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SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 9, No. 27, January 10, 2011
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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Punjab:
Frankenstein’s Conspiracy
Ambreen Agha
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management
Salmaan
Taseer, Governor of the Punjab Province, the political
power hub of terror-ridden Pakistan, was killed in Islamabad,
the national capital, on January 4, 2011. It was not
mere coincidence that he was killed by one of his body
guards, Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri. Qadri was reportedly
incensed by the Governor’s denunciation of the controversial
blasphemy law [a punitive law against any critic or
defamer of the Islamic religion, Prophet Mohammad or
the holy Quran], as also his advocacy for Aasia Bibi,
the Christian woman sentenced to death on November 7,
2010, for alleged blasphemy. As of now, the mercy petition,
under article 45 of the Constitution of Pakistan, is
lying with President Asif Ali Zardari.
A group
of over 500 Pakistani scholars and clerics warned against
any expression of sympathy for the slain Governor, saying
that such expression would be tantamount to an act of
blasphemy. Warning the people not to lead funeral prayers
for Taseer, the clerics, part of the Jamaat-e-Ahl-e-Sunnat
Pakistan, a grouping representing the ‘moderate’
Barelvi sect of Sunni Muslims, praised Qadri and called
him a Ghazi (Islamic warrior). When he was brought
to court the day after the assassination, Qadri was
showered with rose petals.Qadri is reported to be associated
with Dawat-i-Islami, considered a non-violent,
non-political religious group, which runs on the line
of Barelvi school of thought. Consequently, this murderous
act does not appear to be an attempt by a lone fanatic.
Qadri was a member of the Elite Force set up by the
Punjab Government for VIP protection. A note circulated
by the Asian Human Rights Commission observes, significantly,
Three
days before the shooting Quadri told his colleagues
that he was planning to kill the governor after
which he would surrender so as not to be killed
himself. The Elite Force was created by the chief
minister of Punjab in 1997 and since then it has
become parallel to the police force. All appointments
are made by the ruling party of Punjab on political
basis... Controversies abounded between the ruling
party and the governor's house...
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On
January 5, Federal Law Minister Babar Awan blamed the
Punjab Government for not providing adequate security
to the assassinated Governor, and termed the killing
'political'. On January 6, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan
(TTP) claimed responsibility for the assassination,
declaring, "The man who killed him was from among
us."
Whatever
the investigations eventually reveal, it is already
abundantly clear that the assassination is a manifestation
of a fundamentally radicalised society that has no space
for progressive or liberal thought. The system and the
establishment provide a concrete base for hardliners
and extremist groups, further strengthening their reach
in Punjab, in particular, and in the country at large.
Taseer’s
assassination is, thus, only a dramatic instance of
the fanatical violence that has come to afflict Pakistan’s
Punjab Province. According to the South Asia Terrorism
Portal (SATP) a total of 316 persons, including
272 civilians, 28 Security Force (SF) personnel and
16 militants lost their lives in 22 incidents of killing
in 2010. This did reflect relative diminution in fatalities,
as compared to the 422 killed, including 254 civilians,
117 SF personnel and 51 militants, in 36 incidents of
killing, in 2009. Though the Province registered a 25.12
per cent decline in overall fatalities in 2010, as against
the previous year, there was a seven per cent increase
in the number of civilians killed, suggesting declining
SF operations against the radicals, as well as a drop
in incidents targeting SF personnel. Significantly,
the number of SF personnel killed in 2010 was less than
a fourth of SF fatalities in 2009, while the number
of terrorists killed fell to less than a third of their
number in 2009. Moreover, most of the terrorists killed
(13) were victims of internecine warfare and suicide
bombings, and not any confrontation with the SFs. [Only
three militants were killed during SF operations.] This
data clearly demonstrates the enormous laxity shown
by the SFs, working under partisan, confused and incapable
political masters.
Fatalities
in Punjab: 2006-2010
Year
|
Civilians
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SFs
|
Militants
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Total
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2006
|
6
|
0
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1
|
7
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2007
|
96
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47
|
14
|
157
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2008
|
298
|
40
|
14
|
352
|
2009
|
254
|
117
|
51
|
422
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2010
|
272
|
28
|
16
|
316
|
Total
|
926
|
232
|
96
|
1254
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Source:
SATP [Data till December 31, 2010]
A
total of 22 incidents of killing, of which 12 were major
(involving three or more fatalities), were recorded
in 2010. 22 major incidents out of a total of 36 incidents,
were recorded in 2009. The most significant among the
incidents in 2010 included:
October
25: A bomb explosion at the eastern gate of the Baba
Farid Shrine in Pakpattan District killed at least six
persons, including three women, and injured several
others.
September
1: 43 persons were killed and another 230 were injured
in two suicide attacks and one grenade attack on a Shia
procession marking Hazrat Ali's martyrdom in Lahore.
The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ)-al-Alami
claimed responsibility for the attacks, which occurred
minutes apart in the Bhaati Gate locality of Lahore.
July
1: At least 40 persons were killed and 175 were injured
when three suicide attackers blew themselves up inside
the shrine of Lahore's patron saint, Syed Ali Hajwairi,
popularly known as Data Gunj Bakhsh.
May 28:
At least 95 worshippers were killed and 92 sustained
injuries, as seven assailants, including three suicide
bombers, attacked an Ahmadiyya place of worship in Model
Town and Garhi Shahu areas of Lahore.
March
12: At least 57 persons, including eight soldiers, were
killed, and more than 90 persons were injured in twin
suicide blasts, moments apart from each other, which
ripped through Lahore's RA Bazaar in the cantonment
area.
Suicide
bombings form a major tactic employed
by the militants in Punjab. Out of the 316 fatalities
in the Province in 2010, 264 occurred in just six suicide
attacks. In 2009, the number of persons killed in suicide
attacks stood at 284 (out of 422 total fatalities) in
19 incidents. Evidently, the lethality of suicide attacks
increased considerably in 2010, as compared to the previous
year. Further, there have been large numbers of killings
in lethal bomb blasts across Punjab. Out of 36 Districts
in the Province, the worst affected was Lahore. Five
of the six suicide attacks took place in Lahore, killing
259 persons and injuring 667.
Sectarian
violence, rampant elsewhere in the
country, has engulfed Punjab as well, and the entire
population appears almost to be into warring sects,
easily flaring up in violent encounters. 56 persons
were killed and 188 were injured in two incidents of
sectarian violence in 2009. In 2010, the number surged
to 198 killed and 524 injured, in six such incidents.
In the incident on May 28, at least 95 persons lost
their lives at an Ahmadiyya place of worship in the
Model Town and Garhi Shahu areas of Lahore. One injured
militant, identified as Muaaz, was subsequently arrested.
Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah disclosed that the
arrested militant hailed from the Rahim Yar Khan District
and used to be a student of a madrassa (religious
seminary) based in Karachi.
The unholy
nexus between militants – principally the TTP, LeJ and
Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP)
– religious organisations and politicians enormously
compounds the situation. Giving ample proof of the nexus,
slain Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer, after the May
28 incident, had stated that the Ahmadis had been targeted
due to the close relations between the ruling Pakistan
Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) and the TTP. In a message
on the social networking website, Twitter, Taseer
claimed that the SSP and TTP were united and supported
by Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah.
Significantly,
during the National Assembly by-election for the Jhang
seat [held on March 11, 2008], Sanaullah conducted a
joint campaign with the SSP and its head, Muhammad Ahmad
Ludhianvi. Jhang is the epicentre of the sectarian groups.
When questioned on this, Sanaullah argued, "Not all
banned outfits and organisations are involved in terrorist
activities." Sanaullah’s response was symptomatic
of the soft approach adopted by the Punjab Government
towards radical groups that espouse violence against
the Ahmadis, other Muslim sects, such as the Shias,
and religious minorities, who have also come under attacks
from Sunni radical militant outfits.
The Punjab
Information Secretary and a leader of the Pakistan People’s
Party (PPP), Fakharuddin Chaudhry, also
received death threats from sectarian groups after he
exposed close contacts between the PML-N and these outfits
at a Press Conference on November 19. Fakharuddin also
criticised Sanaullah and Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif
for their alleged relations with the banned outfits,
and especially the Punjab Government’s decision to take
back all criminal cases against members of SSP and LeJ.
Ahmad
Majidyar, a researcher from the American Enterprise
Institute (AEI), rightly notes that the rising militant
activity and growing TTP/Afghan Taliban
and al
Qaeda influence in Punjab have largely
been ignored, and that South Punjab has become the new
base for terrorists escaping the Federally Administered
Tribal Areas of Pakistan (FATA).
The SFs
have, however, been boasting some operational successes,
claiming the arrest of 867 terrorists in 49 incidents
in 2010, as compared to 495 arrests made in 60 such
incidents in 2009. The arrests and following interrogations
indicate that there is little distinction between TTP
and other radical outfits like the al Qaeda and LeJ
in Punjab. On June 17, 2009, the Lahore Police arrested
a terrorist involved in the attack on a visiting Sri
Lankan cricket team on March 3, 2009. The arrested man
was identified as Zubair alias Naik Muhammad, a member
of the Punjab Taliban, an offshoot of the banned LeJ,
who was also linked with al Qaeda. Similarly, almost
a year later, on May 16, 2010, intelligence agencies
forwarded a detailed report to the authorities concerned
in Punjab, in which they identified two terrorist outfits,
TTP and the LeJ, jointly planning attacks to target
law enforcers and civil officers in the Province, in
order to disrupt the law and order situation in Punjab.
Such connections between active terrorist groups are
a matter of increasing concern for those interested
in containing the rising trend of Islamist extremism
and terror in Pakistan.
The large
number of arrests have, however, done little to dampen
trends towards progressive radicalisation and terrorist
violence. A lack of active Police deployment in the
Province has also catalysed extremist activities and
violence. The Pakistan Conflict Monitor, in its
overview on Pakistan’s Police Force, estimates that,
out of the 180,000 Policemen in Punjab, Pakistan’s most
populous Province, only 40,000 are permanently stationed
in Police Stations, with the rest deployed for VIP security
and traffic policing. About 6,000 Policemen are said
to be permanently guarding the four private and official
residences of the Chief Minister Shabaz Sharif alone.
Pakistan’s security arsenal is evidently bereft of the
"two Cs" – commitment and capabilities.
Unfortunately,
instead of focusing on fighting the growing terrorism
and extremism on their own soil, The Human Security
Report Project notes, Pakistan’s top military brass
have indicated that they are likely to spend the bulk
of new budgetary allocations in pursuit of their long-standing
strategy of developing defensive capabilities and ‘strategic
depth’ vis-à-vis India.
The Punjab
Province lies at the very heart of Pakistan’s perversion
of power, and is marred by all the elements that propel
radicalisation and terrorism in the country: a flawed
combination of ineffective and corrupt Police and Security
Forces, extremist religious seminaries, provincial leaders
who not only tolerate, but often collude with terrorist
outfits, and an overall environment that nurtures and
promotes the Frankensteinian terror that has come to
consume society and polity. The targeted terror, which
the Taseer killing will naturally inspire in any incipient
moderate constituency in the Province, can only ensure
that Islamist extremism will continue to hold sway,
and will silence every whisper that finds expression
against it.
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Weekly
Fatalities: Major Conflicts in South Asia
January 3-9, 2011
|
Civilians
|
Security
Force Personnel
|
Terrorists/Insurgents
|
Total
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INDIA
|
|
Assam
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
3
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Left-wing Extremism
|
|
Chhattisgarh
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
2
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Jharkhand
|
2
|
0
|
3
|
5
|
Odisha
|
1
|
0
|
9
|
10
|
West Bengal
|
8
|
0
|
1
|
9
|
Total (INDIA)
|
12
|
0
|
17
|
29
|
PAKISTAN
|
|
Balochistan
|
5
|
0
|
0
|
5
|
FATA
|
4
|
0
|
12
|
16
|
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Punjab
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Sindh
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
Total (PAKISTAN)
|
13
|
0
|
12
|
25
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Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
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BANGLADESH
Militants
threaten to kill Bangladesh Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina: Islamist militants
have threatened to kill Bangladesh Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina and blow up a high-security
prison in north-eastern Chittagong city
if their associates are not released from
the prison within a month. The jailer
of the prison in Chittagong port city
received a letter containing the threat,
with its sender calling himself a member
of the Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh
(JMB).
Times
of India, January
7, 2011.
INDIA
Over
7,000 people killed in violence in Jammu and
Kashmir in last 10 years: A total of
7,031 civilians and Security Force personnel
have lost their lives due to violence in Jammu
and Kashmir (J&K) in the last 10 years.
"4,812 civilians and 2,219 Security Force
personnel have lost their lives since 2001
to August 2010 in Jammu and Kashmir," the
Union Home Ministry said in reply to a Right
to Information (RTI) query.
Amidst
reports that the separatists and their sympathisers
were preparing for another bout of street
protests in the summer of 2011, there is little
likelihood of the thinning of Security Forces
in the State, Government sources said. "There
is no question of taking any chances at this
stage; we will have to go by security considerations
and not by the political thinking of the groups,"
said an unnamed senior officer who attended
a meeting of the Union Home Ministry in New
Delhi.
Daily
Excelsior; IANS,
January 2-3, 2011.
'Our
own people' killed top Kashmir leaders, says
Hurriyat Conference chief spokesman Abdul
Gani Bhat: Chief
spokesman of Hurriyat Conference Abdul Gani
Bhat on January 2 said that "our own
people" killed Mirwaiz Mohammad Farooq,
Abdul Gani Lone, and academicians like Abdul
Ahad Wani. At a seminar organised by the Jammu
and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) in Srinagar
to pay tributes to one of its ideologues,
Wani, Bhat said: "Lone sahib, Mirwaiz
[Mohammad] Farooq, and Professor Wani were
not killed by the Army or the police. They
were targeted by our own people. The story
is a long one, but we have to tell the truth."
The
Hindu, January 4,
2010.
Terrorists
are procuring fake certificate to enter India:
The intelligence agencies issued a fresh
terror alert on January 7 stating that Pakistani
terrorists are procuring fake continuous discharge
certificates (CDC), which have to be carried
by sailors, from the Republic of Liberia and
trying to sneak in through sea routes. A CDC
certifies that the person holding the certificate
is a seaman as per the International Convention
on Standards of Training, Certification and
Watch keeping for Seafarers (STCW), 1978,
as amended in 1995.
Times
of India, January
8, 2011.
ULFA
‘Commander-in-Chief’ Paresh Baruah in China,
claims UNLF chief Meghan: The ‘commander-in-chief’
of United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA)
Paresh Baruah’s presence in China was confirmed
by the arrested chief of the United National
Liberation Front (UNLF) R. K. Sanayaima alias
Meghan. Meghan confessed during interrogation
that he had met Baruah during the 2010 Shanghai
World Expo. Sources said the Manipuri militant
leader also told National Investigative Agency
(NIA) investigators that both of them had
intensive talks in Shanghai about the activities
of the two outfits, future plans, arms procurement,
and the casualties suffered during the offensive
launched by Security Forces.
Times
of India, January
9, 2011.
Militants
still have camps in Bangladesh, says Tripura
Chief Minister Manik Sarkar: Tripura
Chief Minister Manik Sarkar on January 5 said
that despite Bangladesh Security Forces’ (SFs)
offensive against Northeast militants, they
still have their camps in the neighbouring
country. It is difficult to completely contain
the militants because they use the soil of
Bangladesh, get help from Pakistan and sneak
into Indian Territory taking the advantage
of hilly terrain and unfenced border, Sarkar
said.
Assam
Tribune, January 6,
2011.
Pakistan
must give up compulsive hostility, says Foreign
Minister S M Krishna: Foreign Minister
S M Krishna, on January 3, warned Pakistan
that "compulsive hostility" is not going to
help the process of dialogue. Krishna expressed
the hope that Pakistan would see the merit
in constructive engagement and discard the
posture of compulsive hostility.
Times
of India, January
4, 2011.
NEPAL
UCPN-M
dead against arms handover: The Unified
Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M) on
January 4 sent a second missive strongly objecting
to the Government request for transfer of
United Nations’ Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) assets
along with arms and ammunition of the Maoist
combatants cantoned in seven different camps
under UN supervision. The second Maoist letter
comes after the contents of the Government
letter sent on December 31, 2010, to the world
body became public. The Government is keen
to replicate UNMIN’s core competencies through
the Special Committee for supervision, integration
and rehabilitation of Maoist combatants.
Kantipur
Daily, January 5,
2011.
PAKISTAN
Punjab
Governor Salmaan Taseer assassinated in Islamabad:
Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer was assassinated
by one of his body guards, Malik Mumtaz Qadri,
in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan on January
4. Daily
Times, January 4,
2011.
Drones
killed 2,043 persons in five years, says Conflict
Monitoring Centre report: A total
of 2,043 people, mostly civilians, were killed
in US drone attacks during the last five years,
while 929 causalities were reported only in
2010 in Federally Administered Tribal Areas
(FATA). The yearly report of Conflict Monitoring
Centre (CMC) released on January 1 termed
the CIA's drone hits as 'assassination campaign
turning out to be revenge campaign' and showed
that 2010 was the worst year ever of causalities
resulted in drone-hits in Pakistan. According
to the report, the number of drone attacks
in 2010 was far greater than those of collective
number of hits in last five years. The
News, January 4, 2011.
Asia
Bibi faces security risk in Punjab prison:
A militant outfit, named, Mawviya group,
is planning to launch a suicide attack in
the Sheikhupura District prison where blasphemy
convict Asia Bibi is under detention. Aasia
Bibi, the Christian woman, was sentenced to
death on November 7, 2010, for alleged blasphemy.
As of now, the mercy petition, under article
45 of the Constitution of Pakistan, is lying
with President Asif Ali Zardari. The
Express Tribune, January
4, 2011.
SRI LANKA
LTTE
still running illegal operations overseas,
alleges Minister: Dinesh
Gunawardena, the Chief Government Whip and
Water Supply and Drainage Minister, told the
Parliament on January 6 that cadres of the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) possessed
at least eight vessels and these ships are
being used for illegal activities overseas,
including human trafficking. The Minister
revealed that these ships that escaped the
Government offensive are berthed in a port
of a South East Asian country and reportedly
some of them are beyond repairs. The minister
added that the overseas network of the LTTE
remained active.
Colombo
Page, January 7, 2011.
Nearly
half of former LTTE detainees released:
Nearly half of the former
cadres of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(LTTE) successfully completed their comprehensive
rehabilitation and left the detention centers.
According to the Commissioner General of Rehabilitation,
Brigadier Susantha Ranasinghe, following rehabilitation
5,586 LTTE cadres out of the 11,696 detained
after the war have left the rehabilitation
centers.
Colombo
Page, January 5, 2011.
More
Tamil refugees expected to return, says UNHCR:
More refugees and
displaced persons would return to their homes
in north Sri Lanka in 2011, the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in
Sri Lanka has predicted. According to UNHCR
data, in 2010, the number of refugees it assisted
to return to Sri Lanka was 2,054. In 2009,
this was 843. The UNHCR says there are 146,098
Sri Lankan registered refugees in 64 countries
including India, France, Canada, Germany,
U.K., Switzerland, Malaysia, Australia, the
United States and Italy.
The
Hindu, January 10,
2011.
The South
Asia Intelligence Review (SAIR) is a weekly service that
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terrorism, insurgencies and sub-conventional warfare, on
counter-terrorism responses and policies, as well as on
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Asian region.
SAIR is a project
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and the
South
Asia Terrorism Portal.
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