SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
|
Weekly Fatalities: Major Conflicts in South Asia May 23-29, 2011
INDIA LeT and ISI had coordinated with each other in orchestrating the 26/11 attacks, reveals Headley: During the trial of Tahawwur Hussein Rana, the Pakistani-Canadian national accused of involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks (November 26, 2008, also known as 26/11), his accomplice and co-accused, David Coleman Headley revealed that Laskhar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) had coordinated with each other in orchestrating the 26/11 attacks. Headley told the US District Court jury about secretly recorded telephone conversations he had with Rana and Pasha, the ISI official. He also testified that Pakistani Navy, at the behest of the ISI had trained the 26/11 terrorists. It is significant in the light of intelligence inputs from Indian agencies in September 2006 that ISI was facilitating training of close to 150 LeT operatives in sea guerrilla warfare. He also testified that he had attended over 50 training sessions with ISI. He confessed of having received espionage] training from the ISI. He revealed that militants who perpetrated the attacks were guided on telephone by their LeT handlers who were watching the carnage live on TV from Pakistan. Times of India; The Hindu; Tribune, May 26-28, 2011. New evidence links ISI to Mumbai attack: Fresh evidence in the form of e-mails emerged during the trial of the Pakistani-American Laskhar-e-Toiba (LeT) operative David Coleman Headley which showed that Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Directorate played a key role in funding and organising the Mumbai terror attacks (November 26, 2008, also known as 26/11). According to reports Prosecutors in Chicago filed e-mail correspondence between Headley and a serving Pakistani intelligence officer he knew as Major Iqbal - documents which will add to the growing global concern over the ISI's links with terrorist groups. The Hindu, May 25, 2011. Maoists using children and women as shields, says CRPF: Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres are using innocent children and women as shields to escape during encounters with Security Forces, P. M. Nair, Additional Director General of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) said on May 25. "Security forces should be more alert in their fight against Maoists as they are using children and women in villages as shields to escape (during encounters)," said Nair. The Hindu, May 26, 2011. Maoists operate funds to tune of INR 400 billion annually: A Police official, who interrogated Varanasi Subramanian, one of the three Central Committee members of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) revealed that the Maoist leader confessed that outfit`s annual income by way of collecting levy from big companies and loot is to the tune of INR 400 billion. However, their annual budget stood at INR 200 billion per year, Subramanian reportedly told Police. Times of India, May 24, 2011. Pakistan is the 'global epicentre of terror', says Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram: Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on May 27 said that Pakistan was "global epicentre of terrorism" which was promoting terror infrastructure as "state policy" against India. "It is a truism to say that India lives in perhaps the most difficult neighbourhood in the world. The global epicentre of terrorism is in our immediate western neighbourhood" Chidambaram added. The Hindu, May 28, 2011. LeT ranks at par with the al Qaeda, says visiting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano: Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram and the visiting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano committed their Governments to comprehensive sharing of information on the Mumbai terror attacks (November 26, 2008, also known as 26/11) on May 27 in New Delhi. On June 27, 2011 US secretary Napolitano commented, "I think in my judgment, the Lashkar-e-Toiba (or LeT, a Pakistan based Islamist militant outfit) ranks right up there in the al-Qaida and related groups as terrorist organisations, one that seeks to harm people and takes innocent lives." PTI, May 28, 2011. NEPAL CA term extended by another three months: The Constituent Assembly (CA) term has been extended by another three months. The Legislature Parliament passed the ninth amendment to the interim constitution in the morning of May 29 to extend the CA term. The CA term was extended after a five-point agreement among largest three political parties in the CA - Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M), Nepali Congress (NC) and Communist Party of Nepal- Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML). Nepal News, May 30, 2011 Maoist chairman Prachanda rules out transfer of weapons to Government: The Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M) chairman Puspha Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda on May 27 ruled out submission of weapons possessed by the Peoples Liberation Army cadres to the state authority, saying the process would be "illogical and immature". He claimed that the Maoist party is careful in not handing over the weapons the party has to the Government as it belongs to "the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the republic and change". Nepal News, May 28, 2011. PAKISTAN 47 militants and 12 civilians among 60 persons killed during the week in FATA: Eight persons were killed and 11 others injured when a suicide bomber targeted pro-government tribal elders at a market in Salarzai village of Bajaur Agency in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on May 28. At least 23 militants were killed when the Army fighter jets pounded militants' hideouts in Orakzai and Kurram Agencies on May 27. Four persons were killed and five others injured during a clash between a lashkar (tribal militia) of Zaka Khel tribesmen and Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) in Tirah Valley of Khyber Agency on May 26. Four persons were killed and 18 others received injuries in the Balishkhel area of Upper Kurram Agency FATA on May 25 ahead of ceasefire agreement between the warring tribes of Shia and Sunni sects. Eight militants and a soldier were killed during a clash in Suran Darra area of Mohmand Agency on May 23. Seven militants were killed when a US drone strike destroyed a vehicle on the outskirts of Mir Ali, around 30 kilometres east of Miranshah in North Waziristan Agency. Three LI militants were killed while six volunteers of the Zakha Khel tribe sustained bullets injuries during a clash between Mangal Bagh led LI and Zakha Khel volunteers in Zakha Khel area of Khyber Agency. Dawn; Daily Times; The News, Tribune; May 24-30, 2011. 42 civilians and nine SFs among 53 persons killed during the week in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Matta tehsil (revenue unit) Awami National Party (ANP) President Muzaffar Ali Khan along with a Policeman and a guest were killed when unidentified militants attacked his Hujra (guest house) at Matta tehsil in Swat District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with hand grenades and automatic weapons on May 28. A suicide bomber blew up a car laden with explosives at a checkpoint close to the Hangu Police Station and Hangu District Police Officer Office on May 26 evening, killing 39 persons and injuring 54 others. Nine persons were killed and over 39 got injured when militants drove a car packed with explosives into a Crime Investigation Department Police Station at University Road in Peshawar on May 25. Dawn; Daily Times; The News, Tribune; May 24-30, 2011. US gives Pakistan list of five 'most wanted' militants: The United States on May 27 gave Islamabad a list of terrorist leaders against whom it wants joint operation against. The list includes Osama bin Laden's Deputy Ayman al Zawahiri, along with Siraj Haqqani of the Haqqani network, Ilyas Kashmiri, the head of the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) and suspected al Qaida leader, and Atiya Abdel Rahman, al Qaida operations chief, the US TV reported, citing unnamed officials from both Governments. The News, May 28, 2011. Pakistan supports militants in Kashmir, says HM chief Syed Salahuddin: The Hizb-ul-Mujahideen 'supreme commander' Syed Salahuddin on May 26 said that Pakistan still supports militants in Kashmir despite its internal security problems. In an interview with a local news agency, Salahuddin said, "Our Mujahideen can come and go at their own will. There is no question that the army can stop us. And we have hundreds of training camps in the state where we recruit and train the Mujahideen." The HM 'commander' added that till the Kashmir issue is unresolved, Pakistan can never consider itself safe. Times of India, May 27, 2011. Army worried about militant collaborators in its ranks, reports Washington Post: Top Pakistani Army officials are concerned that their ranks have been penetrated by infiltrators aiding terrorists in a campaign against the state. General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, according to the report, was shaken by the discovery of al Qaeda 'leader' Osama bin Laden close to a Pakistani military academy in Abbottabad, and old US officials in a recent meeting that his first priority was "bringing our house in order. Daily Times, May 29, 2011. US plans to scale back the number of American troops in Pakistan, says Pentagon: The United States (US) military on May 25 said that it plans to scale back the number of American troops in Pakistan after Islamabad made a formal request, amid tensions over a US raid against Osama bin Laden. There are more than 200 US military personnel in Pakistan serving mostly as trainers as part of a long-running effort to counter al Qaeda and religious extremists. Dawn, May 26, 2011. No peace in region until resolution of Kashmir issue, says Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani: Prime Minister (PM) Yousaf Raza Gilani said on May 23 that regional peace cannot be guaranteed until the resolution of Kashmir issue, urging the world's peace loving nations to come forward to resolve the issue that has jeopardised the peace efforts in the region. "Unless this core issue is resolved, the dream of peace and harmony in the region cannot come true," said the PM. Daily Times, May 24, 2011. SRI LANKA Dutch authorities seek permission to question former LTTE leaders in Sri Lanka: Dutch authorities investigating the financial network of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leaders in the Netherlands plan to interrogate former and current LTTE leaders in Sri Lanka and are in the process of seeking permission from the Sri Lankan authorities. A Radio Netherlands report said Dutch authorities are currently negotiating with Sri Lankan Attorney General Mohan Peiris to get permission to interrogate 13 witnesses in Sri Lanka including former and current LTTE leaders in June 2011. Colombo Page, May 25, 2011.
|
To receive FREE advance copies of SAIR by email Subscribe.
Recommend South Asia Intelligence Review (SAIR) to a friend.
|