INDIA
PAKISTAN
NEPAL
BHUTAN
BANGLADESH
SRI LANKA
Terrorism Update
Latest
S.A.Overview
Publication
Show/Hide Search
HomePrint
 
  Click to Enlarge
   

SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 14, No. 36, March 07, 2016

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

AFGHANISTAN
Click for PrintPrint

Reeling under Foreign-backed Terror
Ajit Kumar Singh
Research Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management

At least 15 people were killed and another 31 were wounded when a suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest in a pedestrian area between the Ministries of Finance and Defense in the Pul-e-Mahmood Khan area of national capital Kabul on February 27, 2016. Most of the victims were civilians (though the numbers are yet unspecified), in an attack that apparently targeted Government employees.  

Earlier the same day, a suicide bomber killed at least 13 persons, including an anti-Taliban local militia commander identified as Malik Khan Jan, outside the Governor's compound in Asadabad, the provincial capital of Kunar. Provincial Governor Wahidullah Kalimzai said, "Most of the victims were civilians and children who were either passing by or playing in the park." At least 40 people were injured in the attack.

On February 21, 2016, at least 14 people, including nine civilians, were killed and another 19, including 17 civilians, were injured in a suicide bombing in a crowded market in the Sia Gerd District of Parwan Province.

According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) at least 140 civilians have already been killed in Afghanistan since the beginning of the current year (data till March 4, 2016).

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) which began systematically documenting civilian casualties on January 1, 2009, has recorded 58,736 civilian casualties (21,323 dead and 37,413 injured) up to December 31, 2015. Through 2015, UNAMA recorded 11,002 civilian casualties (3,545 civilians dead and 7,457 injured) as against 10,534 (3,701 civilians dead and 6,833 injured) in 2014. More disturbingly, women and children constitute a rising proportion of the victims of this violence. While overall civilian casualties increased by four per cent in 2015 in comparison to the previous year, casualties among women increased by 37 per cent (1,246 women casualties, including 333 dead and 913 injured) and by 14 per cent among children (2,829, including 733 dead and 2,096 injured).

Moreover, the battle between the Security Forces (SFs) and the Taliban to establish effective control over areas across Afghanistan further intensified through 2015. According to a December 2015 United States (US) Department of Defense (DoD) report "from January 1 through November 15, 2015, there was a 27 percent increase in ANDSF [Afghan National Defense Security Force] casualties compared to the same period last year [2014]". The repot did not provide specific numbers. However, a Washington Times report on December 27, 2015, claimed that "as of last month (November 2015), about 7,000 members of the Afghan Security Forces had been killed this year [2015], with 12,000 injured, a 26 percent increase over the total number of dead and wounded in all of 2014".

On the other hand, fatalities among the NATO Forces continued to decline – 27 fatalities in 2015 as against 75 in 2014. A total of 3,515 NATO Forces, including 2,381 US troops have been killed so far since 2001. The increase in fatalities among ANDSF, on the one hand, and simultaneous decline in NATO fatalities, on the other, is primarily because NATO Forces have ceased operating as combat Forces (barring few specific operations) since the beginning of 2015, and ANDSF has taken the pole position in fighting the insurgents. ANDSF includes the Afghan Army, Afghan Air Force, and Afghan National Police. The Afghan Local Police (ALP) also helps. Explaining the reason behind rising losses among the ANDSF and ALP, Afghan Interior Minister Nur al-haq Ulumi stated in May 2015, “Our National Police and the Afghan Local Police are the first line of defense. They are always fighting the insurgents. That’s why we have so many casualties."

Though there is no specific data on number of militants killed in Afghanistan, according to partial data compiled by the SATP, 10,628 militants were killed through 2015 as against 6,030 such fatalities in 2014. Most of the militants killed belonged to Taliban.

Evidently, Afghanistan is in the midst of an increasing bloody war. Despite losing large numbers of their cadres, the Taliban is surging. According to the December 2015 DoD report, "with control of — or a significant presence in — roughly 30 percent of districts across the nation, the Taliban now holds more territory than in any year since 2001, when the puritanical Islamists were ousted from power after the 9/11 attacks". The Taliban have proven capable of taking rural areas and contesting key terrain in areas such as Helmand, while continuing to conduct high-profile attacks (HPA) in Kabul, the report added. From January 1 to November 16, 2015, there were 28 HPAs in Kabul, a 27 percent increase compared to the same time period in 2014. On January 4, 2016, summing up the security scenario, Zamir Kabulov, the Russian President’s special envoy for Afghanistan, stated that Afghanistan remains tense, with “high or extraordinary” security threats present in 27 of 34 Afghan provinces.

At this juncture an attempt is being made to bring Taliban to talks table. The fourth meeting of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG, comprising Afghanistan, Pakistan, the US and China) on the Afghan Peace and Reconciliation process was held in Kabul on February 23, 2016. QCG member states invited all Taliban and other groups to participate, through their authorized representatives, in direct peace talks with the Afghan Government, which were expected to take place in the first week of March 2016 in Islamabad. Even before the specific dates were finalized, however, the Taliban declared that they would not participate in international peace talks, citing what they claimed were increased US air strikes and the Afghan Government's military operations.

Media reports indicate that Afghan and Pakistani Government officials remain hopeful that the talks would continue, despite the Taliban statement. "This is just public bargaining on the part of the Taliban. They did it last time, too. They put out a statement of denial, and then they showed up to talks," an unnamed official, close to President Ashraf Ghani, argued on March 5, 2016.

The first round of official peace talks between the Afghan Taliban and the Afghan Government had taken place in the intervening night of July 7 and July 8, 2015, in Murree in Pakistan, with an agreement to meet again on August 15 and 16, 2015, in the Qatar capital, Doha. Before, the second round of talks could take place, the Afghan Government disclosed, on July 29, 2015,  “The government ... based on credible information, confirms that Mullah Mohammad Omar, leader of the Taliban, died in April 2013 in Pakistan." Subsequent disclosures indicated that Omar died while he was under treatment in Karachi.

The Taliban soon split into two factions – one led by Pakistan’s nominee, Mullah Akhtar Mansoor and another by Mullah Mohammad Rasool. The next round of talks failed to materialize. Reports now suggest the possibilities of rapprochement between the two factions. Abdul Rauf, a Taliban 'commander' close to Rasool, said senior Taliban figures who had objected to the rapid and secretive succession are now reluctantly returning to the fold: "We all took a stand against Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, but now one by one we are joining with him without demanding any changes." While both Islamabad and Mullah Mansoor lost tremendous credibility among the Taliban for their conspiracy to suppress the truth of Mullah Omar’s death, and to manipulate his persona for the past years, the tremendous support the terrorists receive from Pakistan remains critical to the survival of their movement, and a forced reconciliation appears inevitable.

In the meantime, in an attempt to represent itself as the most effective player in the peace process, Pakistan willingly or unwillingly made an admission which confirmed its destabilizing role in Afghanistan, for which it had long been held responsible and about which SAIR has written consistently. Sartaj Aziz, Foreign Affairs Advisor to the Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, admitted on March 2, 2016, "We have some influence on them [the Taliban] because their leadership is in Pakistan and they get some medical facilities, their families are here. So we can use those levers to pressurize them to say: 'Come to the table'."

Pakistan’s enduring game plan remains committed to the installation of a Government in Afghanistan in which Taliban elements have an important, if not dominant, role. Islamabad believes such a Government would help its larger strategic and economic interests and, in the process, would obliterate Indian interests in Afghanistan. Increasing attacks on Indian consulates across Afghanistan in recent times are part of this wider powerplay. In the latest of the series of such attacks, on March 2, 2016, six terrorists carried out a suicide attack targeting the Indian Consulate in Jalalabad, the provincial capital of Nangarhar Province. Two Afghan civilians and an Afghan Policeman were killed in the attack. While two terrorists blew themselves up near the consulate building initiating the attack, the remaining four were killed in the subsequent gun battle. Though no group has claimed responsibly for the attack so far, the role of the Pakistani establishment has been established in such attacks in the past. Soon after the Jalalabad attack, former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, stated, “Each of those (previous) attacks has originated from across the border, from neighbouring Pakistan. That’s where the origin of this trouble is..."

While the Taliban has regained significant lost ground, it has now entered into a fratricidal turf war with its own splinters now cleaving to the flag of the Islamic State (IS, aka Daesh). The December 2015 DoD report notes, "IS-KP [Khorasan Province] has progressed from its initial exploratory phase to a point where they are openly fighting the Taliban for the establishment of a safe haven, and are becoming more operationally active. IS-KP has successfully seized pockets of terrain from the Taliban in Nangarhar Province. The group continues to recruit disaffected Taliban and formerly Taliban-aligned fighters, most notably the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, which publically declared allegiance to IS-KP in August 2015.” The coalition officials estimate that around 1,000 to 3,000 IS fighters are trying to establish a base of operations in the rugged mountains of Nangarhar Province.

Reeling under the terror exported from across its Southern borders, Afghanistan now has 315,764 ANDSF personnel in position (against an authorized strength of 352,000). 28,000 ALP personnel are also in position, as against the sanctioned strength of 30,000. Despite having performed reasonably well, the Forces need dramatic augmentation to contain and reverse the surge in militant activities across Afghanistan. US Army General Lloyd J. Austin III observed, on March 2, 2016, “This fighting season was the first where [Afghan Forces] were in the lead and responsible for the security of the country. And they faced a determined enemy that continues to attempt everything in its power to cause the Afghan security forces to fail. But they haven’t failed. They are holding their own. Afghanistan’s special operations forces are becoming the best in the region. And the Afghan air force is enabling those ground elements.”

Nevertheless, Afghan Forces are reeling under circumstances created by the withdrawal of an overwhelming proportion of NATO Forces, though the small remaining contingents continue to provide active support. As of December 2015, there were 12,905 NATO Forces from 42 contributing nations, including 6,800 US Forces stationed in Afghanistan. The US, which had earlier said that it would reduce its presence to a maximum of 1,000 personnel in Afghanistan by the end of 2016, to provide security for the US Embassy in Kabul, has already changed its plans, recognizing the increasing threat. On October 15, 2015, US President Barack Obama stated that he would keep 5,500 US troops in Afghanistan into 2017, arguing "Afghan Forces are still not as strong as they need to be... Meanwhile, the Taliban has made gains, particularly in rural areas, and can still launch deadly attacks in cities, including Kabul.”

It is expected that the US will make some further adjustments in its plans for deployment of troops in Afghanistan. Gen. John F. Campbell, who handed over command of the Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan to Gen. John W. Nicholson Jr. on March 2, 2016, stated on February 17, 2016, "I think we have to look at conditions on the ground. I think when the decision was made for 5,500, there were some assumptions that were made and some of those may not have come true. I think there are some adjustments we have to make on that number, and I’ve provided those to my senior leadership, and hopefully we’ll make some changes there. I’m also going to make sure [successor Gen. Nicholson] has that, and he’ll come in and make his own assessment."

Unless the Taliban is defeated militarily, and the spread of IS is contained, no stability can be brought into Afghanistan. At a time when the Taliban is rampaging across the country, the talks process can only confer legitimacy on the extremists and cede undue leverage to the external forces that have long been guilty of aiding and abetting terrorism. It is now critical time to bring to account the powers – both state and non-state – that have been responsible for the enduring suffering of the people of Afghanistan.

INDIA
Click for PrintPrint

Telangana: Diminishing Rebel Spaces
Mrinal Kanta Das
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management

At least eight members of the Venkatapuram ‘area committee’ of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), which operates in the Bhadrachalam area of Khammam District in Telangana, were killed in an encounter with Security Force (SF) personnel along the Telangana-Chhattisgarh border on March 1, 2016. The Telangana Greyhounds had launched the operation after receiving information about the presence of Maoist leaders in the region, resulting in the encounter which took place in the Sakler area of Sukma District in Chhattisgarh State. Along with the dead bodies of the eight slain militants, SF personnel also recovered an AK-47 rifle, three Self-Loading Rifle (SLRs), several .303 rifles, and ammunition from the encounter spot.

Santosh Singh, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP), Anti-Naxal Operations, Sukma District, disclosed that “As per preliminary information, three men and five women have been killed. The operation was planned and executed by Telangana Greyhounds. Since they were entering our territory, they had asked for some personnel with knowledge of the terrain.”

Among the dead were Gottikukkala Ramesh alias Lachalu, a board member of ‘Awami Jung’, known as ‘Jung’, the internal journal of the party edited by central committee members, and a member of the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC). Five others were identified as Yusufbi alias Bhagya, Sujana, Sarakka, Madakambandi and Raju. No information about their respective ‘ranks’ were available. Two of the slain Maoists were yet to be identified.

The Sakler incident further weakens the Maoists’ revival plan in Telangana. Since the formation of Telangana on June 2, 2014, the Maoists have lost several of their top cadres (including those killed on March 1, 2016), who had been entrusted with the revival of the ‘movement’ in Telangana. In addition, at least 50 Maoists have been arrested since the formation of the Telangana State on June 2, 2014. Prominent among these were ‘militia commander’ Madakam Jogaiah (21), who was arrested in Khammam District on February 14, 2015; ‘militia commander’ Ravva Bheemaiah and Paddam Kamaiah, ‘secretary’, Revolutionary People's Committee (RPC), arrested on April 29, 2015. Similarly, at least 24 others have surrendered before the SFs. Some of the notable surrenders included ‘divisional committee member’ B. Bhikshapathi in Warrangal District on January 20, 2015, and Gajerla Ashok (41) alias Aithu ‘secretary' of South Bastar District Committee on December 29, 2015.

Unsurprisingly, Maoist-related violence in the State recorded a decline through 2015 even in comparison to the low levels in the preceding year. According to the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) database, four persons, including two civilians and two Maoists were killed in the State through 2015, as against six fatalities, including four civilians, one SF trooper and one Maoist in 2014 (after the State’s formation on June 2, 2014). The Telangana region of undivided Andhra Pradesh had seen three fatalities in 2014, before June 2. There has been no fatality so far in 2016.

Fatalities were reported from three Districts of Telangana in 2015 – one civilian each from Adilabad and Khammam; and two Maoists in Warangal. In 2014, Khammam accounted for all the four fatalities. Khammam thus recorded the maximum number of fatalities (five) since the formation of the new State.

There were also occasional reports of CPI-Maoist teams being sighted, particularly in Adilabad District. On January 8-9, 2015, four CPI-Maoist teams consisting of 12 members (it was not specified whether it was the combined strength of all the four teams or the individual strength of each team), including ‘area committee’ member Atram Shobhan alias Charles, entered Adilabad District from Chhattisgarh. According to sources, the Maoist teams were moving in Kairiguda, Sonapur and other tribal villages between the Tiryani and Rebbena mandals, and were recruiting people. Similarly, on July 29, 2015, reports indicated that a team of 20 to 25 CPI-Maoist cadres was sighted in the villages in the Vaipet Forest area under Indervelli mandal (administrative unit) of Adilabad District. A few Maoists were also spotted at Parkal and Bhupalpalli in Warangal District and a few places in the Nizamabad District.  

Meanwhile, the Maoists engaged in three reported exchange of fire incidents in 2015 in comparison to two such incidents in 2014; one arson incident in comparison to none in 2014; one abduction incident in 2015 in comparison to two in 2014; and one assault incident each in 2015 and 2014. Notably, CPI-Maoist cadres abducted six Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leaders of the Bhadrachalam Division, including constituency in-charge Maane Ramakrishna, from Pusuguppa, a forest fringe village in Charla mandal of Khammam District. News of the alleged abduction emerged on November 19, 2015, when the ruling party leaders had not returned to their homes from Pusuguppa, where they had reportedly gone to attend a meeting on November 18. The other abducted TRS leaders were P. Venkateshwarlu, S. Suresh, Janardhan, Satyanarayana and Ramakrishna. The Maoists later released them on November 21, 2015, and asked them to tell their party leaders to immediately halt combing operations in Khammam and Adilabad Districts of Telangana. No Moist fatality has been recorded thereafter, though only three Maoists have so far been killed in Telangana since its formation. Two were killed in Warangal District in 2015 while one was killed in Khammam in 2014.   

33 Maoists were arrested in 2015 in addition to seven in 2014. Till February 28, 2016, another 10 Maoists have already been arrested in the current year. Mounting SF pressure led to the surrender of 13 Maoists in 2015, in addition to 11 in 2014. No Maoist has yet surrendered in Telangana in 2016.

The Maoists were banking on the birth of the Telangana State to revive their movement after they had lost considerable ground in united Andhra Pradesh. Having failed to do so, they continue to espouse several issues to garner mass support. The first and foremost is the issue of the Polavaram Project, a multi-purpose irrigation project across the Godavari River. On February 20, 2015, wall posters of CPI-Maoist Venkatapuram 'area committee' opposing the Polavaram project were spotted in the Charla mandal of Khammam District. On August 19, 2015, Viplava Karmika Samkhya (VKS), a CPI-Maoist front organization, sent a pamphlet to a newspaper office in Nalgonda District, warning the management of Oil Country Tubular Limited (OCTL) located at Narketpally, State Ministers T. Harish Rao and Nayani Narasimha Reddy, and Nakrekal Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Vemula Veeresham on the issue of "removing about 500 employees from the company". Signed by VKS ‘secretary’ Azad, the two-page pamphlet alleged that the State Government led by TRS had colluded with the management of the OCTL.

Meanwhile, the Maoists also claimed to have conducted the first State level meeting in Telangana in February 2015. State intelligence officials, however, rejected the claim, asserting that, instead, the plenary was conducted in Chhattisgarh, bordering Khammam District. An unnamed senior intelligence official disclosed, on March 31, 2015, "It was a State committee plenum. The Maoists couldn't conduct it in Telangana due to continuous vigil and combing operations. They had to hold it in Chhattisgarh."

Though SFs have succeeded in containing Maoist activities in Telangana, worries remain.  According to a statement of the Telangana Police on March 31, 2015, there were around 75 to 80 Maoist cadres still operating along Telangana’s borders. Reports of some new recruitment continue to filter in. On December 30, 2015, Director General of Police (DGP) Anurag Sharma admitting, "It is sporadic and there is no mass scale recruitment (by Maoists)... due to firm Police action, LWE activities in the State are under effective check. Extremist crime also declined during this year." Similarly, State Home Minister Nayani Narasimha Reddy claimed on December 3, 2014, "There is no Maoist activity (in Telangana)... We have a peaceful atmosphere here."

Nevertheless, Khammam District is still listed among the 35-worst Maoist affected Districts spread across seven states of India. Commenting on the Maoist situation Telangana, the then Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Director General (DG) Prakash Mishra warned, on February 19, 2016, that the Maoists were coming back in Telangana: "There could be many reasons (for this), non-application of Standard Operating Procedures or lax policing. The inherent danger is always there, even in Telangana and some places in Andhra Pradesh."    

The Police in the Telangana region of undivided Andhra Pradesh, and now in Telangana, have spearheaded the successful counter-insurgency response against the Maoist, transforming this territory from the very heartland of the rebel movement to an area where they are now struggling for a toe hold. The Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Police have also led extraordinarily successful campaigns across the country – providing intelligence and tactical support to other Forces – to help contain the Maoists and progressively identify and neutralize its leadership. There is, of course, no scope for complacence here; but there is little reason to believe that the Telangana Police are inclined to take their eye off the ball.


NEWS BRIEFS

Weekly Fatalities: Major Conflicts in South Asia
February 29-March 6, 2016

 

Civilians

Security Force Personnel

Terrorists/Insurgents

Total

BANGLADESH

 

Islamist Terrorism

0
0
1
1

INDIA

 

Assam

0
0
1
1

Manipur

1
0
0
1

Meghalaya

0
0
1
1

Nagaland

2
0
0
2

Jammu and Kashmir

0
0
5
5

Left-Wing Extremism

 

Chhattisgarh

3
3
9
15

Jharkhand

0
0
1
1

Total (INDIA)

6
3
17
26

PAKISTAN

 

Balochistan

0
1
7
8

FATA

2
0
12
14

Punjab

1
0
0
1

Sindh

3
0
17
16

Total (PAKISTAN)

6
1
36
43
Provisional data compiled from English language media sources.


INDIA

Pathankot attack by 'non-state actors' who operate with support of Pakistani establishment, says Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar: The terror attack on Pathankot (Punjab) Airbase on January 2, 2106, was carried out by Pakistan's "non-state actors" who operate with support of the Pakistani establishment, government suggested in the Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Parliament) on March 1. "The complete details will come out in the NIA investigation. But in this, non-state actors from Pakistan are surely involved. This is for sure. Any non-state actors there, they cannot function smoothly without full state support," Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said. Times of India, March 2, 2016.

Action on terror trumps any desire for diplomatic dialogue with Pakistan, says Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar: Action on terror trumps any desire for diplomatic dialogue with Pakistan, foreign secretary S. Jaishankar said on March 2. He said that India would not agree to foreign secretary talks until Pakistan took clear action against the perpetrators of the Pathankot (Punjab) terror attack. "In the aftermath of a terror attack, if you ask me what is the priority, dealing with terror or diplomatic dialogue then the answer is obvious," he said. Times of India, March 3, 2016.

CRPF destroys Naxals' bid to create red corridor, says outgoing DG Prakash Mishra: The Central Reserve Police Chief (CRPF) has "destroyed" the Naxals’-[Left-Wing Extremists’ (LWEs)] efforts to create a "red corridor" in the country and was able to restrict them to a few states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar, said the outgoing Chief of CRPF Prakash Mishra in Gurgaon on February 29. "CRPF has destroyed the dream of Maoists to establish a red corridor from Pashupati (in Nepal) to Tirupati (in south India) and mainly restricted them to some areas of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar," Mishra was quoted as saying by a CRPF spokesperson. PTI, March 3, 2016.


NEPAL

Onus lies on NC to implement the new Constitution, says Deputy Prime Minister Bijay Kumar Gachhadar: Deputy Prime Minister Bijay Kumar Gachhadar while addressing the 13th General Convention of the Nepali Congress (NC) on March 3 has said that the onus lies on the NC to implement the new Constitution. He said, “A crucial role from NC is mandatory to establish peace and stability in the nation by implementing the constitution.” He further lauded the NC’s role in drafting the new Constitution. Republica, March 4, 2016.

Naya Shakti makes its financial guidelines public: Baburam Bhattarai-led Naya Shakti (New Force) has made its financial guidelines public on March 1. As per the guidelines, the would-be party will not accept more than NPR 50,000 per year from an individual donor and more than NPR 2 million per year from an institution, firm or company. The Naya Shakti has also made it clear that it will not accept donations from foreigners, incumbent civil servants and staffers of the institutions which are dependent on Government grants or have 51 percent of shares of the Government. Republica, March 4, 2016.


PAKISTAN

AQIS and LeJ hiring militants belonging to HuMA in Karachi, reveals Home Department: Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) are hiring Karachi-based militants of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen al-Alami (HuMA), and are planning attacks on major important installations in the city, says the Home Department letter issued to Police and Rangers. According to the letter, “During the interrogation of some recently apprehended high-value terrorists, it was learnt that on the directives of AQIS and the Tehreek-s-Taliban Pakistan, they had gathered information about some important installations and targets in Karachi, but the attacks could not be carried out because their leaders were arrested”. The News, March 5, 2016.

We have influence over Afghan Taliban because their leadership is in Pakistan, admits Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz: Sartaj Aziz, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, while making comment at Council on Foreign Relations in Washington on March 1 regarding Islamabad's considerable influence over the Taliban, said, "We have some influence over them because their leadership is in Pakistan and they get some medical facilities. Their families are here". He further added, "We can use those levers to pressurise them to say, ''Come to the table''. But we can't negotiate on behalf of the Afghan Government because we cannot offer them what the Afghan Government can offer them." Dawn, March 3, 2016.

Osama wanted money left by him to be used for global jihad, reveal declassified documents: Documents seized by United States Special Forces personnel during the May 1-2, 2011, raid on Osama bin Laden’s hideout in Abbottabad District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have revealed that al Qaeda leaders were increasingly worried about spies in their group, drones patrolling the skies and secret devices tracking their movements. The document — part of a cache of 113 documents — has been described by intelligence officials as Bin Laden’s will. The documents are mostly dated between 2009 and 2011 and comprise the second cache from the raid to have been declassified. In one of the declassified documents, Laden outlines how at least $29 million stashed in Sudan should be apportioned after his death, requesting that most of it be used to continue global jihad. Dawn, March 2, 2016.

PHC asks Defence and Interior Ministries to explain detentions: A Division Bench of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) on March 2 issued notices to the Federal Ministries of Defence and Interior, asking them to explain why three brothers from Swat District were allegedly detained by Security Forces and why their property was confiscated. Justice Nisar Hussain and Justice Roohul Amin heard a writ petition filed by Zahida, the mother of Shujaat Shah, Syed Asmat Shah and Masood Shah, through her counsel Bashir Khan. Bashir argued the Security Forces had arrested Zahida’s husband Daulat Shah and her sons a few years ago. Tribune, March 3, 2016.


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.

South Asia Intelligence Review [SAIR]

Publisher
K. P. S. Gill

Editor
Dr. Ajai Sahni


A Project of the
Institute For Conflict Management



To receive FREE advance copies of SAIR by email Subscribe.

Recommend South Asia Intelligence Review (SAIR) to a friend.

 

 

 

 

 
Copyright © 2001 SATP. All rights reserved.