South Asia Terrorism Portal

Balochistan: Insecure Security 
Tushar Ranjan Mohanty
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management

At least 10 Policemen were killed and another 15 injured in two separate suicide attacks in Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, on April 24, 2018. In the first incident, a suicide bomber drove his motorcycle into a Police truck, on Airport Road, killing seven Balochistan Constabulary. According to law enforcement sources, an estimated 20 kilograms of explosives were used in the attack. In a separate incident, three Frontier Corps (FC) personnel were killed and six were injured in the Mian Gundi area, when two suicide bombers targeted an FC check post in an attempt to enter the FC camp. Hizbul Ahrar, a splinter faction of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA), claimed responsibility for both the attacks.

On April 9, 2018, at least five FC personnel were injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up near their vehicle in the Belili area of Quetta. No outfit has yet claimed responsibility for the incident.

On February 28, 2018, four FC soldiers were killed and seven were injured in a suicide attack on a FC check-post in Nosahar area in the Quetta. No outfit claimed responsibility for the attack.

On the same day, two Policemen were killed when three Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorists attacked the convoy of Deputy Superintendent Police (DSP) Hameedullah Dasti on Samungli Road, Quetta. The DSP and his driver remained unhurt, as the pick-up was bulletproof, but two Police officials sitting in the back were killed in the attack. The deceased were identified as Muhammad Tahir and Ayub Shah.

On January 17, 2018, two Balochistan Constabulary personnel, identified as Ilyas and Shaukat, were shot dead while another, identified as Javed, sustained injuries when unidentified terrorists attacked them in the Double Road area of Quetta. The personnel were reportedly deployed at a flyover in the area for security duty. No outfit has claimed responsibility for the attack.

On January 9, 2018, seven people, including five Policemen, were killed and 16 others, including eight Policemen, injured in a TTP suicide attack near GPO Chowk on Zarghoon Road, Quetta.

According to partial data compiled by the Institute for Conflict Management (ICM), at least 38 Security Force (SF) personnel have been killed in the current year (data till April 29, 2018). During the corresponding period of 2017, the number of such fatalities stood at 16. A rising trend in fatalities among SFs had been already emerging in 2017. While the first half of 2017 (January to June) recorded 31 such fatalities, the second half (July to December) accounted for another 46. Nevertheless, overall fatalities among SFs had declined in 2017 as compared to 2016 – from 153 to 77 – after registering increases in 2015 and 2016.

Balochistan North-South SF fatalities breakup 

More noticeably, out of the 38 SF personnel killed in the Province in 2018, at least 32 were killed in North Balochistan, while the remaining six were killed in the South. Since 2011, out of 875 SF personnel killed in Balochistan, the North accounted for 617 fatalities (70.27 per cent), while South recorded 261 fatalities (29.72 per cent). SF fatalities in each of these eight years have been consistently higher in the North.

As noted earlier, the North is afflicted by Islamist extremist groups such as TTP and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ); while Baloch nationalist insurgent groups operate in the South. The major Baloch insurgent groups include the Baloch Republican Army (BRA), Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), Balochistan Liberation Tigers (BLT) and United Baloch Army (UBA). The Pakistani state targets the ethnic Baloch insurgent groups with great ferocity, engineering extra judicial killings and ‘disappearances’ in the name of ‘fighting terror’. Given the much higher losses they suffer in the North, it would be expected that their counter-insurgency (CI) and counter-terrorism (CT) responses would be more focused on the North, but this area receives little attention.

Of the 4,055 civilian fatalities recorded in Balochistan since 2004 (data till April 29, 2018), at least 1,167 have been attributable to one or other terrorist/insurgent outfit. Of these, 396 civilian killings (226 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 Ahrar-ul-Hind (Liberators of India) – claimed responsibility for another 771 civilian killings, 688 in the North (mostly in and around Quetta) and 83 in the South. The remaining 2,888 civilian fatalities – 1,696 in the South and 1,192 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).

According to the Federal Ministry of Human Rights, at least 936 dead bodies of ‘disappeared’ persons, often mutilated and bearing the signs of torture, have been found in Balochistan since 2011, pointing to large-scale extrajudicial killings by state agencies and their proxies. Most of them were dumped in Qalat, Khuzdar and Makran areas as well as in Quetta where the separatist insurgency has its roots. After the assassination of Nawab Akbar Shahbaz Khan Bugti, the legendary leader of the Baloch freedom struggle, on August 26, 2006, the intensity of the insurgency shifted from its traditional bases of Kohlu and Dera Bugti towards Quetta, Mastung and Khuzdar in central, and to Awaran, Turbat, Panjgur and Gwadar, in southern Balochistan. The International Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (IVBMP) claimed to have recorded 1,200 cases of dumped bodies and that there are many such killings that went undocumented.

Reconfirming the State’s role in such extra judicial killings, former Balochistan Inspector General of Police (IGP) Tariq Khosa, according to April 25, 2018, report, stated,

Khosa stated further that he did not understand why the Pakistani State backed private militias, headed by people like Shafiq Mengal, who was later found to be involved in attacks against his tribal enemies as well as Shias. Shafiq Mengal is the chief of TNAB, the pro-Government tribal militia.

While SFs engage in a systematic campaign of extermination of ethnic Baloch people through enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in the South, they are, in turn, frequently targeted by Islamist terrorist formations such as TTP and LeJ in the northern Districts. 833 Policemen, including 17 DSPs, two Deputy Inspectors General and other Police officers have been killed in numerous attacks, including suicide hits and target killings in recent years, according to a July, 13, 2017, report quoting data collected from the Balochistan Police Headquarters.  

Continuous losses among SFs in North Balochistan are the direct outcome of the State’s failed and self defeating policy of differentiating between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ terrorists, creating spaces for renegades who turn against the State itself.

Surviving the Motion 
S. Binodkumar Singh
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management

On April 4, 2018, Parliament comfortably defeated a No-Confidence Motion brought by the Joint Opposition group led by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. Of the 225 Members of Parliament (MPs), 122 MPs – 104 of the United National Party (UNP), 16 of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), and one each of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) – voted against the No-Confidence Motion.  76 MPs – 70 of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and six of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) – voted in support of the No-Confidence Motion. Another 26 MPs including 25 SLFP MPs and one MP of the UNP absented themselves from the House during the vote. Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, a UNP MP, did not vote. Significantly, it was the first No-Confidence Motion brought against the current National Unity Government, formed on August 20, 2015.

The Joint Opposition, which is very critical of the current administration of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe, had announced its ‘Shadow Cabinet’ on July 7, 2016, in which Rajapaksa was appointed ‘shadow Prime Minister’.

In the August 2015 Parliamentary Elections, voters had given a fractured mandate, with none of the parties securing a simple majority. UNP, led by Wickremesinghe, had secured 106 seats [93 ‘District-basis’ seats + 13 'National-basis seats'], falling seven short of a simple majority in a 225-memebr House; the SLFP could get only 95 seats [83 ‘District-basis’ seats + 12 'National-basis seats']. The main Tamil political party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which contests election in the name of Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK), as the TNA itself is not a registered political party, won 16 seats [14 ‘District-basis seats’ + 2 'National-basis seats']. The main Marxist party, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP, People's Liberation Front) won six seats [4 ‘District-basis seats’ + 2 'National-basis seats']. The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) got one ‘District-basis seat’ each. [The District-basis seats are those for which direct elections are held. There are 29 'National-level seats' which, according to the 15^th Amendment to the Constitution that introduced Article 99A, are decided on the basis of the total number of votes polled by the respective political parties or independent groups at the national level.]

Subsequently, the National Unity Government was formed following a historic agreement between UNP and the SLFP on August 20, 2015. UNP and SLFP are the two major political forces in Sri Lanka, with a long history of bitter rivalry. They engaged fiercely in the Parliamentary Elections of August 17, 2015, but reached a compromise thereafter, as equations within SLFP changed dramatically. The party has virtually split into two factions – one led by Sirisena and the other by Mahinda Rajapaksa. It was during the January 2015 Presidential Elections that Sirisena revolted against his political master, then incumbent President Rajapaksa, who was also the head of SLFP. Though Sirisena was expelled from the party, he contested a successful election against Rajapaksa as a 'common candidate' for the New Democratic Front (NDF). Subsequent to his loss, Rajapaksa resigned as the head of SLFP and was succeeded by Sirisena. The latter, however, failed to establish full authority over the party. This became apparent when Rajapaksa successfully contested the Parliamentary Elections as the 'Prime Ministerial candidate' of the SLFP, despite Sirisena's direct opposition. Though reports indicated that most of SLFP’s new Members of Parliament (MPs) were Rajapaksa supporters, the split verdict had put them in a quandary and forced them to seek a compromise. Rajapaksa could be confronted with a judicial reckoning, along with two of his brothers who held high office, for alleged corruption and abuse of power during his regime over the decade. A Sirisena aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said "Mahinda has to compromise - resign from politics and Parliament, and settle down as a former president - or face the legal consequences."

Though, the National Unity Government continued to survive the acrimonious relation within SLFP, it is staring into uncertainty in the aftermath of the February 10, 2018, Local Government elections. The SLFP-UNP ruling alliance suffered a humiliating defeat in the Local Government polls, while Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP, ?Sri Lanka People's Front), a new party formed on November 2, 2016, emerged victorious. After the final results, the SLPP got 44.65 per cent of the vote. Mahinda Rajapaksa, who led the SLPP to the Local Government elections victory, on February 11, 2018, tweeted,

Days after they voted in favor of the No-Confidence Motion against Prime Minister Wickremesinghe in Parliament, six Cabinet Ministers and 10 Deputy Ministers and State Ministers of SLFP quit the National Unity Government on April 11, 2018. Further, on April 27, 2018, 16 Ministers, Deputy Ministers and State Ministers of SLFP requested Parliament Secretary General W.B.D. Dassanayake in writing to arrange their seating in the opposition benches.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe while meeting President Maithripala Sirisena on February 11, 2018, agreed to continue the National Unity Government formed under the leadership of President Sirisena until 2020, when the President's term expires. Significantly, on April 12, 2018, a day after 16 MPs quit the National Unity Government, President Sirisena issued a gazette proroguing Parliament with effect from April 12, 2018, midnight, until May 8, 2018.

Separately, criticizing the Office for Missing Persons (OMP), a special office set up to determine the status of all persons who went ‘missing’ during the civil war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Joint Opposition member Udaya Gammanpila of Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU, National Heritage Party), noted, “The OMP aims to bring in reparations to the victims of the nearly three-decade long armed conflict in the country. This is nothing but a mechanism to try war heroes (soldiers who defeated the LTTE)." The Bill to establish the OMP was introduced on May 22, 2016, and on June 21, 2017, was passed unanimously in the Parliament. Meanwhile, the Government on March 13, 2018, operationalized the OMP. An official release stated "The Office on Missing Persons has officially got underway. The main purpose of the OMP is to address the suffering of thousands of families living in all parts of the country whose loved ones have gone missing or disappeared during multiple conflicts in Sri Lanka."

Another Joint Opposition member Sarath Weerasekera of UPFA alleged, on April 6, 2018,

Indeed, the earlier Sri Lankan Government led by Rajapaksa as well as the current National Unity Government have opposed a strident campaign by the international community, particularly western nations, to interfere in the country's internal affairs in the guise of 'investigation of war crimes', through the adoption of several resolutions.

On the other hand, the Northern Province Council led by Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran of TNA passed a resolution on February 27, 2018, requesting the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to establish an International Court to investigate allegations of war crimes against the armed forces during the decades-long civil war between the LTTE and the Army. The resolution was submitted by the Northern Provincial Councilor M.K. Shivajilingam at the 37^th UNHRC session at Geneva on February 27, 2018. The resolution stated,

The Sri Lankan Government has not opposed this resolution thus far.

Discreetly, on April 9, 2018, the Joint Opposition decided to submit a letter to Speaker Karu Jayasuriya demanding that TNA Leader R. Sampanthan be removed as the Opposition Leader of Parliament, citing Sampanthan’s decision to vote against the Joint Opposition sponsored No-Confidence Motion against the Prime Minister. TNA was recognized as the Main Opposition and its leader Sampanthan was designated as Opposition Leader on September 3, 2015. Prior to this, Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) leader A. Amirthalingam was the only Tamil politician who had served as Opposition Leader (from 1977 to 1983). Sampanthan was also an MP of the main opposition at that time.

Conspicuously, though the National Unity Government has survived the current political storm, the inherent rift within the SLFP will keep the Government busy fighting for survival. Escalating confrontationist politics, moreover, is likely to hamper the ongoing reconciliation process in the country.

 

AFGHANISTAN

93 militants killed and 74 others injured in operations across Afghanistan, says MoD Afghanistan: Ministry of Defence (MoD) Afghanistan said that 93 militants (affiliation not specified) were killed and 74 others were injured in operations conducted by Afghan Security Forces with support of Air and Artillery Forces in Nangarhar, Laghman, Kunar, Kapisa, Ghazni, Khost, Logar, Paktia, Kandahar, Zabul, Urozgan, Farah, Badghis, Ghor, Takhar, Baghlan, Samangan and Helmand Provinces (duration not specified). Bakhtar News, April 28, 2018.

60 killed in suicide attack on a voter registration centre in Kabul Province: 60 people including nine children were killed and 129 others were injured in a suicide attack on a voter registration centre in the Dasht-i-Barchi area of Kabul City (District) the national capital in Kabul Province. The attack was claimed by Islamic State (IS). South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) had earlier reported on April 23 that 57 people were killed and 119 were injured. Tolonews, April 25, 2018.

Taliban recruiting fighters from Shaikh Abdul Ghani religious seminary, says former NDS Chief Rahmatullah Nabil: Former National Directorate of Security (NDS) Chief Rahmatullah Nabil has claimed that the Taliban was recruiting fighters from Shaikh Abdul Ghani religious seminary or Madrasa for its spring offensive. “The offensive announced fm PAK, while some of NUG leaders due 2 their personal motives still thinking PAK will cooperate in war on terror & want to promote MoU on intelligence sharing. These leaders are going 2 destroy our security apparatus by infesting it with ISI spies,” Nabil also wrote in a Twitter post. Khaama Press, April 28, 2018.

Taliban to launch spring offensive codenamed ‘Al Khandaq’: Taliban on April 25 announced the launch of their spring offensive codenamed ‘Al Khandaq’. The ‘military commission’ planned the annual operations, stated Taliban. Pajhwok, April 26, 2018.

INDIA

Naga accord in final states, states report: The Central government and Naga armed groups are said to have finalised the substantive portions of the peace accord which is likely to be signed before the monsoon session of Parliament. The accord, according to officials does not change the boundary of states; provides autonomous Naga territorial councils for Arunachal and Manipur; a common cultural body for Nagas across states; specific institutions for state’s development, integration and rehabilitation of non-state Naga militia and the removal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. Indian Express, April 26, 2018.

Government identifies 120 vulnerable spots along Indo-Bangladesh border and deploys additional troops to stop Rohingya influx: India has identified 120 vulnerable points along its 4,096km Indo-Bangladesh border and deployed additional Border Security Force (BSF) troopers to detect and push back Rohingya refugees if they try to enter the country. An unnamed Union Home Ministry (UHM) sources said on April 25 that the BSF, which has intensified patrol, has been told to only "push" the infiltrators back into Bangladesh and not arrest them so that they don't become a "liability". The Telegraph, April 26, 2018.

Effective Policies of Centre, States Helped Curb NE Militancy, Assam DGP Mukesh Sahay: Director General of Police, Mukesh Sahay on April 25 attributed the pursuance of “well thought out, calibrated” policies of the Centre and the States for militancy going down in the Northeast and the subsequent removal of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) from Meghalaya and parts of Arunachal Pradesh. “The militancy graph is coming down over the years owing to a well thought out calibrated policy consciously pursued by the Centre and State. Now you have the AFSPA removed from Meghalaya and parts of Arunachal Pradesh,” Sahay said. The Shillong Times, April 26, 2018.

Government of India revises surrender and rehabilitation policy for militants: Government of India (GoI) has revised the surrender-cum-rehabilitation policy of militants in the northeastern states with effect from April 1. The grant for surrendered militants has been raised to INR 4,00,000 from INR 1,00,000 and the monthly stipend to INR 6,000 from INR 3,500 for three years. According to a Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) official, revised policy also includes provisions for vocational training, funds for construction of rehabilitation camps and compulsory Aadhaar biometric registration of surrenderees. The surrender-cum-rehabilitation policy in the Northeast has been implemented since 1998. The Telegraph, April 24, 2018.  

NIA would provide training to State Police Forces to counter cybercrime, says report: Considering the social media’s role in terror activities, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) would provide training of cyber tools to the State Police Forces to effectively countering the Cybercrime. Social media is one of the important elements in spreading false information to provoke communal tensions or terror activities, and there is a need to keep tab on it. Times of India, April 21, 2018. 

AQIS called for jihad against Hindus and Civil Services personnel, says report: Maulana Asim Umar—the Emir of al-Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) blamed the Indian government of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) as anti-Muslim and urged all Indian Muslim youths to wage jihad against India and to target Hindus, officials of Indian Police Services (IPS) and Indian Administrative Services (IAS). Maulana Umar advised Indian Muslims to follow the modus operandi of Muslims in Europe who conducted lone-wolf attacks. In his audiotape, Umar referred to the ‘Battle of Panipat’ and urged youth to wage jihad against India. India Today, April 24, 2018. 

MALDIVES

Last-minute decision would allow him to contest Presidential elections, says Former President Nasheed: Addressing the 41^st annual convention of the Capital Maharaja Organisation Limited (TCMOL) in Colombo, Sri Lanka, the former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed has indicated that the current political situation in the Maldives does not allow him to pursue for the Presidential election, and he would take last-minute decision to compete in the upcoming Presidential elections for September 2018. Maldives Times, April 29, 2018.

Coup of November 1988 and Supreme Court ruling of February 2018 had taught similar lessons, says President Abdulla Yameen: The Maldives President Abdulla Yameen on April 25 compared the landmark ruling of the Supreme Court of the Maldives on February 1, with an attempted Coup of November 3, 1988 and declared that two incidents had taught similar lessons. In November 1988, two [unnamed] conspirators had paid Sri Lanka-based militant outfit, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), to assist in overthrowing the Maldivian Government. Mihaaru, April 27, 2018.

NEPAL

CPN-UML and CPN-Maoist Center agree to formulate new programme on basis of Socialism: Prime Minister and Chairman of Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML) KP Sharma Oli and Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist Centre (CPN-Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal on April 24 agreed to formulate a new programme on the basis of the guiding principles of Marxism, Leninism and Socialism in their one-on-one meeting in Baluwatar, Kathmandu. “Socialism is a common ideology, but the programme for attaining socialism should be formulated as a concrete programme,” sources said after the Oli-Dahal meeting. According to sources, Oli and Dahal also discussed adjustment of leaders and cadres from the top to the bottom. The Himalayan Times, April 25, 2018.

PAKISTAN

62 per cent cut in war on terror losses: According to Economic Survey 2017-18, Pakistan’s economic losses due to United Sates (US) war in Afghanistan and the resultant terrorism, though substantial, have seen a steady decline over the past four years with a healthy 62 per cent drop during Financial Year (FY) 2018. “After facing protracted violence for more than a decade, Pakistan has achieved progressive and significant improvements in the country’s overall security landscape in recent years,” said Economic Survey 2017-18, attributing it to comprehensive counter-terrorism operations and measures under the framework of National Action Plan as well as the sacrifices of the Security Forces (SFs). Dawn, April 27, 2018.

“We have no hostile designs on any country”, says CoAS General Qamar Javed Bajwa: Pakistan’s Chief of the Army Staff (CoAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, during his visit to Russia, said that, "we have no hostile designs on any country and will keep working towards a cooperative regional framework based on sovereign equality". The Chief of General Staff of Russian Armed Forces Valery Vasilevich Gerasimov said that Russia supported Pakistan’s efforts for reconciliation and peace in Afghanistan. Moscow was willing to play a role in Pakistan's initiatives, he added. Pajhwok, April 26, 2018.

SRI LANKA

16 former SLFP Ministers, State and Deputy Ministers want seating in opposition benches: The 16 former Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Ministers, State and Deputy Ministers who quit the Yahapalana Government, on April 27 requested in writing to arrange seating in the opposition benches. Parliament Secretary General W.B.D. Dassanayake said a letter signed by the 16 SLFPers said that they had resigned from their posts and therefore to make seating available for them in the opposition benches. Daily Mirror, April 27, 2018.

Cabinet Ministers should be acceptable locally and internationally, says President Maithripala Sirisena: President Maithripala Sirisena has said that when appointing a Cabinet Minister, the person selected must not only be acceptable locally but also internationally. This had transpired when the BBC Sinhala channel interviewed the President during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London. The President said he had to consider the international atmosphere as well when he was asked about the views expressed in the country as to who should be appointed as Law and Order Minister. Daily Mirror, April 25, 2018.