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SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 8, No. 24, December 21, 2009
 
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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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Orissa:
Creeping Consolidation
Fakir Mohan Pradhan
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management
Despite
a visible decline in fatalities relating to Left Wing
Extremist (LWE) violence in Orissa, there are grounds
to believe that the Communist Party of India-Maoist
(CPI-Maoist)
has continued its consolidation in the State. Maoist
activities spread to one more District, beyond the 22
recorded in 2008, even as a Maoist front organization,
the Chasi Mulia Adivasi Sangha (CMAS) stoked fires in
the Narayanpatna Block of the Koraput District. The
Maoists lost far fewer cadres in 2009, as compared to
the previous year, even as Security Force (SF) fatalities
declined. Far from indicating an overall de-escalation,
a spike in civilian fatalities demonstrates that declines
in fatalities in the other categories are nothing more
than a tactical shift, reflecting a diminished ‘rate
of contact’ between the Maoists and the SFs – which
is far from desirable from a counter-insurgency (CI)
perspective.
Maoist-related
fatalities in Orissa, 2006-2009
|
Year
|
Civilians
|
SFs
|
Maoists
|
Total
|
|
2004
|
4
|
4
|
0
|
8
|
|
2005
|
13
|
1
|
3
|
17
|
|
2006
|
5
|
4
|
15
|
24
|
|
2007
|
15
|
2
|
7
|
24
|
|
2008
|
24
|
76
|
32
|
132
|
|
2009*
|
36
|
31
|
12
|
79
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Source:
Data 2004-2007: Union Ministry of Home Affairs, Government
of India
Data 2008-2009: South Asia Terrorism Portal
*Data till December 18, 2009
While
total LWE-related fatalities in Orissa declined significantly
from 132 in 2008 to 79 in 2009 (till December 18), the
share of civilians vaulted from just 18 per cent to
46 per cent of these totals. The share of SF and Maoist
fatalities declined from 58 per cent to 39 per cent,
and 25 per cent to 15 per cent, respectively. In both
years, Maoist fatalities remain considerably lower than
either of the other categories.
While
four major incidents (involving three or more fatalities)
were reported in 2008, the State witnessed six major
incidents in 2009. These include:
November
13: Three Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel,
including an officer, were killed in a landmine blast
triggered by cadres of the CPI-Maoist in the Malkangiri
Village-66 (MV-66) area of Malkangiri District. The
blast took place when a van carrying the CRPF personnel
was on its way from Kalimela to Gompagunda to pick up
rations. CRPF Deputy Commandant Bhupinder Singh was
among the three killed. The attack was part of the Maoist
strategy to restrict movement of the SFs ahead of a
proposed state offensive in the region.
November
10-11: CPI-Maoist cadres killed four persons and critically
injured another in the Pandrotala village of Rayagada
District in the night of November 10, suspecting them
to be Police informers. Around 50 Maoists armed with
guns, axes and other sharp weapons struck the village
killing three persons and causing injuries to two others.
One among the wounded later succumbed to his injuries.
October
13: CPI-Maoist cadres killed three Police personnel,
including the security guard of senior Jharkhand Mukti
Morcha (JMM) leader Sudam Marandi, after a football
match at Bandap village under Chandua Police Station
in the Mayurbhanj District. Sudam Marandi, a former
Member of Parliament, however, escaped unhurt.
August
12: Three woman cadres of the CPI-Maoist were killed
in an exchange of fire between a group of about 10 to
15 Maoists and a joint team of the Andhra Pradesh and
Orissa Police near Ramannaguda in the Rayagada District,
about 30 to 40 kilometers from the State border.
June
18: Nine Policemen, including eight belonging to the
Orissa Special Security Force and one belonging to the
Orissa State Armed Police, were killed when a landmine
triggered by CPI-Maoist cadres struck their convoy near
Palur village in the Koraput District.
April
12: 11 Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel
and four CPI-Maoist cadres were killed in a gunfight
following an attack on an armoury and bauxite mine of
public sector NALCO at Panchpatmali near Damanjodi in
Koraput District.
According
to the Institute for Conflict Management database,
133 LWE related incidents of violence were reported
from 12 Districts of the State, though the Maoist spread
was wider. Four south-western Districts – Malkangiri,
Koraput, Raygada, Kandhamal – and Sundergarh and Mayurbhanj
in the northern part of the State accounted for most
of the incidents in 2009. Though Jajpur and Jagatsinghpur
reported no violence, several Maoist arrests occurred
in these Districts. Out of a total of 30 Districts in
the State, the Maoists registered a presence in at least
23. Nuapada District, which witnessed two killings,
was the new addition to the list. Maoist activity in
the Sundergarh District has increased manifold. The
abduction and subsequent killing of Assistant Sub-Inspector
(ASI) of Police, Ajit Bardhan, during the looting of
an explosive-laden vehicle in Sundergarh District generated
shock waves in the State. One CRPF trooper was also
killed in the rescue operation that was lunched to free
the ASI. However, the State Government claimed in a
white paper issued on July 24 that only 14 of the 30
Districts of the State are Maoist-affected. Earlier,
at a meeting of the Chief Ministers of seven Maoist-affected
States at New Delhi on January 7, 2009, Chief Minister
Naveen Patnaik had conceded that only 17 Districts were
Maoist-affected.
In
response to a query on the confrontation between the
Police and the Maoists, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik
informed the State Assembly, on November 23, that 145
Police personnel had lost their lives in Naxalite (LWE)
related violence since 2000. The Police and LWEs had
been brought into confrontation exactly 100 times since
2000. While 61 extremists were killed in Police action,
97 civilians became victim in the conflict, Patnaik
disclosed. The intensity of exchange of fire has increased
over the years. During the current year, the Police
and Naxalites engaged in gun battles on 22 occasions,
while an equal number of exchanges of fire was recorded
in the year 2006. However, the gravity of the situation
can be gauged from the fact that, in 2000, the Police
and the extremists exchanged fire only once and the
number of incidents of exchange of fire had never risen
above 10 till 2005. Over the past four years, a confrontation
has occurred at least 15 times annually.
In
2009, the Maoists made seven daring attacks on six Police
outposts, blowing them up and destroying vehicles and
official documents. Four of the outposts in Malkangiri
District, one in Koraput and another in Kandhamal District,
faced the brunt of the Maoists attacks. The Katingia
outpost in Kandhamal was blown up twice, on July 17
and October 4.
Mobile
communication networks have also been repeatedly targeted
by the Maoists. At least eight mobile towers – five
in Malkangiri District and three in Koraput District
– were blown up in 2009.
Wildlife
sanctuaries are a new category of targets. The Maoists
made repeated attacks on the Similipal Tiger Reserve
in Mayurbhanj District and Sunabeda Wildlife sanctuary
in Nuapada Distrct. In a knee-jerk reflex, the State
Government has demanded Central Forces to guard the
sanctuaries.
In
a shocking admission, State Government officials admitted
before a visiting Central Government team in February
that nearly half of the Plan expenditure allocated for
LWE-affected Districts was cornered by the Maoists.
The
Maoists have clearly overcome the split
in their outfit just before the beginning of 2009. There
were unconfirmed reports that Sabyasachi Panda’s expulsion
was revoked in February. It is believed that the decision
was taken to successfully execute 'Plan Kandhamal',
the project to 'take over' Kandhamal District, along
with the intensification of activities in the Malkanigiri,
Gajapati and Rayagada Districts, when the State was
preoccupied in the General Elections. However, Panda
was reportedly warned not to take 'interest' in the
General Elections – an indication of earlier deals with
political parties in the run-up to polls. The apprehensions
that Panda had worked at the behest of Christian Missionaries
to eliminate the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader
Swami Laxmananand Saraswati, and that a front was developing
between the Maoists and the Christians, were deepened
when the Police recovered firearms, including one SLR
and three AK-47 rifles, from the Nandagiri Rehabilitation
Centre in Kandhamal District, during a raid on September
28, following the death of an inmate during the illegal
manufacturing of crude bombs there. The arms had been
looted from the Nayagarh Police armoury during a raid
by the Maoists in February 2008. The Nandagiri Rehabilitation
Centre had been opened to give shelter to riot-hit Christians
in the aftermath of the killing of the VHP leader on
August 23, 2008.
The
Maoist master stroke in the State, however, remains
the way the outfit has backed CMAS. CMAS ostensibly
works under the leadership of Nachika Linga to protect
the land rights of the tribals. In an agitation against
alleged exploitation in May-June 2009, CMAS forcibly
occupied nearly 2,000 acres of land belonging to the
non-tribals. It was during this forcible land occupation
period that CMAS had blocked the Lakshmipur-Narayanpatna
road, and nine SF personnel were blown up by Maoists
during a road-opening exercise.
Narayanpatna
was only the most recent of a continuous succession
of Maoist-related incidents in Orissa's severely affected
southern border areas – the Koraput, Malkangiri, Rayagada,
Gajapati and Kandhamal Districts – where there are unmistakable
signs of a Maoist consolidation and of attempts to transform
the region into a 'guerrilla zone'. CMAS activities
are integral to the Maoist strategy
of consolidation across this region. The situation in
Narayanpatna became volatile, with the attempt by CMAS
activists to attack the Narayanpatna Police Station
and loot arms and the retaliatory firing by the Police
on November 20, in which two senior CMAS activists,
W. Singhana and Andrew Nachika, were killed and an unspecified
number of persons were injured. The State Police has
sought a ban on CMAS and is looking for Nachika Linga,
who has gone underground.
Despite
the State’s failure to make a correct assessment of
the gravity of the situation and enormous deficits in
the State
Police apparatus, the State Police
has been successful in making a few key arrests.
Ashutosh, a member of the ‘central military commission’
of the CPI-Maoist was arrested on March 2 near Rourkela
in the Sundergarh District. P. Rama Rao aka Udaya,
a CPI-Maoist 'commander', was arrested on April 21 along
with three of his associates, from the Gudari forest
of Rayagada District. According to District Superintendent
of Police Ashish Kumar Singh, "Udaya is the third in
rank in the Vansadhra Division and a link between (the
Maoists') Andhra Committee and the Orissa unit." One
of his arrested associates, Padmana was an ‘area committee’
member, who provided logistic support to Udaya and others.
Uday’s arrest subsequently led to the arrest of some
other Maoist cadres. Such examples of Police successes,
however, are few and far between.
On the
State Government's action against Maoists, Chief Minister
Patnaik stated on July 21 that some suggestions given
by the Orissa Police Association to effectively combat
the Maoists, such as fortification of Police Stations,
provision of barracks and imparting suitable training
to the Policemen, had been implemented 'to a large extent'.
The State Government, he claimed, was already providing
a suitable incentive package to Police personnel involved
in anti-Maoist operations. Further, on July 24 he stated
that another 3,000 tribal youth from the insurgency-affected
areas will be recruited as Special Police Officers (SPOs).
This will be in addition to the existing 2,100 SPOs.
Other programmes announced by Patnaik include plans
to open at least one Industrial Training Institute in
each block to enhance employability of the youth; spending
at least INR 200,000 per District in tribal areas for
sports activities; and filling up vacant paramedical
staff posts in all schedule areas of Orissa. The Chief
Minister disclosed that another 4,000 Home Guards would
be engaged, with special emphasis on Maoist affected
Districts. Another initiative to try and counter the
Maoists was the withdrawal or dropping of petty cases
against tribals. As many as 9,000 minor forest offences
and 3,000 other cases against tribals have reportedly
been dropped. Again, speaking at the passing out parade
ceremony of first batch of Sub-Inspectors who undergone
training at the Biju Patnaik State Police Academy Chief
Minister Naveen Patnaik informed on September 10 that
the State Government will soon come up with a new Police
Training Institute where one thousand personnel will
be able to under go training every year. The Chief Minister
said five new India Reserve Battalions, four special
security battalions are being established to take on
Maoists.
There
are, however, serious chinks
in the State Government's armour. The State Government's
neglect has also been documented in detail by the latest
Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG) Report, which
reviews the period 2002-2007.
The
Maoists have consolidated their position steadily in
Orissa, and State responses have fallen far short of
what is needed. Accumulated capacity deficits over decades
of neglect are yet to be addressed, and the Maoist rampage
can only expand across newer areas, even as it intensifies
further in regions of their present consolidation in
the State.
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Meghalaya:
Dying Embers
Sandipani Dash
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
Meghalaya
has witnessed an almost continuous diminution in trends
in militant violence since 2003, with a slight discontinuity
in 2006. The years 2008 and 2009 saw the progressive marginalization
of militant formations in the State, even as overall fatalities
declined by 66 per cent, from an already diminished total.
Militancy-related incidents decreased by 41 percent, and
there was a complete absence of any civilian or Security
Force (SF) fatalities in 2009. A total of 4 militant fatalities
were recorded.
Militancy-related
Fatalities in Meghalaya: 2001-09
|
|
Incidents
|
Civilians
|
SFs
|
Militants
|
Total
|
|
2001
|
70
|
29
|
15
|
07
|
51
|
|
2002
|
84
|
28
|
14
|
24
|
66
|
|
2003
|
85
|
35
|
07
|
37
|
79
|
|
2004
|
47
|
17
|
08
|
22
|
47
|
|
2005
|
37
|
01
|
00
|
23
|
24
|
|
2006
|
38
|
06
|
00
|
20
|
26
|
|
2007
|
28
|
09
|
01
|
14
|
24
|
|
2008
|
79
|
00
|
01
|
11
|
12
|
|
2009*
|
49
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
4
|
Source:
Data 2001-2007: Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA),
Government of India
Data 2008-2009: South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP)
* Data till December 20
Militancy
related incidents were reported from all of Meghalaya's
seven Districts in 2009. While the East Khasi Hills was
the most affected District, with 18 recorded incidents,
Jaintia Hills reported 12 incidents; West Garo Hills,
six; East Garo Hills, five; West Khasi Hills: four, Ri-Bhoi,
three; and South Garo Hills, one.
The South
Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) database records that
a total of 62 militants were neutralised in Meghalaya
in 2009. Of these, 48 were arrested, 10 surrendered and
four were killed.
The proscribed
Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC),
remains the strongest among surviving militant groups.
Claiming to represent the majority Khasi tribe, the HNLC
continued to operate in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills region
in 2009. Extortion targeting local traders across the
India-Bangladesh border constituted the bulk of HNLC’s
activities. Media reports in March 2009 mentioned
that, after Police successes in curbing the HNLC’s extortion
drive, the group began targeting local traders in the
border region. The HNLC has over 100 cadres, most of them
located in Bangladesh. Difficult living conditions and
the absence of facilities in the neighbouring country
have provoked the surrender of many cadres in Meghalaya.
According to the SATP database, at least nine HNLC
cadres surrendered in Jaintia and East Khasi Hills District
in 2009. One of them reveled that leaders of the proscribed
outfit were leading a luxurious life, despite acute privations
among the rank and file in Bangladesh.
On December
5, 2009, the Meghalaya Chief Minister D.D. Lapang appealed
to HNLC ‘general secretary’ Cherishterfield Thangkhiew
and ‘commander-in-chief’ Bobby Marwein to come over-ground
and also offered them ‘safe-passage.’ The HNLC leadership,
however, rejected the offer.
Purportedly
representing the Garo tribe, the Achik National Volunteer
Council (ANVC)
has been under an extended cease-fire agreement with the
Union Government since July 23, 2004. The ANVC has renewed
its demand for a separate State of Garoland, after the
Centre initiated the process for the creation of a new
State of Telangana, bifurcating the south Indian State
of Andhra Pradesh. The outfit’s ‘publicity secretary’,
Arist Sengsrang Sangma, on December 11, 2009, declared
that, with the Centre taking steps to create a Telangana
State, the ANVC’s demands would also be justified in days
to come: "Our demand is very much genuine and we are not
asking for the sun or moon, but a separate State within
India, unlike other militant groups, which are demanding
sovereignty." Earlier, the Union Government reportedly
rejected the outfit’s demand for a separate Garo State,
when the Joint Secretary (in-charge of Northeast) of the
Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Naveen Verma, held
a series of meetings with senior Meghalaya Government
officials and discussed a rehabilitation package for the
ANVC on September 10, 2009. Meanwhile, the Meghalaya Police
sought the help of the ANVC to neutralise other militant
groups in the Garo Hills. The ANVC leader Arist Sengsrang
Sangma stated that the outfit was ready to help the Meghalaya
Police.
Since the
cease-fire with the ANVC, several fringe militant formations
had filled the vacuum in the Garo Hills, primarily with
the intention of exploiting the lucrative extortion racket.
The Liberation of Achik Elite Force (LAEF)
led the pack, maintaining linkages with the National Socialist
Council of Nagaland – Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM)
in Nagaland, and the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA)
and National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB)
in Assam. The Garo group had set up its operational camp
inside the Balpakram National Park in the South Garo Hills,
with the help of the NSCN-IM, to train new LAEF recruits
in guerilla warfare tactics.
The Meghalaya
Police have registered significant counter-insurgency
(CI) successes against the LAEF in 2009. On March 24,
the Police neutralized a LAEF camp in the Tajal area near
Shahlang in the West Khasi Hills District. Again, on July
7, the Police arrested three LAEF militants at Sisobibra
village in the East Garo Hills District, while they were
trying to extort INR 500,000 from an unidentified local
businessman. On August 20, an unidentified LAEF militant
was shot dead by the East Garo Hills District Police during
an encounter at Nengkra near Williamnagar. On November
22, the Police neutralized another LAEF hideout and arrested
five cadres, including ‘sergeant major’ Kyndoh Momin,
during a CI operation at Byrnihat in the Ri-Bhoi District
along the Meghalaya-Assam border. Outside Meghalaya, on
January 17, two cadres of another tiny armed Garo group,
People’s Liberation Front of Meghalaya (PLF-M),
including its founding ‘general secretary’ John Jubilee
D. Shera Marak (34), were shot dead by the Army during
an encounter at Hat Hati bridge near Singhimari village
on National Highway-37 in the Bongaigaon District of Assam.
Meghalaya’s
militancy flows substantially from activities of militant
formations in the neighbouring States. Groups such as
ULFA and NDFB in Assam have used the Garo Hills to travel
between Assam and their base areas in Bangladesh. On June
5, 2009, a suspected NDFB linkman was arrested by Border
Security Force (BSF) personnel from the Nokchi outpost
in the West Garo Hills District, while trying to exfiltrate
to Bangladesh. Similarly, on June 11, 2009, two ULFA militants
were shot dead by a joint team of the Meghalaya Police
and the Army at Bangalpara village in the same West Garo
Hills District. One of them was an ‘area commander’ of
the outfit for the entire Garo Hills and was involved
in the smuggling of arms and ammunition from Bangladesh
through the Garo Hills border to Assam. Assam’s armed
groups also continue to engage in extortion in the Jaintia
Hills region. On January 3, 2009, an NDFB militant, who,
along with HNLC militants, was involved in an extortion
drive in the coalfields of Jaintia Hills District, was
arrested after being wounded in an encounter with the
Police, in the Shohksih coal mining area. He subsequently
succumbed to his injury. A media report on January 16,
2009, mentioned that Assam's Karbi Anglong District-based
militant groups, the Karbi National Volunteers and United
People’s Democratic Solidarity (UPDS),
were engaged in extortion activities targeting civilians
belonging to the Pnar tribe of Jaintia Hills residing
in the Block-I area on the Meghalaya-Assam border. Several
villages, including Mooluber, Psiar, Moojem and Deinler,
were served demand notes ranging from INR 200 to INR 1,000
per household, depending on their family income. The Black
Widow (BW)
group in Assam, and the Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL)
and People's Liberation Army (PLA)
in Manipur, also operate in Meghalaya.
The 15th
Parliamentary elections were held in Meghalaya’s two constituencies
of Shillong and Tura on April 16, 2009. While the HNLC
called for a 24-hour general shutdown in protest against
the visit of the Congress party president, Sonia Gandhi,
to address a public meeting in capital Shillong on April
13, 2009, as much as 64. 41 per cent voter turnout was
registered in the elections in the State.
An unfenced
65 kilometre stretch of Meghalaya’s 443 kilometre-long
border with Bangladesh continues to allow the inward and
outward movement of militants. This is the principal reason
for the persistence of the militancy, albeit at its lowest
ebb, in the State. There is, however, projection for the
complete fencing of India-Bangladesh border till 2010.
Unless the security establishment in Meghalaya refocuses
its strategy on this militant vantage point, the vestiges
of militancy will continue to linger in the State.
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Weekly
Fatalities: Major Conflicts in South Asia
December
14-20,
2009
|
|
Civilian
|
Security
Force Personnel
|
Terrorist/Insurgent
|
Total
|
|
BANGLADESH
|
|
|
Left-wing Extremism
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
|
INDIA
|
|
|
Assam
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
4
|
|
Jammu and Kashmir
|
3
|
1
|
4
|
8
|
|
Manipur
|
7
|
0
|
4
|
11
|
|
Left-wing Extremism
|
|
|
Bihar
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
|
Chhattisgarh
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
4
|
|
Jharkhand
|
1
|
6
|
0
|
7
|
|
West Bengal
|
5
|
0
|
2
|
7
|
|
Total (INDIA)
|
17
|
8
|
16
|
41
|
|
PAKISTAN
|
|
|
Balochistan
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
3
|
|
FATA
|
4
|
4
|
147
|
155
|
|
NWFP
|
13
|
1
|
14
|
28
|
|
Punjab
|
33
|
0
|
1
|
34
|
|
Total (PAKISTAN)
|
50
|
8
|
162
|
220
|
|
Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
|
INDIA ‘Pashtun-looking’
suicide bombers trained
by Taliban have entered
India, say intelligence
sources: ‘Pashtun-looking’
suicide bombers, trained
by Taliban, have entered
India and are positioned
in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai
and a couple of cities in
Gujarat to carry out Lashkar-e-Toiba’s
(LeT) plan to launch a fresh
wave of attacks in coming
days, security agencies
have said. Though the exact
number of fidayeen who entered
India is not yet clear,
Indian agencies have come
across inputs stating that
suicide squads have already
been in touch with their
facilitators - who entered
India as an advance party
- for necessary logistics
for the operations. An unnamed
official said, "It
is possible that one or
two suicide bombers could
be positioned in each of
the cities, which are on
terror radar. They have
been trained by Taliban
and pushed into India by
LeT."
The
suicide bombers’ targets
include Bhabha Atomic Research
Centre at Trombay, Bombay
Stock Exchange (BSE) and
Shiv Sena Bhavan in Mumbai,
American consulate and sea
port in Kolkata, Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangathan (RSS)
headquarters in Nagpur;
National Defence College
in Delhi and some defence
establishments and civilian
targets in other cities,
including Ahmedabad. Indian
agencies have got the inputs
from Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI), which got the details
from US-based terrorist
David Coleman Headley during
his interrogation.
After
being tipped off by FBI,
the Union Ministry of Home
Affairs has now alerted
Maharashtra, West Bengal,
Delhi and Gujarat asking
them to beef up security
of all such installations
and high-risk individuals
- like Gujarat Chief Minister
Narendra Modi and Shiv Sena
supremo Bal Thackeray -
and remain fully vigilant.
The official said states
had also been asked to keep
watch on soft and potential
targets and intensify patrolling,
especially at airports,
railway stations, bus terminus
and hotels. He said the
inputs also suggested that
terrorists were ‘‘Pashtun-looking’’
and drawn from Pakistan-Afghanistan
border areas. A few days
before the terrorists’ entry,
some of their ‘‘facilitators’’
had visited different cities
for recce and to provide
information, the official
said. Times
of India,
December 15, 2009.
Government
to strengthen national security
apparatus: The
Government on December 15
said it would strive to
establish a National Security
Guard (NSG) hub or an equivalent
commando force in every
State in due course to strengthen
the national security apparatus.
The Union Home Minister
P. Chidambaram told Lok
Sabha (Lower House of the
Parliament) that the Government
was trying to have the units
soon, though it was a long-term
plan in view of the constraints
of manpower and training.
The Centre would also provide
assistance for raising commandos
in States, apart from upgrading
existing four training centers
for the Central Paramilitary
Forces at Silchar (Assam),
Hazaribgah (Jharkhand),
Sapri (Himachal Pradesh)
and Gawaldham (Uttarakhand),
which would train the commando
components of India Reserve
Battalions.
Meanwhile,
the Government admitted
that the problem of fake
currency was "alarming and
dangerous" as some groups
are trying to de-stabilise
the Indian economy by injecting
massive doses of counterfeit
notes in the country. "There
are two kinds of groups,
one is of individuals working
for profits, but much more
dangerous is the effort
of injecting massive doses
of fake notes in the country,
trying to de-stabilise the
economy," Union Finance
Minister Pranab Mukherjee
said in Rajya Sabha (Upper
House of the Parliament).
Times
of India,
December 16, 2009.
17000
more troops for anti-Naxal
operations, indicates report:
The
Union Government is set
to send an additional 17,000
Central Paramilitary Forces
(CPMFs) to States to step
up their anti-Naxalite (left
wing extremism) operations
under its plan of a "major
offensive" against
the Naxalites in all affected
States. Though the operation
is underway in Chhattisgarh,
the idea is to extend it
simultaneously at the junctions
and tri-junctions of the
affected States of Bihar,
Jharkhand, Orissa, West
Bengal and Maharashtra.
A senior official of the
Union Ministry of Home Affairs
(MHA) said the States already
had 58,000 CPMFs— drawn
from the Central Reserve
Police Force (CRPF), Border
Security Force, Indo Tibetan
Border Police, Sahastra
Seema Bal and Combat Battalion
for Resolute Action— at
their command. The additional
deployment would increase
the strength of CPMFs for
the anti-Naxalite operation
to nearly 75,000. Stating
that there is nothing called
a "Green Hunt"
as such, which could have
possibly been coined by
some State Police for some
local operation, the official
said the MHA was already
on track to pursue its plan
of a "major offensive"
against the Naxalites. The
Jharkhand polls, which saw
the deployment of nearly
40,000 CPMFs, made the Union
Government postpone the
simultaneous operation for
a couple of months, but
there was hardly any period
when the forces were not
after Naxals in one or the
other affected State, he
added. "Operations
are supposed to be launched
secretly so that the forces
can catch the ultras off
guard. We are on the job
and we will expand the area
of operation gradually,"
said a senior CRPF official,
adding it is a "long
haul".
Times
of India,
December 19, 2009.
NEPAL Maoists
declare Madhesh autonomous
State: The
Unified Communist Party
of Nepal-Maoist (Unified
CPN-Maoist) wrapped up its
autonomous State declaration
program by declaring Madhesh
autonomous State on December
18. The Maoist vice-chairman
Babu Ram Bhattarai announced
the establishment of Madhesh
autonomous state amid a
program organized at Barabigha
Ranabhoomi Maidan in the
Janakpur District. The Madhesh
state comprises of 12 Terai
Districts from Saptari in
the east to Kapivastu in
the mid-west Nepal. With
the announcement, the Maoists
have finished declaration
of 13 autonomous States
based on ethnicity and region.
Earlier, the Maoists had
declared Limbuwan, Kochila,
Kirat, Sherpa, Bher-Karnali,
Tharuwan, Seti-Mahakali,
Tamsaling, Newa, Bhote,
Magarat and Tamuwan autonomous
States.
Meanwhile,
the Maoists declared that
they would go ahead with
their pre-announced plan
to impose nationwide general
strike for three days starting
December 20. Nepal
News,
December 19, 2009.
PAKISTAN
147
militants and four civilians
among 155 persons killed
during the week in FATA:
The
Security Forces (SFs) killed
20 militants in operations
across the Federally Administered
Tribal Areas (FATA) on December
19.
On
Decemebr 18, the SFs backed
by fighter jets killed 16
Taliban militants and injured
another 22 when they targeted
militant hideouts in various
areas of Orakzai Agency.
Sources said the jets destroyed
four hideouts in Dabori,
Ghalju, Mamuzai and Malpati
areas of Upper Orakzai.
A
key al Qaeda operative,
Zohaib Al-Zahidi, and seven
other foreigners were among
17 persons killed in two
separate drone strikes in
the North Waziristan Agency
on December 17. Zohaib Al-Zahidi
was an important al Qaeda
cadre involved in planning
and executing several militant
attacks in Pakistan and
Afghanistan. Six persons,
including three SF personnel
and three Taliban militants,
were killed while five SF
personnel injured in two
separate attacks in the
Bara tehsil (revenue
division) of Khyber Agency.
The
SFs killed 49 Taliban militants
in separate military actions
in the FATA on December
16. At least 18 militants
were killed when helicopters
pounded Toori Khel town
of Orakzai Agency when they
(militants) were holding
an important meeting. Four
more militants were killed
in air strikes in the Sultanzai
town of Orakzai Agency.
The SFs lunched a ground
and air offensive in Dagar
town in the Kurram Agency,
killing 21 Taliban militants.
Separately, six Taliban
militants and one soldier
were killed in the raids
and clashes in the South
Waziristan. As many as four
persons were killed and
27 others were injured when
unidentified militants hurled
grenades at the participants
of a music concert at Shah
Kas area in the Jamrud tehsil
of Khyber Agency.
On
December 15, the SFs killed
36 Taliban militants in
separate military operations
in Orakzai, Bajaur and Kurram
Agencies. Sources said that
25 Taliban militants were
killed when gunship helicopters
pounded their hideouts in
the Khost Sturi Khel and
Sultanzai areas of Orakzai
Agency. In addition, nine
Taliban militants were killed
in Kurram Agency. Separately,
the SFs killed two Taliban
militants and injured two
other militants in Charmang,
Mamoond and Nawagai tehsils
of Bajaur Agency.
The
SFs killed 18 Taliban militants
in the ongoing military
operations in FATA on December
14. Dawn;
Daily
Times;
The
News,
December 15-21, 2009.
14
militants and 13 civilians
among 28 persons killed
during the week in NWFP:
The
Security Forces (SFs) killed
four Taliban militants in
the Kalangi area of Malakand
in the North West Frontier
Province (NWFP) on December
20. The security officials
said the militants were
trying to enter Malakand
through Bajaur Agency of
Federally Administered Tribal
Areas (FATA), and fired
at the SFs when they were
intercepted near the Kalangi
check post. The subsequent
gun battle led to the killing
of four Taliban militants.
In addition, the SFs recovered
dead bodies of four Taliban
militants and a Sub-Inspector
of Police in the Buner District,
officials said.
12
persons, mostly worshippers,
were killed and 32 others
sustained injuries when
a suicide bomber blew up
his explosives-laden van
near a mosque in the Police
Lines area of Lower Dir
District on December 18.
It was the first incident
of its kind in Lower Dir,
where the Security Forces
(SFs) in the summer crushed
a Taliban-led insurgency
concentrated in Maidan and
Adinzai tehsils (revenue
divisions).
In
addition, the SFs killed
four Taliban militants during
a search operation at Najigram
in the Swat District on
December 14.
Dawn;
Daily
Times;
The
News,
December 15-21, 2009.
33
persons killed and 60 others
injured in suicide attack
in Punjab: A
suicide car bomb exploded
in a market outside the
home of the Punjab Chief
Minister’s senior adviser,
Zulfiqar Khosa, in the Dera
Ghazi Khan District of Punjab,
killing 33 people and injuring
60 others on December 15.
Unidentified militants detonated
the explosives outside the
house of Khosa, who was
not in home at the time
of explosion. It was unclear
whether the bomber meant
to target the politician’s
home or the market. The
attacker had packed the
car with about 900 pounds
(400 kilograms) of explosives,
Senior Police Officer Muhammad
Rizwan said.
Daily
Times,
December 16, 2009.
Arms
for terrorism coming from
Afghanistan, says NWFP Governor
Owais Ahmed Ghani: Weapons
being used for terrorism
in Pakistan come from Afghanistan,
the North West Frontier
Province (NWFP) Governor
Owais Ahmed Ghani said on
December 14. Addressing
a conference on ‘Improving
Governance: Towards Sustainable
Growth, Peace and Equity’,
he said, "Every bullet,
gun, bomb, rocket and explosives
being used in acts of terrorism
in Pakistan comes from Afghanistan."
He said external factors
were the main cause for
the increasing terrorism
across the country. "Religious
seminaries and economic
problems in the country
existed before the advent
of terrorism in the country;
therefore, these things
cannot be attributed as
the reason behind the menace.
Terrorism has actually been
triggered by external factors,
primarily anarchy and unrest
in Afghanistan," he
said. "The question
that needs answering is
that who is providing the
resources to the insurgents,"
Ghani said, adding, that
around PKR 40 billion had
been spent by terrorists
in the NWFP and Federally
Administered Tribal Areas
(FATA) in the last 10 years.
Daily
Times,
December 15, 2009.
Pakistan
officers working with jihadis,
David Coleman Headley confirms
to FBI: The
Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) interrogator of David
Coleman Headley alias
Daood Gilani has, for the
first time, confirmed that
"a section of serving Pakistan
army officers" are working
in collaboration with India-specific
jihadi groups like the Lashkar-e-Toiba
(LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed
(JeM). Sources said this
was revealed by Headley
to his FBI interrogators
in what is the first confirmation
by an independent probe
agency of the involvement
of Pakistani Army officers
in planning and executing
terrorist operations against
India. This, sources said,
had been conveyed to the
Indian side by the FBI team
which visited India to share
information on Headley’s
questioning. While Pakistan
has explained away the instances
of the involvement of Army
officials calling them "aberrations",
this has exposed the jihadi
infiltration of the Pakistani
Army and their collaboration
with terrorist outfits in
anti-India operations. Sources
said the officials identified
by Headley were working
with Lashkar on ‘Karachi
project’ as part of a larger
campaign against India.
This project involves using
jihadi fugitives from India
sheltered in Pakistan to
draw in vulnerable Indian
Muslim youth. The FBI interrogation
of David Coleman Headley
has revealed a Lashkar training
project involving jihadi
fugitives from India. The
youth, after they are trained
by Pakistani army officials,
are sent back to India as
part of the game plan to
conceal the Pakistani involvement
and pass off the terror
in India as a home-grown
phenomenon.
Times
of India,
December 17, 2009.
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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
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and the
South
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