| |
SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 9, No. 3, July 26, 2010
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
|
Operation
Orakzai: Conjuring ‘Victories’
Tushar Ranjan Mohanty
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management
The
Pakistan Army has become adept at manufacturing ‘victories’
against ‘terrorism’ in theatre after theatre in the
country, though each year has seen increasing terrorism-related
fatalities
in the country. In this bold history of triumph, on
June 1, 2010, the Army had declared another victory
over ‘terrorism’ in its Operation
Khwakh Ba De Sham (I Will See
You) in the Orakzai Agency of the Federally Administered
Tribal Areas (FATA),
adding that military operations in the area had been
‘completed’ and civilians could expect to return home
soon. Describing a visit to Orakzai and the neighbouring
Kurram tribal regions by Chief of Army Staff (COAS)
General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, a short Press Release
recorded: "Kayani’s visit to Orakzai Agency marks
the successful conclusion of operations in the Agency.
He appreciated the professional conduct of the operation
which has cleared the Agency of terrorists." The
statement also noted that civilians who fled Orakzai
could expect to return home soon. More than 200,000
people are believed to have poured out of the area since
the end of 2009, out of a total population of about
450,000 in the Agency.
Following
the brutal Operation
Rah-i-Nijat (Path to Salvation,
June 19-December 12, 2009) in South Waziristan, a number
of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants had escaped
into Orakzai. This eventually led to a ground-cum-air
offensive against pockets of militancy in parts of this
Agency, commencing March 24, 2010, in what was originally
planned as a two-week end-stage operation. The Army
evidently miscalculated the militants’ strength, and
the Operation has dragged on beyond four months, with
higher-than-expected casualties. Official sources disclosed,
on June 2, that the total number of people killed in
Orakzai, just since May 1, in operations against the
TTP was estimated at 719. No reliable index of fatalities
has been available for any of the successive military
campaigns in the FATA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP, formerly,
North West Frontier Province), though displacement figures
suggest largely indiscriminate air and artillery operations.
During the Swat campaign,
an estimated 2.5 to 3.5 million civilians were forced
out of the Province in a campaign that eventually claimed
to have killed just 1,800 ‘terrorists’.
However,
rebuffing Army claims, various local and official sources
claimed, on June 2, that more than half the Orakzai
Agency was yet to be cleared of the TTP. According to
reports citing local sources, "The military has
cleared only Lower Orakzai, while the situation in upper
and central Orakzai has not changed much, as the Army
is yet to evict the TTP from these areas. The battle
is far from over." In the adjacent Hangu district,
residents and officials were reported as claiming that,
"In Upper Orakzai, Security Forces (SFs) took control
of Dabori, while Mamozai, Ghaljo and Shahoo areas are
still in Taliban control." Local sources also alleged
that Uzbek and other terrorists belonging to the "Lal
Masjid group" and the TTP from
Swat, Bajaur and Waziristan were putting up "stiff
resistance" in Upper Orakzai.
Data
on fatalities bears out these claims of a confrontation
that is far from over. In the 70 days between the commencement
of the Operation on March 24 and its "successful
termination" on June 1, South Asia Terrorism
Portal database recorded a total of 1,705 fatalities
including 1,669 militants and 36 SF personnel. In 51
days, between June 2, and July 21, after the Operations
had ‘ended’, 522 persons, including 505 militants and
17 SFs have been killed. There is no separate account
of civilians killed. Apparently, everyone killed by
the SFs is a ‘militant’. The ratio of fatalities between
the ‘militants’ and the SFs also indicates that virtually
the entire campaign has relied on long range artillery
and air attacks, with ground engagements between troops
and TTP cadre the exception.
Significantly,
data on fatalities is principally based on statements
released by Inter Services Public Relations, the Forces’
own mouthpiece, unambiguously confirming the fact that
the Army is still struggling to keep hold of the area,
as more and more militants emerge to carry the battle
forward. Some of the major incidents (each involving
three or more fatalities) contradicting the Army’s June
1 declaration include:
July
21: SFs killed 40 militants and injured 30 others in
a clash in Upper Orakzai Agency. Three SF personnel
were also killed in the clash, while six SF personnel
were injured.
July
19: Pakistan Air Force (PAF) planes and helicopter gunships
pounded suspected militant hideouts in the Orakzai and
Central Kurram Agency, killing 42 militants and injuring
27.
July
18: At least 25 militants were killed and 23 were injured
when PAF fighter jets and helicopter gunships bombed
various parts of Upper Orakzai Agency.
July
14: 24 TTP militants were killed and 34 were injured
when PAF fighter jets pounded militant hideouts in Kasha,
Srigaray, Khorhi, Mamoonzai and Shakartangi areas of
Orakzai Agency.
July
13: At least 100 TTP militants were killed and one soldier
was injured in a clash with SFs in Dabori area of Orakzai
Agency in FATA.
July
11: At least 22 TTP militants were killed and 10 were
injured when PAF fighter jets and helicopter gunships
bombed various areas of Upper Orakzai Agency.
June
27: At least 66 TTP militants were killed and another
30 were injured in air strikes and clashes with the
SFs in Orakzai Agency.
June
22: 43 TTP militants were killed in clashes with SFs
in the Orakzai Agency.
June
21: militants attacked a Frontier Corps vehicle with
three rockets in the Andkhel area of the Agency, killing
three Soldiers and injuring another five.
June
8: Six soldiers were killed and eight were injured when
TTP militants stormed a checkpoint in Orakzai Agency.
A retaliatory strike by the Army left 35 TTP militants
dead and another 17 injured.
June
6: The SFs killed 44 TTP militants and injured another
11 in various areas of Upper Orakzai.
June
5: 25 TTP militants were killed and another 22 were
injured when SFs, backed by helicopter gunships, pounded
militants hideouts in Orakzai Agency.
June
2: At least 33 TTP militants were killed during clashes
with SFs in different parts of Orakzai Agency.
Evidently,
the militants still posses the wherewithal to take the
SFs on.
Although
the area of operation in Orakzai is smaller compared
to the 2009 Operation Rah-e-Rast (Path
to Truth) in Swat (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and Operation
Rah-i-Nijat in South Waziristan (FATA), the fighting
has been bloodier and more intense. 1,200 militants
and 90 SFs were killed in Operation Rah-e-Rast;
and 589 militants and 79 SFs were killed in Operation
Rah-e-Nijat. The military has established a cordon
around many of Orakzai’s entry and exit points and the
militants, finding their escape cut off, are, in many
cases, choosing to fight back with significant assaults
on military positions. The military has been retaliating
by bombarding purported TTP locations relentlessly,
reportedly inflicting heavy casualties on the militants.
The Army claims that many of the dead are foreign fighters,
including Arabs and Uzbeks.
When
Pakistan, on May 31, announced it had defeated militants
in Dabori, one of their major extremist bases, some
60 kilometres from Orakzai's main town of Kalaya, it
was a far cry from the reality of the volatile Orakzai
region. Even at that time, Pakistani military analysts
declared that the announcement was based on "miscalculations",
as officers thought militants would flee the region
after many of their bases were captured. There was a
widespread assessment that the announcement itself was
no more than an attempt to boost the morale of a public
suffering from years of attacks, nearly constant military
campaigns and few demonstrable results. Retired General
Talat Masood, a military and security analyst, thus
noted, "The announcement looks good to the Pakistani
public. The public thinks it's an endless thing, especially
in Orakzai. So they probably wanted to give the people
some relief." Corroborating this assessment, Rahimullah
Yusufzai, senior editor and Peshawar Bureau chief of
The News observed, "The military operation
is not yet over in Orakzai. I think they (the Army)
made the announcement of victory in haste."
Meanwhile,
despite the Army’s claims, the Internally Displaced
Persons (IDPs) have not been willing to return to the
Agency, fearing continued danger. A large number of
IDPs remain sheltered at the Mohammad Khwaja Relief
Camp in Orakzai in precarious conditions, without basic
human amenities, while others have dispersed wherever
they have been able to secure shelter. The devastation
is greater for those who dare to return to their homes,
as the whole tribal area presents the spectacle of a
war zone, with houses blown up, villages decimated and
infrastructure destroyed. Many returning IDPs could
not determine where their villages had once stood, to
say nothing of their homes. Not surprisingly, most have
had to make return journeys to their camps and refuges.
Despite
the Army’s boastful claims, the conflict in Orakzai
is far from over. The militants may have been pushed
out of their urban and peri-urban strongholds into the
more remote valleys, but these ‘successes’ may prove
fleeting. The rebels have, in the past, repeatedly demonstrated
their capacity to regroup and regain lost ground, or
simply to shift their fight elsewhere.
|
Islamist
Vestiges
Anshuman Behera
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
The arrests
of Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB)
Chief Maulana Saidur Rahman alias Zafar and three
other top leaders of the outfit on May 25, 2010, from
Dhaka and Narayanganj Districts certainly constitute a
major breakthrough for the Sheikh Hasina Government in
its drive against terrorism and Islamist violence in Bangladesh.
The other three top leaders who were arrested along with
Saidur Rahman were JMB’s military coordinator Amir Hossain
alias Sharif, and ehsars (full time members)
Nur Hossain alias Sabuj and Abdullah Hel Kafi.
The Security
Forces (SFs) subsequently arrested Shahed bin Hafiz, a
member of the JMB’s first ever Majlish-e-Shura
(highest decision-making body of JMB), on June 5. The
acting chief of the JMB, Nazmul Anwar Alam alias Bhagina
Shahid, was then arrested on July 12.
The arrest
of the top JMB leaders has demonstrated Dhaka’s willingness
to take the Islamist terrorists head on. It is significant,
however, that Islamist militant groups like the JMB and
Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami Bangladesh (HuJI-B),
as well as subversive political formations such as the
Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), remain active in Bangladesh and
constitute an abiding threat, both to the regime and to
the security of the country.
Unsurprisingly,
radical Islamist forces like JMB and JeI have been relatively
less visible since the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League
(AL) assumed power on January 6, 2009. Notably, under
former Premier Begum Khaleda Zia’s regime (October 1,
2001- October 27, 2006) the Islamists had created havoc
in the country and even beyond its borders, in numerous
terrorist attacks in India. Within Bangladesh, this culminated
in the serial bomb blasts of August 17, 2005, in which
some 459 explosions hit 63 of the country’s 64 Districts.
Meanwhile,
reports suggest that the JMB has been working covertly
to attract new recruits by signaling its re-emergence
through a planned series of explosions in capital Dhaka.
During interrogation, Saidur Rahman gave details of the
organisation’s plans and targets. According to Rahman’s
confessional report, the JMB had around 400 full time
cadres across the country and a ‘military wing’ capable
of launching major attacks. He also claimed that hardliners
who had taken control of the JMB would be more destructive
as a result of his absence as chief. Further, he disclosed
that Sohel Mahfuz had become JMB’s acting chief and Nazmul
Anwar Alam alias Bhagina Shahid was its ‘military
wing commander’. [Police, however, claim that Nazmul was
the acting chief of the JMB]. Rahman also disclosed that,
apart from the fake currency trade, JMB received funds
from several sources at home and abroad. Saidur Rahman
also admitted that the JMB has several hundred explosive
devices, handmade bombs and grenades stashed at different
locations.
Further,
the acting chief of the JMB, Nazmul Anwar Alam, revealed
that the JMB had a hit list of 12 top political figures,
mostly ruling party leaders. He, however, claimed that
the JMB had destroyed all the explosives it had in the
northern region. Interestingly, Saidur Rahman contradicted
this claim, suggesting that Alam could have shifted the
arms and explosives to new caches.
Another
senior leader of the JMB, Abu Bakkr Siddique alias
Shiblu, who was arrested in Thakurgaon District on May
25, told the SFs that JMB had trained some of its female
operatives in using grenades and they have been making
preparations to carry out a series of grenade attacks
in Dhaka on a limited scale. Shiblu confirmed Rahman’s
claim that the aim of the planned attacks was to signal
the JMB’s re-emergence and to attract prospective recruits.
The Inspector
General of Police [Dhaka Range], Nur Mohammad, however,
claimed on May 26, that, "Due to the arrest of the
groups’ current chief Saidur Rahman, their reorganizing
efforts will fail."
Danger,
however, continues to linger, since the various Islamist
extremist groupings are well connected, and have deep
linkages with radical political formations like the JeI.
Rahman, for instance, admitted his past affiliation with
the JeI, as a former Ameer (chief) of the Habiganj
District JeI unit. Rahman was made Ameer of Habiganj
JeI unit in 1983. He also indicated that at least 25 JeI
rokans (high-ranking field operatives) were actively
involved with the JMB, and that JeI provided physical
and small arms training to its members. SAIR has
repeatedly emphasized the strong connections between JMB
and JeI. Similarly, Alam disclosed that he had been an
active cadre of the Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS),
JeI’s students’ wing, until he joined JMB in 1998.
The links
between these two radical Islamist groupings became even
clearer in a face to face interrogation of JMB and JeI
leaders. Investigators brought together Saidur Rahman
and leaders of the JeI, including Motiur Rahman Nizami,
Ali Ahsan Mojahid and Delwar Hossain Saydee, on July 13.
[These three top JeI leaders were arrested from Dhaka
on June 29]. During the exchange, Nizami threatened Rahman
against disclosing anything regarding the links between
JeI and JMB, and told him to "pray for his life".
During the interrogation, Rahman claimed that the Secretary
General of JeI, Ali Ahsan Mojahid, had told him about
regretting his failure to kill "all" the pro-liberation
intellectuals on the night of December 14, 1971. Reports
suggest that Mojahid initially denied the allegation,
but remained silent when Rahman stood by his claims. In
reaction to the JMB chief’s claim that the Jamaat was
providing training in handling small arms and grenades,
the Jamaat chief Nizami told investigators that the use
of bombs and weapons to kill people were the features
of JMB activities, not the Jamaat’s.
Despite
widely known linkages with Islamist militant groups, the
JeI has managed to retain its status as a political party
and is not banned. However, if the links between the JeI
and JMB are officially proven, there is a likelihood that
the Government may ban it as a political party. The JeI
is already under tremendous pressure because of the Awami
League’s electoral commitment to bring the 1971 War Crimes
offenders to justice, and the Government’s current efforts
to fulfil this pledge. The arrests of JeI’s Chief Motiur
Rahman Nizami, Secretary General Ali Ahshan Mojahid ad
Nayeb-e-Ameer Delwar Hossain Saydee, in this regard, have
become a matter of real concern for the Jamaat. The JeI’s
role in the genocide of 1971, and in the killing of intellectuals
and freedom fighters during the Liberation War has already
been brought under the process of the trial of War Criminals.
While the
JeI leadership will certainly work to create some ambiguity
around its relations with the JMB, there can be little
scope to deny the violence of its student wing, the ICS.
Most recently, ICS cadres killed an activist of the Bangladesh
Chhatra League (BCL) and cut the tendons of four other
students on February 9, 2010, in Rajshahi University.
The JeI was also believed to be involved in this incident,
which left at least 100 students injured. Confirming JeI’s
involvement in the Rajshahi University incident, one of
the ICS leaders, Akram Hossain, confessed to the Police
on March 12, 2010: "I took part in the attack with
the Shibir group led by the Rajshahi University ICS President
Shamsul Alam Golap. Golap made contact several times with
central JeI and ICS leaders during the night of violence."
Street
violence has also been engineered sporadically by the
JeI-ICS combine. On June 13, moreover, Jamaat and ICS
cadres clashed with BCL cadres in Dhaka, resulting in
injuries to some 35 persons. This was followed by JeI
and ICS clashes with the Police on June 30, during demonstrations
demanding the release of JeI top three leaders. In another
incident, on July 4, cadres of the JeI and ICS rampaged
through the streets of Chittagong, destroying 100 vehicles,
during the JeI’s two-day protest against the arrest of
its leaders. Following the incident, the Police arrested
a number of JeI and ICS leaders and cadres. According
to Police sources, "JeI now struggles to come up
with an effective strategy to face the current crisis
arising from the large number of arrests of its party
leaders across the country".
The JeI
leadership has declared its intention to ‘observe the
whole situation’, and to keep in touch with their international
contacts and fight the legal battles to free their leaders.
ATM Azharul Islam, acting secretary general of the JeI,
stated, "We are observing the situation. The legal battle
to free our leaders will continue along with a peaceful
movement."
The Sheikh
Hasina regime has done extraordinarily well in stabilizing
a country which, only a few years ago, had come to be
regarded as an economic and political basket case and
a centre of Islamist extremism and terrorism. However,
radical Islamist groupings in the country, despite the
body blows they have received in the recent past, retain
a significant cadre base and residual capacities to create
havoc in the country.
|
Weekly
Fatalities: Major Conflicts in South Asia
July 19-25, 2010
|
Civilians
|
Security
Force Personnel
|
Terrorists/Insurgents
|
Total
|
BANGLADESH
|
|
Left Wing
Extremism
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
3
|
INDIA
|
|
Assam
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
Jammu and
Kashmir
|
2
|
2
|
7
|
11
|
Manipur
|
0
|
0
|
18
|
18
|
Left-wing
Extremism
|
|
Andhra Pradesh
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
Chhattisgarh
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
Orissa
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
West Bengal
|
5
|
1
|
6
|
12
|
Total
(INDIA)
|
9
|
3
|
34
|
46
|
NEPAL
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
PAKISTAN
|
|
Balochistan
|
7
|
0
|
0
|
7
|
FATA
|
5
|
4
|
206
|
215
|
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
|
1
|
0
|
8
|
9
|
Punjab
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Sindh
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
3
|
Total
(PAKISTAN)
|
16
|
4
|
215
|
235
|
Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
|
BANGLADESH
Bangladesh
to send the War Crime Case to International Crimes Tribunal
for trial: Reviewing cases filed against Jamaat-e-Islami
(JeI) leaders with different Police Stations in connection
with crimes in 1971, the Home Ministry on July 19 found
no legal bar to sending the cases to the International Crimes
Tribunal for trial. However, the investigation officers
of the cases would decide whether to have the trials at
the tribunal.
Daily
Star, July 15, 2010.
INDIA
LeT may
target Commonwealth Games: The Lashkar-e-Toiba
(LeT) may attempt to strike during the October Commonwealth
Games in New Delhi. The fears were conveyed by the Indian
Army leadership to Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the
US Joint Chiefs of Staff, who was in New Delhi on July 23-24,
The Sunday Times said in a dispatch from Islamabad.
Earlier,
the Punjab Police had alerted Pakistan-based Sikh militants,
supported by the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI),
might carry out bomb blasts in New Delhi before
the Commonwealth Games.
Times
of india, July 24-25, 2010.
ISI sleeper
cells pose new threat to Gujarat, indicates intelligence
report: Intelligence reports
indicates that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)
has renewed efforts to set up new sleeper cells in Gujarat
and elsewhere in the country. For the last six months, the
ISI has been trying to create new sleeper cells in the State
to replace those of the Students Islamic Movement of India
(SIMI) that were neutralised by the Gujarat Police.
DNA
India, July 21, 2010.
ISI helping
militants to establish terror network in State, says Punjab
DGP P.S. Gill: The
Director General of Police in Punjab, P.S. Gill, on
July 20, said that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence
(ISI) is helping terrorists to penetrate into East
Punjab. He claimed militants were receiving funds to the
tune of lakhs from Pakistan, and,
had undergone training in the use of RDX, manufacturing
of bombs, hand grenades, all kinds of rifles and pistols
in Pakistan.
The intelligence
agencies in New Delhi on July 19 submitted reports to the
Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) stating that a number
of former Khalistani militants based in Germany had been
trying to revive militancy in Punjab. Sources said that
the Punjab Police had been duly informed, and asked to keep
a strict vigil on activities of all those who were directly
or indirectly linked to all the former militants who had
not only been living in Germany but also in USA, Canada
and UK.
ANI
; Times
of India, July 20-21, 2010.
Polish
intelligence had warned of attack on Indian embassy in Kabul:
Polish
intelligence had, a week before the 2008 Indian embassy
bombing, warned of a possible Taliban attack on Indian interests
in the Afghan capital with the "main goal" to show its ability
to attack on every object in Kabul, according to a document
leaked by WikiLeaks. The document on possible attack
on the Indian embassy is part of a massive leak of 92,000
intelligence reports that suggested that the war in Afghanistan
is going badly for the US and Pakistan's Inter-Services
Intelligence (ISI) is fuelling the insurgency in the war-torn
country.
Times
of india, July 26, 2010.
Headley
questioning reveals militant and official establishment
link, says NSA Shivshankar Menon: The
interrogation of Pakistani-American David Coleman Headley,
who helped the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) in plotting
the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, points to official patronage
of terror groups, National Security Adviser (NSA) Shivshankar Menon said
on July 20. Without naming Pakistan, Menon said
the nexus had left no room for India to be optimistic
as the link was growing "stronger".
Headley also
reportedly confirmed what the lone surviving LeT militant
Ajmal Kasab confessed that all the 10 attackers of 26/11
had got intensive training from Pakistan Navy frogmen. Kasab
had confessed that the 10 terrorists, including himself,
who attacked Mumbai received training in swimming and underwater
diving from Pakistan Navy frogmen. A frogman is someone
who is trained to dive, swim and combat.
Times
of india, July 20-21, 2010.
Saeed
and Lakhvi part of larger conspiracy, says National Investigation
Agency: The National Investigation
Agency (NIA), seeking in a Delhi court Non-Bailable Warrant
(NBW) against Jama'at-ud-Da'awa (JuD) chief Hafiz Muhammad
Saeed and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) head of operations Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi and
four other Pakistani citizens, said its case was based on
a "larger conspiracy" against India. The NIA counsel Dayan Krishnan
said the agency's investigation was "separate"
and it had evidence to show that the duo was part of a larger
conspiracy against the country and that the 26/11 terror
attack was just one part of it.
Times
of india, July 21, 2010.
Lashkar-e-Toiba
chief Hafiz Saeed visited India and masterminded 26/11 attacks,
says Union Home Secretary G.K. Pillai:
Union Home Secretary G.K. Pillai on June 19 said
that Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Muhammad Saeed
not only masterminded the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks
but also made a trip to India and the Government has given
exact dates of his visit to Islamabad.
Daily Times, July 20, 2010.
US and
India sign Counter Terrorism Cooperation Initiative pact:
India and the US on July 23 signed a Counter Terrorism Cooperation
Initiative (CCI) that includes steps to check financing
of terror activities, joint probe in cases of bomb blasts
besides cooperation in mega-city policing, transportation
including rail security, development of investigative skills,
cyber and border security.
Times
of india, July 24, 2010.
Government
to hold talks with Kashmiri groups: The
Union Government planned to soon hold talks with leaders
of various political parties and separatist groups, official
sources said on July 21. "While the plan for the talks have
been accepted in principle, the details are yet to be finalised,"
an official source said, adding, "There are even suggestions
that the talks be in (Kashmir's summer capital) Srinagar."
Times
of india, July 22, 2010.
Autonomy
the only way to bring normality and permanent peace to Jammu
and Kashmir, says National Conference: The
ruling National Conference (NC) on July 22 reiterated that
the restoration of autonomy was the only way to bring normality
and permanent peace to Jammu and Kashmir. "The only
way to bring normalcy and permanent peace to the State and
the sub continent is to restore autonomy in its pristine
form as guaranteed in the Indian Constitution. However,
the National Conference reiterates its stand that if a better
solution than autonomy is forthcoming, the party will welcome
it," the NC said in a resolution.
The
Hindu, July 24, 2010.
Union
Home Minister P. Chidambaram calls Maoists "crafty capitalists":
Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram, in an interview on July
21, called Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist)
cadres "crafty capitalists" and candidly admitted
that the State was "helpless" in preventing businesses
from succumbing to their extortion.
Economic
Times, July 22, 2010.
NEPAL
Prime
Ministerial contenders fail to secure required 300 votes
in runoff election: None
of the two contenders of the Prime Ministerial post— Unified
Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M) Chairman Pushpa
Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda and the Nepali Congress
(NC) Parliamentary Party Leader Ramchandra Poudel—could
secure the required 300 votes in the runoff election held
on July 23.
Earlier,
the political parties failed to pick a new Prime Minister
on July 21 as none of the contenders succeeded in securing
a clear majority in the voting held in the legislative
session of the Constituent Assembly (CA) at the CA hall
in New Baneswar in Kathmandu.
Kantipur
Online, July 22-24, 2010.
PAKISTAN
206 militants
and five civilians among 215 persons killed during the week
in FATA: Pakistan
Air Force (PAF) fighter jets bombed various parts of Upper
Orakzai Agency on July 25, killing 24 Tehreek-e-Taliban
Pakistan (TTP) militants and injuring 18 others. In addition,
24 persons, majority of them local tribal militants, were
killed and some others were injured in three different missile
attacks by the US drones in South Waziristan and North Waziristan
Agencies.
At least
16 militants were killed while scores others injured in
US drone strikes in Angora Adda locality of South Waziristan
Agency in the morning of July 24.
At least
29 TTP militants, including two ‘commanders’, were killed
and several others injured during a military operation in
Orakzai Agency on July 23.
The chief
of the pro-Government peace committee, Malik Sardar Ali,
along with two colleagues, Karim Khan and Gul Muhammad Khan,
were killed in an explosion caused by an IED in the Sapary
area of Mamond tehsil (revenue unit) in Bajaur Agency
on July 23.
At least
29 militants were killed and 17 others injured in two separate
clashes and during shelling by gunship helicopters as troops
took control of the Ghiljo tehsil in Orakzai Agency
on July 22.
SFs killed
40 militants and injured 30 others in a clash in Upper Orakzai
Agency on July 21. Three troopers were also killed in the
clash, while six officials were injured.
Military
planes and helicopter gunships pounded suspected hideouts
of the militants in the Orakzai and Central Kurram Agencies
on July 19, killing 42 militants and injuring several others.
Dawn;
Daily
Times; The
News, July 19-26, 2010.
U.S. sanctions
target Haqqani network: Three
key leaders and financiers for the Haqqani network and the
Afghan Taliban have been "designated," or targeted
through sanctions, for supporting acts of terrorism linked
to the militant outfits based in Afghanistan and Pakistan,
the United States Department of the Treasury announced on
July 23. The designation was made pursuant to Executive
Order 13224, according to which the Treasury was authorised
to target Gul Agha Ishakzai, the head of the Afghan Taliban's
financial commission; Amir Abdullah, former treasurer to
senior Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Baradar; and Nasiruddin
Haqqani, an emissary for the Haqqani Network. The Treasury
noted that the Haqqani network was a Afghan Taliban-affiliated
group of militants operating out of North Waziristan Agency
and "and has been spearheading insurgent activity in
Afghanistan."
The
Hindu, July 24, 2010.
Television
footage shows Fazalullah to be alive: A
private television channel received the footage of the Tehreek-e-Taliban
(TTP) Swat leader Maulvi Fazalullah addressing
his comrades, a report said on July 22. The fresh footage
rubbishes statements of the Pakistani and Afghanistan Government
that the TTP leader was killed in a clash with the Armed
Forces. According to sources, it was the first footage,
which had been released by Fazalullah himself. The footage
showed the injured leg of the TTP leader, due to which he
was walking slowly, which confirmed the news that he received
a bullet in his leg. Fazalullah was reportedly killed
on May 26, 2010 at Barg-Matal District of Nuristan Province
in Afghanistan.
Daily Times, July 23, 2010.
Elements
in Pakistan Government knows where Osama is, says US Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton: Some
elements in the Pakistan Government know the whereabouts
of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, said US Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton. She said Pakistan's intelligence
establishment must share with the US any information
about movement of bin Laden and al Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri.
"...I assume somebody, somebody in this Government, from
top to bottom, does know where bin Laden is. And I'd like
to know too so I think we've got to keep pressure on, which
we are doing," Hillary said. Earlier on July 19, she had
said that she believed Osama bin Laden and Taliban spiritual
head Mullah Omar were in Pakistan.
The
News; Times
of India, July 20-21, 2010.
Significant
rise in US drone attacks in Pakistan since January 20, 2009,
indicates report: According
to a research carried out by the BBC Urdu
service, nearly 2,500 people have been killed as a result
of United States (US) drones and militant attacks since
January 20, 2009. Compared with 25 drone strikes between
January 2008 and January 2009, there were at least 87 such
attacks between President Barack Obama taking office on January
20, 2009 and the end of June 2010. More than 700 people
have been killed in such attacks under Obama, compared with
slightly fewer than 200 from under his predecessor, George
W Bush.
Daily Times, July 24, 2010.
LeT becoming
global threat, says US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral
Mike Mullen: The
United States Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike
Mullen said on July 24 that the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) had
become "a very dangerous organisation and a significant
regional and global threat". He said LeT was expanding
into Afghanistan and other countries beyond the region.
He claimed that the tribal belt on Pakistan’s western border
had become the "global headquarters" for al Qaeda.
Daily Times, July 25, 2010.
Pakistan
calls for joint monitoring of Afghan border: Prime
Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on July
22 emphasised the need for joint monitoring of the Pak-Afghan
border and increased sharing of information between Pakistan and
NATO- International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) forces
on cross-border movement of terrorists.
Daily Times, July 23, 2010.
Terrorists
plan attacks on minorities’ worship places, say intelligence
agencies: Terrorists
are planning attacks on the worship places of minorities
in Lahore, Jhang, Chiniot, Muzaffargarh and Chakwal, intelligence
agencies reported on July 20. According to threat alert-233,
"Terrorists are planning to carry out suicide attacks on
offices of the ISI, government buildings, army check posts
and other buildings".
Daily Times, July 21, 2010.
SRI LANKA
Final
APRC report recommends unitary State concept for Sri Lanka
while sharing powers between centre and provinces: The
final report of the All Party Representative Committee (APRC)
that was released to the media by the main opposition United
National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC)
on July 20 recommended that Sri Lanka shall be a unitary
State while the State powers are shared between the centre
and the provinces.
Colombo
Page, July 21, 2010.
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.
|
|
|