South Asia Terrorism Portal
A Promise of Hope Sanchita Bhattacharya Research Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management
On January 8, 2023, Mohammad Salim, deputy leader of Block B, Rohingya Camp-8 West, in the Ukhiya Sub-District of Cox's Bazar District, was killed by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA).
On January 7, Mohammad Rashid, the leader of Block A, Rohingya Camp-15, in Teknaf Sub-District of Cox's Bazar District, was killed by masked assailants.
On January 6, 2023, an insurgent, identified as Nurunnabi, was injured in a shootout that took place between two terrorist groups at Block B-39, Rohingya Camp-8 East, in Ukhiya. The members of the Armed Police Battalion (APBn) and law enforcement agencies recovered a grenade from the house of the injured insurgent.
Three terrorism-linked incidents of violence in quick succession, resulting in two fatalities, reported from Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar District.
According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), there were 18 fatal terrorism-linked incidents which had resulted in 22 fatalities in 2022. In 2021, there were five incidents which had resulted in 17 fatalities.
The prominent incidents in 2022 included:
December 26: A group of 12 armed militants of ARSA shot dead a Rohingya leader in Block 16, Rohingya Camp-8 West in Ukhiya. The dead person was identified as Mohammad Hossain alias Shafique who was the leader of Block B.
November 29: Unidentified assailants shot at and stabbed to death a Rohingya community leader, Shahab Uddin. Uddin was a deputy leader in H-14 Block Rohingya Camp-12 in Ukhiya.
October 18: Unidentified men killed a Rohingya youth, Syed Hossain, at Rohingya Camp-19 in Ukhiya.
ARSA, a lethal insurgent group based in Myanmar, is escalating activities in Bangladesh. Investigations against ARSA ‘commander-in-chief’ Ataullah abu Ammar Jununi and 65 others were launched on November 23, 2022, in the case of the killing of a Directorate General of Forces Intelligence officer, Rizwan Rushdee, and the injuring of a Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) trooper, during an anti-smuggling operation in the Bandarban District on November 14, 2022.In October 2022, ARSA was responsible for multiple incidents of killing, attacks and threats in Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar. In 30 attacks just between August and October 2022, ARSA killed or injured Rohingyas by shooting, hacking and separating organs, to create a reign of terror among the refugees. According to partial data compiled by the Institute for Conflict Management (ICM), in the year 2022, nine ARSA-linked incidents of violence have been reported in Bangladesh, in which five persons (three civilians and two militants) were killed and another six (all civilians) were injured.
Moreover, there has been a marked increase in unlawful activities in the Rohingya refugee camps, through 2022, due to the growing and active presence of organized gangs. According to an August 11, 2022, report, Rohingyas had formed at least 20 organised armed gangs, presently active in the refugee camps, prominently including the ‘Salman Shah Group’, ‘Putia Group’, ‘Munna Group’, ‘Hakim Group’, and ‘Jokir Group’. The gangs were involved in serious crimes such as arms, drugs and human trafficking, gold smuggling, kidnapping, extortion and killing. They were also involved in robberies, burglaries, cybercrime, sexual violence and harassment, as well as illegal SIM card and the hundi (money laundering) trade. They have also been involved in grabbing land from Bangladeshi citizens and also run juvenile gangs.
As reported on August 11, 2022, some 101 Rohingyas have been killed in the last five years in internal conflicts among these gangs. In October, 2021, a report indicated that shoot-outs and clashes between these gangs in the Rohingya camp areas were motivated by efforts to establish supremacy and taking control of the illegal Yaba (a cocktail of methamphetamine and caffeine) and gold smuggling, money laundering, and extortion rackets that have proliferated there. As reported on October 3, 2021, the Officer-in-charge (OC) of Teknaf model Police Station in Cox’s Bazar District, Hafizur Rahman disclosed that a total of 27 cases have been filed against just one such group – the Hakim Group.
Moreover, some 100 armed groups, prominently including ARSA, the Rohingya Solidarity Organization (RSO), the Arakan Rohingya Army (ARA), and Jamaat-e-Arakan, are engaged in a turf war to control the camps. The conflict is most violent between ARSA and RSO. ARSA and ARA, led by Nabi Hossain, who was part of ARSA, but left the groups in 2020, are also violently engaged in their efforts to dominate the region. Though no authoritative data is available about the losses faced by these groups, Fawz-ul-Kabir alias Moulavi Abu Anas, ARSA ‘second-in-command’, who reportedly resigned from the outfit in June 2022, has publicly criticized the ARSA leadership for recent casualties suffered by the group at the hands of RSO.
Meanwhile, ARSA has targeted members of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights (ARSPHR), a group that represents parts of the refugee community. Chairman of the ARSPHR and a prominent Rohingya leader, Master Mohibullah, was shot dead by suspected ARSA militants at his office in Kutupalong, Cox’s Bazar District, on September 29, 2021. Subsequently, several ARSPHR members have been killed by ARSA. In the most prominent incident, on October 22, 2021, at least six Rohingya refugees, who were followers of Master Mohibullah, were killed and eight were injured, inside a refugee camp in Ukhiya.
On September 19, 2022, reacting to the rising waves of crime and violence Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal declared that no more Rohingya would be allowed to enter the country. Those who had come earlier, fleeing persecution in Myanmar, have created many problems, he added.
On October 27, 2022, three battalions of APBn arrested at least 41 Rohingyas, including six murder accused, in a special operation, ‘Operation Root Out’, in the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar.
In addition, the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) region, consisting of three hilly, forested southeastern Districts of Bandarban, Rangamati, and Khagracchari, is experiencing increasing ethnic violence even after 25 years of the signing of the CHT Accord of 1997. According to partial data collated by SATP, in 2022 incidents of violence have risen, with 15 fatalities recorded in 2022, as compared to 10 through 2021. The reasons for the increase are, the emergence of ethnicity based armed group, the Kuki-Chin National Front (KCNF) and the Marma National Party in CHT, which has challenged existing groups such as the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS) and the United People's Democratic Front (UPDF). The KCNF, an armed organization led by erstwhile PCJSS member Nathan Loncheu Bawm, appeared in 2021. Although it was first announced as the Kuki-Chin National Development Organization (KNDO), its latest incarnation as KCNF was declared after KNDO’s head, Nathan Loncheu Bawm, failed to contest the 2018 elections. KCNF’s main demand is the formation of an autonomous state for the ‘greater Kuki-Chin race’, within the CHT.
Moreover, as reported on January 4, 2023, there are concerns in the CHT that a vested quarter has been providing backing and shelter to armed terrorist groups, while meting out suppressive measures and imposing the responsibility for terrorist activities upon the Jumma people engaged in the movement demanding implementation of the CHT Accord. One such terrorist group is the KCNF, which is reportedly providing shelter and military training to an Islamist militant group, the Jamatul Ansar Fil Hind al Sharqiya (JAFHS), in their hideouts in the remote Ruma township in the southern part of CHT. On January 12, 2023, RAB disclosed that 12 operatives of JAFHS and 14 operatives of KCNF had been arrested, to that date, in the ongoing anti-militancy drive that started on October 10, 2022. On October 20, 2022, RAB arrested seven JAFHS operatives. The arrestees confessed that they had an agreement with KCNF to provide them shelter and training in exchange for money.
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh government continued to articulate and implement a zero-tolerance policy towards Islamist terrorism and the use of its territory as a terrorist safe haven. Through 2022, there was not a single case of a fatality related to proscribed Islamist terrorist groups reported in the country, continuing with the trend established in the previous year, 2021.
2022 witnessed a total of 263 arrests of Islamist terrorists/radicals belonging to various outfits, including 200 Jamaat-e-Islami-Islami Chhatra Shibir (JeI-ICS), 12 JAFHS, 10 Jamaatul Muslimeen, eight Ansar al-Islam, seven Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT), among others. Also, as reported on June 30, 2022, the Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) started a process of deradicalizing militants inside prisons under the "Construction of the Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime Prevention Centre of Bangladesh Police". Under this process, social, clinical, and educational psychologists; religious clerics, and counterterrorism experts were expected to start deradicalizing jailed militants and also those on bail from June 2022 onwards, CTTC chief Mohammad Asaduzzaman disclosed. While reiterating the zero tolerance policy on November 17, 2022, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina stated,
Meanwhile, the last quarter of 2022 recorded some violent incidents and clashes involving members of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Awami League (AL), including:
November 28: Multiple cocktail bomb explosions occurred in the AL office in the Chanda area of the Kaliakoir Sub-District in Gazipur District. Two cases have been filed against 27 leaders and activists of BNP and more than 200 others for their alleged involvement in the explosions. On the same day, two bombs exploded at a fish farm on the Trimoni intersection in Gangni city in Meherpur District. Police later recovered another three bombs from the site of the explosion. However, no casualty was reported. A case was registered against 11 leaders and activists of BNP and its allied organizations in connection with the blasts.
November 29: Two AL members were injured as a crude bomb exploded in the AL party office in the Dhangora Junction area in Raiganj Sub-District, Sirajganj District. Later, BNP activists and two party leaders were charged. Raiganj BNP municipality unit convener Ainul Haque, its secretary Khairul Islam, and 20 named and 150 unnamed BNP men were accused in the case. Apart from direct violence, BNP and its allies are also working at the international level with various lobbies, to target the AL Government.
Meanwhile, on December 7, 2022, Sheikh Hasina declared that Bangladesh’s next general elections will be held during the first week of January 2024.
With elections in the coming year, and the increased activities of BNP and its cohorts, the situation in Bangladesh is likely to become precarious. Security Forces’ successes against the Islamists are, certainly, a signal achievement, but Islamist radicalization remains widespread, and the disruptive efforts of terrorist formations – some old and some new – persist. Moreover, the troubles in the Rohingya refugee camps have created new and serious threats to the internal peace and security of Bangladesh in general, and the Cox’s Bazar District and Bhashan Char, in particular. The escalating violence in CHT, is another flashpoint of concern. A relatively peaceful for Bangladesh could find itself abruptly destabilized as the General Elections approach.
Andhra Pradesh: Maoist Collapse Deepak Kumar Nayak Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
Orchestrating their first incident of violence of the current year, on January 4, 2023, Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres killed a tribal, Soyam Subbaiah, after branding him a ‘police informer’, in the Juvvigudem village of Chintur Mandal (administrative sub-division) in Alluri Sitarama Raju District. About 10 Maoists, suspected to have come from the Konta area in Chhattisgarh, went to the house of the victim in Juvvigudem, and allegedly thrashed him to death. A letter purportedly left by the Maoists, read, “Subbaiah was an active police informer and we wanted to punish him.’’ It was also alleged that Subbaiah was working as a ‘police informer’ for the past five years and that the Maoists had warned him to mend his ways several times, but in vain.
This is the lone incident of killing in Andhra Pradesh recorded in 2023, thus far (data till January 15).
According to partial data collated by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), one civilian was killed through 2022 in Andhra Pradesh. There was one such killing in 2021 as well. A total of 32 such killings have been reported since June 2, 2014, when Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated, to create the new state of Telangana. A high of five civilian fatalities were recorded in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019, while a low of one fatality has been recorded in 2021 and 2022. There were three fatalities in 2018 and four in 2020. Significantly, since March 6, 2000, when SATP started documenting Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-related violence across the country, undivided Andhra Pradesh has registered 548 civilian fatalities, including a high of 132 in 2005.
Security Forces (SFs) have not suffered any losses over the past five years. The last fatality recorded in this category was on May 5, 2017, when a Home Guard, identified as Sheikh Valli, was killed in a landmine blast triggered by CPI-Maoist cadres on the Lothugedda Junction-Balapam stretch in Visakhapatnam District. This, in fact, was the lone SF fatality recorded in Andhra Pradesh since June 2, 2014. Since March 6, 2000, undivided AP registered 133 SF fatalities, including a high of 41 in 2001.
Though, the Maoist did not suffer any loss through 2022, six Maoists were killed in 2021. A total of 32 such killings have been reported since June 2, 2014. A high of nine Maoist fatalities was recorded in 2019, while a low of one fatality was recorded in 2020. Since March 6, 2000, total Maoist fatalities stand at 916, including a high of 165 in 2003.
While SF dominance in the state had been significantly consolidated on the ground before the bifurcation of the state in June 2014, it has been further strengthened since.
Meanwhile, in 2022, SFs arrested five Naxalites (Left Wing Extremists), in addition to five such arrests in 2021, according to the SATP database. Significantly, since March 6, 2000, the total number of arrests stands at 1,544. Continuing SF pressure also resulted in the surrender of 106 Naxalites in 2022, in addition to 18 in 2021. Since March 6, 2000, total surrenders stand at 3,811. On December 7, 2022, a woman Maoist cadre, along with other 34-armed 'jan militia' (people's army of the Maoists) members of Pedabayalu-Korukonda Area Committee of the CPI-Maoist, surrendered before the Police in Alluri Sitarama Raju District.
Other parameters of violence also indicate declining Maoist activities in the State, as in all other Maoist-affected regions in India. The Maoists did not exchange fire with SFs in 2022, while there were at least three such incidents in 2021. The last such incident was reported on September 23, 2021. The State did not record any incident of explosion in 2022, as well as in 2021. The last incident of explosion was recorded on August 3, 2020, in which two civilians were killed. The Maoists could not issue any bandh (shut down strike) call in 2022, while there was one such call in 2021.
On May 19, 2022, K.V. Rajendra Nath Reddy, the Director General of Police (DGP) of Andhra Pradesh remarked that 'Operation Parivarthana' (Transformation) had hit the CPI-Maoist extremism hard. The DGP observed,
The Police of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha had launched the ‘Operation Parivarthana’ in November 2021, in which more than 400 teams conducted raids in the forests and destroyed ganja plantations in about 7,500 acres worth more than 9,000 crores in 313 villages in the Andhra-Odisha Border (AOB) region. About 1,500 persons involved in the trade were arrested and 580 cases were registered.
An analysis of over ground and underground Maoist activities in Andhra Pradesh confirms their waning influence in the State. According to the SATP database, Maoist activities were reported from three Districts in 2022 (Andhra Pradesh has a total of 26 Districts). Only the Alluri Sitharama Raju District fell in the ‘moderately affected’ category, while the remaining two Districts – East Godavari and Visakhapatnam – were ‘marginally affected.’ By comparison, in 2021, Maoist activities were reported from four Districts, with Visakhapatnam District in the ‘moderately affected’ category, and the remaining three Districts – East Godavari, Guntur, and Krishna – ‘marginally affected’.
Meanwhile, in a notification issued by the LWE division of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA), on December 8, 2022, Alluri Sitharama Raju, East Godavari, Parvathipuram Manyam, Srikakulam and Vishakhapatnam Districts have been categorised as LWE-affected districts of the State. These five districts will now be provided special central funds, as earmarked under the Security-related Expenditure (SRE) scheme for LWE-hit States, for the financial year 2022-23. In the notification, Alluri Sitharama Raju has been categorised as the “most affected LWE district” of Andhra Pradesh.
Earlier, the last UMHA notification of June 2021 listed five LWE-affected districts in Andhra Pradesh – East Godavari, Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and West Godavari, while Visakhapatnam was also included in the list of the ‘25 Most Affected Districts’ from eight States across India.
Meanwhile, on December 19, 2022, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed a chargesheet against five people before the NIA Special Court in Vijayawada in a case relating to the radicalisation and recruitment of youth to the CPI-Maoist. The case, initially registered by the Pedabayalu Police Station of Visakhapatnam, was later reregistered by NIA on June 3, 2022, based on the complaint filed regarding the recruitment of a girl, Radha. The allegation in the complaint indicated that Dongari Devendra, Dubasi Swapna, and Chukka Shilpa motivated Radha to join the Chaitanya Mahila Sangham (CMS) and subsequently radicalised and recruited her to the CPI-Maoist, under the leadership of Maoists, R.K. (since deceased), Uday, and Aruna. An unnamed spokesperson of the NIA disclosed,
Despite setbacks, the Maoists continue with their efforts at revival.
Through 2022, Police recovered arms/ammunition/explosives dumps on at least four occasions, in addition to two such incidents in 2021. On September 8, 2022, Police seized a huge Maoist cache during combing operation in Alluri Sitharama Raju District. The recoveries included 20 kilograms of cordtex, 15 electric detonators, 15 non-electric detonators, safety fuse bundle, eight kilograms of gunpowder, one kilogram of other explosive material and three electric chargers used in explosives. The details of Maoists’ plans for extortion, steps to eliminate ‘police informers’, blocking of road works and blasting of cell towers were found in files recovered from the dump. Maoists from Pedabayalu, Korukonda and Galikonda areas were suspected to have kept the dump before fleeing to Chhattisgarh.
On May 8, 2022, the CPI-Maoist in the State appealed to the public in Visakhapatnam District to condemn the alleged extortion activities by former Maoists Mahesh and Kumari. A letter released by Aruna, ‘secretary’ of CPI-Maoist’s Visakha-East Division Committee, stated that Mahesh and Kumari worked for the outfit for a few years. However, the former Maoists had taken to working against the outfit. If the extortion continued, the letter warned, the party would teach them a lesson. Clearly, the letter was intended to win the people’s confidence and support.
The January 4, 2023, killing, meanwhile, is an effort to terrorize those who ‘disobey’ Maoist decrees.
The Andhra Pradesh successes against the Maoist are the more astonishing in view of the fact that they are overwhelmingly the result of State Police initiatives, more so as the State Police is significantly short of resources. According to the latest Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) data, as on January 1, 2021, the State Police continued to face critical gaps in capacities and deployment. As against the sanctioned strength of 75,365 policemen in AP, only 60,752 were in position, creating a deficit of 19.38 per cent. The actual police-population ratio (police personnel per 100,000 population) in AP was just 115.35, significantly below the inadequate national average of 152.51. Both the State and national averages on the police-population ratio were well below the sanctioned strength, at 143.09 and 193.95, respectively. Shockingly, the actual Police/Area Ratio (number of policemen per 100 square kilometres) in AP was just 37.29, against the national average of 62.96. Both the State and national averages on the Police/Area ratio were well below the sanctioned strength, at 46.26 and 80.07, respectively. In addition, the sanctioned strength of the apex Indian Police Service (IPS) Officers in the State was 144, but just 111 officers were in position, creating a deficit of 22.91 per cent, considerably weakening the executive supervision of the Force.
The ground domination of the SFs has forced the Maoists to be on the back foot in the State, as in the rest of the country. However, residual elements of the ‘movement’ in the State persist. The Andhra Pradesh Police has led an exemplary campaign to marginalize the Maoist threat in what was at one time the Maoist heartland. While it is unlikely that the extremists will be able to revive their influence in the State, the complete elimination of the movement remains an unfulfilled necessity for the restoration of peace.
Weekly Fatalities: Major Conflicts in South Asia January 9-15, 2023
Civilians
Security Force Personnel
NS
Total
AFGHANISTAN
BANGLADESH
Islamist
INDIA
Chhattisgarh
Delhi
India (Total)
PAKISTAN
Balochistan
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Punjab
PAKISTAN (Total)
Total (South Asia)
UNSC members urge Taliban to end restrictions on women: 11 members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) at a meeting held on January 13, urged the Taliban to end its repressive treatment of women in Afghanistan, as the group continued to impose restrictive policies on their education and work. Ever since the Taliban took over power in Afghanistan in August 2021, it has squeezed women out of almost all areas of public life, banning them from secondary and higher education, public sector work and visiting parks. Aljazeera, January 15, 2023.
Taliban's actions are inconsistent with its pledges, says US Department of State Spokesman Ned Price: On January 12, United States Department of State Spokesman Ned Price said that that "the Taliban's actions are inconsistent with what they have pledged" to the international community and the people of Afghanistan. Tolo News, January 14, 2023.
Religious scholar's council formed in 13 Provinces of Afghanistan: On January 11, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said that religious scholar's councils have been established in 13 Provinces based on the order of the Amir (supreme leader) Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada. He added that the councils will work for addressing the rights and needs of the people as well as the voice of peoples.Tolo News, January 6, 2022.
Our relations with the world are based on Sharia rules, says Taliban Supreme Leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada: Taliban Supreme Leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada said that our relations with the world are only in the light of Sharia rules and Islam. He said, "Our relations with the world are based on the Sharia rules and no other factor is acceptable to us. You should prepare yourselves, discipline your training, and follow the Sharia rules in your bases." Bakhtar News, January 11, 2023.
LeT and JeM planning to attack Ram Mandir in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, say sources: Intelligence sources stated that Pakistan-based terror outfits Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) are planning a major attack on the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh in an attempt to foment Hindu-Muslim communal violence. Sources further revealed that the JeM and LeT would be bringing ammunition and suicide bombers from Nepal to carry out the attackmu and Kashmir. News18, January 11, 2023.
KLO 'Chief' surrenders in Nagaland: The Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO) 'Chief' Jeevan Singha alias Jeevan Koch Timir Das, surrendered before Assam Rifles in the Longwa area along Indo-Myanmar in Nagaland on January 13. Sources stated "Singha has been involved in several KLO operations in Assam and West Bengal and had reported imparted arms training to hundreds of youths who joined the outfit. East Mojo, January 15, 2023.
Chief Ministers appointed in all seven Provinces: All the seven provinces in Nepal, namely Madhes, Lumbini, Karnali, Sudurpaschim, Province 1, Bagmati and Gandaki elected their respective Chief Ministers. The seven Chief Ministers are: Province 1 - Hikmat Karki, Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML); Madhes - Saroj Kumar Yadav, Janata Samajbadi Party, Nepal (JSP-N); Bagmati - Shalikram Jamkattel, Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist Centre (CPN-MC); Gandaki - Khagaraj Adhikari, CPN-UML; Lumbini - Leela Giri, CPN-UML; Karnali - Rajkumar Sharma, CPN-MC; and Sudurpaschim - Rajendra Rawal, CPN-UML. Kathmandu Post, January 12, 2023.
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal wins vote of confidence in Parliament: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda garnered a total 268 votes out of the 270 members present in the vote of confidence held in House of Representatives (HoR), the Lower House of Parliament on January 10. All political parties except People's Front Nepal (PFN) and Nepal Workers and Peasants Party (NWPP) voted in support of Prime Minister Dahal. The Himalayan Times, January 11, 2023.
Janmat Party and Nagarik Unmukti Party signs 12-point pact: The Chandra Kant Raut-led Janmat Party and the Ranjita Shrestha-led Nagarik Unmukti Party (NUP) on January 9, reached a 12-point deal for functional unity with the aim of increasing their bargaining power ahead of the Cabinet expansion. The Janmat Party won six First Past-the-Post (FPTP) seats in the House of Representatives (HoR), whereas the Nagarik Unmukti Party (NUP) won three FPTP seats. The Himalayan Times, January 9, 2023.
Over 600 suspects killed in encounters, reveals Punjab Police report: A report released on January 12 by Punjab Police revealed that the Police have killed 612 suspects in encounters during the past five years. The report stated that 67 suspects were killed in shootouts in 2018, 69 in 2019, 166 in 2020, 186 in 2021, and 124 until September 2022. The number of Police officers killed in the line of duty during this time period is 57. The Police have registered 544 cases related to encounters during this time period. Samaa, January 13, 2023.
41 persons disappeared, 20 others killed in December in Balochistan, says HRCB report: The Human Rights Council of Balochistan (HRCB) on January 12 released its report for December 2022 which said 41 persons disappeared and 20 others killed in December in Balochistan. The report reads: The human rights situation during the month of December remains worrisome. Enforced disappearance, extrajudicial execution and honor killing continued unabated. The Balochistan Post, January 13, 2023.
BLA releases 2022 annual activity report "Dhak": Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) media channel 'Hakkal' released the annual report of its armed activities in Balochistan on January 10, detailing all the attacks the group carried out against the Security Forces (SFs). According to the report, the BLA carried out 188 attacks that killed 364 soldiers of SF and injured 155 others. BLA's annual magazine, published under the name of "Dhak" (blow), contains special pages about Majeed Brigade's "Operation Ganjal" and the group's first female suicide bomber, Shari Baloch, who carried out the attacks targeting Chinese nationals in the Karachi University. The Balochistan Post, January 12, 2023.
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan planned to settle TTP fighters in erstwhile FATA: Former Prime Minister Imran Khan on January 10 revealed that his Government had planned to resettle Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants in erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) with the help of the Afghan Taliban, but the plan hit a snag owing to non-cooperation of provinces. Dawn, January 11, 2023.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa clerics denounce terrorism and issue fatwa against terrorists' pretexts: A group of clerics (religious scholars) from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on January 9 issued a fatwa condemning terrorism. The stated that Jihad can only be declared by the head of an Islamic state, not by individuals. In the fatwa (religious edict), the scholars declared that not everyone has the right to declare Jihad, and that avoiding the laws of the land is unlawful. Samaa, January 13, 2023.
Gemstone Company based in Sri Lanka funds Al-Qaeda: A Sri Lankan Gemstone Company that was key to sanctioned terrorist facilitator Ahmed Luqman Talib's revenue generation in support of Al-Qaeda, continued doing business even after Talib was sanctioned and arrested by Australian Police in 2021. An elite research and data analytics company, Kharon, stated that the trading company shared an address in the south-west coast of Sri Lanka with Mohammed Haris Nizar, who was one of Talib's relatives and business partners most recently sanctioned by the United States government on November 9, 2022. Colombo Gazette, January 11, 2023.
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.
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