PAKISTAN

Balochistan: Smoldering Fires 
Tushar Ranjan Mohanty
Research Associate; Institute for Conflict Management

Two Balochistan Constabulary personnel were shot dead while another one sustained injuries in an attack by unidentified militants in Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, on January 17, 2018. The personnel were reportedly deployed at a flyover for security duty.

On January 16, 2018, unidentified militants shot dead a Police constable while he was going to report for duty in Quetta.

On January 15, 2018, five Frontier Corps (FC) Personnel were killed and another six injured in an ambush by unidentified militants in the Shapok area of Kech District. Two FC vehicles, transporting soldiers from Panjgur Town in the District of the same name, to Turbat town in Kech District in Balochistan, were attacked with automatic weapons when they were crossing the mountainous area of Shapok. Turbat Assistant Commissioner Jamil Baloch disclosed that, “as a result of the firing and overturning of the vehicles, five FC personnel got martyred and six others sustained injuries”.

On January 9, 2018, seven people, including five Policemen, were killed and another 16, including eight Policemen, were injured in a suicide blast by a Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorist near GPO Chowk on Zarghoon Road in Quetta. The suicide bomber targeted the Police contingent returning from duty at the Provincial Assembly building, ramming into the parked Police truck.

According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), Balochistan has recorded 26 fatalities – seven civilians, 14 Security Force (SF) personnel and five militants – in the current year so far (data till January 21, 2018). During the corresponding period of 2017, Balochistan registered 11 fatalities (three civilian, four SF personnel and four militants).

Balochistan recorded 343 fatalities (183 civilians, 83 militants and 77 SF personnel) through 2017, and 633 fatalities (229 militants, 251 civilians and 153 SF personnel) in 2016. Thus, fatalities in all three categories declined between 2016 and 2017.

             Annual Fatalities in Balochistan: 2004-2018

Significantly, the decline in fatalities was the sharpest in the ‘militant’ category. Militant fatalities declined by 63.75 per cent, as compared to a decline of 49.67 per cent and 27.09 per cent registered in the SF and civilian categories, respectively, indicating that the SFs were progressively relinquishing the operational initiative.

As with the fall registered in overall fatalities in terrorism-linked violence in the Province, other parameters of violence also witnessed a decline. The number of major incidents (each involving three or more fatalities) decreased from 59 (resulting in 500 fatalities) in 2016 to 39 (resulting in 273 fatalities) in 2017. Similarly, the Province saw a decrease in the number of bomb blasts: 43 in 2016 to 34 in 2017, even as the resultant fatalities decreased from 262 in 2016, to 134 in 2017.

Suicide attacks and resultant fatalities also declined, though they continued to create havoc in Balochistan. There were five suicide attacks resulting in 73 fatalities in 2017, compared to seven such attacks resulting in 224 fatalities in 2016. However, the number of sectarian attacks increased from four in 2016 to seven in 2017, though the resultant fatalities decreased from 60 to 43.

The problem of extra judicial killings in Province persisted through 2017. According to the SATP database, out 183 civilians killed in the Province in 2017, at least 86 were attributable to one or other terrorist/insurgent outfit. Of these, 10 civilian killings (all in the South) were claimed by Baloch separatist formations, while Islamist and sectarian extremist formations – primarily LeJ, TTP and Islamic State (IS, also Daesh) – claimed responsibility for another 76 civilian killings, 53 in the North (mostly in and around Quetta) and 23 in the South. The remaining 97 civilian fatalities – 71 in the North and 26 in the South – remain 'unattributed', and a large proportion of these are believed to be the handiwork of state agencies or their proxies.  

Balochistan has recorded at least 6,785 fatalities since 2004, including 4,029 civilians, 1,500 militants and 1,256 SF personnel (data till January 21, 2018). The maximum number of fatalities in the ‘civilian’ category has been the result of extra-judicial killings by SFs in retaliation to targeted killings of SF personnel by ethnic Baloch insurgents. Of the 4,029 civilian fatalities, at least 1,168 have been attributable to one or other terrorist/insurgent outfit. Of these, 395 civilian killings (225 in the South and 170 in the North) have been claimed by Baloch separatist formations, while Islamist and sectarian extremist formations – primarily LeJ, TTP and IS – claimed responsibility for another 773 civilian killings – 690 in the North (mostly in and around Quetta) and 83 in the South. The remaining 2,861 civilian fatalities – 1,694 in the South and 1,167 in the North – remain 'unattributed'. A large proportion of the ‘unattributed’ fatalities, particularly in the Southern region, are believed to be the result of enforced disappearances carried out by state agencies, or by their proxies, prominently including the Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Aman Balochistan (TNAB, Movement for the Restoration of Peace, Balochistan). The large number of unattributed civilian fatalities strengthens the widespread conviction that the Security Agencies execute “kill and dump” operations against local Baloch dissidents, a reality that Pakistan’s Supreme Court has clearly recognized.

A December 28, 2016, BBC Urdu report, attributing data to Pakistan’s Federal Ministry of Human Rights, claimed that at least 936 dead bodies of ‘disappeared’ persons, often mutilated and bearing the signs of torture, had been recovered in Balochistan just since 2011. Most of the bodies were dumped in Quetta, Qalat, Khuzdar and Makran areas, where the separatist insurgency has its roots. Thousands of people have disappeared without trace in Balochistan since the separatist insurgency gained momentum in 2007. BBC Urdu, quoting the International Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (IVBMP) head Nasrullah Baloch, reported that most of the bodies "are of those activists who have been victims of 'enforced disappearances' – people who are picked up by authorities and then just go missing." The IVBMP claimed that it has recorded 1,200 cases of dumped bodies, and there are many more it has not been able to document. None of the mainstream media reported such state sponsored atrocities, as media reporting from these areas is strictly forbidden.

Continued extra-judicial killings by the Pakistani security establishment has made Baloch insurgent groups more violent towards non-Baloch people in the Province, with the result that a in a series of attacks have targeted Punjabi and other non-Baloch settlers in Balochistan. These killings have been orchestrated by Baloch groups including the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) and the Baloch Republican Army (BRA), among others, who have openly to voiced anti-Punjabi sentiments. According to partial data compiled by SATP, a total of 198 settlers have been killed in Balochistan since the killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti, leader of the Bugti tribe and President of the Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP), on August 26, 2006, (data till January 21, 2018). Bugti was killed in a military operation in the Chalgri area of the Bhamboor Hills in Dera Bugti District. Out of the 198 ‘outsiders’ killed, at least 75 were Punjabis. While 23 Punjabi settlers were killed in 2017, 2016 witnessed no attack on Punjabis. The number of such fatalities stood at six in 2015; 17 in 2014; 29 in 2013; 26 in 2012; 13 in 2011; 21 in 2010; 18 in 2009; and one in 2008. No such fatalities were recorded in 2007 and 2006. While Punjabis have been the main targets, other ethnic groups, such as Urdu-speaking people from Karachi and Hindko-speaking settlers from Haripur District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), have also been singled out in acts of ethnic violence.

Significantly, most of the Punjabi settler killings were recorded in South Balochistan (principally in Bolan, Kech, Gwadar, Panjgur, Khuzdar, Sibi and Lasbela Districts) which accounted for 156 killings; followed by 27 in North Balochistan (mostly in Nushki, Quetta and Mustang District). The overwhelming concentration of such killings in the South was because of the presence and dominance of Baloch insurgents in this region, while the North is dominated by Islamist extremist formations such as TTP and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), groups that are primarily engaged in sectarian killings within Pakistan.

Other than non-Baloch people, those associated with China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) programs, including the Gwadar Port project, were also targeted by Baloch nationalists and insurgents who consider CPEC an instrument of exploitation of local resources and marginalization of local populations. On May 13, 2017, at least 10 labourers were killed and another two injured when unidentified motorcycle borne assailants opened fire at a construction site in the Pishgan area Gwadar Town. The slain labourers belonged to the Naushahro Feroze District of Sindh. BLA claimed responsibility for the attack. Since the start of CPEC projects in Balochistan in 2014, at least 57 workers (all Pakistani nationals) connected with these projects, have been killed.  

The Balochistan president of the Awami National Party (ANP), Asghar Khan Achakzai, alleged on October 9, 2017, that the Pakistan Government was ignoring the Province in CPEC related projects: "Balochistan is being ignored in the development process and all resources were being diverted towards Punjab". Earlier, on March 13, 2017, Munir Mengal, the President of Baloch Voice Foundation, asserted that CPEC was a 'strategic design' by Pakistan and China to loot Balochistan's resources and eliminate Baloch culture and identity.

Indeed, according to Pakistan’s Federal Ministry of Interior data, shared with Parliament on September 2, 2016, though Balochistan is the starting point of the CPEC, the lion's share of the project has been assigned to Punjab. According to official statistics, out of the total of 330 projects, 176 were in Punjab while only eight projects were allocated for Balochistan.

While terrorism-related violence in the Province has dropped to a seven-year low, the long standing discontent of the ethnic Baloch with regard to the Federal Government’s persistent neglect and injustice continues to rise. Violence in the Province has reduced, but the dynamics that propelled it are well in place, and are increasingly compounded by the activities of Islamist and sectarian extremist formations that have long been active in the North and are progressively pushing into the southern areas of the Province as well.

INDIA

Odisha: Waning Influence  

Deepak Kumar Nayak 
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management

Left Wing Extremism (LWE) in Odisha continued to suffer reverses through 2017. According to partial data collated by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), through 2017, Odisha recorded for 36 LWE-linked fatalities [18 civilians, nine Security Force (SF) personnel and nine Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres] as against 72 such fatalities (27 civilians, three SF personnel and 42 Maoists) recorded through 2016. There has been no such fatality in the current year so far (data till January 21, 2018).

Odisha registered a decline of 33.33 per cent in civilian fatalities, from 27 in 2016 to 18 in 2017. Fatalities recorded in this category in 2017, on year on year basis, were the fourth lowest since the formation of CPI-Maoist in September 2004. The lowest number (three fatalities) was recorded in 2006, while the second lowest (13) was recorded twice, in 2005 and 2007. Significantly, the highest number of fatalities (62) was registered in 2010.

Though fatalities among SFs increased from three in 2016 to nine in 2017, what is notable here is that the number of incidents in which SFs were killed stood at two in both these years. The two incidents in which SFs were killed in 2017 included:

February 1: Maoists triggered a landmine explosion near Mungarbhumi in Koraput District, killing eight Police personnel and injuring another five. The explosion targeted a Police van, carrying 13 Police personnel, on its way to the Police Training College in Angul District. This was the worst attack, in terms of fatalities, against the SFs in the State since May 23, 2011, when nine Policemen were killed in a Maoist-triggered landmine blast in the Sunabeda Forest area of Nuapada District. 

June 4: A Special Operation Group (SOG) trooper was killed and another six were injured in a CPI-Maoist ambush near Khamankhol under Baliguda Police Station limits in Kandhamal District.

Maoist fatalities recorded a decline of 78.57 per cent, from 42 registered in 2016 to nine in 2017. Though SFs eliminated a smaller number of Maoists through 2017, they did inflict greater losses on the Maoists in terms of arrests. SFs arrested 62 Maoists, including one 'commander' level cadre in 2017, as against to 13 such arrests through 2016. The SFs continued to neutralise Maoist camps through 2017 and recovered arms and ammunition on at least 26 occasions, in addition to 28 in 2016.

Mounting SF pressure resulted the surrender of 54 Maoists in 2017. 401 Maoists had surrendered through 2016. The 2017 surrenders included CPI-Maoist ‘Central Committee (CC)’ member Jinugu Narasimha Reddy aka Jampanna, who headed the Maoists in Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Nayagarh and Boudh Districts; and his wife Hinge Anitha alias Rajitha. The couple surrendered before the Telangana Police on December 22, 2017. Subsequent to their surrender, Kandhamal District Police put posters at several areas in the District asking the Maoists to surrender and lead a normal life in future. The posters mentioned the surrender of these ‘Central Committee’ members and assured the Maoists that they would be provided with all kind of Government benefits if they laid down arms.

Their shrinking strength have forced the Maoists to recognize their declining influence. The number of bandh (total shut down) calls given by the rebels in 2017 came down to two, from 10 such calls in 2016.

An analysis of over ground and underground Maoist activities in Odisha through 2017 indicated that only two Districts – Malkangiri and Koraput – of 18 LWE-affected Districts (Odisha has a total of 30 Districts) fell in the ‘highly affected’ category, while another two Districts – Kalahandi and Kandhamal – remained ‘moderately affected’. The remaining 14 affected Districts – Angul, Bargarh, Bolangir, Cuttack, Deogarh, Ganjam, Gajapati, Keonjhar, Nabarangpur, Nayagarh, Nuapada, Rayagada, Sambalpur, and Sundargarh – were all categorised as ‘marginally affected’. By comparison, in 2016, four Districts – Malkangiri, Koraput, Kalahandi and Kandhamal – out of 16 LWE-affected Districts, were ‘highly affected’; another four Districts – Deogarh, Rayagada, Nuapada and Sundargarh – were ‘moderately affected’; and the remaining eight – Angul, Bargarh, Bolangir, Dhenkanal, Ganjam, Gajapati, Jajpur and Nabarangpur – were ‘marginally affected’.

At peak in 2011, the number of ‘highly affected’ Districts in Odisha was nine (Gajapati, Jajpur, Kandhamal, Keonjhar, Koraput, Malkangiri, Nuapada, Rayagada, and Sundargarh).

Indeed, as Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik noted on March 28, 2017, "Left-wing extremism remains largely contained to few pockets in the State, such as in parts of Malkangiri, Koraput, Nuapada, Kalahandi and Rayagada Districts. The Security Forces have been successful in handling the rebels on all fronts."

Amidst these positive trends, some concerns remained. Incidents of bomb blasts increased from three in 2016 to five in 2017. Further, a total of 27 persons were abducted in 10 incidents in 2017, while 24 persons had been abducted in six incidents in 2016. The Maoists also carried out 12 incidents of arson in 2017, as against nine in the previous year. In addition, at least 11 families deserted their homes in 2017 due to Maoist threats, as against seven in 2016.

The three-tier panchayat (village level local self Government institution) elections were held in the State in five phases on February 13, 15, 17, 19 and 21, 2017. While the rest of State witnessed violence-free elections, there was no voting in 13 of 19 booths in Malkangiri, for fear of the Maoists. Poll officials disclosed that a very small number of people exercised their franchise in the remaining six booths as well. According to a villager, who did not cast his vote, “We preferred not to vote fearing the Maoists. They would punish people who cast votes.” The Maoists had reportedly warned the tribals of the District to abstain from the voting. Malkangiri had gone to polls on February 19.

Director General (DG) of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Rajiv Bhatnagar, in his meeting with Chief Minister Patnaik on August 28, 2017, had discussed the anti-LWE strategy for the Kalahandi-Kandhamal-Bolangir (KKB) axis, which remained a challenge for the SFs in the State.

Disturbingly, People’s Liberation Front of India (PLFI), a CPI-Maoist splinter group mainly based in neighbouring Jharkhand, continued to make its presence felt in the State. A total of five incidents related to PLFI were reported in 2017, as against two such incidents in 2016. The most significant of the incidents in 2017 involving PLFI included:

February 8, 2017: Two PLFI cadres were killed in an exchange fire with the SFs in the Pital Forest under the Bisra Police limits in Sundargarh District,

April 24, 2017: A bandh call by PLFI cadres affected road communication between Sundargarh District and Jharkhand;

October 1, 2017: Seven PLFI cadres were arrested by the Police during a combing operation in Khukhundbahal forest under the Biramitrapur Police Station in Sundargarh District. One 9 mm carbine, three 9 mm double bore barrel guns, two 9 mm pistols and 37 rounds of live ammunition were seized from them

December 24, 2017: Eight PLFI cadres were arrested by the Police at Bisra in Sundargarh District. The Police also seized two pistols and two motorcycles from their possession.

In addition to measures taken earlier  to further improve the situation, the State Government decided on October 26, 2017, to intensify its drive against the CPI-Maoist, with a focus on joint operations by the Police and Central Forces in Malkangiri and Koraput Districts, considered Maoist strongholds. State Director General of Police (DGP), R.P. Sharma, reviewed anti-Maoist operations and stated, "Our emphasis will be on joint operations and better co-ordination between the forces."

Meanwhile, to improve security situation in Koraput District in particular, the Police launched ‘Saathi-2018’ on January 16, 2018, a programme aimed at creating a friendly environment between the law-enforcement agencies and the people, to counter the influence of the Maoists. According to top Police officers, the campaign is on in full swing at Narayanpatna, Bandhugaon, Pottangi and Boipariguda Police limits, and has won the appreciation of the people. The Koraput Police plans to organise at least 40 camps under Saathi-2018 in the Maoist-hit areas of Laxmipur, Nandapur and Pottangi Police limits by the month of February.

Deficiencies and deficits, nevertheless, persist. Odisha Police continues to lag in terms of capacities to deal with the challenges of the Maoists as well as with the general duties of policing in the State. According to the latest Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) data, as on January 1, 2017, Odisha had 132.87 Police personnel per 100,000 population, significantly below the national average of 150.75. More worryingly, the Police/Area Ratio (number of policemen per 100 square kilometres) is 36.42, as against the national average of 60.83. Both these figures are well below the sanctioned strength, at 155.67 and 42.67, respectively. In addition, the sanctioned strength of the apex Indian Police Service (IPS) Officers in the State is 188, but just 117 officers were in position, considerably weakening executive direction of the Force. Nevertheless, it is useful to note that Odisha was among the three worst States in terms of Police-population ratios in 2000, with a ratio of just 96 per 100,000, but has pulled itself up, to the eighth position from the bottom.

Currently, the Centre has deployed a total of 17 battalions of Central Armed Police Forces in the State – eight battalions each of the CRPF and Border Security Force (BSF) and one battalion of the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA), a specialized unit of the CRPF, to boost combing operations. These Central Forces are largely deployed in Rayagada, Malkangiri, Kalahandi, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Nuapada and Kandhamal Districts.

According to a report dated February 23, 2017, at least 700 LWE-related cases have been registered in different Police Stations in Odisha since 2000. Nearly 70 per cent of these were still pending investigation, while the conviction rate of the cases that actually reached a decision in the lower courts stood at a bare seven per cent. According to the report, the LWE wing of the State Crime Branch, which supervises investigation into Maoist offences, had asked the LWE-affected Districts of Odisha to create a databank of such cases and appoint dedicated officers to pursue investigations. Unfortunately, the the District Administration and State Government have failed to address the issue, and its underlying deficits.

On the developmental front, according to a January 15, 2018, report the Union Government has been implementing the National Policy and Action Plan (NPAP) to combat LWE since 2014. NPAP includes a multi-pronged strategy, covering areas of security, development, ensuring forest rights of tribal people and other issues in the Maoist-affected Districts. A new scheme of Special Central Assistance (SCA) was launched by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) on September 27, 2017, for the 35 worst LWE-affected Districts in the country, which is to continue for a period of three years i.e., 2017-18 to 2019-20. Two Districts of Odisha – Malkangiri and Koraput – will receive INR 285.7 million per annum, each, for the three financial years, under this scheme.

On November 29, 2017, State Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi disclosed that the construction of the Gurupriya Bridge, which would connect the six gram panchayats in the "cut-off" area located across the Balimela Reservoir, with the Malkangiri District's mainland, will be completed by February, 2018. The cut-off area has long been a region of Maoist dominance, and the Balimela Reservoir was the location of one of the worst massacres of SF personnel in the State, predominantly the elite Andhra Pradesh Police Greyhounds, on June 29, 2008.

Despite the decline of Maoist influence, a residual challenge remains in Odisha. The remaining affected Districts represent some of the poorest and most backward regions in the State and in the country. A January 5, 2018, Union Government list of 115 backward Districts in the country, included eight from Odisha: Rayagada, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Gajapati, Dhenkanal, Bolangir, Koraput and Malkangiri.The Centre appointed joint secretary-level officers as prabharis (in-charge) of these Districts for better implementation of Government initiatives on equitable development across the country through the Transformation of Aspirational Districts Plan. The Districts were identified on the basis of indicators of education, health, nutrition, basic infrastructure, rural household electrification, and access to potable water and individual toilets. Unfortunately, while the SFs have taken giant steps forward in containing the insurgent threat, an administrative consolidation lags well behind.

Weekly Fatalities: Major Conflicts in South Asia 
January 15 - 21, 2017 

 

BANGLADESH

Myanmar requests Bangladesh to extradite 1,300 ARSA militants: Myanmar on January 16 requested Bangladesh to extradite 1,300 militants of Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), claiming it has information that those members were attempting to disrupt the repatriation of the Rohingyas. "We heard that these members are attempting to disrupt the repatriation process. We also have photographic evidence of this," U Myint Thu, permanent secretary of Myanmar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a statement on Tuesday. Daily Star, January 18, 2018.

INDIA

Naga Hoho says it won't allow Nagaland Assembly elections': With the Election Commission announcing election schedule for Nagaland, Naga hoho (apex body of nagas) and Naga Students Federation (NSF) the student body of nagas have opposed holding of state elections. NSF stated that the election might cause delay to the ongoing talks between Government of India (GoI) and Isak-Muivah faction of National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM). Indian Express further adds that Naga Hoho president P Chuba Ozukum stated that 'the stand of the organization is not to allow the election'. Times of India, January 21, 2018. 

Pakistan must change its 'mindset' on terror, says Indian envoy to the UN: During a high-level United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting regarding Afghanistan, India's permanent representative to the United Nations (UN) Syed Akbaruddin said on January 19 that Pakistan must change its 'mindset' that unleashes the terrorist activities in India and Afghanistan. "Terrorism and externally induced instability pose the gravest threat to Afghanistan's peace, stability and prosperity," he said. "And the growing arc of terrorist violence endangers our entire region." said Akbaruddin. Hindustan Times, January 20, 2018.

'Indian state-sponsored' terrorism does not exist, says former Director-General of US Central Intelligence Agency: Responding to a question at the Raisina Dialogue in Delhi on January 18, former Director-General (Retired) of the United States' (US) Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)-David H. Petraeus has declined the concept of 'Indian state-sponsored' terrorism. Supporting the statement, India's Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar said that he was at the Dialogue to talk about facts and not 'fantasy' stories. Indian Express, January 19, 2018. 

Pakistan's Khalistan revival 'dream' is behind killing of Hindu leaders in Punjab, says NIA: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has revealed a common link between Pakistan-backed conspiracy of revival of Khalistan and the killings of six Hindu leaders of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in various locations in Punjab. The conspiracy has a focal agenda to provoke communal violence that in turn fuels the revival of Khalistani movement in Punjab. India Today, January 15, 2018.

195 SFs personnel martyred in terror attacks in the past three years, says J&K Government: Jammu and Kashmir Government on January 17 said that 195 Security Forces (SFs) personnel have sacrificed their lives in the past three years in terrorist attacks in the State. In a written reply to the question of BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) member Ramesh Arora in the Legislative Council on January 17, Minister In-charge Home said that during last three years 195 security personnel have lost their lives in terror attacks across the State. The Minister further added that 195 security personnel attained martyrdom in terrorist-related incidents and out of these, 78 were martyred during 2017, 74 in 2016 while 43 during 2015. Daily Excelsior, January 15, 2018.

NEPAL

No one should carry out activities that would hamper NA election, says CEC Ayodhee Prasad Yadav': Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Ayodhee Prasad Yadav inaugurating the election operation and management training organized for election officers, assistant election officers, and District election officers to be deputed in National Assembly (NA) election in Kathmandu on January 18 said that no one should carry out activities that would hamper the NA election. He urged all political parties to help give full shape to federal parliament by holding NA election in a successful mannern'. The Himalayan Times, January 19, 2018. 

PAKISTAN

Afghan Taliban, Haqqani network must go back to Afghanistan, says Pakistan: Pakistan on January 19 said that it wanted to send Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network leaders back to Afghanistan to join the mainstream politics in their own country. In an interview to the BBC Urdu, Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States Aizaz Chaudhry rejected allegations of providing shelter to Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network operatives. "There are no terrorist safe havens in Pakistan. However, if US has any information [on the issue] then they must share it with us as we too want to eliminate them [Taliban and Haqqanis]," he said. Daily Times, January 20, 2018. 

Hafiz Saeed should be prosecuted to fullest extent of law, says US': Following Prime Minister (PM) Shahid Khaqan Abbasi's remark that no action could be taken against the United Nations-designated terrorist Hafiz Saeed, the United States (US) on January 18 called for Hafiz Saeed's prosecution "to the fullest extent of the law". PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, during an interview to Geo TV on January 16, referred to Hafiz Saeed as 'sahib' (sir) and said "There is no case against Hafiz Saeed sahib in Pakistan. Only when there is a case, can there be action," he said when asked why there was no action against Saeed. Times of India, January 19, 2018. 

No action can be taken against Hafiz Saeed, says Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi: Granting total immunity to the Mumbai terror attacks mastermind, Hafiz Saeed, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said on a private news channel on January 16-night that no action can be taken against Hafiz Saeed since no case has been registered against him. "Action is taken when there is a case registered against someone. There is no case against Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan, if there were a case, action would have been taken," Abbasi said in a TV interview, referring to Saeed as 'sahib', a form of address or title placed after a man's name or designation as a mark of respect. Times of India , January 18, 2018.