the
Haqqani
Network
pose
a
threat
to
regional
countries
like
India
and
the
world.
Addressing
a
joint
press
conference
with
Pakistan
Prime
Minister's
adviser
on
Foreign
Affairs
Sartaj
Aziz,
Kerry
said
the
terror
groups
like
the
"Pakistani
and
Afghan
Taliban,
the
Haqqani
network,
Lashkar-e-Toiba
and
other
groups
continue
to
pose
a
threat
to
Pakistan,
to
its
neighbours
and
to
the
US."
"We
all
have
a
responsibility
to
ensure
that
these
extremists
are
no
longer
able
to
secure
a
foothold
in
this
country
or
elsewhere.
Make
no
mistake.
The
task
is
a
difficult
one
and
it
is
not
done."Daily
Excelsior,
January
14,
2015.
There
is
no
reason
to
ban
Jama'at-ud-Dawa,
clarifies
Minister
for
Defence
Production
Rana
Tanveer
Hussain:
Pakistan
cannot
ban
the
Jama'at-ud-Dawa
(JuD)
led
by
Hafiz
Muhammad
Saeed
because
it
is
a
charitable
and
not
terrorist
organisation,
said
Pakistan's
Minister
for
Defence
Production
Rana
Tanveer
Hussain
on
January
16.
"We
are
looking
to
ban
terror
organisations
but
the
JuD
is
a
charitable
organisation
and
the
government
of
Pakistan
has
no
evidence
against
Hafiz
Saeed
or
the
JuD,"
Hussain
told
HT
over
the
phone
from
Islamabad.
Hindustan
Times,
January
17,
2015.
New
terror
watch
list
catalogues
5,400
militants:
The
Government
has
put
more
than
5,400
suspected
militants
on
a
new
terror
watch
list
in
a
fresh
move
to
swiftly
execute
a
crackdown
against
sympathisers,
financiers
and
facilitators
of
banned
outfits
across
the
country.
As
part
of
implementation
on
the
National
Action
Plan
(NAP)
against
terrorism,
these
suspected
terrorists
were
included
in
the
list
under
the
Fourth
Schedule
of
the
Anti-Terrorism
Act
(ATA)
1997,
a
legal
tool
that
allows
the
Government
to
catalogue
all
those
involved
in
terrorism.
Tribune,
January
17,
2015.
.
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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