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SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 9, No. 20, November 22, 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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A Withering
Green
Fakir Mohan Pradhan
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management
The
Union Ministry of Home Affairs’ (MHA) rhetoric during
the early months of the United Progressive Alliance
II (UPA II) Government, about facing down the Communist
party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist)
squarely excited great enthusiasm in the media, and
a ‘massive crackdown’ on the Maoists was much awaited.
A ‘clear, hold and develop strategy’ was projected by
the MHA, and an impression created that major operations
were imminent. Some Central Forces were shuffled about,
and an ‘intensification of operations’ did occur, but,
insufficiently thought out, the strategy quickly backfired,
producing massive Security Forces (SF) fatalities.
At about
the same time, the Chhattisgarh Police, along with the
Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Combat Battalion
for Resolute Action (CoBRA, also known as the Special
Action Force, SAF) launched an operation against the
Maoists in the Dantewada District in September 2009,
christening it Operation Green Hunt (OGH). The
name stuck with the media, and every anti-Maoist operation
anywhere in the country was quickly dubbed OGH, and
attributed to the Centre’s ‘massive and coordinated
operations’.
Thus,
when 18 companies of the Central Paramilitary Forces
(CPMFs) were deployed in Maoist infested areas close
to the tri-junction of Maharashtra-Andhra Pradesh-Chhattisgarh
in the first week of November 2009, this was reported
as the beginning of the first phase of OGH. However,
Police later clarified that this operation merely signalled
the observance of ‘Police Week’. Again, on December
3, 2009, against the backdrop of anti-Maoist operations
in Chhattisgarh it was widely reported that the Centre
had launched its ‘major offensive’ against the Maoists
in Chhattisgarh. The MHA again denied this, insisting
that what was being witnessed was nothing but an "intensification"
of earlier operations.
By December
18, 2009, when Jharkhand Assembly polls were coming
to an end, the Union Government was set to send an additional
17,000 CPMFs to Maoist affected States to step up their
anti-Naxalite [Left Wing Extremism] operations under
its planned "major offensive". The idea was to have
simultaneous operations at the junctions and tri-junctions
of the affected States of Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa (now
known as Odisha), Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Maharashtra.
A senior MHA official said the States already had 58,000
CPMFs — drawn from the Central Reserve Police Force
(CRPF), Border Security Force, Indo Tibetan Border Police,
Sashastra Seema Bal and SAF — at their command. The
additional deployment would increase the strength of
CPMFs to nearly 75,000 [these calculations are based
on full battalion strengths. Actual field deployments
are roughly 40 per cent of these numbers]. An unnamed
CRPF officer, stating that there were in for the "long
haul", disclosed, "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."
Roughly
one year after the purported launch of the "major
offensive", it was claimed on October 7, 2010,
that Security Forces (SFs) had regained control over
more than 10,000 square kilometres areas dominated by
the Naxals in the six worst-affected States. Official
sources described the success of the SFs as "very
significant" as nearly 40,000 square kilometres
had been ‘controlled’ by the Maoists in Chhattisgarh,
Jharkhand, Orissa, Bihar, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh
‘for the last several years’. The source claimed, "We
have got maximum gain in Chhattisgarh. We hope that
the success will continue in the coming days." An earlier
MHA report had claimed that, till June 2010, the SFs
had managed to destroy as many as 120 Maoist training
camps.
A circular
issued by Maoist Central Committee spokesperson Abhay
on the occasion of "party formation day" on
September 21, conceded some reverses:
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Starting
from May 2009 to July 2010, eight topmost comrades,
including politburo member and beloved leader
Azad and ten state level comrades had either been
caught and killed by the enemy, or had been put
behind bars. Many leadership comrades from district
level to lower ranks were either arrested or killed.
These losses had all affected our party and movement
seriously. Particularly, losing comrade Azad who
had been fulfilling key responsibilities in the
highest committee and had been rendering multi-faceted
services most efficiently in many fields is a
great loss.
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Nevertheless,
Abhay declared, the party was optimistic that "revolutionary
movement had been giving birth to new leadership constantly
and it will do so again. As long as masses need a revolution,
they give birth to its leaders too".
These
gains, however, have largely been the consequence of
quiet, intelligence-based operations, rather than the
‘area domination’ or ‘clear and hold’ approach, that
had been projected as the Centre’s operational strategy.
The claim of having ‘recovered’ 10,000 square kilometres
area from Maoists, moreover, loses credibility as it
there is no clear identification of the areas supposedly
reclaimed, or prior identification of areas allegedly
controlled by the Maoists. The combined forces battling
the Maoists in the seven worst-affected States have
also had little success in keeping fatalities – and
particularly civilian and SF casualties – down.
Fatalities
in Left Wing Extremist Violence, 2008-2010*
|
Years
|
Civilians
|
SFs
|
Naxals
|
Total
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|
2008
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210
|
214
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214
|
638
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2009
|
391
|
312
|
294
|
997
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|
2010*
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571
|
262
|
230
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1063
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Source:
SATP
*Data till November 21
Significantly,
total fatalities in 2010 have already crossed the 2009
mark, with over a month still to go. Civilian fatalites
have risen dramatically, from 210 in 2008, to 391 in
2009, and 554 in 2010. Clearly, the Maoists have not
been strikingly hindered in hitting civilian targets.
SF and Maoist fatalities show some declines, suggesting
diminishing direct engagement between the two Forces
between 2009 and 2010. Evidently, far from ‘intensifying’
their offensive, the SFs have been forced to go slow
in the wake of a series of setbacks they have suffered,
even as the Maoists have become more careful to preserve
their strength in the unequal fight they are waging.
[MHA data puts the total fatalities in 2010 (till October
31) in Left Wing Extremist Violence at 974 against the
previous year’s total of 908 (or 1,125). The MHA released
two different figures on different occasions for 2009].
Despite
their reverses, the Maoists have been able to mount
dramatic attacks on the SFs since the ‘offensive’ or
‘intensification of operations’ was initiated by the
Centre. The attacks on CRPF personnel at Chintalnad
in Dantewada in Chhattisgarh on April 6, 2010, in which
75 CRPF personnel and one State Policeman were killed;
the attack at Chingavaram
in Dantewada on May 17, 2010, in which 44 persons –
16 Security Forces (SF) personnel and 28 civilians –
were killed; the ambush near the CRPF’s Dhudhai base
camp in Narayanpur District, Chhattisgarh, on June 29,
2010, in which 27 CRPF personnel were killed; the encounter
in Lakhisarai
District, Bihar, on August 29, 2010,
in which eight SF personnel were killed; and the attack
on the Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR) camp at Shilda
in West Midnapore District, West Bengal, on February
15, 2010 in which 24 EFR personnel were killed; are
the most dramatic in a wider series of Maoist attacks
on SF targets. A circular issued by Abhay lists the
major Maoist successes against the SFs during this period
and concludes,
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…
particularly the historical Mukram (Tadimetla)
[Chintalnad] attack had broken down the initiative
of the enemy and increased that of the guerrilla
forces. These attacks had armed the PLGA with
more weapons and new experiences in guerrilla
war. Tadimetla experience is of the highest level
of all these.
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There
is some evidence, moreover, of a growing Maoist consolidation
on the ground. On October 1, 2010, Union Home Minister
P. Chidambaram disclosed that 21 persons had been executed
in full public view by the CPI-Maoist in kangaroo
courts during the year, till August 31, 2010. This is
far higher than the 11 persons executed in such actions
during the corresponding period of 2009. The number
of kangaroo courts reported to have been held
by the CPI-Maoist grew to 48, till August 2010, from
38 in the corresponding period of 2009. Maoist violence
has also been extended into at least two new Districts
– Nabarangpur of Odisha and Mahasamund District of Chhattisgarh
– during this period.
The claim
that the SFs have made their ‘maximum gain’ in Chhattisgarh
also holds little water. SATP data on major Maoist
Incidents (involving three or more fatalities) indicates
that, out of a total of 32 such incidents in Chhattisgarh
in 2009,
the Maoists took the offensive in 18. In 2010,
thus far, only 17 major incidents have been recorded,
in which the SFs took the initiative in just seven;
five of these came before the April 6 Chintalnad massacre.
After Chintalnad, the SFs have relinquished the initiative,
and the Maoists have led the offensive in another nine
incidents. The retreat of the SFs into a posture of
passive defence is the principal reason for the significant
reduction in major incidents in 2010 in Chhattisgarh.
Worse,
the SFs have also conceded a huge psychological and
strategic gain to the Maoists when the Centre decided
to shift the CRPF Zonal Headquarters from Raipur (capital
of Chhattisgarh) to Kolkata "for reasons of safety"
in the wake of killing of 27 CRPF personnel in the Narayanpur
District, Chhattisgarh, on June 29, 2010.
It has
been the intelligence-based operations, overwhelmingly
led by the Andhra Pradesh Police, which have resulted
in the most significant damage to the Maoist structure,
particularly through the neutralization of eight top
Maoists (and a number of lesser commanders) over the
May 2009 – October 2010 period. These top leaders include:
Patel Sudhakar Reddy, killed in Andhra Pradesh on May
24, 2009; Shakarmuri Appa Rao, killed in Andhra Pradesh
on March 12, 2010; Kobad Gandhy, arrested in Delhi on
September 21, 2009; Banshidhar alias Chintan
Da, arrested in Uttar Pradesh on February 8, 2010; Ravi
Sharma, arrested in Jharkhand on October 10, 2009; Amitabha
Bagchi, arrested in Jharkhand on August 24, 2009; Cherukuri
Rajkumar aka Azad, killed in Andhra Pradesh on
July 2, 2010; and J. Narisimha Reddy, arrested in Jharkhand
on August 8, 2010. Despite their geographical dispersal
across the country, the Andhra Pradesh Police was involved
in most of these cases. Crucially, it was not the numerical
strength of Andhra Pradesh Police (the Force has a police
population ratio of just 99, as against the severely
deficient national average of 128 per 100,000), but
years of investment in developing an intelligence network
that underpins these successes.
Conspicuously,
the Centre’s much-vaunted ‘massive and coordinated operations’
have lost momentum because of their inherently false
assumptions and inaccurate assessments. Unless drastic
changes are now made in the orientation and execution
of anti-Maoist operations, reconciling these to the
realities of the ground, the state will fail to recover
the initiative. Regrettably, there is no coherent evidence
of such a crystallization of strategy and Forces, and
a bloody and extended confrontation remains inescapable,
belying the MHA’s rhetoric claiming that the state "will
control the situation in 2 to 3 years".
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PFI: Extremist
Urges
Shrideep Biswas
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management
A
November 2, 2010, CNN-IBN report, citing the
Intelligence Bureau (IB), claimed that the Popular Front
of India (PFI), a confederation of Islamic Organisations,
was collaborating with the banned Islamist terrorist Students
Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).
The report stated, further, that organisations such as
the Citizen's Forum in Goa, Community Social and Educational
Society of Rajasthan, Nagrik Adhikar Suraksha Samiti (Committee
for the Protection of Citizens’ Right) in West Bengal,
Liong Social Forum in Manipur and the Association of Social
Justice in Andhra Pradesh were all part of PFI's growing
network.
An earlier
report quoting Uttar Pradesh (UP) intelligence officials
on August 23, 2010, had indicated that the PFI’s presence
had been noticed in about a dozen Districts in the eastern
and western regions of the State, and the organisation
was especially active in areas which were already identified
as ‘communally sensitive’ and had witnessed communal clashes
in the past. According to the report the warnings came
after the recovery of a large number of "objectionable"
posters from UP’s Barabanki and Muzaffarnagar Districts
a few days earlier. The posters contained an appeal to
Muslims to fight the "forces" which were behind
the blasts at Mecca Masjid (May 18, 2007), Ajmer (October
11, 2007) and Malegaon (September 8, 2006). It added,
further, that the organisation was particularly active
in the Azamgarh District, which achieved notoriety in
connection with a succession of terrorist attacks and
activities across the country in the past. Notably, the
Ahmedabad 2008 serial blasts mastermind Mufti Abul Bashir
Islahi was from Azamgarh. Some of the youth killed in
Delhi’s Batla House encounter on September 25, 2008, were
also residents of Azamgarh. Azamgarh had earlier been
linked with a number of terrorist incidents and activities.
According to partial data compiled by the Institute
for Conflict Management, a total of 24 militants of
various outfits have been arrested from the District in
nine incidents since 2001. Praveen Swami notes that Maulana
Abdul Aleem Islahi — a prominent Hyderabad-based cleric
who had graduated from Azamgarh's well-known Seminary,
Madrasat-ul-Islah, was the key figure behind the formation
of the Indian Mujahideen (IM), and the ideological mentor
to many young radicals who played a key role in the jihadi
movement in India. Among the prominent alumni of the
jihadi cells operating in Azamgarh were – Abdul
Subhan Qureshi, fugitive IM ‘commander’; Mohammed Arif
Badruddin Shaikh alias Arif Badar alias
Laddan an IM cadre (now in the custody of Mumbai Police);
Salman Ahmad, one of a string of alleged jihadis associated
with the Lashkar-e-Taiba's so-called "Karachi Project;
among others. Further, Sadiq Israr Sheikh, the key organiser
of the Indian Mujahideen network in Nehru Nagar, a suburb
of Mumbai, was born in 1978 to working-class parents from
Azamgarh. A September 20, 2008, report noted that Azamgarh
had earned notoriety as a nursery of terror, and had provided
a very fertile ground for SIMI and other such outfits
to flourish.
Meanwhile,
in response to the CNN-IBN report, a letter was
issued by K. M. Shareef, General Secretary of PFI to Rajdeep
Sardesai, the Editor of the Channel, on November 4, stating
that the State organisations mentioned in the report had
merged with the PFI way back in February 2009, and were,
therefore, now non-existent. Shareef, however, denied
any PFI links with SIMI, and blamed the Sangh Parivar
(the coalition of Hindu Right Wing Organisations) and
their supposed infiltration of the IB, for the allegations.
He interpreted the gradual spread of PFI over India as
a sign of the backward Muslim community moving forward
on the path to empowerment.
PFI had
been growing steadily in Kerala, but was catapulted into
the headlines after its cadres waylaid and brutally attacked
and maimed T. J. Joseph, a lecturer at Newman College
in Moovattupuzha, a town in Ernakulam District, on July
4, 2010. Joseph’s right hand was hacked for preparing
a question paper with alleged derogatory reference to
Prophet Mohammad, offending Muslim religious sentiments.
A day later,
on July 5, two PFI cadres, Ashraf and Jaffer, were arrested
and remanded to judicial custody for their alleged involvement
in the incident. Another two cadres, Sajeer and Kamaruddhin,
were arrested on July 8. On July 13, a dentist named Rinees
and Abdul Salam, a Divisional Secretary of PFI, were also
arrested in the case and on charges of sedition, along
with 20 other PFI activists from different parts of Kerala.
On the same day, Police seized country-made bombs, weapons
and incriminating material in raids at the offices of
the PFI and its political arm, the Social Democratic Party
of India (SDPI) from Kozhikode in Kerala. Again, on August
6, Yunus, a ‘divisional leader’ of the PFI, was arrested
and remanded to judicial custody by a magistrate court
in Moovattupuzha. Meanwhile, the Special Investigation
Team probing the assault on T. J. Joseph issued summons
to Abdul Hamid (PFI Kerala State General Secretary), P.
Koya (PFI National Executive member and editor of PFI
mouthpiece, Thejas) and Nasiruddin Elamaram (PFI
Kerala State President), for questioning in connection
with the case. On September 8, the Kerala High Court dismissed
the bail applications of seven of the 27 PFI cadres arrested
in connection with the attack.
Further,
Rakesh Maira, chief of the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism
Squad (ATS) told journalists in Mumbai that Himayat Baig,
the alleged mastermind of the German Bakery blast (February
13, 2010) in Pune, arrested by the ATS on September 7,
became a member of the PFI to recruit and send youth for
training to Pakistan.
There is
significant cumulative evidence of progressive extremism
in the PFI. Worryingly, the Asom United Democratic Front
(AUDF), led by perfume magnate Maulana Badruddin Ajmal,
has declared solidarity with the group. The AUDF, with
11 MLAs in the 126-member Assam legislature, is a significant
player in Assam politics. Political midgets like the Milli
Ettehad Parishad in West Bengal and the Tamil Nadu Muslim
Munnetra Kazhgam (TMMK) have also joined the PFI-led national
alliance of Muslim groups and parties.
The PFI
was formed in November 22, 2006, when three organisations,
the National Development Front (NDF) of Kerala, the Manitha
Neethi Pasarai (MNP) of Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka Forum
for Dignity (KDF), merged together. The PFI and the SDPI,
which already have a significant following in Kerala,
Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, have set up committees in 15
States, over the past two years, according to reports.
The PFI
denies any communal agenda, and its constitution declares
dissatisfaction over the failure of the existing socio-economic
models of development in alleviating the poverty and backwardness
of the people of the country and over the lack of equity,
and the deprivation of the masses, especially religious
and linguistic minorities. It also claims to act as a
pressure group, coordinate the activities of several cognate
organisations which are operating in isolation and to
provide a common platform for all. The organization claims
frustration with the Indian state and its ‘collusion’
with neo-colonial, fascist and racist forces; expresses
solidarity with the Dalits (scheduled caste), tribals,
religious, linguistic and cultural minorities, backward
classes and women. According to PFI sources, its activists
conducted nation-wide health awareness programs and relief
operations during floods in north Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh,
Bihar and Assam in 2009 and volunteered in relief operations
in Kerala and Tamil Nadu during the Tsunami disaster in
December 2004. PFI offers career counseling, distributes
educational aids and study material, and runs motivational
programmes like the School Chalo (come to school)
campaign every summer, and organizes medical camps.
The communist
Government of Kerala has, however, recognized a threat
in the activities and growth of PFI. V.S. Achuthanandan,
the State’s Chief Minister and a Politburo member of the
Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), at a press conference
in New Delhi on July 24, 2010, declared that the PFI and
its allies were plotting to make Kerala a "Muslim-dominated"
State within 20 years: "For achieving that goal,
the outfit is pumping money to attract youth and giving
them weapons… Youngsters are being given money and lured
to convert to marry Muslim women..." On August 4,
2010, Kerala's Education Minister M. A. Baby declared
that the State Government would ban the Freedom Parade,
an event organized by the PFI on August 15, India’s Independence
Day, every year, where its cadres, dressed in uniforms
similar to para military organisations, carry out synchronized
marches across cities of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu,
in the light of the attack on Joseph. On September 6,
the Kerala Government informed the State High Court that
investigators had obtained evidence regarding PFI’s connection
with terrorist outfits such as the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen
(HM),
Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT)
and al
Qaeda. The submission in this regard
was made by R. Rajashekharan Nair, Deputy Secretary (Home)
in a counter affidavit filed in a Public Interest Litigation
by a citizen, Gireesh Babu, seeking a ban on the PFI and
the handover of the investigation into the attack on the
lecturer to the National Investigation Agency.
The PFI
has denied these allegations and accused the Chief Minister
of trying to spread misunderstanding. The organisation
declares it has no intention of creating an Islamic State
by eliminating the Hindu majority in the country and challenged
the Chief Minister to prove that the documents cited against
the PFI were taken from any leaflet, publication or speech
of any of its leaders.
The Kerala
State Government and the Union Government are yet to arrive
at a consensus about their stance towards the PFI. On
September 26, the Union Home Secretary, G. K. Pillai stated
that the State Police was aware of the activities of the
PFI and it was under close watch, but there had been no
discussion about banning the outfit. What is clear, however,
is that the communal equilibrium in ‘God’s own country’
is under increasing threat from the progressive radicalization
of the PFI and its cognate groups.
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Weekly
Fatalities: Major Conflicts in South Asia
November 15-21,
2010
|
|
Civilians
|
Security
Force Personnel
|
Terrorists/Insurgents
|
Total
|
|
INDIA
|
|
|
Jammu &
Kashmir
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
4
|
|
Manipur
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
|
Meghalaya
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
|
Left-wing Extremism
|
|
|
Andhra Pradesh
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
|
Bihar
|
8
|
2
|
0
|
10
|
|
Jharkhand
|
4
|
0
|
1
|
5
|
|
Orissa
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
|
West Bengal
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
|
Total (INDIA)
|
23
|
2
|
4
|
29
|
|
NEPAL
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
|
PAKISTAN
|
|
|
Balochistan
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
|
FATA
|
3
|
0
|
59
|
62
|
|
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
|
4
|
0
|
10
|
14
|
|
Total (PAKISTAN)
|
9
|
1
|
69
|
79
|
|
Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
|
INDIA 105
persons killed in terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir
till October 31, 2010: About 105 persons, including
Security Force (SF) personnel and civilians, were killed
in terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir till October
2010 as against 123 persons during the same period in
2009, the Government said on November 16. "In the State
of Jammu and Kashmir there were 432 incidents upto October
31, 2010 in which 66 Security Force personnel and 39 civilians
have been killed, as compared to 437 incidents during
the corresponding period of 2009, in which 52 Security
Force personnel and 71 civilians were killed," Union Minister
of State for Home Affairs Ajay Maken told Lok Sabha (Lower
House of Parliament). He said available reports indicate
that Pakistan or Pakistan occupied Kashmir based Inter
Services Intelligence (ISI) sponsored terrorist outfits
have been involved in a number of terrorist incidents.
Daily
Excelsior, November 17, 2010.
65
civilians and 18 SFs killed in Northeast up to October
31, 2010: The Union Minister of State for Home Affairs
Ajay Maken on November 16 said in the Lok Sabha (Lower
House of the Parliament) that a total of 660 incidents
have taken place during the period of January 1, 2010
and October 31, 2010 in North Eastern States. "The number
of civilians killed, in the North Eastern Region; up to
October 31, 2010 is 65 as compared to 225 civilians killed
during the corresponding period of 2009. Similarly, the
number of Security Forces (SFs) killed up to October 31,
2010 in the North East Region is 18, whereas 36 SFs were
killed during the corresponding period in 2009," Maken
said. Daily
Excelsior, November 17, 2010.
426
intrusion bids in Jammu and Kashmir till September 30,
2010: Total 426 infiltration attempts have been reported
from Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and seven soldiers killed
in thwarting the attempts till September 2010, the Lok
Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) was informed on November
15. 37 terrorists have also been killed in the period,
Defence Minister A. K. Antony said in a written reply.
He added that 342 cases of infiltration attempts were
reported in 2008 from the State while it increased to
485 in 2009.
Daily
Excelsior, November 16, 2010.
26/11
attackers wanted separate State for Muslims, says Government
counsel Ujjwal Nikam: Government counsel Ujjwal Nikam
told the Bombay High Court on November 19 that the Pakistani
Lashkar-Toiba (LeT) terrorist Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab,
the lone arrested terrorist in the November 26, 2008 Mumbai
terrorist attacks (also known as 26/11), and his companions
were instructed by their LeT handlers in Pakistan on telephone
to hold as many hostages as possible during the terrorist
attacks to demand from the Indian Government the creation
of a "separate state for Muslims". He said that LeT handlers
had also advised the attackers to identify themselves
as Indian Muslims belonging to Indian Mujahideen and hide
the fact that they had come from Pakistan. Nikam added
that these informations were contained in the intercepts
of telephonic conversations the handlers in Pakistan had
with the terrorists during the 26/11 attacks.
PTI
News, November 20, 2010.
Government
rules out interlocutors for talks with Maoists: Government
of India, on November 16, ruled out appointment of any
interlocutor to start dialogue with the Communist Party
of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist). "There is no proposal to
appoint interlocutors to start a dialogue with the Left
Wing Extremists," Union Minister of State for Home, Ajay
Maken informed the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament).
However, the Minister said the Government has given a
call to the extremists to abjure violence and come for
talks. Times
of India, November 17, 2010.
PAKISTAN
59
militants and three civilians among 62 persons killed
during the week in FATA: 15
militants were killed and several others injured when
Security Forces (SFs) targeted their hideouts in the
Hazeri and Koy Kaley areas of the Orakzai Agency in
Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on November
21. In addition, six militants were killed when a US
drone missiles hit into a compound in Khaddi village,
15 kilometers east of Miranshah, the main town in North
Waziristan Agency.
Seven
militants were killed and 21 others injured as SFs backed
by helicopter gunships and artillery targeted militant’s
hideouts in Garhai and Kareerh areas of Safi tehsil
(revenue unit) and Aman Kot and Yarakhel areas of Baizai
tehsil in Mohmand Agency on November 19. Separately,
four militants were killed when US drone missiles targeted
a moving vehicle near Marsi Khel village close to Afghanistan
border in North Waziristan Agency. Also, a woman and
two children were killed and eight others injured when
the Taliban militants fired missiles from within Afghanistan
side on the Shalozan village of Khurram Agency.
20 militants
were killed when US drone missiles hit a house and a
speeding vehicle in Bangi Dar village in North Waziristan
Agency on November 16. Also, at least seven militants
were killed in a US drone strike on a militant training
centre near the Afghanistan border in Ghulam Khan Village,
15 kilometers north of Miranshah, in North Waziristan
Agency.
Daily Times; Dawn;
The
News, November
9-15, 2010.
Ilyas
Kashmiri plotting attacks in Germany and UK, says media
report: German intelligence agents received evidence
on November 17 from the United States that al Qaeda
has sent two to four terrorists to Germany and United
Kingdom (UK) via India and the UAE to carry out attacks.
The mastermind behind the possible attacks was named
as Mohammed Ilyas Kashmiri, the ‘chief’ of Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami
(HuJI) and a leading al Qaeda militant from Pakistan.
He is alleged to be behind a bomb attack on the German
Bakery in Pune (Maharashtra) in India on February 13,
2010. Kashmiri reportedly recruited the militants for
the latest planned attacks in the Afghan-Pakistan border
region. Indian
Express, November 19,
2010.
Pakistan
used terror outfits against India, says US Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton: Pakistan has used terror
outfits as a hedge against India, US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton said on November 13. "They [Pakistan]
have in the past hedged against both India and an unfriendly
regime in Afghanistan by supporting groups that will
be their proxies in trying to prevent either India or
an unfriendly Afghan government from undermining their
position. That is changing... Now, I cannot sit here
and tell you that it has changed, but that is changing,"
she told ABC News in an interview the transcripts
of which were released by the State Department.
The
Hindu, November 14, 2010.
Pakistan
ranked second in terrorism risk list, says Global Analysts
Maple croft’s study: While Somalia has replaced
Iraq as the State most at risk from terrorist attack,
Pakistan ranked second, according to a ranking by Global
Analysts Maple croft, which sees threats also rising
in Russia, Greece and Yemen but falling in India and
Algeria. Pakistan moved up one place to become the country
second most at risk, while Afghanistan slipped from
second place to fourth. The index lists 16 countries
as extreme risk — topped by Somalia, Pakistan, Iraq
and Afghanistan and followed by the Palestinian Territories
in fifth place, Colombia 6, Thailand 7, Philippines
8, Yemen 9 and Russia 10.
Dawn, November 15, 2010.
Pakistan
lists Kargil war dead: 11 years after the Kargil
war in 1999, the Pakistan Army has included the names
of 453 soldiers and officers who were killed during
the conflict on its website. The 453 Pakistani soldiers
are shown as killed in the Batalik-Kargil sector in
Jammu and Kashmir. The names of those who died in Kargil
are tucked away in a list of thousands of personnel
killed while on duty posted in the Shuhada's Corner
(Martyrs Corner) of the website. Several causes are
cited for those who died in Kargil — "killed in
action", "enemy action", "enemy
firing", "enemy artillery shelling" and
even "road accident". The list gives the name,
rank, unit and location of death of each casualty. A
majority of those who died in Kargil were soldiers from
the Northern Light Infantry, a formation that was made
a regular regiment of the Pakistan Army because of its
performance in the 1999 conflict. It was earlier a paramilitary
force formed by the amalgamation of several militias
from the Northern Areas or Gilgit-Baltistan.
The
Hindu, November 19, 2010.
‘Osama
Bin Laden funded Nawaz for elections’, claims former
President Pervez Musharraf: Former President Pervez
Musharraf on November 19 claimed that al Qaeda leader
Osama Bin Laden funded Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz
(PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif for taking part in the 2008
General Elections. Daily
Times, November 20, 2010.
SRI LANKA
Military
did not shoot surrendees during final phase of war with
LTTE, says top Army officer: Major General Shavendra
Silva, who was the commander of the 58th
Division during the last phase of the war in 2009, told
the Colombo High Court on November 15 that Sri Lanka
Defence Secretary had given clear instructions to the
Security Forces not to shoot any one who was surrendering
to them during the final stages of the war with Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). He said military forces
did not shoot at anybody who wanted to surrender. Major
General Silva was called to the witness stand at the
trial against former Army Commander General (retired)
Sarath Fonseka, who in an interview to English weekly,
had accused the Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse
of giving orders to Major General Silva to kill all
the LTTE cadres wanting to surrender with white flags.
Colombo
Page, November 16, 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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