| |
SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 13, No. 42, April 20, 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
|
Maoists:
Chhattisgarh: TCO Escalates
Deepak
Kumar Nayak
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management
…our
subjective forces seriously lag behind the objective
situation. Thus we see the contradiction, the glaring
gap between the potential of the objective situation
and the subjective capacities of the Maoist forces.
The history of the world revolution teaches us that
the principal way to overcome this is by waging
revolution and advancing to victory.
|
Muppalla
Lakshmana Rao alias Ganapathy in a supplement
to Central Committee message issued
on 10th anniversary of the Communist Party of India-Maoist
(CPI-Maoist)
|
There has
been an abrupt spike in Maoist violence in the Bastar
Division of Chhattisgarh, with 14 Security Force (SF)
personnel killed, and 17 vehicles set on fire, by cadres
of the Communist Party of India – Maoist (CPI-Maoist)
between April 11 and 15, 2015.
On April
11, seven personnel of the Special Task Force (STF) of
Chhattisgarh Police, including Platoon Commander Shankar
Rao, were killed and 11 others were injured when Maoists
ambushed an STF team of 49 personnel in the forests near
Pidmal village under the Polampalli Police Station in
Sukma District.
Barely,
24 hours had passed, when the Maoists set afire at least
17 vehicles engaged in mining work at the Barbaspur iron
ore mining site under the limits of the Korar Police Station
in Kanker District on April 12.
Striking
on the same day, the Maoists attacked a Border Security
Force (BSF) contingent that was patrolling the Chhote
Baithiya BSF Camp under the Bande Police Station area,
in Kanker District, late in the night of April 12, killing
a trooper. Later, the body of one Maoist, killed in the
return of fire, was recovered.
On April
13, five Chhattisgarh Armed Force (CAF) personnel were
killed and another seven were injured, when Maoists blew
up a mine protected vehicle (MPV) near Khudiyapara village
on Kirandul-Cholnar Road in Dantewada District.
On April
15, the body of Bira Basant, a District Force (DF) trooper
who was abducted by Maoists on April 7, was found on the
Gangaloor-Bijapur Road with Maoist pamphlets strewn around.
On April
10, in an incident that did not received much attention,
armed Maoists numbering around 30 to 40, set ablaze an
under-construction Police Station in the Mudhia Mohara
village in the Dongargarh area of Rajnandgaon District.
The spate
of violence has again brought the focus on the Maoists
and their surviving strengths and capabilities. According
to the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) database,
in all theatres of Left Wing Extremist (LWE) violence
across States, there were 314 fatalities, including 128
civilians, 87 Security Forces (SFs) personnel and 99 CPI-Maoist
cadres, in LWE-related incidents in 2014. This was less
than a third of such fatalities in the peak year, 2010,
when at 1,180 fatalities were recorded. Maoist violence
has come down to zero fatalities in West Bengal, from
a peak of 425 killed in 2010; and has declined sharply
in other States, including Andhra Pradesh, Telangana,
Odisha, Maharashtra and Bihar. The situation in Jharkhand
has also seen major reverses for the Maoists.
Significantly,
the Bastar Division of Chhattisgarh alone accounted for
55 out of 87 SF fatalities across the States in 2014;
as against 45 out of 111 in 2013.
The deteriorating trend seems to be continuing, with the
Bastar Division accounts for 24 of 30 SF fatalities across
all States, in 2015, as of April 19. That Bastar Division
has, consequently, emerged as the nucleus of the Maoist
Tactical Counter-offensive (TCO). In the current year,
as of April 19, Chhattisgarh has recorded 37 fatalities
in LWE-related violence – including nine civilians, 24
SF personnel and four Maoists. All these fatalities have
occurred in Bastar Division.
Beyond
the crude data, among the latest incidents, two are significant
because they buck the trend and in view of their potential
ramifications. Firstly, unlike most of the past major
incidents where the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs)
were principally targeted, it was the Chhattisgarh Police
that has now suffered major casualties.
In the
Pidmal ambush, an STF team of 49 personnel led by platoon
commander Shankar Rao had gone for a swift operation,
based on intelligence received by Rao. The probably planted
intelligence appears to have been extremely tempting,
seducing Rao into launching the operation without due
clearances and sufficient backup. The unit made a journey
of 18 kilometres through the jungles in the dark of night,
but was ambushed in the morning. The eventual encounter
was spread over three kilometres and involved three gun
battles. Shankar Rao was killed in the first round of
fire. Two subsequent engagements killed three troopers
each. However, the STF managed to withdraw, managing to
keep the total casualties low and losing just two weapons.
The pattern
reflected the February 2, 2015, Kanker ambush, in which
Bande Station House Officer (SHO) Avinash Sharma and Gopniya
Sainik (secret agent) Sonu Ram Gawde were killed and another
six SF personnel — three each from the Police and BSF
– were injured, the team was led by Sharma, who received
the apparently planted intelligence. Sharma was killed
in the first hail of bullets from Maoists.
The Khudiyapara
village MPV blast incident (April 13) was a clearly avoidable
tragedy. The last incident of MPV blast before this in
Chhattisgarh was on August 6, 2012 and Movements in MPVs
have been banned by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)
since June 30, 2013. In the latest MPV blast incident
at Khudiyapara, the Maoists used about 80-100 kilograms
of explosives that tossed the 50-tonne vehicle up in the
air and created an 18-foot deep crater. After the blast,
the Maoists resorted to indiscriminate firing, including
Under Barrel Grenade Launcher (UBGL) fire, to inflict
more casualties. Dantewada Superintendent of Police (SP)
Kamalochan Kashyap observed, "The Maoists were agitated
ever since the Police post (at) Cholnar was set up in
February. This barred them from entering 100 villages,
which they ruled earlier. They coaxed the locals to take
out rallies in protest of the Police camp. But in vain."
Official
reactions to incidents have been as usual. Condemning
the Pidmal attack [April 11], Chhattisgarh Chief Minister
Raman Singh, termed it "cowardly" and "shameful";
while Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh declared, "The
Centre will take stringent action against the Naxalites
(LWEs) who killed seven Policemen in Sukma District in
Chhattisgarh." And when asked about the central government's
stand against Naxalites, Rajnath Singh responded
tersely, "The Centre as well as the State Governments
have initiated action against the Naxalites operating
in the region to keep up the morale of the forces… Appropriate
directions have been given to the state Chief Minister
but I am not going to disclose the strategy just now before
media." Union Minister of State for Home Affairs,
Kiren Rijiju added that, as the strategy followed so far
had resulted in SF casualties, it would be reviewed in
consultation with the States, especially in relation to
the situation in Chhattisgarh.
Among the
critical elements of any such review would need to be
the deployment and use of the various Forces available
for counter-insurgency operations in Maoist affected areas.
The issue of coordination between CAPFs and State Police
Forces has been a recurrent obstacle to effective action,
and the CRPF had repeatedly complained that it was suffering
heavy casualties because it received inadequate support
from the State Police in Chhattisgarh. An overwhelming
majority of SF fatalities in Chhattisgarh have been among
the CAPFs, suggesting that State Forces were relatively
inactive – or extraordinarily and inexplicably successful
in avoiding casualties. Worse, after the December 1, 2014,
debacle in which 14 CRPF personnel were killed in an ambush
near Kasalpara village in Sukma District, the CRPF has
given orders that all major operations must be cleared
by headquarters. Media reports suggest that CPRF personnel
have since virtually kept themselves confined to barracks.
The onus of anti-Naxalite operations in Chhattisgarh had,
before this, largely been borne by the 31 battalions of
CAPFs deployed in the State. STF, the dedicated anti-Maoist
force of the State Police, has only two battalions, which
is extraordinary, since at least 22,000 Chhattisgarh Police
personnel have been trained at the Counter Insurgency
and Jungle Warfare College (CIJWC) at Kanker. There is
no publicly available figure of how many of the CIJWC-trained
personnel have actually been deployed in anti-Maoist operations,
but unconfirmed reports suggest that an overwhelming proportion
has been assigned to other duties.
Interestingly,
the draft counter-Naxal strategy prepared by the
Union Home Ministry in October 2014 is yet to be cleared
by the Cabinet. The Union Government, in its 2015-16 Budget,
has reduced the Central allocation to the States for Police
Modernisation by INR eight billion, arguing that the States
have been allocated an additional 10 per cent share from
Central taxes, according to the recommendations of the
14th Finance Commission, and are expected draw
on the increased allocation for Police modernization.
Allocations for the Integrated Action Plan (IAP) [which
was renamed as “Additional Central Assistance to LWE affected
Districts” by the new NDA government at Centre] were also
stopped on the same logic. However, allocations for the
Special Infrastructure Scheme (SIS), which were also stopped,
were subsequently restored.
The problem
with the revised process is that States have seldom coughed
up funds for Policing, beyond the minimum necessary for
maintenance, and are likely to continue to neglect pressing
aspects of Police modernization. Indeed, if even some
of the affected States falter in this regard, all of them
are likely to suffer the consequences.
Both at
a policy and operational level, consequently, there appears
to be a measure of persistent disarray in the state’s
responses to the Maoist challenge. This is particularly
unfortunate at the present juncture, when the Maoists
have suffered enormous losses, particularly at leadership
level, and are hemorrhaging cadres, with increasing numbers
of surrenders
and desertions. Indeed, the current
Maoist TCO is a transient (the rains will soon bring it
to an end) and desperate measure to restore a degree of
morale among the rank and file in a situation of sustained
reverses that the rebels have suffered. In a supplement
to People’s March (Vol. 13, September 2014) CPI-Maoist
General Secretary, Muppala Lakshmana Rao aka Ganapathy
acknowledges:
Our
party lost considerable number of comrades belonging
to all levels, right from CC to the village level,
in the offensives of the enemy. Though leadership
losses began since 2005 May itself, they increased
gradually after Unity Congress and the situation
took a serious turn by 2011 end. The leadership
failed to a large extent in defending itself and
the ranks. These losses weakened the three magic
weapons of NDR – the party, PLGA (People’s Liberation
Guerilla Army) and the UF (United Front) – quite
a lot. This failure is a very severe one.
|
There is
an unprecedented opportunity for state consolidation at
this juncture. This, however, will require the crystallization
of a coherent strategy and enormous tactical coordination
between available Forces of the States and the Centre,
and across State boundaries. This, however, has been the
gaping lacuna in the past, and there is much to suggest
that this is yet to be filled.
|
Balochistan:
Enduring Tragedy
Ambreen
Agha
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management
On April
10, 2015, Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) militants
shot dead at least 20 Punjabi and Sindhi construction
labourers at point blank range at their camp in the Gagdan
area of Turbat District. Out of the 20 deceased labourers,
16 were Punjabis, and four were Sindhis from the Hyderabad
District in Sindh. A senior administration official Akbar
Hussain Durrani disclosed that the militants had lined
the labourers up and shot them at point blank range after
confirming their identity.
BLF 'spokesman'
Goran Baloch claimed responsibility for the attack, asserting,
“We will continue our fight against Pakistani occupation
until (the) liberation of Balochistan.”
Retaliating
to the killing, the Frontier Corps killed at least 13
BLF militants in a raid on April 13, 2015, including one
key militant 'commander' Hayat Bewas in the same area.
Leveling charges of extrajudicial killing on the SFs,
leader of the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP)
Abdul Qadeer Baloch, also known as Mama Qadeer, at a Press
Conference at the Karachi Press Club in Karachi, on April
16, 2015, claimed that five of the 13 suspects killed
had been missing for some time. The claim leaves the incident
shrouded in controversy. As SAIR has noted in the
past, extrajudicial
killings by state agencies have become
a recurring problem in the Province.
The April
10 killing was the first incident of ethnic violence in
Balochistan in 2015. There are, however, other precedents
in the Province, such as the October 19, 2014, incident
in which at least nine Punjabi poultry farm labourers
were found dead in the Sakran area of Hub tehsil
(revenue unit) in Lasbela District. Unidentified militants
had abducted the 11 workers from a poultry farm in Sakran
on October 18, 2015, and had killed nine of them after
checking their identity cards. The remaining two were
set free because they were from the Lasbela District of
Balochistan. The United Baloch Front (UBF) had claimed
responsibility for the October 2014 killings.
In another
such incident, at least two persons were killed and a
child was injured when unidentified militants opened fire
at a barber shop on Sariab Road in the provincial capital
Quetta, on April 15, 2014. Superintendent of Police (SP)
Imran Qureshi had disclosed that the victims belonged
to Punjab and had been working on Sariab Road for a long
time.
Some other
major attacks (each resulting in three or more fatalities)
inside Balochistan targeting settlers from outside Balochistan
include:
August
6, 2013: At least 14 Punjabis, including three security
personnel, were killed in an attack by Baloch Liberation
Army (BLA) militants on five passenger buses in the 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: Five labourers of Punjabi ethnicity were shot dead
by unidentified assailants in the 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, Bolan District.
According
to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism
Portal (SATP), a total of 159 settlers have been killed
in Balochistan since the killing of Nawab
Akbar Bugti, leader of the Bugti tribe
and President of the Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP), on August
26, 2006, in a military operation in the Chalgri area
of the Bhamboor Hills in Dera Bugti District. The killings
of settlers started only after the Bugti killing, when
Baloch militant organizations such as the BLA, BLF and
Baloch Republican Army (BRA), among others, began to voice
anti-Punjabi sentiments in their slogans. The killing
of Akbar Bugti led to a series of attacks on Punjabi and
other non-Baloch settlers in Balochistan, as well as the
destruction of national infrastructure.
Out of
the 159 ‘outsiders’ killed, at least 146 were Punjabis.
33 Punjabi settlers have already been killed in the current
year (data till April 19, 2015). In 2014, the number of
such fatalities stood at a total of 17; in 2013, at 29;
2012, at 26; 2011, at 13; 2010, at 21; 2009, at 18; and
one in 2008. No such fatality was recorded in 2007 and
2006. While Punjabis have been the main targets, other
ethnic groups, like Urdu-speaking people from Karachi
and Hindko-speaking settlers from Haripur District in
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), have also been singled out in
acts of ethnic violence. A media report published on June
28, 2011, noted, “Almost all non-Baloch are on their hit-list.”
Muhammad Khalid of Balochistan Punjabi Ittehad
stated, “The militants began to target the Punjabi settlers
after Nawab Bugti was taken out by the military (in August,
2006). Before that there were occasional incidents in
which Punjabis were targeted.”
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 122 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 of the presence
and dominance of Baloch insurgent groups, while the North
is dominated
by Islamist extremist formations such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban
Pakistan (TTP) and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), who are primarily
engaged in sectarian killings. The latter groups of Islamist
terrorist formations enjoy the tacit
support of Islamabad, which has, for
long, used Islamist extremist violence as an instrument
of domestic political management, engaged in a selective
campaign against the Baloch people, and sought to aggressively
alter the region's demography
Targeted
killings have now created an atmosphere of fear and terror
among settlers across the Province. According to the a
report by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP)
dated October 15, 2014, more than 300,000 people have
fled the Province over the past 10 years due to the 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.
An unnamed
Punjabi-speaking member of the Barbershop Owners’ Association
in Quetta, way back on August 23, 2007, demanded that
the Government provide them security as they were facing
threats due to their ethnic background, and had claimed,
"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.”
Of the
3,367 civilian fatalities recorded in Balochistan since
2004 [data till April 19, 2015], at least 837 civilian
killings are attributable to one or other militant outfit.
Of these, 325 civilian killings (202 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 another 512 civilian
killings, 506 in the North (mostly in and around Quetta)
and six in the South. The 325 civilian killings attributed
to Baloch formations include at least 146 Punjabi settlers
since 2006. The remaining 2,530 civilian fatalities -
1,535 in the South and 995 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 large number of unattributed civilian
fatalities strengthens the widespread conviction that
the Security Agencies are busy with “kill and dump” operations
against local Baloch dissidents, a reality that Pakistan’s
Supreme Court has clearly
recognized.
In a demonstration
of Islamabad’s belligerent strategy on the Baloch crisis,
unnamed official sources revealed that Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif, during his meeting with Army Chief General
Raheel Sharif on April 15, 2015, decided to expand the
ongoing Operation Zarb-e-Azb to Balochistan, to
target the Baloch insurgents. The Army launched Operation
Zarb-e-Azb against terrorists of the Tehrik-e-Taliban
Pakistan (TTP) and associated Islamist terrorist formations
in the North Waziristan Agency of the Federally Administered
Tribal Areas (FATA) on June 15, 2014, in the aftermath
of the attack on the Jinnah International Airport, Karachi,
on June 8-9, 2014. The Army, thus far, has claimed
to have killed 2,000 ‘terrorists’ (no independent confirmation
of this categorization is available, as media and outside
access to the areas of conflict is severely restricted)
in the ongoing Operation.
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 claimed
as retaliation by the Baloch people against the Pakistani
establishment’s efforts to alter the region’s demography,
and for continuously ignoring the genuine grievances of
the Baloch people. One of these grievances, as evident
from the recent killings of workers, is the outsourcing
of labour from other Provinces, deliberately keeping the
local Baloch away from development work in the Province
and depriving them of their own resources.
Further
compounding ethnically targeted violence is Islamabad’s
strategy of supporting armed Islamist extremist formations
and other violent proxies that have enormously worsened
the situation in Balochistan. Turning a blind eye to the
ground realities of the Province, the Federal and Provincial
Governments have remained complicit in the State-backed
repression of Baloch groups articulating the genuine demands
of the community. The most basic issues, including the
urgent crisis of extra judicial killings, have been studiously
ignored by authorities, and judicial proceedings have
been actively thwarted to prevent effective prosecution
of the guilty. Under the circumstances, the possibility
of relief to the people of Balochistan – both locals and
‘outsiders’ – remains slim.
|
Weekly Fatalities:
Major Conflicts in South Asia
April 13-19, 2015
|
Civilians
|
Security
Force Personnel
|
Terrorists/Insurgents
|
Total
|
BANGLADESH
|
|
Islamist
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
INDIA
|
|
Jammu and
Kashmir
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
Left-wing
Extremism
|
|
Chhattisgarh
|
0
|
6
|
0
|
6
|
Jharkhand
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Total (INDIA)
|
1
|
6
|
2
|
9
|
PAKISTAN
|
|
Balochistan
|
3
|
1
|
13
|
17
|
FATA
|
0
|
2
|
48
|
50
|
KP
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Sindh
|
10
|
1
|
11
|
22
|
PAKISTAN
(Total)
|
|
|
|
|
Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
|
BANGLADESH
Interpol
issues
"red
notice"
for
arrest
of
war
crimes
convict
Abdul
Jabbar:
The
International
Criminal
Police
Organisation
(Interpol)
has
issued
a
"red
notice"
for
the
arrest
of
war
crimes
convict
Abdul
Jabbar,
a
former
Jatiya
Party
(JP)
Member
of
Parliament
(MP)
from
Pirojpur
District.
The
Interpol
list
of
wanted
persons
carried
Jabbar's
picture
with
details
about
the
war
crimes
convict.
On
February
24,
International
Crimes
Tribunal-1
(ICT-1)
while
sentencing
Jabbar
for
imprisonment
unto
death
for
crimes
against
humanity
during
the
Liberation
War
of
1971
had
ordered
the
Police
to
arrest
Jabbar
with
the
help
of
Interpol.
Dhaka Tribune,
April
17,
2015.
INDIA
LeT
planning
attacks
in
India,
according
to
Intelligence
agencies:
Indian
intelligence
agencies
on
April
12,
have
warned
all
states
and
union
territories
about
Lashkar-e-Toiba
(LeT's)
plans
to
launch
fresh
attacks
at
hotels,
railway
stations
and
metro
stations
in
key
cities
over
the
next
few
months.
The
alert
is
based
on
inputs
passed
on
by
railway
authorities
in
Mumbai
(Maharashtra)
that
LeT
is
planning
a
26/11(November
26,
2008)
-type
strike
at
hotels
and
railway
stations
in
the
city.
The
Mumbai
alert
had
warned
that
around
8-10
terrorist
may
infiltrate
through
the
sea
route
to
execute
the
attack.
Times
of
India,
April
15,
2015.
LeT
and
other
Pakistan-based
groups
will
shift
operational
focus
on
India
in
next
one
to
three
years,
according
to
Pentagon
official:
Pakistan-based
terrorist
outfits
like
Lashkar-e-Toiba
(LeT)
are
likely
to
turn
their
attention
to
India
with
the
drawdown
of
US
forces
from
Afghanistan,
a
top
Pentagon
commander
told
lawmakers
on
April
16.
"Lashkar-e-Toiba
(LeT)
and
other
Pakistan-based
groups
continue
fighting
in
Afghanistan,
but
they
will
likely
shift
some
of
their
operational
focus
to
the
Indian
subcontinent
in
the
next
one
to
three
years
as
coalition
forces
draw
down,"
Admiral
Samuel
J
Locklear
Commander,
US
Pacific
Command,
told
the
House
Armed
Services
Committee.
Huffington
Post,
April
16,
2015.
Naxals
in
India
are
now
getting
arms
and
ammunition
from
Sri
Lanka,
suspect
Indian
Intelligence
sources:
India's
intelligence
agencies
have
launched
a
major
investigation
into
a
"specific
tip-off"
that
Naxals
(Left
Wing
Extremists)
were
now
getting
sophisticated
weapons
through
the
sea
route
from
Sri
Lanka.
Intelligence
sources
claimed
that
they
had
received
information
some
time
back
that
Naxals
were
routing
arms
and
ammunition
through
the
sea
route
through
an
arms
cartel
which
was
suspected
to
be
earlier
providing
weapons
to
the
Liberation
Tigers
of
Tamil
Eelam
(LTTE)
as
well.
Daily Mirror,
April
16,
2015.
Separatist
leader
Masarat
Alam
arrested
in
Jammu
and
Kashmir:
Police
arrested
separatist
leader
Masarat
Alam
on
April
17)
from
his
house
in
Srinagar.
Earlier,
on
April
16,
Police
put
under
house
arrest
All
Party
Hurriyat
Conference
(APHC)
chairman
Syed
Ali
Shah
Geelani
and
Masrat
Alam.
Times
of
India,
April
13,
2015.
Security
situation
in
J&K
has
witnessed
significant
improvement
in
recent
years,
says
UMHA
report:
Union
Ministry
of
Home
Affairs
(MHA)
in
its
latest
report
have
said
that
security
situation
in
Jammu
and
Kashmir
have
improved
in
recent
years.
The
report
says,
"The
security
situation
in
Jammu
and
Kashmir
(J&K)
has
witnessed
significant
improvement
in
recent
years.
Although
in
2014
there
was
a
slight
increase
in
the
number
of
terrorist
incidents,
Security
Forces
(SFs)
were
able
to
neutralize
110
militants
as
against
67
in
2013."
Stating
that
ongoing
militancy
in
the
State
is
intrinsically
linked
with
infiltration
of
terrorists
from
across
the
border
both
from
the
International
Border
(IB)
as
well
as
the
Line
of
Control
(LoC),
it
further
notes,
"During
the
year
2014,
infiltration
attempts
decreased
by
19.85%
in
comparison
to
the
previous
year
due
to
tightened
security
and
vigil
on
the
borders."
Daily
Excelsior,
April
15,
2015.
NEPAL
Madhesi
and
Janajati
parties
to
form
separate
alliance,
says
Sadbhavana
Party
Chairman
Rajendra
Mahato:
On
April
16,
Sadbhavana
Party
(SP)
Chairman
Rajendra
Mahato
accused
Unified
Communist
Party
of
Nepal-Maoist
(UCPN-M)
Chairman
Pushpa
Kamal
aka
Prachanda
of
betrayal
and
said
the
Madhesi
and
the
Janajati
parties
are
forming
a
separate
alliance.
Mahato
said
there
is
a
need
of
separate
alliance
as
Dahal
had
failed
to
lead
the
protests
to
establish
their
demands
effectively.
Further,
he
said
that
the
new
alliance
consists
of
Terai
Madhesh
Democratic
Party
(TMDP),
Madheshi
Janadhikar
Forum
Nepal
(MJFN)
and
SP.
My Republica,
April
17,
2015.
Differences
among
parties
narrowing,
claims
Prime
Minister
Sushil
Koirala:
Prime
Minister
(PM)
Sushil
Koirala
claimed
that
the
differences
between
political
parties
are
narrowing
down
and
the
constitution
drafting
process
is
heading
toward
consensus.
Koirala
claimed
that
the
political
parties
within
the
Constituent
Assembly
(CA)
have
already
agreed
to
issue
new
constitution
through
consensus
and
the
country
would
get
a
new
constitution
within
the
year,
2015.
My Republica,
April
15,
2015.
PAKISTAN
48
militants
and
two
SF
personnel
among
50
persons
killed
during
the
week
in
FATA:
At
least
five
militants
were
killed
and
another
three
Security
Force
(SF)
personnel
were
injured
during
clashes
between
SFs
and
militants
in
the
area
of
Nangrosa
Sipah
of
Tirah
Valley
in
Khyber
Agency
in
Federally
Administered
Tribal
Areas
(FATA)
on
April
19.
One
of
the
top
'commanders'
of
the
Haqqani
Network
was
among
six
militants
killed
during
clashes
with
the
SFs
in
the
Beermal
area
of
South
Waziristan
Agency
on
April
18.
Eight
militants
were
killed
when
gunship
helicopters
shelled
their
hideouts
in
Kasha,
Babo
Tang
Killay,
Drand
Sheikhan
and
Ahat
Mela
areas
of
Orakzai
Agency
on
April
17.
At
least
10
terrorists
were
killed
and
another
six
were
arrested
in
a
pre-dawn
crackdown
in
the
Sheikhan
area
of
Orakzai
Agency
on
April
16.
Islamic
State
(IS,
also
known
as
Islamic
State
in
Iraq
and
Syria
/
ISIS)
''commander-designate''
for
Pakistan,
Hafiz
Muhammad
Saeed,
was
killed
along
with
two
others
in
a
bomb
explosion
in
the
Toor
Dara
area
of
Tirah
Valley
in
Khyber
Agency
on
April
16.
Five
militants
were
killed
when
gunship
helicopters
pounded
their
hideouts
in
Kasha,
Shakar
Tangi,
Safial
Darra
and
other
areas
of
Orakzai
Agency
on
April
14.
At
least
10
militants
were
killed
when
military
planes
pounded
their
hideouts
in
Chappar
Mushti,
Toorsimth,
Daran
Shiekhan,
Ovt
Mela
and
Zaffar
Ghari
areas
of
Orakzai
Agency
on
April
13.
Daily
Times;
Dawn;
The
News;
Tribune;
Central
Asia
Online;
The
Nation;
The
Frontier
Post;
Pakistan
Today;
Pakistan
Observer,
April
14-20,
2015.
13
BLF
militants
killed
in
raid
in
Balochistan:
At
least
13
Baloch
Liberation
Front
(BLF)
militants,
including
one
key
militant
'commander'
Hayat
Bewas,
were
killed
in
a
joint
raid
by
Frontier
Corps
(FC)
personnel
and
Intelligence
Agencies,
in
Gogdan
area
of
Turbat
District
on
April
13.
The
dead
militants
were
involved
in
April
10,
2015,
massacre
of
20
Punjabi
and
Sindhi
construction
workers.
FC
spokesperson
Khan
Wasey
said
that
another
key
militant
'commander'
Zareef
was
arrested
during
the
operations.
Wasey
said
several
miscreants
were
injured
in
the
operation.
Dawn,
April
14,
2015.
Punjab
Government
to
challenge
LeT
'commander'
and
mastermind
of
26/11
Zakiur
Reham
Lakhvi's
release
in
Supreme
Court:
An
unnamed
Government
official
on
April
14
said
that
the
Punjab
Government
will
challenge
in
Supreme
Court
(SC)
the
release
of
Lashkar-e-Toiba
(LeT)
'commander'
and
mastermind
of
Mumbai
2008
terror
attacks
(also
known
as
26/11)
Zakiur
Reham
Lakhvi,
by
the
Lahore
High
Court
(LHC)
on
April
9,
2015.
On
April
9,
a
single
judge
of
the
LHC
ordered
Lakhvi's
release
after
suspending
his
detention
under
the
Maintenance
of
Public
Order
(MPO)
issued
by
Okara's
top
administrator
on
March
12,
2015.
Lakhvi
had
been
in
detention
for
over
five
years
for
his
involvement
in
26/11
attacks.
Tribune,
April
15,
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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