| |
SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 14, No. 20, November 16, 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
|
CHHATTISGARH:
Swing of the Pendulum
Mrinal
Kanta Das
Research
Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management
Four Communist
Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist)
cadres, including the ‘intelligence chief’ of Bhairamgarh
unit of the party, were killed in an encounter with the
Security Forces (SFs) near Hallur and Hakawa villages
under the Mirtur Police Station limits in Bijapur District
on November 13, 2015. The Additional Superintendent of
Police (ASP), Bijapur, Indira Kalyan Elesela, disclosed,
“Acting on a specific tip-off from the Intelligence Bureau
(IB) about the possible major attack planned by Maoists
in the region, a joint team of Bijapur District Police
force and specially trained District Reserve Guards (DRG)
launched the search operation. Close to Hallur, the rebels
opened fire on the forces. In the ensuing gun-battle,
four Maoists, including the head of intelligence wing
of Bhairamgarh unit, identified as Rainu, were killed.”
Rainu carried a reward of INR 5,000,00 on his head. Following
the hour-long gunfight, the bodies of four Maoists were
recovered from the encounter site along with their weapons.
“The police found a pistol, two rifles and a 12 bore gun
from the spot,” ASP Elesela added.
Earlier,
on November 6, 2015, another Maoist was killed in a gun-battle
with SFs in Bijapur District. The encounter took place
under Basaguda Police Station limits. After the encounter,
SFs found the body of the Maoist in uniform, a gun and
two pipe bombs.
Further,
three Maoists were killed by SFs in Sukma District on
November 3. A gun battle ensued when a group of Maoists
opened indiscriminate fire on a joint team of the Commando
Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA), Special Task Force
(STF) and the State's District Reserve Group (DRG), who
were conducting anti-Maoist operation in the region. SFs
retaliated and the confrontation lasted for around two
hours. SFs recovered bodies of the three Maoists along
with two rifles from the spot.
These incidents,
coming after the killing
of Sonadhar, the ‘secretary’ of the
CPI-Maoist’s Kanger Valley ‘area committee’ in the Malkangiri
District of Odisha on September 19, 2015; the killing
of two Maoists in an encounter in Warangal District in
Telangana on September 15; and the arrest of seven Maoist
explosive suppliers in Chhattisgarh on September 25 –
all suggesting better intelligence flows from the Maoists’
‘core areas’ - give the impression of a steady consolidation
of gains by SFs in the Bastar area of Chhattisgarh, the
nerve centre of Maoist counter offensive operations.
Nevertheless,
trends in fatalities would suggest a measure of caution.
According
to the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) database,
as of November 15, 2015, Chhattisgarh had recorded a total
of a 102 fatalities, including 29 civilians, 40 SF personnel
and 33 Maoists in Left Wing Extremist (LWE)-related incidents.
A total of 113 fatalities, including 25 civilians, 55
SF personnel and 33 Maoists had been killed in 2014, indicating
a ‘shortfall’ of 11 in the current year, with a month
and a half to go. While civilian and Maoist fatalities
are already comparable, the lower SF fatalities may be
deceptive, as the Bastar region remains a very active
theatre of conflict. Moreover, the tally of 40 SF personnel
killed in Chhattisgarh is enormously disproportionate,
as the total all India SF fatality in LWE violence through
2015 stands at 56 till date [all data till November 15,
2015].
The cyclical
pattern of violence in 2015 is significant. In the first
bout of killings, the Maoists went on a rampage and killed
10 civilians and 24 SF personnel, and lost six of their
own cadres between January
and April.
SFs intensified their anti-Maoist operations, eliminating
11 Maoists and losing five of their own personnel in June-July
2015, while one civilian was killed by the Maoists.
Further, in September and October, eight civilians and
five SF personnel were killed by the Maoists, who lost
just three of their cadres. Since November 3, however,
the Maoists have lost eight of their cadres, and one civilian
has been killed by the Maoists.
Further,
the surrender of Sannu Poyam with his wife Maini Majhi,
on October 22, 2015, with an AK-47 rifle and other weapons,
confirms the trend of Maoist desertions. Sannu was a ‘commander'
of ‘platoon 13’ and carried reward of INR 800,000 on his
head. Similarly, Maini performed the role of a doctor
for the Bhairamgarh Local Guerrilla Squad (LGS) in Bijapur,
and carried a reward of INR 100,000. Speaking to the media
after his surrender, Sannu asserted that he was ‘hurt’
when a ‘divisional committee member’ of the Bhairamgarh
‘area committee’, Santosh Anna, was hanged to death in
front of his own villagers in a Jan Adalat (people’s
court) in 2013. Andhra Pradesh Maoists had accused Santosh
of supporting surrenders before the Police and ‘sentenced’
him to death.
Earlier,
on August 11, 2015, five hardcore Maoists including two
women, carrying cash rewards of INR 1.9 million in all,
surrendered with weapons before Kanker Superintendent
of Police (SP) Jitendra Meena. Maoists cited exploitation
of lower rank cadres by senior Maoist leaders of Andhra
Pradesh as the reason for surrendering. Meena stated that
Juri Gawde alias Basantin surrendered with an INSAS
rifle; Ramsai Dugga, 'commander' of platoon number 5 under
the ‘North Bastar division’ surrendered with an AK-47;
Nilap Usendi alias Milap surrendered with an AK-47;
Manki, 'commander' of the East Charagaon Local Organisational
Squad (LOS) surrendered with a 12 bore gun; and Juru Salam,
'chief' of a local Jantana Sarkar (People’ Government).
There is
growing
tension and conflict within Maoist
ranks. A recent media report suggested that a key Maoist
leader identified as Vinod, who played a crucial role
in the 2013 Maoist ambush on the Congress convoy in the
Jiram Valley in Bastar District on May 25, 2013, in which
31 people were killed, is believed to have been taken
hostage by his colleagues. Vinod, who heads the Kanger
Valley ‘area committee’, a CPI-Maoist unit functioning
in the Darbha region in the Bastar District, has been
kept under 24-hour-vigil by Maoist cadres at a Maoist
camp in the forest, when the local Maoist leadership got
to know about his apparent bid to surrender before the
Police to get medical treatment. Vinod was said to have
been grievously wounded in an encounter with SFs at Chandameta
in Bastar District on October 8, 2015, but managed to
flee the spot with the help of his colleagues. A number
of similar incidents of detention of their own cadres
by the Maoists have been reported earlier.
The Chhattisgarh
Police has also detected and neutralized a Maoist urban
support network in July, 2015, with the arrest of five
people including a Raipur-based scrap businessman, from
separate places. Dantewada SP Kamlochan Kashyap disclosed
that, based on intelligence inputs, businessman Arun Agrawal
and his accountant Balaram were arrested from Raipur Airport
in the night of July 25 when they were trying to flee,
while three Maoist cadres were apprehended from Bhansi
Police Station limits in Dantewada District: "Agarwal
is said to be in close contact with a prominent Maoist
of the Western Bastar Division Committee called Commander
Sanjay alias Mohan Kadti. He often supplied detonators,
explosives, generators, welding machines and other materials
to the Maoists."
In response
to their perceived organizational weaknesses and inability
to contain flows of information, the Maoists have increased
IED blasts targeting the SFs in the State. There have
already been 29 IED
blasts in 2015, as against five in
2014. IEDs have increasingly been planted on footpaths
in jungles targeting SF personnel who are moving on foot
after being repeatedly targeted with huge IED explosions
on motorable roads.
In other
recent incidents of violence, the Maoists set ablaze 29
vehicles near the Chargaon mines in Kanker District on
October 30, 2015. A group of 60 to 70 Maoists thrashed
some drivers and cleaners before setting fire to their
vehicles, resulting in injuries to many. The Maoists also
set ablaze a passenger bus in the Bhopalpatnam Block of
Bijapur District on the same day. No one was hurt in the
incident as the Maoists asked the passengers to alight
before setting the bus on fire. The Maoists also left
pamphlets appealing for a ‘Bhopalpatnam Bandh’ (shutdown
strike) in protest against the arrest of Maoist leader
Bhima Singh.
The Maoists
have suffered stinging reverses, but Bastar is a region
where the Maoists had made occasional claims to have entered
the ‘mobile warfare’ stage of their revolution. Their
surviving capacities in the Bastar Division remain significant,
and it would be a mistake to believe that the SFs have
made gains that will automatically be held. Indeed, it
is only a redoubling of efforts, with enormous administrative
initiatives to address enormous welfare and developmental
deficits in this area that can ensure a gradual consolidation
of the state, and the progressive marginalization of rebel
elements.
|
Dangerous
Resurgence
Sanchita
Bhattacharya
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
On November
5, 2015, amidst a spate of killings by Islamist extremists,
intended to silence moderate and secular voices in Bangladesh,
Bangladesh President, Abdul Hamid declared that the country
has no place for bigotry and militancy, and that the people
had always been non-communal and respectful of other religions.
Religious intolerance in Bangladesh has, however, seen
a sharp spike, manifested in the killing of secular
bloggers and the murder of Faisal
Arefin Dipan, publisher of Jagriti Prokashani in
the current year 2015. Dipan was murdered on October 31,
2015, in Dhaka city.
Extremists
and liberals in Bangladesh are currently engaged in a
life and death struggle for survival and dominance within
a society long buffeted by (often state backed) Islamist
extremism. The radical stream has been challenged since
the Awami League (AL) secured power in the elections
of December 2008, and was again returned
to power with an overwhelming majority, in an election
boycotted by most of the Opposition, in
2014. Meeting a long-pending demand
in the country, Sheikh Hasina Wajed’s AL Government initiated
the War Crimes Trials (WCTs) against the offenders of
Bangladesh’s 1971 Liberation War. Most of the accused
in these trials had reestablished themselves in the leadership
of the radical Islamist formations, and had consolidated
their position in electoral politics over the preceding
decades, even as they cemented a vast network of institutions
– mosques, madrassas and ‘welfare’ organizations – which
they had exploited to create a mass base across the country.
The radical
leadership has, on the one hand, been decimated, even
as the Wajed Government has secured substantial support
within the population, particularly articulated in the
aspirations of the secular Shahbag
Movement and the Gonojagoron Mancha.
It is, indeed, the reaction to the unprecedented and combined
pressure of the WCTs and the secular-democratic formations
that has provoked the ongoing extremist attacks on secular
voices.
According
to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a New York-based
organization, at least 27 journalists and freelancers
have been killed in Bangladesh since 1992. It said that
the motive behind the killings of 19 have been confirmed
while eight others remained unconfirmed. The victims whose
cases termed as ‘motive confirmed’ include Niloy Neel
(Freelance, August 7, 2015), Ananta Bijoy Das (Freelance,
May 12, 2015), Washiqur Rahman Babu (Freelance, March
30, 2015), Avijit Roy (Freelance, February 26, 2015),
Sadrul Alam Nipul, (Dainik Mathabhanga, May 21, 2014),
Ahmed Rajib Haider (Freelance, February 15, 2013), Jamal
Uddin (Gramer Kagoj, June 15, 2012), Gautam Das (Samakal,
November 17, 2005), Sheikh Belaluddin (Sangram, February
11, 2005), Kamal Hossain (Ajker Kagoj, August 22, 2004),
Humayun Kabir Balu (Janmabhumi, June 27, 2004), Manik
Saha (New Age, January 15, 2004), Shukur Hossain (Anirban,
July 5, 2002), Harunur Rashid (Dainik Purbanchal, March
2, 2002), Nahar Ali (Anirban, April 21, 2001), Shamsur
Rahman (Janakantha, July 16, 2000), Mir Illias Hossain
Delip (Dainik Bir Darpan, January 15, 2000), Saiful Alam
Mukul (Daily Runner, August 30, 1998) and Mohammad Quamruzzaman
(Neel Sagar, February 19, 1996).
The victims,
where motives behind the killings remained unconfirmed,
included Nurul Islam Faruqi (Channel i Television, August
27, 2014), Shah Alam Sagar (Oporadh Domon, March 2, 2014),
Meherun Runi (ATN Bangla, February 11, 2012), Golam Mustofa
Sarowar (Maasranga Television, February 11, 2012), Diponkar
Chakrabarty (Durjoy Bangla, October 2, 2004), Syed Farroque
Ahmed (Pubali Barta, August 3, 2002), Ahsan Ali (Freelance,
July 20, 2001) and SM Alauddi (Ogrodoot, June 19, 1996).
Earlier,
in October 2015, CPJ had criticised Bangladesh in veiw
of the killing of bloggers, stating, "...Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina and the nominally secular Awami
League party have done little to speak out for justice
in these crimes, allowing political interests to trump
rule of law. Authorities seem more concerned with what
bloggers are writing than going after their killers".
The re-emergence
of Jam'atul
Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB),
a group whose entire top leadership had been hanged or
jailed, is another cause of extreme concern. JMB had been
responsible for a series of coordinated explosions [SAIR:
4.6] across Bangladesh on August 17, 2005, in its attempt
to catalyze an Islamist revolution. 459 explosions had
occurred in 63 of Bangladesh's 64 Districts (excluding
Munshiganj, where devices failed to detonate) killing
three and injuring more than 100 people. In an attempt
to re-assert itself in Bangladesh, JMB targeted a prison
van and freed three of their comrades on February 23,
2014. JMB had also established a network, and wider linkages
with like minded organizations, in
India and had been plotting Sheikh
Hasina’s assassination, among other terrorist actions,
at the time of the discovery and dismantling of the Indian
network. So far, a total of 25 JMB militants involved
in the October 2, 2014, Bardhaman
blast in the Indian state of West
Bengal have been arrested - 23 in India and two in Dhaka
City, Bangladesh. According to the National Investigation
Agency’s latest Supplementary Charge sheet, dated July
27, 2015, seven accused in the case are still at large.
On October
17, 2015, Bangladesh Police disclosed that JMB cadres
had resorted to target killings, and that, over the preceding
two years, JMB killed 13 religious scholars, pirs
(revered religious instructors, usually of the Sufi order)
and shrine followers across Bangladesh. Moreover, JMB
had formed 12 regional groups to carry out attacks. This
is despite the enormous losses the organization has suffered
over the past decade. According to partial data collated
by the Institute for Conflict Management, a total
of 627 JMB terrorists have been arrested from across Bangladesh
in 295 incidents, since 2005 (data till November 15, 2015).
Sectarian
clashes within Islam are also a rising threat. On October
24, 2015, three small bombs were thrown outside the Hossaini
Dalan, the main Shia site in the old Mughal quarter of
Dhaka, as a result of which two persons were killed and
87 were injured. Describing the incident, Deputy Commissioner
of Dhaka Police Mofiz Uddin Ahmed stated, “There were
some 20,000 people in and outside the building at that
time. They were preparing to hold the annual Muharram
mourning procession when the three [bombs] were exploded
outside the Hossaini Dalan.” The US-based SITE Intelligence
Group attributed the incident to the Islamic State (IS),
which had claimed responsibility for the bomb attack.
Bangladesh authorities are yet to identify the actual
perpetrators of the incident.
Meanwhile,
on November 1, 2015, the terrorist group Anasarullah
Bangla Team (ABT) posted a list of
'targets', including 14 bloggers and writers, who it intends
to kill. The list included the names of Taslima Nasrin,
presently in USA; Omar Faruk Lux, Farjana Kabir Khan Snigdha
and Asif Mohiuddin in Germany; Arifur Rahman and Santanu
Adib in UK; Sannasy Ratan aka Samaddar Ratan in
Norway; Subrata Shuvo in Norway; Julius Ceaser, Abdul
Mamun, Susuptu Pathak and Nirjhar Majumder in Sweden;
as well as Kadar Ali and Ajam Khan in Bangladesh. Previously,
on October 19, 2015, ABT had warned media organizations
against employing female staff in an email bearing the
address [email protected], declaring:
Since
the Islamic Sharia views working of women outside
their homes without purdah as punishable
offense their employers are guilty to the same degree.
We are urging the media to release their women from
their jobs. From now on, our instruction is the
law and if you [the media] do not follow the way
of Islam, the outcome will be dreadful. The towering
building will come crumbling down to the ground
and your heads to the feet of the soldiers of Islam.
|
The letter
was sent from the ‘head office, Chittagong, Bangladesh’
by Abdullah Bin Selim, claiming to be the 'publicity coordinator'
of ABT.
The traditional
political conflict between the Bangladesh Nationalist
Party (BNP)-Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) combine, on the one
hand, and the AL, on the other, with the exclusion of
the former from legitimate power as a result of their
ill-conceived boycott of the 2014 elections, has polarized
the situation further. The BNP-JeI combine has sought
to project AL as anti-Islam and tyrannical in campaigns
that have created fertile ground for international terror
groups such as IS and al-Qaida to spread influence among
the remnants of indigenous terror formations and radicalized
youth in Bangladesh. Indeed, on November 2, 2015, Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed accused BNP Chairperson Begum
Khaleda Zia of launching a secret killing mission to save
War Criminals from the ongoing trial. Wajed also claimed,
“Awami League leaders, writers, publishers and foreigners
are amongst the target of secret killings and they are
being killed accordingly.”
Meanwhile,
on November 7, 2015, Minister of Home Affairs Asaduzzaman
Khan Kamal claimed that ‘some’ of those involved in the
killings of bloggers had been identified “and attempts
are on to indentify the rest… Charge sheets have been
submitted in two cases already and are under process in
two more.” In addition, reiterating the denial of IS's
existence in the country Sheikh Hasina on November 8 stated,
"Many quarters are pressing us to confess the IS
existence in Bangladesh to create a situation here like
the ones in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Libya.
They want to bring Bangladesh in line with those countries
and that is the part of their conspiracy. My question
is, if they can take an acknowledgement from us of the
existence of IS in Bangladesh, what will be the situation
of our country? We don't want a situation in Bangladesh
like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria or Libya.”
The Government
is also trying to monitor and mitigate the presence of
extremist groups in the cyber domain. On November 11,
2015 Sheikh Hasina made an announcement in Parliament
that her Government was moving to temporarily block the
messaging and calling apps Viber and Whatsapp
in an effort to curb militant activities and terrorist
attacks inside the country. It is also likely to monitor
popular social media like Facebook. She cited how
some individuals were conducting criminal activities by
misusing these social media apps, “Therefore, I will suspend
operation of these apps for some days, when needed, in
order to arrest the perpetrators.” A day later, on November
12, 2015, Bangladesh’s State Minister for Post and Telecommunication,
Tarana Halim, told Parliament that the process of procuring
so-called Internet Safety Solutions was already underway.
She pointed out that, once implemented, the system would
help in curbing all forms of cyber crimes and also monitor
social media platforms, especially Facebook.
Against
this backdrop, the World Bank in 2015 raised the status
of Bangladesh from a low-income country to a lower middle
income country. World Bank President, Jim Yong Kim lauded
Bangladesh’s role in empowering women, terming the country
a model in women’s progress.
Islamist
radicalization and terrorism have long cast a shadow across
Bangladesh, but this threat has been relatively contained
over the past years. Bangladesh’s developmental profile
has also shown dramatic improvement. Nevertheless, the
fight against religious bigotry and terrorism is far from
over, even as a reserve pool of huge numbers of under-nourished
and under-privileged people remains, to be exploited by
unscrupulous elements under the guise of radical Islam.
|
Weekly Fatalities: Major
Conflicts in South Asia
November 9-15,
2015
|
Civilians
|
Security
Force Personnel
|
Terrorists/Insurgents
|
Total
|
INDIA
|
|
Assam
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
Jammu and
Kashmir
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
Meghalaya
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Nagaland
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
4
|
Left-Wing
Extremism
|
|
Chhattisgarh
|
1
|
0
|
4
|
5
|
Odisha
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
Total (INDIA)
|
2
|
0
|
13
|
15
|
PAKISTAN
|
|
Balochistan
|
3
|
1
|
0
|
4
|
FATA
|
2
|
0
|
22
|
24
|
Punjab
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
Sindh
|
1
|
5
|
7
|
13
|
PAKISTAN
(Total)
|
|
|
|
|
Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
|
BANGLADESH
People
will
not
allow
conspirators
to
make
the
country
a
terrorist
state,
says
Prime
Minister
Sheikh
Hasina
Wajed:
Renewing
her
allegation
that
Khaleda
Zia
wants
to
tarnish
Bangladesh's
image
by
killing
foreigners,
Prime
Minister
Sheikh
Hasina
Wajed
on
November
12
said
people
will
not
allow
conspirators
to
make
the
country
a
terrorist
state.
She
said
"Staying
abroad
[UK],
she
[Khaleda]
wants
to
taint
the
country's
image
through
killing
foreigners
in
Bangladesh
in
a
planned
way.
They
(BNP-Jamaat)
want
to
turn
Bangladesh
into
a
terrorist
country
through
unleashing
terrorism,
militancy
and
creating
Bangla
Bhai
as
they
did
in
the
past.
People
believe
in
peace,
no
matter
how
much
conspiracy
Khaleda
hatches…Bangladesh
will
become
as
a
peaceful
country
in
South
Asia.
New
Age,
November
13,
2015.
INDIA
Infiltration
from
Pakistan
border
has
drastically
declined,
states
Defence
Minister
Manohar
Parrikar:
Infiltration
from
across
the
Pakistan
border
into
India
has
drastically
declined
in
the
last
one
year,
Defence
Minister,
Manohar
Parrikar
said
on
November
13.
"Though
infiltration
from
across
the
Pakistan
border
has
not
totally
stopped,
it
has
come
down
drastically,
particularly
during
the
last
one
year,"
he
at
the
Defence
Staff
Services
College
in
the
Nilgiri
District
of
Tamil
Nadu.
Times
of
India,
November
14,
2015.
India's
Permanent
Representative
to
UN
Asoke
Kumar
Mukerji
criticises
UN's
role
in
fighting
terrorism,
says
report:
In
a
criticism
of
the
United
Nations
Security
Council's
(UNSC)
role
in
fighting
terrorism,
India
on
November
12
said
that
the
UN's
primary
body
for
international
security
was
helpless
in
making
countries
enforce
its
own
sanctions
and
resolutions
against
terrorists.
India's
Permanent
Representative
Asoke
Kumar
Mukerji
said,
"The
response
of
the
Council
to
the
threat
posed
by
terrorism,
especially
in
Africa
and
Asia,
has
been
less
than
robust."
Zee
News,
November
13,
2015.
NEPAL
Present
crisis
facing
the
country
would
come
to
an
end
soon,
says
Prime
Minister
KP
Sharma
Oli:
Prime
Minister
KP
Sharma
Oli
speaking
at
a
programme
organized
by
the
Reporters'
Club
in
Kathmandu
on
November
13
said
that
the
present
crisis
facing
the
country
would
come
to
an
end
soon.
Explaining
that
the
current
situation
of
the
nation
is
really
problematic,
Oli
claimed
"The
government
is
effortful
to
integrate
all
with
flexibility.
It
is
trying
to
move
the
nation
ahead
in
a
united
manner."
hindustantimes,
November
14,
2015.
Ongoing
unrest
in
Madhes
region
would
not
be
solved
unless
parties
agreed
to
review
boundaries
of
federal
units,
says
Deputy
Prime
Minister
Bijay
Kumar
Gachhadar:
Deputy
Prime
Minister
and
Minister
for
Physical
Infrastructure
and
Transport,
Bijay
Kumar
Gachhadar,
on
November
11
said
that
the
ongoing
unrest
in
the
Madhes
region
would
not
be
solved
unless
the
parties
agreed
to
review
boundaries
of
federal
units.
He,
however,
was
hopeful
that
the
Government
would
resume
talks
with
the
agitating
parties
with
a
concrete
proposal
on
demarcation
of
the
states,
immediately
after
Tihar.
The Himalayan
Times,
November
12,
2015.
PAKISTAN
Army
satisfied
with
security
of
Nation's
nuclear
assets:
The
Chief
of
Army
Staff
(COAS)
General
Raheel
Sharif
on
November
13
paid
a
visit
to
Pakistan's
Centre
of
Excellence
for
Nuclear
Security
(PCENS)
and
expressed
confidence
over
the
security
of
Pakistan's
nuclear
arsenal.
"Pakistan
has
taken
measures,
including
setting
up
of
the
PCENS,
to
strengthen
its
nuclear
security,"
said
the
COAS.
Interacting
with
officers
and
troops
at
the
PCENS,
the
army
chief
said
that
nuclear
security
is
a
sacred
responsibility.
Daily Times,
November
14,
2015.
SRI
LANKA
Northern
Province
stages
complete
shutdown
to
protest
Government's
failure
to
release
Tamil
prisoners
detained
under
PTA:
Northern
Province
staged
a
complete
shutdown
on
November
13
to
protest
the
Government's
failure
to
release
the
Tamil
prisoners
detained
under
the
Prevention
of
Terrorism
Act
(PTA).
Shops
and
businesses
in
Jaffna
and
Vavuniya
Districts
remained
closed
in
support
of
the
detainees
who
have
been
on
a
hunger
strike
demanding
their
release.
The
streets
remained
deserted
in
the
busy
Jaffna
town
while
the
public
transport
was
at
a
standstill.
Colombo Page,
November
14,
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.
|
|
|