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SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 15, No. 42, April 17, 2017
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
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Daesh:
Diminishing Potential
S.
Binodkumar Singh
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
On April
13, 2017, a 21,600-pound Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB),
also commonly known as the Mother of All Bombs, dropped
by U.S Forces killed at least 94 terrorists affiliated
with the Islamic State (IS, formerly, Islamic State of
Iraq and al Sham, also Daesh) in a Daesh base in the Achin
District of Nangarhar Province. Three tunnels used by
Daesh fighters and as reservoirs of weapons and other
equipment were destroyed in the attack. Later, the Nangahar
Provincial Government disclosed that at least four key
leaders of the group identified as Hamza Abu Bakar, Mohammad
Ibrani, Hamid Kunari, and Walkin, were among those killed.
On April
12, 2017, the Nangahar Provincial Government stated that
at least 49 Daesh terrorists, including three ‘commanders’,
were killed during the preceding 24 hours in the vicinity
of Achin District. Several weapons and other military
equipment, including explosives, were also destroyed during
the operations.
On April
10, 2017, at least 13 terrorists affiliated with Daesh
were killed during the ongoing “Operation Hamza” in the
vicinity of the Pekha area of Achin District in Nangarhar
Province.
The 10-day
“Operation Hamza” was launched on April 10, 2017, by Afghan
Special Forces, in cooperation with foreign troops, to
fully eliminate the insurgency led by Daesh terrorists
and other insurgent groups, including Taliban, in Kot
and Achin Districts of Nangarhar Province. Earlier, in
another operation codenamed “Operation Shaheen-25” launched
on February 10, 2017, to suppress the growing Daesh dominance
in the Nangarhar Province, at least 150 loyalists of the
group were killed or wounded over ten days.
According
to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism
Portal (SATP), 884 IS terrorists, including 768 in
Nangarhar, 94 in Zabul, 15 in Uruzgan, five in Kandahar
and two in the Herat Province, have been killed since
the beginning of 2017 (data till April 16, 2017).
Reports
of Daesh making
inroads into Afghanistan had started
soon after the June 2014 release of the terrorist formation’s
‘world domination map’, which included Afghanistan in
the projected ‘Islamic region’ of Khorasan’. In his address
to the United States (US) Congress on March 25, 2015,
Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani had warned, “From the
west, Daesh is already sending advance guards to southern
and western Afghanistan to test for vulnerabilities.”
Daesh reportedly carried out its first terror attack inside
Afghanistan on April 18, 2015. At least 33 people were
killed and another 105 were injured in a suicide bomb
blast outside a bank, where Government staff and military
personnel were collecting their salaries, in the city
of Jalalabad, the Provincial capital of Nangarhar Province.
An April 14, 2017, media report put the number
of Daesh fighters in Afghanistan at 600 to 800, most of
them embedded in Nangarhar Province. US and Afghan militaries
have overwhelmingly targeted Daesh Forces since their
early emergence and consolidation in the region.
Within
days of the declaration of the ‘Caliphate’ by Abu Bakr
al Baghdadi on June 29, 2014, a splinter of the Tehrik-e-Taliban
Pakistan (TTP)
announced itself as the Tehrik-e-Khilafat and declared
allegiance to Daesh. In January 2015, Hafiz Saeed Khan
Orakzai, a former TTP 'commander' and member of its Majlis-e-Shura
(governing council), after a protracted leadership struggle
within the organization, claimed to have been appointed
as the head of Daesh’s Khorasan chapter in Pakistan and
Afghanistan. [Hafiz Saeed Khan was killed along with
30 other fighters in an airstrike in Afghanistan’s Jalalabad
province in July 2015]. Quickly, with no pattern or apparent
material support, Daesh supporters in Pakistan announced
themselves in Peshawar, Bannu, the Northwest, and Quetta,
the provincial capital of Balochistan. Jundullah, another
TTP fragment, also broke away and announced its support
for Daesh on November 17, 2014. On July 31, 2015, the
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), with a powerful
presence in both Pakistan and Afghanistan, declared fealty
to Daesh. In Afghanistan, various splinters of the Taliban
broke away transferring allegiance to Daesh, including
the Heroes of Islam Brigade on September 30, 2014 and
al Tawheed Brigade on September 23, 2014.
IS-K found
initial and substantial support among disaffected Taliban
and TTP cadres, establishing dominance in the Nangarhar
Province, as well as a significant presence in Kunduz
and Helmand, in Afghanistan. Wilting under the heat of
operations by the Taliban, the Afghan National Security
Forces (ANSF), private tribal militias and US Air support,
IS-K was squeezed out of four of the Province’s seven
Districts, retaining a weakened presence in Achin, Nazyan
and Deh Bala, and pushing into the neighbouring Kunar
District under pressure. Daesh fighters were seen fleeing
to the Kunar and Nuristan provinces along Afghanistan's
western border with Pakistan, where they were just "trying
to survive" at that stage.
After gaining
early momentum in the eastern parts of Afghanistan, Daesh’s
capabilities and territorial dominance began quickly to
wane, both as a result of disproportionate focus by the
Afghan and Coalition militaries, and because the group,
unlike the Taliban, is not seen as an indigenous entity,
and has consequently failed to consolidate local support.
Moreover, Daesh’s practice of accusing fellow Muslims
of apostasy for deviating from its own violent interpretation
of Islam does has found few takers in Afghanistan’s tribal
cultures. Further, the Daesh leadership – whether its
core in Iraq and Syria or its offshoot for Afghanistan
and Pakistan – are not Afghans. Daesh was formed by breakaway
members of the TTP, an alliance of extremist groups fighting
to overthrow the Pakistani Government, and other foreign
fighters. Daesh is consequently viewed as an outside force,
and this perception has been compounded by its demonstrative
brutality, as well as its ill-treatment of the local people
and the lack of respect for their culture and history.
Some of
Daesh’s recent and major attacks include:
On April
12, 2017: A suicide attacker detonated explosives near
the Administrative Office of the President and the Ministries
of Defense and Finance in the Afghan capital, Kabul, killing
at least five civilians and injuring 10. Daesh claimed
responsibility via a statement released by the group’s
media wing, Amaq News Agency.
On March
8, 2017: Gunmen dressed in white lab coats stormed the
Sardar Daud Khan Hospital in the centre of Kabul, firing
shots, detonating explosives and then battling Security
Forces for hours, resulting in the deaths of more than
40 people. Daesh claimed the attack.
On February
8, 2017, six employees of the International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC) were shot dead by Daesh terrorists
in the Qoshtapa District of Jawzjan Province. After the
killing, ICRC suspended its operations in Afghanistan
on February 9, 2017.
On February
7, 2017, at least 22 people were killed while more than
41 were injured in a suicide attack outside Afghanistan’s
Supreme Court complex in Kabul. Later, in a post on Twitter,
Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack.
On November
21, 2016: IS carried out a suicide bomb attack inside
a mosque in the sixth Police District of Kabul, which
killed at least 30 people and left more than 70 injured.
Children and women were among the victims.
On March
17, 2017, Esa Khan Zawak, the District Governor of Achin
District, observed “Daesh was still firmly entrenched
in the area where they had military bases, training centers,
prisons and even a court. We are in offensive status and
do not feel serious threats, but almost 80 percent of
the fighters are foreigners.” Earlier, on February 14,
2017, Nazifullah Salarzai, Deputy Permanent Representative
of Afghanistan at the United Nations, speaking during
a meeting of the United Nations Security Council noted,
“The ongoing cycle of violence in Afghanistan is not,
by any means, a homegrown phenomenon. Its roots lie elsewhere,
outside Afghanistan,” and added that the roots of violence
emanated from a strategic design crafted “from within
our region to advance an ill-fated political agenda, which
serves no one, defies international law and constitutes
a blatant violation of the very spirit and tenets of the
UN Charter, including relevant counterterrorism resolutions
of the General Assembly and Security Council.”
Significantly,
on May 30, 2016, the Afghanistan National Security Council
(NSC) chaired by President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani approved,
in principle, the strategy to fight Daesh, as loyalists
of the terror group were attempting to expand their foothold
in the country. Further, on March 23, 2017, the Foreign
Ministers of the Global Coalition against Daesh declared,
“We commend the efforts of the Government of Afghanistan,
along with its National Defense and Security Forces, in
the fight against ISIS and in implementing its National
Strategy against ISIS.”
Reaffirming
support to the Afghan Government and Security Forces,
on March 18, 2017, the UNSC extended until March 17, 2018,
the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission in
Afghanistan (UNAMA), a political UN mission established
on March 28, 2002, at the request of the Government of
Afghanistan to assist it and the people of Afghanistan
in laying the foundations for sustainable peace and development.
Separately, reaffirming North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO)’s continued support until peace and stability is
ensured in Afghanistan, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg,
during a press conference following the NATO Foreign Ministerial
meeting in Brussels, declared, on April 1, 2017, “NATO
already plays a key role in the fight against terrorism.
We have to remember that our biggest military operation
ever, our presence in Afghanistan, is about fighting terrorism.
It’s about preventing Afghanistan from once again becoming
a safe haven for international terrorism.” Similarly,
reaffirming the US support to the NATO-led mission in
Afghanistan, US Secretary of State Rex Tiller also observed,
“NATO’s work in Afghanistan remains critical. The United
States is committed to the Resolute Support Mission and
to our support for Afghan forces.”
The spread
of Daesh was an ominous development for Afghanistan, which
is going through a phase of increasing
turbulence. There are several concerns
over Daesh’s presence and impact in Afghanistan. While
the Taliban remains the Afghan Government's most pervasive
foe, Daesh’s presence has created another major challenge
for the Afghan Forces.
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Northeast:
A Promising Tranquility
Ajit
Kumar Singh
Research Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management
On April
2, 2017, Security Forces (SFs) killed three militants
of the United Kukigram Defence Army (UKDA) in an encounter
at Jullian village under the Manza Police Station of Karbi
Anglong District in Assam. Another militant was injured
during the encounter.
On March
30, 2017, two militants of the I.K. Songbijit faction
of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB-IKS),
identified as Lukash Narzary aka Langfa and David
Islary, were killed during an encounter with SFs at Simlagri
under the Amguri Police Station in the Chirang District
of Assam. One INSAS Rifle with 10 rounds of live ammunition,
one 7.65 mm revolver with three rounds of ammunition and
one Chinese grenade were recovered.
On March
17, 2017, the dead body of a non-local civilian, identified
as Ajay Kumar Shahu, was recovered from the Langol Games
Village in the Imphal West District of Manipur. Later,
on March 23, 2017, the United National Liberation Front
(UNLF),
in a statement issued to the Press, claimed that Shahu
was eliminated, not because he was a non-Manipuri, but
for his ‘immoral activities’.
According
to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism
Portal (SATP), there have been 28 insurgency-related
fatalities (10 civilians, three SF personnel, 15 militants)
in India’s Northeast in the current year (data till April
14, 2017) as compared to 53 such fatalities (18 civilians,
three SF personnel, 32 militants) recorded in the region
during the corresponding period of 2016. The dip witnessed
in level of violence reaffirms the gains registered in
2016.
Through
2016, India’s Northeast accounted for 160 fatalities (61
civilians, 17 SF personnel, 82 militants) as against 273
such fatalities (62 civilians, 49 SF personnel, 162 militants)
recorded in 2015. In terms of overall fatalities, 2016
recorded the lowest ever fatalities in the State since
1992 [SATP data for the region is available only since
1992]. A previous low of 246 fatalities was recorded in
2011. Significantly, at the peak of insurgency the region
saw 1,696 fatalities in 2000.
The Northeast
comprises eight states: Arunachal
Pradesh, Assam
, Manipur,
Meghalaya,
Mizoram, Nagaland,
Sikkim, and Tripura.
Barring Sikkim which has had no insurgency in its history,
all the others have seen enduring movements of armed violence,
though their intensity and dispersal have varied across
States and across time. With the exception of Assam, overall
fatalities declined in all these States in 2016. In Assam,
the death toll increased from 59 in 2015 to 86 in 2016.
As in 2015, Tripura did not record a single fatality in
2016.
Year 2016
also recorded the lowest number of civilian fatalities
(61) registered in the region since 1992. The previous
lowest of 62 was recorded in 2015 and thus the declining
trend continued. Fatalities in this category have been
rising since 2011, with 79 civilians killed that year,
as against 77 in 2010; rising to 90 in 2012 and further
to 95 in 2013, to a massive 245 in 2014. At the peak of
multiple insurgencies in the region, 946 civilian fatalities
were recorded in 2000.
In 2016,
civilian fatalities were not recorded in three States
– Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Tripura, as against two
such States in 2015 – Mizoram and Tripura. Among the States
from where civilian fatalities were reported in 2016,
with the exception of Assam, which registered a significant
increase from 10 to 33, all the other States registered
a fall in civilian fatalities.
The number
of Districts from where fatalities were reported in 2016
stood at 31, as against 40 in 2015. The seven troubled
States of the Northeast (excluding Sikkim) have a total
of 108 Districts.
Other parameters
of violence also witnessed improvements. As against 16
major incidents (involving three or more fatalities) resulting
in 82 deaths in 2015, there were 10 such incidents resulting
in 50 deaths in 2016. The number of explosions and resultant
fatalities also recorded a decline, from 69 incidents
and 14 killed in 2015, to 65 incidents and eight killed
in 2016.
The SF:militant
kill ratio for 2016 worked out at 1:4.76 against the militants,
significantly better than 2015, at 1:2.16. 106 militant
fatalities at the hands of SFs were recorded in 2015,
out of a total of 162 killed; with the remaining 56 killed
in factional clashes. Out of 82 militants killed in 2016,
one was killed in a factional clash, while SFs eliminated
the remaining 81.
Despite
these gains, numerous challenges remain in a region that
has seen cyclical surges and recessions in the levels
of violence over decades. Never since 1992 have overall
fatalities registered a decline, on year on year basis,
for more than three consecutive years. This positive trend
was achieved twice – between 2004 and 2006; and between
2009 and 2011. Fatalities increased for five consecutive
years between 1993 and 1997, the longest span of continuously
rising fatalities.
The region
remains home to 13 of the 39 terrorist formations banned
by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) as on November
19, 2015. According to the SATP database, apart from these
13 proscribed terror outfits, there are another 139
militant outfits that have operated
in the region at one point of time or another. These include
19 militant formations which are still active; 97 that
operated in the past but have seized operations; and another
23 which are at various stages of peace talks with the
Government.
Reports
also indicate that many of the militant groups in the
region continue to operate in unison
to fight jointly for the 'sovereignty' of their respective
imagined states. After the November 19, 2016, attack at
Pengaree near Digboi, Tinsukia District, Assam, in which
three SF personnel were killed, the United Liberation
Front of Asom – Independent (ULFA-I)
faction claimed that this was a “joint operation” carried
out by the its cadres and four members of the Manipur-based
Coordination Committee (CorCom)
– comprising the Revolutionary People’s Front (RPF, the
political wing of the People's Liberation Army, PLA),
UNLF, People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK),
and the progressive faction of PREPAK (PREPAK-Pro). The
other two members of the CorCom, a conglomerate of six
Manipur Valley-based militant outfits formed in July 2011,
are the Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP)
and the Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL).
The same group also carried out a second attack on the
Army in the Chandel District of Manipur on November 26,
2016, and injured five SF personnel. The attacks, codenamed
‘Operation Barak’, were the first instance of Meitei groups
carrying out strikes in Assam, and of ULFA-I operating
in Manipur. On December 3, 2016, the 'commander-in-chief'
of ULFA-I, Paresh Baruah, clarified that “Operation Barak,
named after the Barak River that flows from Manipur to
Assam, is a symbol of friendship between the two States."
Earlier,
on April 17, 2015, the Khaplang faction of NSCN (NSCN-K)
joined hands with three of the most active terror outfits
in the Northeast: ULFA-I; NDFB-IKS; and Kamtapur Liberation
Organisation (KLO),
to form the United National Liberation Front of Western
South East Asia (UNLFWESEA). The UNLFWESEA, headed by
S.S. Khaplang, was formed with the objective of setting
up a ‘northeast government-in-exile’, reportedly to be
based in Myanmar. Another two outfits, the Tripura-based
National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT)
and the Assam based People’s Democratic Council of Karbi-Longri
(PDCK) have also associated with UNLFWESA.
Despite
the ‘historic
accord, signed between the Government
of India (GoI) and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland–Isak
Muivah (NSCN-IM)
on August 3, 2015, to resolve the ‘mother of all insurgencies’
in the region, the Naga insurgency, the process has, so
far, failed to bring the concerned parties to an agreeable
settlement. The Naga problem retains the potential to
derail the process of deepening peace in the region. Media
reports indicate that numerous ambiguities remain in the
‘framework agreement’, making progress difficult. The
NSCN-IM leadership is showing increasing signs of desperation,
making allegations against the Union Government. In a
media interview published on April 23, 2017, for instance,
NSCN-IM ‘commander-in-chief’ Phunting Shimrang accused
the Union Government of delaying the final settlement
of the Naga issue and warned “even if only 30 to 100 people
are left, we will start (the movement again)… The Indian
Army may be the biggest force in the world, but we are
not scared. We will fight them.”
Islamist
terror groups backed by Pakistan’s external intelligence
agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), have been
a challenge
for peace in the region, though their
‘effectiveness’ has suffered over a period. Nevertheless,
the threat exists. On July 24, 2016, Union Minister of
State (MoS) for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju thus observed,
Assam and the entire northeast are sensitive places.
The region shares a major portion of the international
border and so its vulnerability is high. It is also
prone to jihadi activities. Steps have been
taken and arrangements made to ensure the region's
safety.
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In the
meantime, several other issues with a potential to undermine
peace in the region remain unaddressed. Prominent among
these are the issue of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill
2016 that has created troubles in Assam
and Tripura;
the decision to carve
out new Districts from the existing
nine districts in Manipur that had a cascading impact
on the lives of people in the State as a result of a 139-day
blockade; and the lingering issue repatriation
of displaced Bru (Reang) refugees
from Tripura. The Manipur blockade that began on November
1, 2016, ended with tripartite talks between the Centre,
the Manipur Government and the United Naga Council (UNC)
on March 19, 2017.
Crucially,
the economic disparity that has existed in the region
for long because of decades of neglect on the part of
successive regimes, remains a major problem. Though the
Government has now initiated some steps to address these
disparities, the desired pace of development is far from
being achieved. Indeed, of the 761 North Eastern Council
(NEC) funded projects, with an approved cost of INR 7484.71
crores [INR 74.84 billion], currently under implementations,
only 35 projects costing INR 554.40 crores [5.54 billion],
sanctioned at different times, have been completed during
the financial year 2016-17.
Peace in
the region has also been compromised by its extensive,
geographically challenging and troubled international
borders, with continuous infiltration across a wide range
of points and a multiplicity of relative safe havens still
in existence, facilitating militant activities. All seven
insurgency affected states share international border
with one or more of four countries – Bangladesh, Bhutan,
China, and Myanmar – all of which have, at some stage,
provided refuge to militants operating in India’s Northeast,
including their top leadership. While the problem with
Bhutan and Bangladesh is by no measure as severe as it
once was, Myanmar and China remain a significant problem.
L.R. Bishnoi, Additional Director General of Police, Assam,
observed, on January 10, 2017, "Chinese intelligences
have been helping, directly or indirectly various insurgent
groups of the North-eastern region that have their bases
and hideouts inside Myanmar. These groups are under increasing
influence of the Chinese agencies, and ULFA [ULFA-I] leader
Paresh Barua is among those top leaders who have been
in regular touch with the Chinese liaison office in Ruili
on the China-Myanmar border.” According to reports, Paresh
Barua has set up a base in Ruili, a Chinese town along
the China-Myanmar border.
Securing
the border is, consequently, of paramount importance.
The Government has taken several steps in this direction.
Border Outposts (BOPs) along the land border and floating
BOPs in riverine segments have been established and strengthened
periodically. Border guarding Forces are on round-the-clock
surveillance, patrolling and laying nakas (checkposts)
all along the land border. In the riverine segments, patrolling
is done by water crafts/speed boats. Further, on November
22, 2016, the Government informed Parliament:
The total sanctioned length of fence along Indo-Bangladesh
Border is 3326 km [kilometers], out of which 2731
km has been completed. The ongoing fence work along
the complete Indo-Bangladesh border is targeted
for completion by March 2019. Further, in the stretches
in which site is not available, fence work will
be completed in three years from the date of availability
of site... A total of 9.12 km fencing along Indo-Myanmar
Border in Moreh Sector (between Border Pillars 79-81),
Manipur, was approved by Ministry and accordingly
Phase-I construction of fencing commenced in the
year 2010. The construction of the fence was however
temporarily halted on 21.12.2013. At the time of
stopping of work only around 3.47 km of border fencing
work was completed. No progress on the work has
been taken place thereafter. Construction of Border
fencing of total length of 35.90 km along the Indo
Bhutan Border has been approved by the Government.
There is no fencing on Indo-China Border.
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Clearly,
a great deal remains to be done to make the border impenetrable.
At a time
when the violence in the region is at its lowest, there
are tremendous opportunities for a consolidation of governance,
security and peace in India’s Northeast.
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Weekly Fatalities: Major
Conflicts in South Asia
April
10-16, 2017
|
Civilians
|
Security
Force Personnel
|
Terrorists/Insurgents
|
Total
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BANGLADESH
|
|
Islamist Terrorism
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
3
|
BANGLADESH
(Total)
|
|
|
|
|
INDIA
|
|
Jammu and
Kashmir
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
Left-Wing
Extremism
|
|
Bihar
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Chhattisgarh
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
Maharashtra
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Odisha
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
INDIA (Total)
|
7
|
0
|
1
|
8
|
PAKISTAN
|
|
Punjab
|
0
|
2
|
12
|
14
|
Sindh
|
1
|
2
|
1
|
4
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PAKISTAN
(Total)
|
|
|
|
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Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
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