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SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 8, No. 36, March 15, 2010
 
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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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Lahore:
Terror Devours its Creators
Tushar Ranjan Mohanty
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management
At least
57 persons, including eight Security Force (SF) personnel,
were killed and more than 90 were injured as twin suicide
blasts, moments apart from each other, ripped through
the heart and cultural city of Pakistan, Lahore’s R.
A. Bazaar in the cantonment area on March 12. The bombers
struck during Friday prayers at around 12:50pm. The
first bomber targeted an Army patrol unit near a mosque.
Gunshots were also heard following the attack. As rescuers
rushed to help victims, another bomber struck some two
minutes later, near the R. A. Bazaar bus stand, only
a few yards from the site of the first attack. According
to Police sources, initial investigations suggest both
the bombers, aged between 17 and 20 years, were on foot.
The duo used suicide vests, weighing 10 kilograms each,
packed with ball bearings and blades. Meanwhile, the
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and al Qaeda-linked
Sunni terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ)
claimed responsibility for the bombings.
Later
the same night, seven low-intensity explosions, six
in Allama Iqbal Town Police Station area and one in
the Samanabad area of Lahore, injured five persons.
Intelligence sources have warned that four bombers were
still present in the city, awaiting instructions to
hit their targets.
Notably,
the attacks happened despite heightened security following
intelligence warning that an explosive-laden white car,
with registration number 1320-A, had entered Lahore
from Rawalpindi earlier in the day.
On March
8, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden vehicle
in front of the Special Intelligence Agency’s (SIA)
office in the Model Town area of Lahore, killing 15
persons, including eight Security Force (SF) personnel,
a woman, and a five-year-old girl, and injuring more
than 80 others. The powerful blast, which was carried
out using an estimated 600 kilograms of explosives packed
with ball bearings and blades, damaged houses in a 0.5-kilometre
radius and destroyed more than 40 cars in the area.
The SIA office in Model Town K-Block, a residential
area, was being used as safe house for Intelligence
officials and detained suspects.
The March
8 incident, again, occurred despite a Punjab Home Department
Circular issued on March 4 to the Punjab Inspector General
of Police (IGP), the Assistant IGP (operations), the
Special Branch AIGP, the Lahore commissioner, the Lahore
Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) and the Rawalpindi
Regional Police Officer, which specifically warned of
terrorist attacks on intelligence offices in Islamabad,
Rawalpindi, Lahore and Peshawar. Claiming responsibility,
TTP spokesman Azam Tariq declared, "The attack
was to avenge [US] drone attacks and [Pakistani] military
operations in the Tribal Areas. We have 2,800 to 3,000
more suicide bombers ... We will target all Government
places, buildings and offices."
Two major
attacks over a gap of three days underline the reality
that Lahore is under siege by TTP network, allowing
the extremists to strike at will. Growing terrorist
violence in Punjab as a whole and Lahore in particular
over the past years is a manifestation of the progressive
loss of control of the Pakistani intelligence and security
apparatus over its own monstrous creations. The Army
and paramilitary forces have launched a succession of
military offensives against the TTP in the North West
Frontier Province (NWFP)
and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA)
regions over the past years. Under pressure in their
areas of dominance, the TTP and its affiliates have
opened new fronts – in the Punjab and in Karachi, accelerating
a rapid and firm inward movement, from the NWFP and
FATA, to mainland Pakistan.
The entire
Punjab Province is now under TTP network operational
radar. According to SATP data, 441 persons, including
293 civilians and 97 SF personnel, were killed in terrorism-related
incidents in the province in 2009 alone. Apart from
Lahore, the national capital Islamabad and the garrison
town of Rawalpindi [both of them in Punjab], are facing
the brunt of the TTP’s attacks.
The attacks
on Lahore have a particular resonance in Pakistan. The
city has long been the country’s cultural capital and,
as the most populous and prosperous town in the Province,
is also regarded as the heart of the country’s powerful
ruling establishment. Traditionally, Lahore has been
home to the country’s top bureaucrats and military leadership.
Punjab returns 183 of the 342-member National Assembly
and, as such, the Provincial Capital is considered the
country’s political nerve-centre as well, though the
seat of Government is Islamabad.
Lahore
had generally remained free of militant violence in
the years after 2001, when Pakistan reluctantly and
selectively joined the US-led campaign against Islamist
terrorists. While occasional incidents were witnessed
over the preceding years, the city has seen a sharp
escalation since 2008. Only eight incidents were recorded
in 2007, with no reported fatalities. 2008 saw 77 fatalities
in 22 incidents. In 2009, 103 people were killed in
27 incidents.
Terrorism-related
Incidents & Fatalities in Lahore 2007-2010
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Year
|
Number
of Incidents
|
Civilian
Fatalities
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SF
Fatalities
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Terrorist
Fatalities
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Total
Fatalities
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2007
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8
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0
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0
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0
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0
|
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2008
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22
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55
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17
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5
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77
|
|
2009
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27
|
54
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38
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11
|
103
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2010*
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6
|
63
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9
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3
|
75
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*Data
till March 14, 2010 (Source: South Asia Terrorism Portal)
In addition
to the three major attacks (involving three or more
than three fatalities) in 2010, the most significant
of the major incidents in 2009:
December
7, 2009: Two bomb blasts killed at least 38 people,
and injured more than 100 at the crowded Moon Market
in the Allama Iqbal area of Lahore.
June
12, 2009: At least seven persons, including a prominent
anti-Taliban cleric, were killed and seven were injured,
when a suicide attacker detonated himself at the Jamia
Naeemia madrassa (seminary) in the Garhi Shahu
area of Lahore shortly after Friday prayers.
May 27,
2009: Suicide bombers detonated a vehicle loaded with
100 kilograms of explosives near the offices of the
CCPO and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)
in Lahore, killing at least 27 persons and injuring
326, destroying the two-storey building of the Rescue
15 Police Service. A colonel of the ISI and 15 Police
officials were among those killed.
March
30, 2009: Eight Police recruits and a civilian were
killed when a group of 10 terrorists attacked the Police
Training Centre in Manawan with guns and grenades. SFs
regained control of the facility in an operation that
lasted for more than eight hours. About 93 cadets and
civilians were injured.
March
3, 2009: Sri Lankan cricketers narrowly escaped a terrorist
attack when terrorists ambushed the bus carrying them
to the Gaddafi Stadium for the third day’s play of the
second Test between Sri Lanka and Pakistan. At least
seven persons – six policemen escorting the Sri Lankans
and the driver of another van in the convoy – were killed
and 20 persons were wounded in the attack near the Liberty
roundabout, 500 metres from the Stadium. Seven Sri Lankan
players were among the injured.
Within
the wider trend of escalating violence is the increasing
incidence of suicide attacks. Lahore saw three suicide
attacks in 2009, resulting in the death of 86 persons,
including 67 civilians and 15 SF personnel. The first
two and a half months of 2010 have already seen three
suicide attacks, in which 72 persons have been killed.
Fatalities
in Suicide Attacks in Lahore 2009-2010
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Year
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Incidents
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Killed
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Injured
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2009
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3
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86
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451
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2010*
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3
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72
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170
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*Data
till March 14, 2010 (Source: South Asia Terrorism Portal)
A total
of 680 militants were arrested from different parts
of Punjab in 2009. Of these, 185 were arrested from
Lahore. 26 of the terrorists arrested in Lahore were
suicide bombers. On December 20, the Police arrested
Khalilullah, the Punjab ‘chief’ of the TTP, and a 17-year-old
would-be suicide bomber, Usman alias Shahbaz, from the
Manawan locality of Lahore. Khalilullah, was said to
be the right-hand man of the slain TTP chief, Baitullah
Mehsud, and allegedly masterminded the twin suicide
bombings at Moon Market at Iqbal Town in Lahore on December
7, 2009. During interrogation, he confessed that Usman
was to attack the flag-lowering ceremony at the Wagah
border on December 22. Khalil also disclosed that he
controlled a team of 600 suicide bombers.
Pakistan,
and increasingly its Punjabi heartland, is paying a
price for the country’s duplicity on terrorism. The
country’s leadership continues to actively support terrorist
groups operating against India and Afghanistan, even
as it seeks to suppress groupings operating within Pakistan.
The dividing lines between these diverse groups have,
however, become increasingly blurred. The terror is
returning, increasingly, to devour its own creators.
And yet, few lessons have been learned by the military
masterminds behind the monstrous Islamist terrorism
that Pakistan’s State agencies have unleashed across
South Asia.
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Bihar:
The Expediency of Failure
Fakir Mohan Pradhan
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management
The killing
of 12 persons including three women and one child at Phulwaria
village in the Jamui District on February 17, barely a
day after Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar talked
about giving primacy to development as a counter to the
Left Wing Extremism rampant in Bihar, is a grim reminder
of the strength of the Communist Party of India-Maoist
(CPI-Maoist)
and the weakness of the State.
Nearly
150 heavily-armed cadres and supporters of the CPI-Maoist
attacked the village late in the night firing indiscriminately
and dynamiting houses, gutting nearly 35 huts. While four
members of one family were charred to death, others died
in the explosions or were shot dead. There had been an
intelligence alert of a possible attack on the village.
The Phulwaria incident was, in fact, projected as a ‘revenge
attack’ by the Maoists. Earlier, on January 31, the Police
had arrested three Maoists from Khaira village in the
District. However, the Maoists claimed that in that incident
eight Maoists were killed by the Phulwaria villagers with
the help of the Police. Unconfirmed rumours claimed that,
after the Maoists raped a woman, some villagers killed
eight Maoists, though the incident has not been verified.
A Maoist spokesperson, ‘Avinash’, had called media offices
in Patna and said the outfit would observe a hartal
(shut down) on February 18 and 19 to protest the killing
of eight Maoists. In any event, the Phulwaria villagers
were openly opposed to the Maoists and had refused to
support them. The District Administration took note of
these factors and opened a temporary Police post nearby,
while urging villagers to remain vigilant. Regrettably,
the Maoists attack came as was feared, but the Police
could not muster the courage to confront the Maoists.
The Police arrived much later, well after the Maoists
had left the incident site.
The Police
failure in this case is, of course, obvious, but a much
deeper malaise afflicts counter-insurgency (CI) operations
in Bihar, and its source is the Chief Minister, Nitish
Kumar, who has repeatedly insisted that the Maoists cannot
be countered by force, and that only all-round development
and launching of welfare measures can bring the Maoists
back to the mainstream. On February 16, 2010, Kumar argued:
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In
anti-Maoist operations some of the ultras would
be arrested, a few would be killed and their weapons
seized but they can be brought back to the mainstream
only when the State launches development schemes
and takes the initiative to check corruption. The
mindset of people of Bihar needs to be changed and
the democratic psyche improved to counter the Maoist
threat in the State. While dealing with Maoists,
human rights should not be violated.
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He, however,
did qualify his remarks with the rider,
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The
use of force against recalcitrant persons cannot
be ruled out, Police should be equipped with latest
weapons to combat the Naxals.
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Regrettably,
such ‘equipment’ of the Police Force remains far from
the reality of the ground, though there has been some
improvement in the security apparatus in the State, which
had been rendered entirely dysfunctional under the previous
Rabri Devi regime. It is, however, the insidious influence
of Kumar’s overall thesis that is undermining any possibility
of strategic coherence and the will to fight among the
State’s Forces.
Earlier,
on October 13, 2009, Kumar declared, "Naxalism was not
only the problem of a particular State, but also of society
as a whole." Police action, he said, "formed only a limited
part" of society’s response to the menace. "Naxalism is
a problem that has to be dealt with jointly by the community,
the State and Central Governments acting in harmonious
coordination… We will saturate the Naxal-prone areas with
development." Kumar is evidently an advocate of the old
‘root causes’ perspective that ignores the rudimentary
configurations of both demography and resources to impose
an ideal (and entirely impractical) solution, with no
meaningful time frame in view. He ignores, equally, the
fact that you cannot develop what you do not control.
Kumar denies
reality on the basis of the partial success of State schemes
such as Aap Ki Sarkar Aap Ke Dwar (Your Government
at Your Doorstep) programme that has brought him political
benefits. He claims, however, that his Government has
successfully ‘contained’ the Naxalite problem in the State
through such programmes, backing his assertions with selective
conflict data. Thus, on March 4, he argued,
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"The
State had witnessed 342 incidents of violence and
218 murders in connection with Maoist-related violence
in 2004 in the golden era of United Progressive
Alliance, with the Manmohan Singh Government at
the centre and Lalu-Rabri regime in Bihar... Our
Government seized 52,833 kilograms of explosives
and over 71,000 detonators from Maoists in 2009
against 17 kilograms of explosives and 7,401 detonators
in 2004... If I advocate development and democracy
it does not mean that the State machinery and its
laws should not work. We have arrested 406 Maoists
in 2009 against 107 in 2004. Responding to our endeavour,
as many as 17 hardcore Naxalites surrendered in
2009 against only one in 2004.
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While Kumar
insisted that his Government allowed its actions to do
the talking, his Minister of Home Affairs, Brijendra Prasad
Yadav, sought to underplay Maoist violence in the State
Assembly on March 8, claiming that 160 civilians and 77
Police personnel had been killed in 338 Naxal strikes
over the preceding four years. While 57 persons (49 civilians
and eight Policemen) were killed in 63 Naxal attacks in
2006, 62 persons (39 civilians and 23 Policemen) were
killed in 73 attacks by the insurgents in 2007; 64 (43
civilians and 21 Policemen) in 79 attacks during 2008;
and 54 (29 civilians and 25 Police personnel) in 123 attacks
in 2009.
He conceded,
however, that, out of 40 Districts (including two Police
Districts) in the State, 33 Districts were Naxalite-affected.
Giving details of the Naxalite affected Districts, the
Minister said that, while 20 -- Gaya, Aurangabad, Rohtas,
Jamui, Munger, Kaimur, Bhojpur, Nawada, Jehanabad, Arwal,
Motihari, Patna, Sitamarhi, Bagaha, Bettiah, Banka, Sheohar,
Lakhisarai, Vaishali and Begusaraifall – were under the
‘A’ category of the Maoist menace; five Districts -- Buxar,
Khagaria, Muzaffarpur, Saharsa and Nalanda – fell under
the ‘B’ category; eight Districts – Siwan, Saran, Samastipur,
Katihar, Purnia, Bhagalpur, Sheikhpura and Darbhanga –
were in the marginally affected ‘C’ category.
This data
does not, however, reconcile with the Union Government
and open source data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism
Portal (SATP), which suggests, that, after a sharp decline
in 2006, a steadily augmenting trend in Maoist related
violence in Bihar has been restored.
LWE
related incidents and fatalities in Bihar: 2004-2008
|
Year
|
Incidents
|
Deaths
|
|
2004
|
323
|
171
|
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2005
|
186
|
96
|
|
2006
|
107
|
45
|
|
2007
|
135
|
67
|
|
2008
|
164
|
73
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Source:
Ministry of Home Affairs
LWE
related fatalities: 2004-2010
|
Year
|
Civilians
|
SFs
|
Naxalites
|
Total
|
|
2004
|
24
|
6
|
3
|
33
|
|
2005
|
25
|
29
|
52
|
107
|
|
2006
|
16
|
5
|
19
|
51
|
|
2007
|
23
|
21
|
5
|
69
|
|
2008
|
35
|
21
|
15
|
71
|
|
2009
|
37
|
25
|
16
|
78
|
|
2010*
|
15
|
2
|
3
|
20
|
* Data till March 14, 2010
Source: SATP Database, compiled from open media sources
A particular
cause of concern within this graph of rising violence
since 2006 is the increasing incidence of attacks involving
the People’s Militia, including swarming
attacks by large groups, combining both hard core cadres
and wider clusters of supporters. The target of such attacks
has varied to include ‘Police informers’, schools, Panchayt
(village level local self Government institution) offices,
mobile towers and revenge attacks, such as the one at
Phulwaria. A depleted, ill-equipped and demoralised Police
force has consistently failed to track
and check the movement of such large groups, leaving the
public entirely vulnerable and in a state of perpetual
fear. Unsurprisingly, they turn to the Maoists for whatever
‘protection’ they may offer.
Maoist
attack in Bihar involving more than 50 cadres and militia,
2005-2010
|
Year
|
Incidents
|
|
2005
|
1
|
|
2006
|
1
|
|
2007
|
13
|
|
2008
|
16
|
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2009
|
32
|
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2010*
|
3
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*Data
Till March 14, 2010
Source: South Asia Terrorism Portal Database
Crucially,
Kumar has been unwilling to join in the Centre’s ‘coordinated’
operations in the worst affected States. The Jharkhand,
West Bengal and Orissa Police supported by of Central
Para-Military Forces (CPMFs) have re-launched anti-Naxalite
operations on March 7, 2010. With Bihar unwilling to join,
and Jharkhand, at best, a reluctant participant, the Maoists
will find sufficient safe havens if they are brought under
pressure in West Bengal and Orissa.
Nitish
Kumar’s policy towards the Maoists is best understood
in the light of impending Assembly Elections in the State
later this year, a fact that he reluctantly concedes:
"It is not only the consideration to win elections
that has compelled me to oppose tough action." In
what must certainly be an embarrassment – though not an
electoral disadvantage - CPI-Maoist Politburo member Koteswar
Rao alias Kishan thanked Kumar for "not singing
in tune with Chidambaram".
Kumar’s
ambivalence is part of the continuing confusion of the
Indian State towards armed non-state actors. This has
been an unrelenting cycle of failure: even as some States
come together, other regimes invariably opt out, either
as a result of short-term considerations of electoral
gain, or because of sheer incomprehension. While Kumar
has some successes in administration to boast of, and
significant gains against the Maoists in his early years
as Chief Minister, he stands to undermine his own achievements
by choosing political expediency over an informed strategy
of response to the Naxalite challenge.
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Weekly
Fatalities: Major Conflicts in South Asia
March 8-14,
2010
|
|
Civilians
|
Security
Force Personnel
|
Terrorists/Insurgents
|
Total
|
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INDIA
|
|
|
Jammu and
Kashmir
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
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Manipur
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
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Left-wing
Extremism
|
|
|
Andhra Pradesh
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
|
Jharkhand
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
|
Orissa
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
|
West Bengal
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
|
Total
(INDIA)
|
7
|
2
|
2
|
11
|
|
PAKISTAN
|
|
|
Balochistan
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
|
FATA
|
17
|
1
|
42
|
60
|
|
NWFP
|
24
|
3
|
1
|
28
|
|
Punjab
|
63
|
9
|
3
|
75
|
|
Sindh
|
6
|
0
|
2
|
8
|
|
Total
(PAKISTAN)
|
110
|
13
|
49
|
172
|
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Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
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INDIA
160
civilians and 77
Police personnel
killed in Naxal
attacks in last
four years in Bihar,
says State Government:
Altogether
160 civilians and
77 Police personnel
were killed in 338
Naxal (left wing
extremist) strikes
during the past
four years in Bihar,
the State Government
informed the Assembly
on March 8. Minister
in charge of Home
Affairs Brijendra
Prasad Yadav said
out of the 40 Districts
in the State, 33
are Naxal-affected.
The
Hindu,
March 9, 2010.
Jammu
and Kashmir witnessed
820 group clashes
between various
militant outfits
in 20 years, indicates
report: As
per the recent State
Home Ministry statistics,
as many as 820 incidents
of group clashes
have taken place
between various
militant outfits
due to turf war
in last 20 years
of militancy and
577 militants and
173 civilians were
killed in these
incidents. Around
102 terrorists and
398 civilians were
injured in these
incidents, the report
said. "The militant
outfits clash with
each other over
turf war, women,
land disputes and
supremacy. Group
clashes between
foreign militants
and locals were
also witnessed more
this time," an unnamed
senior Police officer
said.
PTI News,
March 9, 2010.
Lashkar-e-Toiba
and Naxals undertook
recce of power plants,
says Minister of
State for Home Affairs
Mullappally Ramachandran:
Minister
of State for Home
Affairs Mullappally
Ramachandran told
Lok Sabha (Lower
House of Parliament)
in a written reply
on March 9 that
the Lashkar-e-Toiba
(LeT) and the Naxalites
(Left-Wing Extremists)
had undertaken extensive
recces in a bid
to attack Central
Industrial Security
Force (CISF) armouries
located at power
plants in several
States. "Militant
and terrorist outfits
had planned to target
some power plants
in Jammu and Kashmir,
Punjab, Himachal
Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh,
Orissa, Maharashtra
and Andhra Pradesh.
Besides LeT, there
are also reports
of CPI-Maoist [Communist
Party of India-Maoist]
having undertaken
extensive recces
to target CISF armoury
located in some
power plants," Ramachandran
said.
Times of India,
March 10, 2010.
Indian
Mujahideen has shifted
its base to Nepal
after crackdown
in Bangladesh, reveals
arrested militant:
Arrested
Indian Mujahideen
(IM) cadre Salman
Ahmed alias
Chhotu has revealed
that most IM operatives
have shifted base
from Bangladesh
to Nepal after the
massive crackdown
by Bangladesh Rapid
Action Battalion
in the past few
months. Another
arrested IM militant,
Shehjad Ahmed, who
was has corroborated
this, saying IM
has strengthened
its Nepal unit for
operations in eastern
India. He also revealed
that IM has safe
houses in Gulf countries,
Nepal and Bangladesh,
interrogation of
arrested IM cadres
has revealed. Further,
Salman revealed
that the outfit’s
new recruiting grounds
are now in South
India.
Also,
the IM cadres from
Nepal had conducted
a reccee of the
Kolkata (West Bengal)
city around four
months ago, say
intelligence officers
who are interrogating
Salman. Salman told
Police that Kolkata
is very much on
the terror radar
and a few weeks
ago, IM operatives
had visited Kolkata
to activate their
sleeper cells.
Economic
Times;
Times
of India,
March 10-12, 2010.
Railways
losing 40 percent
business due to
various Naxal incidents,
says Railway Minister
Mamata Banerjee:
Railway
Minister Mamata
Banerjee on March
11 said the railways
was losing 40 percent
of its business
due to various Naxal
(left wing extremism)
incidents, bandhs
(shut downs) and
strikes across States
including the insurgency-hit
areas. Admitting
that the Maoists'
menace and different
incidents have dealt
a blow to railways'
business, Banerjee,
while replying to
the discussion on
the railway budget
in Rajya Sabha (Upper
House of Parliament),
said: "We have lost
about 40% of our
business due to
Maoist violence
and agitations like
bandhs. These have
hit our operations
to a great extent...
Such problems did
not exit earlier."
Times of India,
March 12, 2010.
LeT
a "dangerous group",
says EU counter-
terrorism official:
The
European Union’s
(EU) counter-terrorism
coordinator, Gilles
de Kerchove, said
on March 10 that
Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba
(LeT) is a "dangerous
group" having a
"global agenda".
"We see Lashkar-e-Toiba
as a very dangerous
organisation with
a global agenda
and not a local
agenda," he explained.
Apparently, referring
to Pakistan he added,
"It is all but a
good idea to fight
India with proxy
through terrorist
organisations."
He was addressing
a seminar on Yemen
organised by Carnegie
in Brussels (Belgium).
Daily Excelsior,
March 11, 2010.
Central
investigating agencies
confirm Indian Mujahideen’s
role in Pune bomb
blast: The
central investigating
agencies on March
12 confirmed Indian
Mujahideen’s (IM)
role in the bomb
blast at Pune's
(Maharashtra) German
Bakery on February
13 that killed 17
persons and injured
more than 70.
DNA India News,
March 13, 2010.
Indian
envoys in Afghanistan
under threat from
Pakistan-supported
terrorists: Indian
envoys in Afghanistan
are now under threat
from Pakistan-supported
terrorists. According
to Government sources,
India has received
credible intelligence
inputs on a terrorist
plot to abduct Indian
diplomats. Coming
against the backdrop
of a determined
effort by Inter–Services
Intelligence to
terrorise India
into withdrawing
from Afghanistan,
India has taken
the threat seriously,
rushing 40 Indo-Tibetan
Border Police personnel
to ramp up security
of its diplomatic
corps in Afghanistan.
Times of India,
March 13, 2010.
CIA
warns of al-Qaeda
and Taliban threats:
The
Central Intelligence
Agency (CIA) of
US on March 9 warned
India and Brazil
that they face "emerging
threats" from al
Qaeda and Taliban,
though the terrorist
outfits are "on
the run" due to
extreme pressure
exerted on them
in Afghanistan and
Pakistan.
Times of India,
March 10, 2010.
Shortage
of manpower have
made it difficult
to safeguard "all
public places" in
the country, admits
Union Minister of
State for Home Affairs
Ajay Maken: The
Union Government
on March 10 admitted
that shortage of
manpower have made
it difficult to
safeguard "all public
places" in the country.
Stating that suspected
main targets in
Pune were put under
Police protection,
Minister of State
for Home Affairs
Ajay Maken said,
"However, due to
obvious limitations
of manpower, it
was not possible
to bring all public
places under security
cover."
Times of India,
March 11, 2010.
HuJI
and Jaish-e-Mohammad
wiped out in Jammu,
says IGP of Jammu
Zone:
The
Jammu and Kashmir
Police on March
8 claimed that militant
outfits Harkat-ul-Jihad
al-Islami (HuJI)
and Jaish-e-Mohammad
(JeM) have been
rooted out of the
Jammu region. The
focus, they said,
has now shifted
to the Lashkar-e-Toiba
(LeT) and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen
(HM), who remain
active. "HuJI and
JeM were mostly
active in Kishtwar
District and have
been wiped out.
Ashok Gupta, Inspector
General of Police
(IGP, Jammu Zone)
also said that as
of now 20 percent
militants in Jammu
and Kashmir are
without guns.
Hindustan Times,
March 9, 2010.
Naxalism
is graver threat
than jihadi terrorism,
says Union Home
Minister P. Chidambaram:
Calling
Naxalism
(Left-wing Extremism)
a "graver problem"
than jihadi
(Islamist Extremist)
terrorism, Union
Home Minister P.
Chidambaram on March
12 said that the
Government had a
legitimate right
to use as much force
as necessary to
regain control of
areas dominated
by the Communist
Party of India-Maoists
(CPI-Maoist) and
expressed confidence
that the Government
would be able to
"get rid of the
Maoist menace" before
the United Progressive
Alliances (UPA)
second term ended.
Chidambaram
also blamed Pakistan
for sponsoring terrorism
against India, vowing
"swift and decisive"
response if a fresh
terror attack was
found to have been
directed from within
Pakistan. "
Earlier,
on March 10, Chidambaram
said that terrorism
and militancy are
being fanned to
destabilise the
economy of the country
which is at the
threshold of a double
digit growth.
Indian
Express;
Times
of India,
March 11-13, 2010.
PAKISTAN
63
civilians and nine
SFs among 75 persons
killed during the
week in Lahore in
Punjab: At
least 57 persons,
including eight
soldiers, were killed
and more than 90
persons were injured
as twin suicide
blasts, moments
apart from each
other, ripped through
the Lahore’s R.
A. Bazaar in the
cantonment area
on March 12.
On
March 8, 15 persons
were killed and
80 others injured
in a suicide bomb
blast in front of
the Special Intelligence
Agency’s office
in the Model Town
area of Lahore.
Dawn;
Daily
Times;
The
News,
March 9-15, 2010.
42
militants and 17
civilians among
60 persons killed
during the week
in FATA: At
least 18 Taliban
militants were killed
on March 14 when
fighter Pakistan
Air Force (PAF)
jets bombed their
hideouts in the
Orajzai Agency of
Federally Administered
Tribal Areas (FATA).
Unidentified
assailants killed
the commander of
a local lashkar
(tribal militia)
and his two bodyguards
of Mohmand Agency
on March 13.
At
least four civilians
were killed and
20 others injured
when a suicide bomber,
who was supposed
to target a paramilitary
convoy, prematurely
detonated explosives
at Old Bara area
near Khyber Agency
on March 11.
Three
persons, including
a soldier, were
killed in clashes
between the Mamond
lashkar-backed
SFs and militants
in Mulla Killay,
Lagharai and adjoining
areas of Mamond
subdivision in Bajaur
Agency.
Three
more militants,
including one senior
Taliban ‘commander’
Qari Mohammad Ayub,
were shot dead by
unidentified assailants
at Naurak village
near Mirali subdivision
of North Waziristan
Agency.
At
least 14 Taliban
militants were killed
in a US drone attack
in the North Waziristan
Agency in the night
of March 10.
Three
missiles fired by
a US drone killed
five Taliban militants
in the Miranshah
area of North Waziristan
in FATA on March
8.
Dawn;
Daily
Times;
The
News,
March 9-15, 2010.
24
civilians and three
SFs among 28 persons
killed during the
week in NWFP: At
least 17 persons
including two Policemen
and an army trooper
were killed in a
suicide attack at
a checkpoint manned
by the Police and
military personnel
at Mingora town
of Swat District
in North West Frontier
Province on March
13.
Four
persons were killed
and 25 others injured
when a powerful
bomb exploded near
the Bara Qadeem
checkpost close
to a market on the
Bara Road in Peshawar
on March 11.
Six
persons, including
two women, were
killed and seven
others were injured
when over a dozen
militants armed
with Kalashnikov
rifles, pistols
and hand-grenades
attacked the office
of World Vision
International, a
US-based Christian
aid agency, in Oghi
village in Mansehra
of NWFP on March
10. Dawn;
Daily
Times;
The
News,
March 9-15, 2010.
Al
Qaeda changing its
tactics, says CIA
Director Leon Panetta:
The
Central Intelligence
Agency (CIA) Director
Leon Panetta on
March 9 said counter
terrorism operations
have placed al Qaeda’s
top leaders under
extreme pressure
and many are "on
the run" but recent
thwarted terror
plots in the US
indicate the terror
network is changing
its tactics.
Daily Times,
March 10, 2010.
ISI
continues to maintain
links with LeT,
say US experts:
The
Inter Services Intelligence
(ISI), Pakistan’s
external intelligence
agency, continues
to maintain links
with the Lashkar-e-Toiba
(LeT) and Islamabad
is reluctant to
take action against
its leaders and
its network, several
eminent United States
(US) scholars and
experts of South
Asia have categorically
told US lawmakers.
Attending a special
Congressional hearing
on March 11 on 'Lashkar-e-Toiba
and the growing
ambition of Islamic
militancy in Pakistan',
Congressmen unanimously
expressed concern
that despite best
of the efforts by
the Obama administration,
the ISI continues
to maintain links
with LeT and that
Pakistan is not
taking decisive
action against the
terrorist outfit.
Times of India,
March 12, 2010.
Pakistan’s
military is likely
paying compensation
to families of terrorists
killed in Mumbai
attacks, says Gary
Ackerman: "Pakistan’s
military is likely
paying compensation
to the families
of the terrorists
killed in the Mumbai
attacks", says chairman
of US House Subcommittee
on the Middle East
and South Asia Gary
Ackerman on March
11 and blamed Islamabad
for allegedly continuing
to support Lashkar-e-Toiba
(LeT). "There is,
in fact, no reason
to doubt that Pakistan’s
military is likely
paying compensation
to the families
of the terrorists
killed in the Mumbai
attacks, adding
that these are our
allies in the war
on terror," he bemoaned.
Dawn,
March 13, 2010.
SRI LANKA
TNA
reiterates demand
on right to self-determination
of Tamils: Contrary
to claims by a section
of the media that
the Sri Lanka's
pro-Liberation Tigers
of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
political party,
the Tamil National
Alliance (TNA),
has given up its
stance on Eelam;
the alliance has
reiterated the demand
on the right to
self-determination
of Tamils. In its
manifesto for the
April 8 general
election, the TNA
has sought federal
solution based on
shared sovereignty
while reiterating
its position on
the right to self-determination.
The stated position
of the TNA on Eelam
has been that it
has never articulated
the demand. In its
election manifesto,
the TNA also demanded
re-merger of northern
and eastern provinces.
Under
the amended Constitution
of the nation, any
party advocating
secession would
be disqualified
from Parliament.
The
Hindu,
March 15, 2010.
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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
of the Institute
for Conflict Management
and the
South
Asia Terrorism Portal.
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