Terrorist Activities in Pakistan
Suicide Bombings
At least 24 people, including 14 female students, four nurses and at least three Frontier Corps (FC) per sonnel along with Quetta Deputy Commissioner, identified as Abdul Mansoor Khan and two others were killed and 27 injured when uniden tified terrorists blew up a bus of Sardar Bahadur Khan (SBK) Women University, followed by another blast inside the Bolan Medical College hospital in Quetta on June 15, reports The Daily Times. Quetta CCPO Mir Zubair confirmed that a remote-controlled device was planted inside the bus when it was inside the parking lot of the university. At around 7pm, the third blast was heard from the BMC Complex. It was suspected to be a suicide attack.
Bomb Blasts
At least five Policemen, including a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Khan Bahadar, were killed in a roadside bomb blast in the Poran subdivision of Shangla District on May 27, reports Dawn.
The Bomb Disposal Squad lBDS) averted a possible bid of terrorism by defusing a bomb at Ooaba in Orakzai Agency on May 27, reports The News. Assadullah, in charge BOS, said officials of BOS rushed to the spot and found a roadside bomb concealed in a tin of vegetable oil. The officials diffused it suc cessfully. The bomb was of 10 Kg.
A man was killed when a powerful bomb exploded in Peshawar city on May 31, reports Daily Times. According to Police, the incident occurred in Masogujar village where a bomb planted by the roadside exploded with a huge bang. As a result, a passerby, identified as Nadeem Khan, was killed instantly. Police said the bomb was a timed device meant to create fear in the area.
Meanwhile, a soldier was killed and three others were injured when militants attacked military vehicles in Jani Khel area of Bannu District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Security Forces later surrounded the area to conduct search operation against militants loyal to Taliban and Al Qaeda.
Two Security Forces (SFs) were injured in a remote-controlled Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attack in North Waziristan Agency on June 2, reports Daily Times. Unidentified miscreants targeted a vehicle of SFs with an IED near the Esha checkpost in Miranshah, which damaged the vehicle and injured two soldiers.
An army officer, identified as Lieutenant Colonel Sajid, was killed in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast in the Maidan area of Tirah valley in Khyber Agency on June 12, reports The News. The sources said the officer was supervising a clearance operation in Maidan area near the border of the Kurram Agency when an IED planted at the roadside exploded near him and killed him on the spot.
Police officials on June 14 successfully averted a threat by having a 10-kilogram remote controlled explosive defused in Kishan Garh of Mattani area in Peshawar, reports Daily Times. The explosive device, planted along the roadside, was aimed at causing damage to the Paramilitary Forces who were also present in the area. The device after being spotted was defused by the Bomb Disposal Squad (BOS) who reached the site immediately.
At least 24 people, including 14 female students, four nurses and at least three Frontier Corps (FC) personnel along with Quetta Deputy Commissioner, identified as Abdul Mansoor Khan and two others were killed and 27 injured when unidentified terrorists blew up a bus of Sardar Bahadur Khan (SBK) Women University, followed by another blast inside the Bolan Medical College hospital in Quetta on June 15, reports The Daily Times. Quetta CCPO Mir Zubair confirmed that a remote-controlled device was planted inside the bus when it was inside the parking lot of the university. At around 7pm, the third blast was heard from the BMC Complex. It was suspected to be a suicide attack.
Targeted Killings
At least four persons were killed in separate incidents in Karachi on May 27, reports The News. A Shia person, identified as Haider Abbas (35) was shot dead by unidentified assailants near the Nishan-e-Haider Chowk. A passerby named Jumma also suffered bullet wounds in the attack. The Police said that the victim, who worked at a private firm, was murdered in a sectarian attack. At least ten persons, including a lawyer and his two sons, were killed in separate incidents in Karachi on May 28, reports Daily Times. A lawyer, identified as Kausar Saqlain and his two sons aged 12 and 15, were shot dead in a suspected sectarian attack.
At least three persons were killed and 14 others were injured when a bomb attached to a motorcycle exploded in the Imamia Colony in Peshawar on May 28, reports Dawn. “The explosives were planted in a motorcycle detonated by remote control, Assistant Superintendent of Police Ismail Karak said. Another police officer said most of the people living in the area belonged to the Shia community which appeared to be the target of the attack.
Separately, a member of Mingora Peace Committee was killed and six others were injured when a roadside bomb went off, reports Daily Times. According to Police, the incident took place in the Beshbanar area of Swat District where the vehicle of a local member of the peace committee, Jaja Mian, was attacked with a bomb. As a result, Barkat Ali, the son of Jaja Mian, was killed on the spot and six others were hurt.
Meanwhile, the house of a private school’s owner was partially damaged in the blast of an explosive device in Shabqadar area of Charsadda District. The device was planted at the main gate of the house of Atta Muhammad. The blast left the gate and a car parked close at hand destroyed. However, no damage to human life was reported.
A security personnel, identified as Qadir Jan, was killed and another Muhammad Ashraf, was injured in an ambush on Levies check-post in Khuzdar area of Kech District in Balochistan, on May 28, reports Daily Times. Moreover, the local administration found three bodies lying in desolated areas in the same District. Police said that two bodies were found from the Pasni Cross, while another body was found from Josak Bazaar.
At least eight persons, including three Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) members, were killed in separate incidents in Karachi on May 29, reports The News. Sarfaraz Ahmed, an MQM member, was shot dead by unidentified assailants in the Gol Market of Nazimabad area.
A ten year old boy was killed and three others of his family were injured in a landmine blast in Loti area of Dera Bugti District, on May 30, reports Dawn. Separately, a prayer leader, identified as Mullah Mohammad Hassan, was killed by unidentified assailants in Turbat city of same District. In another incident Mohammad Anwar was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Khuzdar city of same District. Also, a person, identified as Abdullah, was shot dead in Badezai area of Zhob District.
Two people were gunned down while dead bodies of two others were recovered in Karachi city on May 31, reports Daily Times. A worker of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) was shot dead in a targeted attack at Sacha! Goth within the limits of Sacha! Police Station. The deceased identified as Ghulam Haider (35) worked at a petrol pump as a security guard.
At least nine people were killed in separate acts of violence in Karachi on June 2, reports The Nation.
Militants killed the principal of a Government High School in Pastawana in the outskirt of Peshawar city on June 1, reports Daily Times. Local residents said that dozens of heavily armed militants entered the house of principal Haji Rehman and opened fire, killing him on the spot.
Two Security Forces (SFs) were killed and two others sustained injuries in a remote controlled bomb blast in Mastung District on June 3, reports Daily Time.
Meanwhile, in Quetta (Quetta District), the provincial capital of Sindh, two people were shot dead in two separate firing incidents. Unidentified armed assailants opened fire at Sirki Road of Quetta and killed one man, identified as Sultan.
Separately, armed assailants shot dead a man, identified as Muhammad Iqbal, at Chashma Achozai, in the outskirts of Quetta.
Two persons belonging to Bajaur and Mohmand Agencies in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) were shot dead by two unidentified gunmen in the busy Taj Mehal market of Rawalpindi on June 4, reports Dawn. The deceased were identified as Yaqoob Khan and Ajmair Khan.
At least 11 persons were killed in separate incidents in Karachi on June 9, reports Dawn. Three Policemen were killed by unidenti fied assailants in Patel Para area.
At least two persons were killed in separate incidents in Karachi on June 11, reports Daily Times. A person belonging to Ahmadi community, identified as Hamid Sarni (45), was shot dead and his son Osama (18) and a companion Salman Zaman (48) were injured in a targeted attack in Soldier Bazaar locality of Gulshan-e-Iqbal area.
A Shia doctor, identified as Dr. Shakir Hussain, was injured and his gunman was killed when militants in Police uniform tried to abduct him near Syed Anwar Medical Plaza of Dabgari Gardens in the jurisdiction of East Cantonment Police Station in Peshawar on June 11. Station House Officer (SHO) East Cantt Muhammad Wali told The Express Tribune that Dr. Shakir Hussain left his clinic in Dabgari Gardens along with two gunmen and Brother Dr. Altaf Hussain in a motorcar. They were intercepted by the militants in Police uniform who tried to disarm them and abduct them near Syed Anwar Medical Plaza. “One terrorist has been gunned down by the guards of Dr Shakir Hussain while terrorists were able to kill Kamal Hussain, a guard accompany ing the doctors. The terrorists also seriously injured Dr. Altaf Hussain, a brother of the Shakir Hussain,” he explained.
At least seven persons, including two activists of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and a Police Constable,were killed in separate incidents in Karachi on June 12, reports The News. An MQM activist, identified as Muslim Noor Ahmed (30) alias Kallu Banarsi, was shot dead near the Sindh Government Qatar Hospital in Sector 8 of Orangi Town.
Five people were killed in separate acts of violence in Karachi, reports Daily Times. One Policeman was killed and 11injured in two consecutive blasts at Kati Pahari of Qasba Colony in Karachi city on June 15, reports The Daily Times. Police said the first explosion was a ball bomb which was thrown by an armed motorcyclist. Then when the Police personnel reached the spot to help the injured the second bomb exploded claiming at least one Police constable’s life and injuring several others.
At least ten persons, including a Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) activist and a ‘commander’ of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan were killed in separate incidents in Karachi (Karachi District), the provincial capital of Sindh, on June 16, reports Daily Times. Two friends were shot dead and three others were injured by unidentified assailants near Murtaza Chowrangi in Landhi area. The victims were identified as Ashiq Allah Dino and Yousuf Abdul Samad, and the injured as Ghulam Mustafa, his brother, Ghulam Rasool and Syed Salim.
Drone Strikes
On May 29 at least six militants including the deputy ‘chief of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Waliur Rehman, were killed in a United State (US) drone strike in Chashma village near Miranshah town of North Waziristan agency, reports Daily Times.
Meanwhile, Pakistan expressed serious concern over the drone attack, saying that it violated its national sovereignty, territorial integrity and international law. A Foreign Office spokesman, in a statement, said, “The government of Pakistan has expressed serious concerns over the US drone attack that occurred in North Waziristan on May 29.” “The Government of Pakistan has consistently maintained that the drone strikes are counter-productive, entail loss of innocent civilian lives, have human rights and humanitarian implications and violate the principles of national sovereignty, territorial integrity and international law.”
On May 20 the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan confirmed that their second-in-command Wali-ur-Rehman was killed in a United State (US) drone strike, reports The News. TTP ‘spokesman’ Ehsanullah Ehsan also announced that the offer to hold talks with the incoming Pakistani Government was also being withdrawn. At least six militants, including Wali-ur-Rehman, were killed in May 29 US drone strike in North Waziristan Agency.This was the first drone strike since Pakistan’s May 11 general elections.
A United States (US) drone strike on June 7 killed seven militants at Shokhel village of North Waziristan District in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), reports Daily Times. The missiles hit a compound in the village that is known as a stronghold of Taliban and Al Qaeda linked militants. The US drone fired two missiles targeting the militant compound. The strike came just two days after Nawaz Sharif was sworn in as Prime Minister for a historic third time and asked the US to end its campaign of drone attacks against militants.
Miscellaneous
The Army and Paramilitary Forces on May 28 killed 14 militants and destroyed their three hideouts located in Para chamkani, a central subdivision of Kurram Agency, reports Dawn.
Separately, a soldier was injured after militant ambushed a vehicle of Khyber Rifles near Landi Kotal bazaar in Khyber Agency.
At least 18 militants were killed and several others were injured when Pakistani jets bombed militant hideouts in Tabay area of central Kurram Agency in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), on May 30, reports Daily Times. A military operation has been continued in central Kurram for past three weeks. Reportedly at least 100 militants have been killed and several insurgent hideouts have also been destroyed during this time.
At least 34 militants and three Security Forces (SFs) were killed in gunfight in an area between the tribal Districts of Kurram and Khyber in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on May 31, reports Daily Times. The fighting took place in the wake of a fresh military push in the lirah valley in Khyber District, where the military has been targeting Taliban and Lashkar-e-lslam militia threaten ing the nearby city of Peshawar.
At least 23 suspected militants and two soldiers were killed after clashes in Bara Chamkani area of the Kurram Agency on June 1, reports Daily Times. Five soldiers were also injured during the shootout with militants. Security Forces (SFs) cordoned off the area after the clash.
Two militants were killed and another two captured during an oper ation carried out by Security Forces (SFs) in Tump area of Turbat District in Balochistan on June 2, reports Dawn. The operation had been carried out in an area close to the border with Iran because of ‘increasing terrorist activities’ there. In the heavy exchange of fire between militants and SFs, two armed men were killed and two others arrested.
Armed militants opened fire on a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) container and killed its driver at Chaman, the capital of Qilla Abdullah District in Balochistan on June 7, reports Daily Times. Police said four militants on two motorcycles opened fire on the container truck in the Grid Station area of Chaman. The container was carrying fuel for United States (US) and NATO troops. The militants managed to escape from the spot following the shooting.
At least 35 militants were killed and 15 others injured by Security Forces (SFs) during operations in lirah Valley of Khyber Agency on June 9, reports Daily Times. After the clearance of Muhammadi Top in Kurram Agency, the SFs made significant gains on the nights of the sixth, seventh, and eighth of June, and cleared main areas of Maidan in lirah Valley. The forces took full control of heights on the central Derastani Ridge that overlooks the entire Maidan and Kuki khel Valley.
Separately, three soldiers were killed and four others were injured in bomb attacks on military convoys in North waziristan Agency.” A military convoy comprising 35 vehicles was on its way to the northwestern town of Bannu from Razmak when an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) planted along the roadside went off, killing three soldiers,” a local Intelligence Official said.
Meanwhile, unidentified militants attacked a roadside security check-point with rocket-propelled grenades on the Razmak- Miranshah road and killed three sol diers and injured another one, reports The News.
At least six persons were killed when militants attacked three NATO containers in Shagai area of Jamrud tehsil (revenue unit) of the Khyber Agency on June 10, reports Dawn. Jaish-e-Osama, a militant outfit, claimed responsibility for the attack.
At least six Security Force (SF) personnel were killed and three others injured when a convoy of the forces came under attack in Sra Khawra area of Matani town in outskirts of Peshawar (Peshawar District), the provincial capital of Sindh, on June 19, reports The News. The sources said four of the militants were also shot dead when the SF personnel retaliated.
Two male polio workers were shot dead by unidentified assailants in Gadoon town of Swabi District,on June 16, reports Daily Times.
Separately, a Police official, identified as Karamatullah, was killed and one other was injured by unidentified assailants in Gulbahar area of Peshawar.
In another incident, three Policemen were injured by unidentified assailants in Badaber area. A police official said that the injured.
Meanwhile, seven persons, including three personnel of Frontier Constabulary (FC), three Policemen and a woman, were injured when militants attacked a Police post in Mashogagar area on the outskirts of Peshawar, reports Dawn.
A suspected militant was killed in an encounter with Police on Shewa Parmuli Road in Swabi District, on June 17, reports Dawn. Police said that they had erected blockade on Shewa-Parmuli Road to check vehicles and suspected people. Three suspected militants riding a motorcycle arrived at the checkpoint and Police signalled them to stop but they sped away, they said. Policemen chased them but the motorcyclists opened firing on them. Police retaliated and killed one of them while the others escaped on the bike. Police also recovered a pistol and 29 rounds from the deceased.
PAKISTAN
Free-lance journalist Shahid Orakzai files petition in Supreme Court to stop parleys with TTP
The Supreme Court was petitioned on May 28 for issuance of a declaration that no person, civil or military, can engage in any contact or negotiation with any Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an act that is forbidden by Article 256, reports Daily Times. Freelance journalist Shahid Orakzai has filed the petition under Article 184(3) of the constitution, nominating as respondents the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSS) through its chairman and Director General (DG) of Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). He requested the court to instruct the DG, ISI to identify the persons who are in contact with the TTP and their mode of communication. “Instruct respondent Chairman to pre-empt any contact/dialogue/negotiations on the territory of Pakistan between the enemy and any politico-religious person/party advocating peace with the enemy”, the applicant pleaded. He further said that respondent JCSC chairman should be instructed to call a meeting of the committee to identify the areas in Pakistan wherein the rebels are threatening the security of the country and report the action to be taken against them. Orakzai contended that the court needed to prevent any move against the constitution that might undermine the security of the country and the discipline of the armed forces of Pakistan.
“The court’s attention is called to the plight of the combatant soldier and his loosening grip on the trigger when he discovers that his blood is now a matter of bargain for the next prime minister of Pakistan. Some judges of this court (who were locked in their homes) may kindly recall their feeling towards their betraying colleagues who joined hands with the military president in ‘November 2007. All betrayals stink alike,” Orakzai remarked. He said that the armed forces had not lost any ground or territory to the rebels nor have they lost the will to fight, and the court could seek their view from JCSC chairman or any other officer mentioned in Article 243. “Having suffered loss of life, they are bewildered by the sudden U turn in state policy on the war,” he noted. The petitioner also ques tioned whether-the armed forces of Pakistan can propose a truce/ceasefire/end of hostilities to the enemy on the territory of Pakistan. “Whether the armed forces shall uphold the constitution as interpreted by the Supreme Court or by the federal government,” he added.
Karachi’s security to weaken if TTP not confronted, warns an American think tank An American think tank warned
the Pakistani authorities that if they fail to confront the growing influence of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan in Karachi (Karachi District), the provincial capital of Sindh, the militant network will weaken the city’s overall security and stability, on May 28, reports The News. With funding from abroad drying up, TTP is increasingly looking toward generating income from within the country, says the Combating Terrorism Centre in a report on the growing sway of the TTP in Karachi. The study, released last week, identifies the various Taliban factions operating in the city, the neighbourhoods where they hold influence and the various methods of extortion they use.
The Taliban have become more violent over the years after the Pakistani authorities took up anti-terrorism financing measures, resulting in stoppage of funding from abroad. The TTP has now taken to abducting for ransom and bank heists. In the first four months of 2013, 11 bank robberies of $800,000 took place in Karachi alone. And authorities believe most of these robberies are aimed at helping the militant outfit. Following the military operation and drone attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), the militants began moving away in 2009. They found a safe haven in Karachi as a variety of ethnic and linguistic groups in the city made it easier for them to operate clandestinely. More significantly, with about five million Pakhtun already living in the city the militants found sanctuaries in the Pakhtun-majority neighbourhoods. The report says that with Karachi the most feasible choice, the growing presence of militant networks in the metropolitan city is evident. In the early stages of their movement, the militants’ primary purpose was to raise funds as well as rest and recuperate. In June 2012, however, the group began its violent fund raising tactics and increasingly attacked secular politicians and law enforcers.
In Karachi, the militants are organised into three factions: the Mehsuds, the Swat faction and the Mohmand faction. All three groups operate from Pakhtun-dominated neighbourhoods that include Ittehad Town, Manghopir, Kunwari Colony, Pashtunabad, Pipri, Gulshan-e Buner, Metroville, Pathan Colony, Frontier Colony and the settlements in Sohrab Goth. The Mehsuds are further divided into two organisational groups: one is loyal to TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud while second reports to TTP South Waziristan chief Waliur Rehman Mehsud. Both the leaders, however, belong to the Mehsud tribe and have their own militias within the TTP but share the same agenda.
Although the TTP influence in Karachi is alarming, the city will “not fall” to the Taliban, as the city is home to the most powerful secular elements in the country as well as progressive political parties – the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Awami National Party (ANP).
Two TTP militants killed in Karachi
At least two Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan militants were killed by Rangers during an encounter in Kunwari Colony of Pirabad area, of Karachi (provincial capital of Sindh) on May 30, reports Daily Times. According to details, Ranger’s un-named official said they conducted a targeted raid in the area on a tip-off about the presence of the criminal elements. “As our team entered the area, gunmen opened straight fire on our personnel, resulting in an exchange of fire,” He added. The officials recovered hand grenades, pistols and a motorcycle from their possession and claimed that the suspects belonged to the Zawail group of TTP, who were also involved in killing of Policemen.
Separately, three Policemen were injured in a grenade attack near Baloch Colony Bridge within the remits of Tipu Sultan Police Station.
JUP leader killed and three others injured in Punjab
Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP) General Secretary, Daud Mustafai was brutally murdered while three others were seriously injured in a firing incident at Pindsultani village of Attock District in Panjab on June 1, reports Daily Times. According to District Police Officer (DPO) Abdul Qadir Qamar, Daud Mustafai along with his fellows was trying to evacuate a piece of land of a poor woman occupied by land mafia when some unknown assailants opened fire on them. Daud Mustafai died on the spot while his brother Abdul Rauf, Umer Farooq, Ahmad and an unidentified person received bullet injuries.
PTI MPA shot dead in KP
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Fareed Khan, was shot dead in his home District of Hangu on June 3, reports Daily Times. Eyewitnesses said MPA Fareed Khan was fired at by a motorcyclist in Gunjanabad area of Hangu city and he died on the spot.
Army opens war games codenamed Azm-i-Nau IV
The Pakistan Army started on June 3 war games codenamed Azm-i-Nau (New Resolve) IV to update its readiness strategy for dealing with the complex security threat environment, reports Dawn. A military spokesman said, “This Army War Game is the cul mination of the series of such exercises and aims at validation and crystallization of operational plans prepared in view of the emerging threat environment. The two-week war games would, therefore, be based on generic scenarios covering the full spec trum of known and potential threats. The objective of the war games is to assess military tac tics, techniques and procedures and to explore strategies for joint operations with other services.”
Pakistan is and will remain major player in the final outcome in Afghanistan,says CNAS report
Pakistan is and will remain a major player in the final outcome in Afghanistan, said Centre for a New American Security (CNAS), an American think-tank, in its report released on May 31, The Times of India reported on June 1. “The truth is still this: Pakistan is, and will remain, a major player in the final outcome in Afghanistan, and Washington’s approach in this situation should be to continue to work on interpersonal relationships among key leaders, as well as coordination and cooperation along borders where enemies of one country or the other often cross,” the report has said.
“These things should be done in tandem with Afghan leaders at every step. Beyond that, measures towards deeper economic integration may be possible with Pakistan (such as a free trade accord or aid for a regional energy sector) – provided that’ Islamabad takes significant and effective steps to restrain the Afghan Taliban operating from sanctuaries on its soil,” the report added. “Realistically, this agenda may not yield great fruit by the end of 2014, but it is still the right way to play for the long run,” said the 16-page report.
5 persons including two militants killed in a shootout in Balochistan
Five persons, including two militants, were killed and 15 Security Forces (SFs), including an officer, injured in a clash with suspected members of a banned outfit in Kharotabad area in Quetta on June 6, reports Daily Times. Police backed by personnel of Frontier Corps (FC) raided Kharotabad area of provincial capital following a tip-off that some members of a banned outfit were present in a house. When SFs surrounded the house and asked the accused to surrender, the accused attacked SFs with hand grenades, rockets and heavy weapons. SFs fired back in retaliation due to which five people. including two accused, two women and a child, who were inside the house, were killed.
Meanwhile, Police and another Law Enforcement Agency (LEA) defused a bomb which had been planted under a bridge near Cadet College in Mastung District.
Drone strikes threaten sovereignty of country, says Federal Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid
Federal Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid on June 9 said that drone attacks are against the independence and sovereignty of the country, reports Daily Times. To a question regarding the strong protest by the Government on the latest drone strike, the information minister said in a Pakistan Radio programme that if the former military ruler had allowed the United State (US) Government to conduct drone strikes inside the country, it was not legal, as he was not a legitimate ruler. “We will have to
talk with Americans and inform them of our reservations on these strikes, as the people have strong sentiments against these.” He said that political parties, institutions, intelligentsia and the people of Pakistan had become mature now, and they would focus on common issues, inclining terror ism, extremism, energy crisis, shortage of clean water, education, health and other facilitie.
PTI submits resolution in NA against drone attacks
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-lnsaf (PTI) on June 10 submitted a resolution against drone attacks in the National Assembly (NA), terming them a blatant violation of the country’s sovereignty and urging the Government to respond military against such strikes, reports Daily Times. The copy of resolution indicates that drone attacks conducted earlier by the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and now by the Pentagon through direct missiles fired on Pakistani territory are a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty.
The resolution stated that the NA seeks to remind the Government of its obligations on the drones issue in view of the April 2013 judgement of the Peshawar High Court on a writ petition in which the court decided, inter alia: “Under the Constitution of Pakistan, 1973 particularly Article 199 thereof put this court under tremendous obligation to safeguard & protect the life & property of the citizen of Pakistan and any person for the time being in Pakistan, being fundamental rights.”
The resolution said that the United State (US) drone attacks violate the Geneva Conventions (1949). It notes that drones do not even provide the suspects a chance to surrender and any person having characteristics of a militant are targeted by signature strikes, without confirming the identity of the suspect.
PM calls for reconciliation in Balochistan
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on June 11 directed Balochistan Chief Minister Dr. Abdul Malik Baloch to initiate a process of reconciliation with estranged Baloch elements, reports Daily Times. He asked the Chief Minister to convey his desire for their participation in the national mainstream. The Prime Minister was talking to Chief Minister Dr. Abdul Malik Baloch who called on him at the Prime Minister’s Office. The Prime Minister expressed the resolve of his Government to usher in a new era in Balochistan and work for removal of the past bitterness. He said that his Government wanted to start a new era of everlasting love and affection in the province.
TTP not ready for peace talks
The Tehreek-e-Tal iban Pakistan on June 16 said they will not change their decision of withdrawing an offer of peace talks to the Government because they are still mourning the killing of their Deputy ‘chief’, Waliur Rehman, in a United State (US) drone strike, reports The Times of India. “We are still in a state of shock at the martyrdom of our deputy chief and there is no change in our decision of not talking to the government,” TTP spokesman Ihsanullah Ihsan said.”We had offered dialogue and wanted to talk to everyone, but the political government has no power and the powerful establishment has never shown seriousness for a peace dialogue,” Ihsan said on phone from an undisclosed location. The TTP withdrew its offer of dialogue with the new Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Government a day after lhsan confirmed on May 30 that Rehman was killed with six other militants in a US drone strike in North Waziristan Agency (FATA). At the time, Ihsan had alleged Pakistan was cooperating with the US in drone attacks, an allegation he reiterated when he was asked if the TTP is willing to talk to the PML-N Government.
Quetta suicide attacks were acts of revenge by LeJ
The June 15, 2013 twin suicide attacks in Quetta targeting a bus of female students and a hospital that killed 25 people were carried out by the Lashkar-e Jhangvi (LeJ) to avenge the June 6, 2013 killing of five people [including two militants, their wives and a child] by the Security Forces (SFs) during a raid in the Kharotabad area of Quetta, on June 17, reports The News. However, well-informed sources in the security agencies insist that the militants had blown themselves up [along with their family members) when they were asked by the forces to surrender.
The LeJ spokesman Abu Bakar told some Quetta-based journalists over phone that the first attack on the bus was carried out by a female bomber, Ayesha Siddiqa, while the second bombing was conducted by a male bomber who exploded himself inside Bolan Hospital where the victims of the first blast were being taken. According to the LeJ spokesman, the suicide hits were actually meant to avenge the June 6, 2013 operation by the SFs in the Killi Barat Kharotabad area of Quetta during which innocent women and a child were also killed.
REGIONAL
Bangladesh – Internal Dynamics
Incidents of vandalism reported during BNP-led 18 party alliance hartal
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-led 18 party alliance observed hartal (general strike) on May 26 in Chittagong, Laxmipur, Feni, Comilla, Tangail, Madaripur, Joypurhat and Faridpur protesting an arrest warrant against BNP’s ‘vice-president’, Tarique Rahman in connection with a money laundering case, reports Daily Star. The decision to go for a hartal on May 29 was made at a meeting of 18-party top leaders with BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in the chair at her Gulshan office on May 26. Meeting sources said Khaleda Zia, mother of Tarique, instructed the 18-party leaders to observe a tougher hartal tomorrow by ensuring their pres ence on the streets. Hartal support ers vandalised at least 17 vehicles and exploded a dozen homemade crude bombs in different parts of the capital Dhaka and in Narayanganj.
in addition, pro-hartal activists vandalised two trucks, five auto rickshaws and six shallow pump engine-driven vehicles in Dhunat sub-district in Bogra District.
Policeman injured in crude bomb blast
Two crude bombs were hurled at the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) compound in Dhaka, leaving a Police constable, Ratan Kumar Dutta, injured during the day long Hartal (general strike) called by Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led 18 party alliance on May 29, reports Daily Star.
BNP-led 18-party alliance Hartal supporters also set ablaze and van dalised more than 60 vehicles at dif ferent parts of the country, including the capital Dhaka, Chittagong & Narayanganj during the daylong Hartal. The opposition called the hartal demanding withdrawal of the cases against BNP Senior Vice chairman, Tarique Rahman.
Government to consider tough law on hartal, says Home Minister, Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir
Home Minister (HM), Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir on May 30 said that the Government is mulling over for mulating a new law regarding hartal (general strike) that will force any political party to pay for the damage done in the shutdown enforced by them, reports Daily Star. Otherwise the party’s registration would be cancelled, the HM, added.
RAB arrested wife of GMF Chief with pistol and two bullets from Dhaka city
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested Sahida Khatun, wife of outlawed Gono Mukti Fouz (GMF) Chief Aminul Islam Mukul, with a pistol and two bullets from Dhaka city’s Kalabagan area on May 31, reports The Daily Star. RAB-2 Deputy Commander Major Anwarul Haq Choudhury told that Sahida was involved in the outlawed party’s activities.
Four policemen injured in Chapai Nawabganj District
Jamaat-e-lslami-lslami Chatra Shibir (Jel/ ICS) activists on June 2 hurled cocktails and brick chips on Policemen, leaving at least four Policemen injured, during the half day hartal (general strike) in Shibtala area in the Chapai Nawabganj District, reports Daily Star. The hartal was called by Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-led 18-party alliance to protest arrest of Jel leader, Keramat Ali of Shibganj on June 1. Jamaat Shibir activists also exploded 15 to 20 cocktail bombs.
In addition, Police recovered two live cocktails from in front of PTI and Shibtala area, said Bazlur Rashid, officer-in-charge (OC) at Sadar Police Station. Police also detained three pickets from the area.
Meanwhile, Police arrested a total 28 activists, belonging to BNP, Jel and ICS, from different areas of the Noakhali District on June 1-2.
Also, Police arrested seven ICS activists from Grand Hotel Intersection area in Rangpur city of Rangpur District on June 2. The arrestees were identified as Moniruzzaman (19), Robiul Islam (22), Monjurul Islam (18), Habibur Rahman (26), Obaydul Haque, (21), Mahmudul Hasan, (23), and Fazlul Haque (18). ICS has called for a hartal in Rangpur on June 3 (today).
Further, Bogra District Detective Branch (DB) Police arrested the ‘president’ of Jel’s labour wing [Shramik Kalyan Federation Bogra District unit], Abdul Matin, (45), in Colony area of Bogra town (Bogra District) on June 1. Martin was arrested by police on charge of masterminding Bogra violence on March 3, 2013, by spreading the tale of the false image of Sayedee in the moon.
In Sherpur sub-District (Sherpur District), Police arrested Sherpur Jel-unit ‘secretary’, Habibur Rahman (48). Following his arrest Jel-ICS men brought out a procession and blasted several cocktails in Sherpur town and vandalised at least 20 vehicles on June 1.
Further, Police arrested Hobokhalin union Jel ‘ameer’, Motiar Rahman (50), in Mithapur Bazaar area under Naldi union of Lohagara sub-District in Narail District.
Police also arrested the ‘office secretary’ of ICS in the Narail District on May 31 on charge of attacking the law-enforcers in November 2012. A case was filed against 200 including Mirazul Islam, (22), on November 6, Police said.
The District units of ICS have called a half-day hartal (general Strike) in Noakhali, Feni and Laxmipur Districts for June 3 (today). The shutdown, from 6:00am to 12:00pm, has been called to protest the arrest of Fakhruddin Manik, former ‘central president’, Atiqul Islam, ‘office secretary’ and Mohsinul Kabir, ‘international affairs secretary’ of ICS. The hartal announcement was made on June 2 by the ‘presidents’ of the District units of ICS.
Mosques and academic institutions failed to play their part in creating awareness against militancy,observes national committee
Most mosques and academic institutions have failed to play their part in creating awareness against militancy, observed the national committee on resisting militancy on June 4, reports Daily Star.
In the middle of 2012, the Government prepared a model speech promoting social awareness against militancy. The national committee asked the authorities of academic institutions and private universities to deliver the speech every weekday before the national anthem and imams of mosques before every Jummah (Friday prayers), according to home ministry sources. At the meeting, an intelligence agency reported that recently it had conducted an investigation on 1,84,885 mosques across the country and found only 20,021 mosques delivering the model speech before Jummah. The madrasa authorities neither deliver the speech nor do they play the national anthem before classes.
Bangladesh foreign policy absolutely independent, says Foreign Minister Dipu Moni
Foreign Minister Dipu Moni on June 3 categorically said Bangladesh’s foreign policy belongs to Bangladesh exclusively and it is not influenced by anybody, reports Daily Star. Dipu Moni made the remarks in response to a question about the United States (US) State Department, which in its 2012 country report on terrorism on May 30 said Bangladesh’s foreign policy is heavily influenced by India.
AL leader sustains injuries in Rajbari District
An Awami League (AL) leader of Daulatdia Union Parishad sustained injuries in an attack allegedly by terrorists at Daulatdia Bazaar of Rajbari District on June 9 reports, The Independent. The victim, identified as Muhamad Nurul Islam Mandol (45), was President of Daulatdia Union of Awami League.
Meanwhile, unidentified assailants hurled crude bombs at the house of Information Minister Hasanul Haque lnu in Darus Salam area of Mirpur in Dhaka city. The house suffered “heavy damage” in the explosion, but no one was injured. The Information Minister, while speaking on different private television channels, blamed Jamaat-e-lslami (Jel) and its student wing, lslami Chhatra Shibir (ICS), for the attack.
21 suspected militants arrested in Dhaka
Police arrested 21 suspected militants, including 10 students of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (SUET), from Star Hotel in Dhaka city on June 13, reports UNBConnect.com. Acting on secret information that a group ‘of militants were holding a clandestine meeting at the hotel a team of Police conducted a raid in the hotel from 11pm to 5am. During interrogation, the suspected militants said they were holding meeting to form a new lslamist party.
Meanwhile, incidents of intimidation took place in Jamaat-e-lslami (Jel) and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS) dominated areas of Rajshahi City Corporation in Rajshahi District on June 14, sending a sense of insecurity among voters, especially Hindus, reports The Daily Star. Around 10- 12 Jel-ICS cadre.
Parliament enacts ‘Children Bill’ that provides capital punishment if children used in terrorism
Parliament has enacted the ‘Children Bill, 2013’, on June 16 that provides for capital punishment if children are used in terrorist acts, reports New Age. The bill was passed by voice vote after the Social Welfare Minister, Enamul Huq Mostafa Shahid, proposed it. The Children Act says: ‘If any person, irrespective of being really responsible for or caretaker of a child, use him in any terrorist act mentioned in the article-6 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2009, he himself will be considered the perpetrator of the terrorist act. And he will be condemned to the punishment mentioned in that article.’ The article-6 of the Anti-Terrorism Act provides for death penalty or life term or maximum 20 years and minimum four years in jail. The law also forbids arrest of any child below 9 years of age. If any children above 9 years is arrested or detained, he or she can not be handcuffed, it says.
Meanwhile, terming the formation of International Crimes Tribunals (ICTs) politically motivated, Jamaat-e-lslami (Jel) Member of Parliament (MP) ANM Shamsul Islam on June 16 told Parliament that the Government is trying to kill his party’s top leaders using the judiciary in the name of trial of crimes against humanity, reports UNBconnect. Shamsul alleged that the tribunal illegally meted out death sentence to Delwar Hossain Sayeedi for the crimes of a notorious Delwar Shikder Razakar. He also alleged that the Government has revived a 42-year-old settled issue like war crimes to weaken the opposition alliance and make the country free from Islamic leadership.
India – Internal Dynamics
PLFI cadres kill two persons
Two persons were killed by People’s Liberation Front of India (PLFI) cadres on May 27 after branding one of them as a Police informer in Khunti District, reports samaylive.com. PLFI is a breakaway faction of the CPI-Maoist. District Superintendent of Police (SP) M Tamilvanan said the cadres fired indiscriminately on Bhushan Singh and libu Singh at lirla village under Karra Police Station, killing them on the spot. Bhushan, a contractor, was accused of being the Police informer while libu was sitting beside him when the extremists attacked them.
BSF trooper injured in IED blast
A Border Security Force (BSF) trooper was injured in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast on May 28 triggered by Communist Party of India-Maoist in Kanker District, reports The Business Standard. The incident took place between Konde and Chhindpal village when the Security Forces (SFs) were on an anti-mining operation in Badgaon Police Station area of the District, a senior Police official said. The trooper stepped on a landmine in the region triggering the blast.
Maoists claim responsibility for attack on Congress convoy in Chhattisgarh
The Communist Party of India- Maoist on May 28 claimed responsibility for the May 25 attack on a convoy of Congress leaders in Darbha ghati area of Sukma District in Chhattisgarh, reports The Times of India. The Maoists sent a four-page letter and an audio clipping to the media, claiming they were behind the attack in which 28 people including top Congress state leaders were killed. The letter carries the signature of a Maoists spokesperson from Dandakaranya. As per the letter, a team of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) carried out the attack. It further states that senior Congress leaders Mahendra Karma, Nand Kumar Patel and VC Shukla were the main targets of the attack. The attack left Karma and Patel dead, while Shukla was critically injured and is undergoing treatment at a Gurgaon hospital.
The Maoists claimed that their purpose was to “punish” Mahendra Karma who had launched the anti-Naxal armed movement Salwa Judum. The Reds blamed Nand Kumar Patel for giving a go ahead to Operation Green Hunt and letting paramilitary forces jo in anti-Naxal operations when he served as the State home minister. The Maoists also made seven demands in the letter, calling for the withdrawal of paramilitary forces from Dandakaranya and an end to Operation Green Hunt. Naxals also sought the release of arrest ed Maoists and “innocent” tribals from prison unconditionally.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is, meanwhile, probing the attack and it yesterday surveyed the site of May 25 Maoist attack.
Further, the Defence Ministry meanwhile ruled out any Army role in fighting the Maoists and the Union Home Ministry asked the troubled states to review politicians’ security.
Another Times of India report says Maoists who planned the Darbha massacre picked their spot well as investigations have revealed that the reason why the ambush site was not sanitized ahead of a Congress leaders’ convoy passing through the area was because of a thinly spread out force. The force deployed in the area is capable of covering not more than 10km but was tasked with covering 25km. There are only two companies of the force in the region stationed at a distance of 25km – one at Darbha and the other at Tongpal. On May 25, the handful of Security Force personnel – about 50 – guarding Congress leaders found themselves far outnumbered and outgunned by a contingent of 200-250 Maoists who fired a hail of bullets leading to 28 deaths, including eight security men. The policemen fought until all their ammunition was exhausted.
Deccan Herald reports a six member delegation led by the Union home secretary and accompanied by the director-general of the Intelligence Bureau will go to Chhattisgarh on May 28 to review the anti-Maoist strategy. The Centre has also decided to send another 2,000 paramilitary personnel drawn from the CRPF and the Border Security Force to augment the 32,000 already present in the state to tackle the Maoists.
Assam Govt requests Center to declare 9 districts as Maoist affected
The Assam Government on May 27 requested the Central Government to declare nine Districts of the State as Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected, reports Assam Tribune on May 28.
Sources revealed that as per the proposal, the State Government said that the Districts of Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Golaghat, Sivasagar, Goalpara, Cachar and Karimganj should be declared as LWE affected Districts. The proposal said that 35 Police Station areas of the nine Districts are affected by Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) activities. Those include eight Police Station areas in Tinsukia, five in Dibrugarh, four in Golaghat, four in Dhemaji, one in Sivasagar, one in Lakhimpur, three in Goalpara, five in Cachar and four in Karimganj District. These nine districts have altogether 103 Police Stations.
Maoists kill Salwa Judum activist
Communist Party of India-Maoist cadres killed a Salwa Judum (an anti-Maoist vigilante group) activist, identified as M Mukka, near Asirguda in Sukma District on May 29, reports The Times of India. Police said Mukka, a former deputy sarpanch (head of village level local self Government institution) of Errabore, was an active member of Salwa Judum between 2005 and 2008.
Maoists release fresh hit-list to target ex-Salwa Judum activists
Within days after the attack on Congress Party convoy on May 25, the Communist Party of India-Maoist has sent a letter to Sukma District collectorate, threatening to eliminate at least 15 people, who were associated with Salwa Judum (anti-Maoist vigilante group), reports The Times of India. The letter, written in red ink by Darbha divisional committee of CPI-Maoist, was received at the Sukma collectorate on May 28. “We will punish the salwa judum activists and the police”, said the letter adding that it was releasing a list of people, who were helping the police and were closely associated with Salwa Judum. “You will not be able to protect them even by deploying your entire force”, the letter threatened.
Meanwhile, top leaders of the CPI-Maoist, including Ramanna alias Ravula Srinivas, have been named in the First Information Report (FIR) lodged by the Chhattisgarh Police in connection with the attack on Congress convoy in which 29 people, including senior Congress leaders were killed on May 25, reports The Times of India. Police sources said Darbha Police has registered FIR against CPI Maoist Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DSZC) secretary Ramanna alias Ravula Srinivas, South Bastar regional committee Secretary Ganesh Uike alias Paka Hanumanthu and others. Names of other Naxalite leaders Vinod, Dewa and many other rebels from Darbha division figured in the FIR. Besides, the Police have also registered cases against unknown members of Peoples’ Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA), the military wing of the CPI-Maoist.
Bad governance cause for rising militancy in Northeast: former Governor of Assam
The Shillong Times reports on June 3 that former Governor of Assam, Lieutenant General (retired) SK Sinha has attributed prevalence of militancy and lack of development and influx in the Northeast states as a result of bad governance. Stating that bad governance has brought upon itself troubles from various sectors, Sinha said that the growth and development of the north eastern region is hampered by bad governance, the ill effects of which is militancy and influx.
Sihna observed, “Bureaucracy has collapsed,judiciary is collapsing, police has collapsed and the army is not doing too well in particular with cases of scam and extra judiciary killings, some of which even landed in the Supreme Court.” Highlighting on the solutions to these problems, Sinha drew his attention to the Assam stating that since Assam is the gateway to the north east, it is the key solution to many problems like influx and Assam should be taken as a lesson for the north east. “Key to the solution is how we handle Assam as its population is twice the population of the north east state put together and strategically it is the heart of northeast,” he added.
Former State Minister among four arrested in Assam
Former State Minister for the Welfare of plain tribes and backward classes, Rajen Mushahary was arrested along with three alleged cadres of the I K Songbijit faction of National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB-IKS) by Security Forces from his Habrubil residence in Gossaigaon subdivision of Kokrajhar district on June 2, reports The Telegraph. Mushahary was minister during the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) government in the state. The arrested militants were identified as Nusar Basumatary (30), Anthony Hazoary alias H.Abita (31), and Nal Narzary (29).
CRPF trooper injured
A constable of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), identified as Jeetendra Yadav, was injured in an exchange of fire with the Communist Party of India-Maoist cadres at Khallari in Dhamtari District on June 4, reports The Times of India. Police sources said the exchange of fire took place in the afternoon, when CRPF men and District force were on a combing operation.
Further, the Railways have cancelled train services at night from June 4 till June 12 in Maoist-hit Dandakaranya region of Chhattisgarh, reports The Telegraph. “In view of observance of ‘Janapituri Week’ by Maoists from June 5 to June 11 in Dandakaranya area. of Bastar district in Chhattisgarh, train services in Koraput and Kirandul section will be disrupted,” a release of East Coast Railway said. Train movements from 8pm of June 4 to 6am of June 12 in the section will remain cancelled.
Three persons killed as Maoists attack train
In an armed attack on a train, a group of around 200 Communist Party of India-Maoist cadres target ed the Dhanbad-Patna Intercity Express at the Bhalui halt near Jamui District in Bihar, killing three persons and injuring six passengers, reports The Hindu. At least 500 passengers were said to be in the train. The deceased have been identified as constable Sukhnath Deonath of the fifth Railway Protection Special Force (RPSF) battalion Kumar Amit, a Bihar Police personnel who was among the pas-
sengers on the train, and another passenger Sharwar Alam. The injured – KP Singh, train guard, Nuresha Kahtun, Satish Kumar, Dharmendra Shah, Prem Kumar Tripathi and Manoj Kumar, who is seriously hurt – later received treatment in Kiul hospital.
The Maoists first stopped the train by disconnecting the vacuum pipe of the train, which could also be done by pulling the chain. They then snatched the rifle from the RPSF, killed a jawan while firing the whole time. The firing started at around 1.30 p.m. and lasted for nearly 40 minutes. The Maoists decamped with three rifles, including one AK 47 and two INSAS (Indian Small Arms System) rifles.
Monthly Fatalities
The following deaths related to ongoing insurgencies and acts of terrorism occurred during the period June 26 to July 25, 2013:
| Civilian | Indian Security Personnel | Militant | Total | |
| Assam | 03 | 00 | 03 | 06 |
| Meghalaya | 05 | 00 | 00 | 05 |
| Nagaland | 02 | 00 | 00 | 02 |
| Manipur | 00 | 00 | 07 | 07 |
| Left wing | 28 | 17 | 08 | 53 |
| Total | 38 | 17 | 18 | 73 |
Nepal – Internal Dynamics
CPN-Maoist cadres obstruct collection of voters list
Cadres of the Mohan Baidya led Communist Party Nepal-Maoist (CPN-Maoist-Baidya) have disrupted the collection of the voters’ list with photographs and looted related documents at Dulegauda Village Development Committee (VDC) in Tanahun District, reports myrepublica.com. The cadres also looted record file of voters’ list of Ward No. 7 of the VDC. Voters’ list
with photographs collection was started at the VDC Office from May Before this, they submitted a memorandum to the voe Secretary to stop the updating of the voters· list with photographs. Chief of the District Election Office, Kirtaraj Poudel, said that name of voters was collected in the presence of Police after the cadres loot ed the record file.
UCPN-M cadres stop water supply
The Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist cadres have cut off the water supply mains to two Village Development Committees (VDCs) in Sindhupalchok District, causing inconvenience to the locals, Republica reported on May 31. It is said a team of 10 UCPN-Mcadres led by one Phulkaji Shrestha of Tauthali VDC-9 cut off the water supply mains to the two voes on May 26-27.
People of Tekanpur and Tauthali VDCs are without water after the UCPN-M cadres cut off the pipes supplying water to the villages. They cut off the pipes of the Jethal Khola Drinking Water Project constructed 13 years ago. The UCPN M cadres are also learnt to have cut off the water supply pipes at a place called Koimajor.
Meanwhile, reports indicate that just ahead of the fresh election to the Constituent Assembly (CA), the UCPN-M is going to reactive the Young Communist League as its ‘additional rce’. To reactivate the YCL, the Maoists have scheduled its first general convention for August 31 to September 3 in Kathmandu. The UCPN-M plan to form YCL committees in every village and city neighborhood under the slogan of ‘one tol one YCL committee’. The Maoists have been projecting the YCL as its ‘additional organization, rather than as a youth wing. The YCL was formed just before the last CA election,out of the cream of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) ‘commanders’ in the cantonments, under the leadership of then fourth division commander Ganesh Man Pun.
Nepal News reports that life was partially affected in seven Districts in eastern Nepal due to a strike called by Federal Students’ Union, a student wing of Federal Limbuwan State Council, demanding implementation of proportional election system in the Hee Students’ Union election on May 30. The strike affected Jhapa, aanchthar, llam, Morang, aplejung, Sunsari and Terrahthum. However, the situation in the affected Districts remain largely peaceful apart from few skirmishes between Police and organisers enforcing the bandh (general shutdown) by forcibly making shops and businesses to close down since early morning.
Also, Mohan Baidya-led CPN Maoist (CPN-Maoist-Baidya), too, imposed a day-long bandh in Rupandehi District demanding the release of party’s activists who were arrested by police while they were protesting against the citizenship certificate distribution campaign carried out in the District as part of the preparation for the upcoming polls. Butwal, which is the largest town in Rupandehi District, was hit hard by the bandh as shops and businesses in main market centres remained closed while traffic was minimal in the streets.
Nepal and India agree to share intelligence to curb terrorism
India and Nepal on June 1 agreed to exchange information to combat terrorism and curb criminal activities like human and drug trafficking and smuggling of Fake Indian Currency Note (FICN) across their open border, reports The Times of India. During the annual Home Secretary-level talks between Home Secretary R.K. Singh and Nepalese counterpart Navin Kumar Ghimire held in Kathmandu (Capital of Nepal) both sides agreed to increase vigilance and cooperation in border areas. Both parties agreed to renovate and reconstruct dilapi dated border pillars and to strengthen capacity of Armed Police Force of Nepal and to expand India’s Seema Suraksha Bal (SSB) to curb cross-border criminal activities.
UCPN-M unlikely to compromise on proposal of barring candidates with criminal back grounds in elections
The Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist is unlikely to compromise on its opposition to the proposal barring candidates with criminal backgrounds in the upcoming election, reports Myrepublica. The Maoists argued that this is something that relates to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and can affect the whole peace process. As no Maoist leader would be safe if the provision is implemented, the possibility of the Maoists compromising on this issue is very slim.
The Election Commission (EC) proposed that persons convicted for criminal offenses or accused of moral turpitude should be barred from filing candidacy and allowed to contest elections only six years after completing their sentences handed down by courts of law or other judicial authorities.
Meanwhile, Nepali Congress (NC) leader Ram Sharan Mahat said, “The Maoists are rejecting the provision without understand that it is aimed only at those already convicted by a court. It is very soft.”
Only Bal Krishna Dhungel, a former lawmaker, has been convicted by a Court so far. But the Maoist leaders are aware that if the new provision is endorsed, more cases will be registered and no one will be safe.
Curfew imposed in Jumla District after violent clash between the cadres of NC and CPN-Maoist Baidya
District Administration Office of Jumla District clamped curfew in Jumla headquarters since 8.30 pm of June 11 till 5 pm of June 12 owing to a violent clash between the cadres of Nepali Congress (NC) and Mohan Baidya-led Communist Party Nepal-Maoist (CPN-Maoist Baidya), reports Kantipuronline.com. The local administration clamped curfew to contain chaos seen in market areas and adjoining places after personal dispute between NC supporter Ghanshyam Thapa and Manoj Budha Magar of CPN-Maoist Baidya took political turn. The administration has even directed Security Forces (SFs) to fire gun shots if necessary to contain the sit uation·during the curfew period.
Meanwhile, High Level Political Committee (HLPC) Coordinator Jhala Nath Khanal on June 11 formally requested Chairman of Interim Election Council of Ministers Khil Raj Regmi to bring the ordinances related to Constituent Assembly (CA) elections by evaluating the suggestions of the political parties, reports The Himalayan Times. After the major political parties failed to agree on some prickly issues, including the threshold system, the HLPC had decided on June 10 to let the Government decide their fate. Khanal said after meeting Regmi that the parties would accept the Government’s decision on the disputed issues, including the threshold.
2 persons including Army soldier injured in Dhanusa District
Two people, including a Nepal Army (NA) soldier, were injured as unidentified gunmen opened fire at Janakpur city in Dhanusa District on June 16, reports Nepalnews.com. The motorcycle-borne gunmen shot at Shailendra Mandal (28) and NA soldier Bikash Kumar Singh (23) while they were having tea at a local eatery. Local media reported that an underground armed outfit Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha (Rajan Mukti) has said it carried out the attack. However, the group has not clarified why it attacked the duo.
Meanwhile, life in the Kathmandu and elsewhere has returned to normal with nationwide bandh (shut down) called by the 42 agitating parties ending at 5 pm on June 16. The bandh organisers, including the Mohan Baidya-led Communist Party Nepal-Maoist (CPN-Maoist-Baidya), had announced beforehand that the bandh would end at 5 in the evening. Normal life was badly affected during the bandh with both private and public vehicles remaining completely off the road while banks, schools and shops remained closed in the capital. The bandh was called in protest of the Government’s announcement of election date.
Separately,cadres of CPN-Maoist Baidya on June 15 captured land tracts owned by Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist local leaders at Fattepur Village in Banke District. A group of CPN-Maoist-Baidya cadres led by the party’s central committee member IP Kharel captured some 30 bigha land owned by two local UCPN M leaders and have placed party flags on the plots. They seized 16.8 bigha land owned by UCPN-M Banke in charge Prakash Subedi and his wife Puma Subedi at Fattepur Village. Similarly, the land registered in the name of UCPN-M Tharuwan state committee Sukai Lal Burma and his wife Urmila Devi of the same village. The CPN-Maoist-Baidya cadres said the UCPN-M leaders had turned into neo-feudals, owning big tracts of land which should have been owned by the farmers.
Sri Lanka – Internal Dynamics
Army to remove camps in Jaffna and to establish an Army colony
Army Commander Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya told The Divaina that only three camps would be kept in the Jaffna peninsula and the rest of the camps would be with drawn, Colombo Page reported on May 25. The lands where the camps are presently established would be returned to the legal owners, the Army Commander said.
He also said that the withdrawn camps are to be relocated in the Army colony. Plans are afoot to set up a new Army colony in Jaffna peninsula. The new Army colony will be established in the Palaly area where the defense forces headquarters and the airport is situated. The Kankesanthurai naval harbor will also be established in the colony. The government has decided to acquire 6,381 hectares of the land in Jaffna that is now being used as High Security Zones (HSZs) permanently and to pay compensation to the owners of the land. The government has allocated SLR 400 million to pay the land owners According to the government, the lands in the HSZs of Weligama North in the Palaly and Kankesanthurai (KKS) areas are to be acquired for the expansion of the Palaly airport and the KKS harbor.
The Army Commander further said that the maintenance of law and order in relation to civil administration of the areas released for civilian activity would be the sole responsibility of the Police.
Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva and Leader of the Sri Lanka Delegation to the 23rd session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) Ravinatha Aryasinha said on May 27 that the government has established a mechanism to ensure the right of information to the relatives of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam suspects, Daily News reported. Aryasinha said that a centralized comprehensive database of detainees established by the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) of the Police with units operating around the clock in Colombo, Vavuniya and Boosa enables the Next of Kin (NoK) to receive details about those who are released from detention. Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative added that information is provided to the Next of Kin of the detainees only because they have requested that such information is not made public due to privacy concerns. “Upto now, around 3,220 inquiries have been made by the relatives to the TID alone. Of the 2,729 complaints recorded, investigations into 1,628 investigations have been completed while investigations into 1,101 investigations were in progress as of February 2013″, he said Aryasinghe added that a special committee has been appointed to look into the cases where suspects remain in custody pending indictment. In order to file cases against the suspects that remain in remand custody pending indictment, a special committee has been appointed to look into their cases,” he added. He further added that the scope of this committee is to review and advise further course of action to be taken against these suspects, including the possibility of release of suspects following rehabilitation.
Northern people fear terrorism and want army to stay
Vanni Security Forces Commander and Officer in-Charge of Displaced Persons Major General Boniface Perera has said that civilians living in the Northern Province do not want the Army to be removed from the Northern Province, Daily News reported on May 30. “The people do not want the Army to be removed from the Northern Province as they think they will have to face another appalling situation similar to what they experienced during the war period,” he added. The civilians are dealing with the Army in a very friendly manner. The Sri Lanka Army has already become one of the main contributors of the development process in the Northern Province. Civilians in the North want to assist development by joining with the Army, Major General Perera said.
The government has already resettled war affected persons in the Northern Province and it has given priority to the Northern Province development projects. In such a situation, certain elements such as the Udayan newspaper and other organizations are trying to divide Sri Lanka again. “They are working according to an agenda of the Tamil Diaspora. People who failed to win the Eelam war through terrorism are now trying to win it by dividing Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims by publishing such arti cles which arouse communal hatred,” Major General Perera said.
Major General Perera was reacting to an article published in Udayan on May 2.6 in which the newspaper questioned why the government acquires public lands privately if 14 army camps out of 17 in Jaffna are to be shifted to the Palali High Security Zone. Commenting specifically on this report, Perera said: “When we look at these facts we can clearly see that these allegations are baseless. We have never acquired any land in the Northern Province after 2009. If anyone says someone has acquired public lands in the Northern Province after defeating terrorism and if they are ready to give information on who had done it and when and where, we are ready investigate into the incident,” he said.
Probe into LTTE crimes should start with Colonel Karuna, says HRW
Human Rights Watch (HRW) on May 30 said that Sri Lanka should act on the call by the Deputy Minister V Muralitharan, known as Colonel Karuna, to Investigate war crimes by examining his own role in serious abuses, reports Daily Mirror. Karuna was effectively the second-in-command of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the head of its eastern province forces until he split from its leader V Prabhakaran in March 2004. Brad Adams, the Asia director at HRW said “Karuna’s call for war crimes investigations should not allow him to airbrush out his own role In atrocities. His LTTE forces were implicated In some of Sri Lanka’s most horrific abuses,so the Government’s long-stalled war crimes investigations might as well begin with him. LTTE forces under Karuna”s command were directly involved In some of the worst crimes of Sri Lanka’s 26-year-long armed conflict, which ended In May 2009.”
Two ex-cadres of LTTE indicted
Two ex-cadres of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam were indicted on May 30 before the Anuradhapura Provincial High Court over charges of shooting down a military aircraft on March 30, 2000, reports Colombo Page. The two LTTE cadres are accused of shooting down an Antanov-32 plane firing missiles from Wilpattu Wildlife Park killing 32 military personnel. Sri Lanka Air Force at the time submitted a report that the plane crash was due to a technical issue. However, Police Terrorist Investigation Department (TIO) arrested two ethnic Tamils few years back under suspicion of shooting down the aircraft using missiles. The suspects have been in detention for more than four years.
10 LTTE suspects acquitted by Bangalore court in bomb case
A court in Bangalore city on May 30, acquitted 10 Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam suspects who were being tried for allegedly possessing explosives and substances used for making bombs, reports Daily Mirror. The ten were arrested by Police in the city in 2002. They were in judicial custody and were subsequently granted bail by Supreme Court and Karnataka High Court. Sessions Judge M S Balakrishna acquitted the 10 accused for lack of evidence.
Meanwhile, the United States (US), on May 31, said that LTTE’s financial network of support continued to operate throughout 2012, and there were multiple reports of increased LTTE involvement in human smuggling out of refugee camps. The US Country Reports on Terrorism 2012 released by the US State Department said “The LTTE used its international contacts and the large Tamil Diasporas in North America, Europe, and Asia to procure weapons, communications, funding, and other needed supplies. The group employed charities as fronts to collect and divert funds for their activities.”
Separately, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Mavai Senathirajah, on May 31, said that a power sharing arrangement under a unitary State would not solve national question, reports Colombo Page. He said that power sharing under a unitary system is questionable in today’s context of domination by Buddhist extremists and the party is yet to discuss and decide its stance on the draft Constitution presented by the United National Party (UNP).
Buddhist monks commemorate 26th Anniversary of LTTE massacre of 31 in Ampara District
Hundreds of Buddhist monks in Colombo on June 2 commemorated the massacre of 33 Buddhist monks in Aranthalawa area of Ampara District of Eastern Province by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on June 2, 1987, reports Colombo Page. LTTE brutally hacked to death and shot 33 Buddhist monks, most of them novice monks as young as 8 years old when they were in a bus heading to Kandy city of Central Province.
Meanwhile, President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Badulla District of Uva Province on June 2 said that recall ing atrocities perpetrated by LTTE terrorists in the past was not intended to sow seeds of hatred in society, but to ensure that such a gruesome period will not be repeated in the future, reports Daily News. He said “We should tell the younger generation that the country faced such a gruesome period in the past in order to avert such situations in the future through forging closer and amicable ties between communities.”
3 LTTE cadres suspected of blowing up a train 17 years ago get,prison sentences
Colombo High Court on June 4 sentenced three Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam cadres suspected of blowing up a train 17 years ago killing 66 people, reports Colombo Page. Colombo High Court Judge Kumudini Wickramasinghe sentenced two of the suspects – Saverimuttu Loganathan and Robert Maxillan to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment while the female suspect, Siththira Enam Thirumagal alias Ramarii to five years of rigorous imprisonment The suspects were accused of placing two bombs in two carriages of a highly crowded train and detonating it while stopped at the Dehiwala station in Colombo on July 24, 1996. The attack killed 66 people and injured over 400 people.
Dangerous to hold NPC elections with land and Police powers as TNA still harbors separatist line, says Deputy Minister of Investment Promotion Faizer Mustapha
Faizer Mustapha, the Deputy Minister of Investment Promotion, on June 12 said that it is dangerous to hold election to the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) with land and Police powers since the major Tamil party, Tamil National Alliance (TNA), still harbors a separatist line, reports Colombo Page. The Deputy Minister joined by Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Batticaloa organizer, Arun Tambimuttu, told the media that the provinces did not need land and Police powers. Mustapha and Tambimuttu said the provincial council system was a white elephant and land and Police powers allocated to the provinces under the 13th Amendment should be repealed before the NPC election. According to Mustapha, if Police powers were granted to the provincial councils it would interfere with the independence of the Police.
Meanwhile, leader of Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) and Senior Cabinet Minister Tissa Vitharana on June 12 said that 13th Amendment to the Constitution needs to be changed, reports Daily News. The Minister said the shortcomings in the Amendment should not be a reason to postpone the NPC election to be held in September. He maintained, although the 13th Amendment needs change, any modification to it is not a prerequisite to hold elections in the North. He said, “Shortcomings in the 13th Amendment to the Constitution can be addressed through consensus arrived at by political representatives of all the political parties represented in Parliament. President Mahinda Rajapaksa promised to do it through a proposed Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) process.”
Keep close watch on LTTE activities in Germany, urges External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris
External Affairs Minister Prof. GL. Peiris, during his bilateral discussions in Berlin with Dr. Guido Westerwelle, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany on June 14 urged Germany to keep a close watch on the several Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam front organisations in Germany, breaching the European Union proscription, reports Daily Mirror. The Minister said according to information available to Sri Lankan authorities, there were a substantial number of schools operating in Germany by these groups for propaganda and fundraising purposes.
Tussle over 13th Amendment will enhance separatist goals, says UNP Assistant Leader Joseph Michael Perera
United National Party (UNP) Assistant Leader Joseph Michael Perera on June 16 said that the confrontation over the scrapping of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution in particular would ultimately create a situation where the separatists would achieve their objective overnight, reports Daily Mirror. “This will help pro separatists to gain what Prabhakaran could not achieve in the 30 year old war,” he said. He said parties which oppose the scrapping of the 13th Amendment including the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) should leave the Government. He said they cannot remain in the Government when they oppose anything because of the collective responsibility. At the same time he said the Government should make a firm decision on the 13th Amendment and inform the people of its official stand.
Meanwhile, Marxist party Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) on June 16 announced that it would bring a politi cal package to replace the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, reports Colombo Page. The party led a bloody campaign against the 13th amendment and the Provincial Councils in 1987-90 period and many people died as a result. Politburo member of the JVP, Parliamentarian Anura Kumara Dissanayaka said that solutions for the problems of the Tamil people are needed to be provided concurrently with the abolition of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. JVP proposes solutions to the prob lems of the Tamilpeople in their pack age while proposing to abolish the 13th Amendment completely, Dissanayaka says. JVP package is based on constitutional recognition of state as a multinational state and acceptance of freedom of all nationalities. The package will be launched within two weeks, the JVP MP said.
Separately, SLMC on June 16 said the party will take legal action if the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) that will be appointed to revise the 13th Amendment to the Constitution approves the proposals to curtail the powers devolved to the Provincial Councils. National organizer of the SLMC, Rafeek Rajabdeen said the party was against the amendments brought to take away police and land powers from Provincial Councils. The Parliamentary Group of SLMC unanimously resolved on June 11 to express opposition to any moves to make changes to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.
INTERNATIONAL
US weapons designs hacked by Chinese
US officials and defence firms have concluded that Chinese hackers have breached networks containing designs of many advanced US weapons systems, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday, May 29. The Post, citing a confidential report prepared for the Pentagon, said the breaches were part of a broad Chinese campaign of espionage against US defence contractors and government agencies.
The newspaper said the Defence Science Board, a senior advisory group with government and civilian experts, said the systems breached included the designs tor two dozen major weapons systems critical to US missile defenses and combat aircraft and ships. The Pentagon had no immediate comment to an AFP query on the report. According to The Post, the advisory report stopped short of accusing the Chinese of stealing the designs, but the conclusions help explain the ramped-up US warnings to the Chinese government. It said the breaches gave China access to advanced technology and could weaken the US military advantage in the event of a conflict.
A public version of the report disclosed in January said the United States is ill-prepared in the case of a full-scale cyber war. The Post said it obtained a confidential version of the eport with a list of the designs hacked including the advanced Patriot missile system; an Army system for shooting down ballistic missiles; and the Navy’s Aegis ballistic missile defense system. Also breached, according the daily were designs for combat aircraft and ships, including the F A-18 fighter jet, the V-22 Osprey, the Black Hawk helicopter and the Navy’s new Littoral Combat Ship.
Another programme on the list is the massive F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, according to the Post, which had been subject to a previous computer intrusion dating back to 2007. If the report is accurate, it means the US military is less effective and the Chinese military is more effective,” said James Lewis, a cybersecurity expert at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. “It tilts the balance.”
Lewis said it was not clear when these breaches took place, but noted that “people did wake up to this issue in the last couple of years and made it harder.” But he said that “between 1999 and 2009 it was an open door for Chinese (cyber) espionage.”
According to The Post, the systems whose designs were breached included those built by major defense contractors including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman.
Hacking accusations have strained ties between Washington and Beijing. Earlier this year, the New York Times and other American media outlets reported they had come under hacking attacks from China, and a US congressional report last year named the country as “the most threatening actor in cyberspace.” China has called the charges groundless and state media have accused Washington of making China a scapegoat to deflect attention from US economic problems. A separate report on Tuesday by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation said Chinese hackers had stolen top-secret blueprints of the country’s new intelligence agency headquarters.
Russia to send missiles to Syria
Russia insisted on Tuesday, May 28 it would deliver anti-aircraft missiles to Syria despite international criticism, as fears of spill over from the conflict grew after three Lebanese soldiers were killed in a border-area attack. Israel warned Russia it would “know what to do” if the delivery went ahead, and Syria’s top rebel commander gave Hizbullah, the powerful Lebanese Shiite movement, a 24- hour ultimatum to stop fighting along side regime forces.
The developments stoked tensions after the European Union decided to lift an embargo on weapons to Syria’s rebels, in a move the opposition reacted to with caution. Syria’s regime joined its ally Russia in condemning the EU decision as an “obstruction” to peace efforts, while accusing the bloc of supporting and encouraging “terrorists”. Moscow said it would go ahead with its plans to deliver the S-300 missiles to Syria, despite international concerns, saying the weapons were part of existing contracts.
“We consider these supplies a stabilising factor,” deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said, adding they could act as deterrence against foreign intervention. Israel has strongly objected to the delivery, and its defence minister warned of a response.
Israel has reportedly carried out at least three strikes against Syria since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad erupted in March 2011, apparently targeting weapons sites.
Bloodshed rocks Myanmar
Religious riots shook eastern Myanmar for a second day on May 30 with one man hacked to death and four injured, a top official said, after an orphanage and mosque were burnt down. Police fired warning shots to disperse rioters after the fresh Buddhist-Muslim clashes in the town of Lashio in Shan state, according to presidential spokesman Ye Htut.
“The deceased is a man. He was hacked to death with a knife,” Ye Htut told AFP, adding that the security forces were taking action to halt the unrest. Several episodes of religious violence have exposed deep rifts in the Buddhist-majority country and cast a shadow over widely praised political reforms since military rule ended two years ago.
Residents said mobs armed with sticks were roaming the streets of Lashio looking for Muslims on Wednesday, while an AFP reporter saw two houses ablaze. A local hospital confirmed it had received four injured men, all Buddhists.
Security forces had imposed an overnight curfew Tuesday after the initial unrest, which authorities said was triggered by an attack on a local Buddhist woman. A 48-year-old Muslim man was arrested over that incident, in which the 24-year old woman suffered burns but was not in serious condition, according to state broadcaster MRTV. A Muslim orphanage, a mosque and sever! shops were destroyed by rioters, a different government official said, requesting anonymity.
Ye Htut, who earlier appealed for calm, posted pictures of police making arrests in the town on Wednesday as they tried to quell a second eruption of violence that he said saw “conflict from both sides”. The residents said there was not enough security in the town. “Almost all Muslim people are trying to stay in safe places…. we don’t know how we are going to get through the night,” one resident said by telephone, asking not to be named. He said the mob of biker was threatening to “kill any Muslims they see on the road”.
Bosnian Croat ex-President gets 25 years for war crimes
Fonner Bosnian Croat president Jadranko Prlic and five co-defendants were jailed on May 30 for between 10 and 25 years for murdering and deporting Muslims in Bosnia in the early 1990s to create a “greater Croatian state”. The six former top Bosnian Croat officials faced 26 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for their roles in the brutal conflict which formed part of the greater war that broke out after Yugoslavia crumbled in 1991 and in which 100,000 people were killed.
Prlic, 53, and three others were found guilty of 22 counts by the Yugoslav war crimes court in The Hague while two accused were acquitted of some of the charges. The former president and later also prime minister of the self-proclaimed Bosnian Croat state of Herceg Bosna has been on trial before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) since April 2006. His co-defendants were his former defence minister Bruno Stojic, 58, and four senior military officials: Slobodan Praljak, 68, Milivoj Petkovic, 63, Valentin Coric, 56, and Berislav Pusic, 60.
At the end of one of the largest trials ever conducted by the ICTY, the other five were sentenced for terms ranging between 10 and 20 years. Antonetti said in a record 2,600-page judgement that Bosnian Croat troops “fought alongside Croatian troops” and fell under command of Croatia, pointing the finger at Zagreb’s role in the war.
The judge said the six men were all part of a plan which ultimately wanted to establish reunification with Croatia. In order to achieve that it was “necessary to modify the eth n composition” of the land claimed by Bosnian Croats.
Father of Chechen killed in Boston probe wants FBI agents tried
The father of a Chechen man shot dead by the FBI during questioning about his links to the Boston Marathon bombers said Thursday, May 30 he wanted the agents tried for “executing” his son. Ibragim Todashev, 27, was shot by FBI agents in Florida a week ago during questioning at his home about his links to one of the Tsarnaev brothers alleged to have carried out the April 15 Boston bombings. The FBI said the agents had shot Todashev in self defence after the suspect lunged at them during questioning.
Todashev’s father Abdulbaki showed reporters in Moscow what he said were pictures of his son’s bullet-riddled body.The photographs showed at least seven bullet wounds to the body of a young man resembling Ibragim Todashev – including one to the back of the head.
“Today I want justice. I want an investigation, so that these people (the FBI) are sued under US laws,” Todashev’s father said. “These are not FBI agents. These are bandits and they must appear in court.” Abdulbaki said he had received the photographs of his son by email from Muslims in Florida.
Local media initially cited investigators as saying. he had attacked an FBI agent with a knife. Yet the washington Post on Thursday quoted a law enforcement official saying Todashev was unarmed. Investigators said Todashev was on the verge of signing a confession that he and Tamerlan Tsarnaev had played a role in an unsolved triple homicide.
The triple murder took place on September 11, 2011 – the 10-year anniversary of the deadly attacks on the United States – in the Boston suburb of Waltham, according to local media. All three bodies were found nearly decapitated, covered with marijuana and thousands of dollars in cash.
Todashev’s father said he was certain that his son was deliberately killed by the FBI because of the bullet wound to the back of his head.
Britain must investigate torture in Iraq, Afghanistan: UN
The United Nations torture watchdog called on Britain on Friday, May 31 to widen and speed up investigations into allegations that British forces tortured detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan and prosecute those responsible. British inquiries into alleged abuses by its forces in Iraq since the US led invasion in 2003 have been slow and there have been no prosecutions for torture or complicity in abuse, although there have been courts martial, the UN body said.
Its 10 independent experts issued their conclusions after examining Britain’s record in complying with a torture ban. “The procedure for inquiry is rather slow. I understand the reasons, the amount of work in order to investigate properly certain abuses. But it is my view and the view of the committee that this procedure is really slow,” committee member Alessio Bruni told a news briefing in Geneva.
One factor was the complexity of British law, he said. “The other thing is that it is always unpleasant to reveal to the public that yes, something wrong was done during military operations overseas,” Bruni said. The committee welcomed Britain’s pledge to hold an “independent, judge-led inquiry” and publish parts of a secret interim report by Sir Peter Gibson on involvement of British security and intelligence agencies in mistreating detainees held abroad. But it regretted no timetables had been set.
Despite a number of claims by Iraqis that they were subject to abuse between 2003 and 2009 by British forces, Britain still resisted a full public inquiry that would assess the extent of torture and establish possible command responsibility for senior political and military officials, the UN body said.
Britain should establish a public inquiry “on alleged acts of torture and other ill-treatment of detainees held overseas committed by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of British officials”, it said. There have been two British public inquiries into military conduct in Iraq. The first, into the death of 26-year-old hotel receptionist Saha Mousa in British custody in Basra in 2003 found in 2011 he had died after suffering “an appalling episode of serious gratuitous violence” at the hands of British troops.
The UN committee voiced concern that six soldiers had been cleared and a corporal who pleaded guilty to inhumane treatment got only a one-year prison term after a court martial in 2007.
An inquiry into allegations that British soldiers killed, mutilated and tortured Iraqi detainees including Hamid Al-Sweady in 2004 after a battle in southern Iraq began in March is due to publish a report by the end of 2014.
The military denies any unlawful killings or ill-treatment in the battle’s aftermath.
Berlin not aware of US drone strikes from German bases
Germany said on Friday, May 31 it had no knowledge of US drone strikes being directed from its territory after media reports alleged that the US military was steering attacks on Islamist guerrillas in Africa from German bases. The use of drones is highly controversial in Germany, where an aversion to military conflict has prevailed since World War Two, and the reports sparked a strong response from opposition parties hoping to score points against popular Chancellor Angela Merkel ahead of a September election.
Thomas Oppermann, parliamentary floor leader of the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), said German law prohibited targeted attacks outside of armed conflicts and demanded an explanation from the government. “The German government has no knowledge of such operations being planned or carried out by US armed forces,” Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, told a regular government news conference.
Asked about the reports, Major Ryan Donald of United States European Command (EUCOM) based in Stuttgart said: “We maintain robust civilian and military cooperation with Germany and manage all base activities in accordance with the agreements made between the United States and German governments.” “The Air and Space Operations Center at Ramstein Air Base monitors and assesses assigned airpower missions throughout Europe and Africa, but does not directly fly or control any manned or remotely piloted aircraft,” he said in a statement.
The Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, one of several news outlets to carry the reports, said the US military had directed drone attacks against suspected Islamist guerrillas in Somalia and other African countries from its Africom command in Stuttgart and air force base in Ramstein. The paper quoted German legal expert Thilo Marauhn saying that Germany’s constitution forbade it from having any role in the killing of suspected terrorism suspects outside the theatre of war.
Oppermann said he would pursue the issue in a parliamentary oversight committee. The pacifist Left Party demanded the closure of all US bases on German territory following the reports. After months of criticism over civilian casualties linked to US drone strikes, US President Barack Obama announced tighter limits on the use of remote-controlled unmanned aerial vehicles last week.
Asia warned against ‘arms race’
Asian countries must guard against destabilising the region with increased arms spending, defence chiefs warned at an international security conference on Saturday, June 1. Asian governments, boost ed by stronger economic growth and worried by regional tensions, have been beefing up their armed forces and there are fears the build ups could be dangerous in the long run if not managed well.
“There are indeed inherent per ceptional sensitivities in military build-ups that could create miscalculations, misjudgements, and mis trust,” Indonesian Defence Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro told the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual forum in Singapore.
“In order to avoid military modernisation becoming destabilising, there is a need for greater strategic transparency.”
Asia overtook European members of Nato in terms of nominal military spending for the first time last year, according to a report by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (llSS) released in March.
Al-Qaeda chief warns of attacks on US
Al-Qaeda’s military chief in Yemen warned Americans in an audio message posted online on Sunday, June 2 that the Boston bombings revealed a fragile security as he urged Muslims to defend their religion.
Qassim al-Rimi, the military chief of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, said making bombs such as the ones used in the twin blasts in Boston in April, is within “everyone’s reach”.
”The Boston events… and the poisoned letters (sent to the White House), regardless of who is behind them, show that your security is no longer under control, and that attacks on you have taken off and cannot be stopped,” he said, in the message entitled: “A letter to the American people.”
“Every day you will be hit by the unexpected and your leaders will not be able to defend you,” warned the man whose organisation is considered by Washington the world’s most dangerous al-Qaeda branch.
Rimi said the killing of al Qaeda’s founder Osama bin Laden in May 2011 and top Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in September 2011, had not ended the struggle. “Have you eliminated the jihadist groups that have spread everywhere after they had only been in Afghanistan? Today, they are in your land or close to it,” he warned. To the Muslims in the United States, he said: “We encourage you to carry on with this way, be steadfast in your religion.
Blair warns of ‘profound, dangerous’ lslamist threat
Former British prime minister Tony Blair warned on Sunday, June 2 that the lslamist ideology allegedly behind the murder of a British soldier in a London street was “profound and dangerous”. Blair, now an international Middle East peace envoy, said it was time to admit the breadth of a “strain within Islam” harbouring views incompatible with free societies.
Blair, a Roman Catholic who says he reads the Holy QuraÓan daily, said most Muslims in Britain would be horrified at the murder of Lee Rigby on May 22. “There is not a problem with Islam,” he wrote in The Mail on Sunday newspaper. And we have to put it on the table and be honest about it. I am afraid this strain is not the province of a few extremists. It has at its heart a view about religion and about the interaction between religion and politics that is not compatible with pluralistic, liberal, open-minded societies. At the extreme end of the spectrum are terrorists, but the world view goes deeper and wider than it is comfortable for us to admit. So by and large we don’t admit it.” He said that made Islamic extremists think “we are weak”, which in turn makes those within Islam who want to tackle the issue “lose heart”.
The former Labour Party leader said revolutionary communism was resisted by being resolute on security, “but we defeated it by a better idea: freedom.We can do the same on this.
Blair suggested that the “problem within Islam” could start to be tackled by “educating children about faith”. Two men charged with murdering Rigby are due to appear in separate London court hearings on Monday.
Michael Adebolajo, 28, who has also been charged with the attempted murder of two police officers and possession of a firearm, was to appear before Westminster Magistrates’ Court. Michael Adebowale, 22, also charged with possessing a firearm, was due to appear for a bail application at the Old Bailey central criminal court, ahead of a pre-trial hearing on June 28.
Both Muslim converts of Nigerian descent, they were shot by police at the scene of the killing near Rigby’s barracks in Woolwich, southeast London. An inquest into Rigby’s death heard that he was run over by a car before being attacked by two men armed with a cleaver and a knife.
China boosts nuclear arms arsenal
China and India have increased their nuclear weapons by about 10 warheads each in the past year, and other nuclear states appear set on maintaining their arsenals, a Swedish think tank said on Monday, June 3.
At the start of the year, China had raised its number of nuclear warheads to 250 from 240 in 2012 as part of a process to modernise its defence, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said. However it also said China is “highly non-transparent” when it comes to its nuclear arsenal. SIPRI researcher Phillip Schell said China may continue “the very slight process of increasing” its nuclear arms in the long-term but that there is no sign the country will change its current policy of maintaining a credible deterrent with the smallest possible nuclear arsenal.
“It is not so much about an increase in numbers, but an increase in quality,” he said. Meanwhile, the US and Russia continued their disarmament in accordance with the new START treaty that they signed in 2010.
The US reduced its number of warheads to 7,700 from 8,000, and Russia cut its arsenal to 8,500 from 10,000. However, at the same time the US, Russia, France, China and Britain have all either deployed new nuclear weapon delivery systems or announced programmes to do so, SIPRI said.
“There is little to inspire hope that the nuclear weapon-possessing states are genuinely willing to give up their nuclear arsenals,” SIPRI researcher Shannon Kile said in a statement. “The long-term modernisation programmes under way in these states suggest that nuclear weapons are still a marker of international status and power.”
China’s programme to expand and modernise its conventional armed forces is well-documented and closely watched by nearby Asia-Pacific states, as well as the United States and other more distant countries with interests in the region. However, China’s arsenal of nuclear weapons and delivery systems (missiles and aircraft) is shrouded in secrecy Ñ and controversy.
Sarin used in Syria: France
France said on Tuesday, June 4 it was certain the nerve agent sarin had been used in Syria on several occasions following tests it carried out on samples recovered there. Increasing reports from the battlefield of the use of chemical weapons have lent urgency to a new diplomatic push to end the war and fuelled some calls for Western intervention in the conflict.
“These tests show the presence of sarin in various samples in our possession … France is certain that sarin gas was used several times in Syria in limited areas,” Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said in a statement.
United Nations investigators said on Tuesday they had “reasonable grounds” to believe that limited amounts of chemical weapons had been used in Syria in a conflict where brutality was now a tactic of war.
France has been testing samples of suspected chemical weapon elements for several weeks, including some smuggled out by reporters from the French daily Le Monde. “It would be unacceptable that those guilty of these crimes remain unpunished,” Fabius said, without specifying whether Paris was able to tell who had used the gas.
The results had been handed to the Swedish head of a UN chemical weapons investigation team, Ake Sellstrom, he said. Fabius said on Sunday said that if there was proof chemical weapons had been used there would be serious consequences, although Paris has not detailed what those would be.
A French diplomatic source said the samples had come from Jobar, just inside central Damascus, and Saraqib near the northern city of ldlib. Meanwhile, the bodies of 147 men pulled out of a river in Aleppo between January and March were “probably” executed in government-controlled areas of Syria’s main northern city, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday. HRW said it had visited the war-torn city and interviewed the residents and activists who found the bodies, a forensics expert and 18 of the bereaved families.
The New York-based watchdog also reviewed 350 photographs and videos of the victims as part of their investigation. In a related development, the Turkish army returned fire after shots were fired at military targets from across the border with Syria, the military said in a statement, earlier on Tuesday.
World powers hike pressure on Iran
Six world powers engaged in stalled talks with Iran over its nuclear programme said Wednesday, June 5 it was “essential and urgent” Tehran cooperates with the UN atomic agency over allegations of bomb research. The US, China, Russia, France, Britain and Germany also said they were “deeply concerned” by Iran’s continued expansion of its nuclear programme despite UN Security Council resolutions calling for a suspension.
It said that after 10 failed meetings between the International Atomic Energy Agency and Iran over the past 18 months it was “essential and urgent for Iran to engage with the agency on the substance of its concerns”. The countries – all permanent UN Security Council members except Germany – said that this included Iran fulfilling “its undertaking to grant access to Parchin a military base near Tehran.
The IAEA believes Iran constructed a large explosives containment vessel at Parchin in 2000 to conduct experiments that it says would be “strong indicators of possible nuclear weapon development”.
Iran has rejected IAEA requests to visit the site and denies wanting or ever having worked on developing a nuclear weapon. It says that the IAEA’s allegations are based on faulty intelligence provided by Tehran’s enemies. The allegations on Parchin form part of a major report issued by the IAEA in November 2011 summarising information on suspected nuclear weapons research that it had been given, mostly, but not only, by foreign intelligence agencies.
IAEA head Yukiya Amano said on Monday that after the 10 meetings, the latest on May 15, with Iran on these allegations, the two sides were “going around in circles”.
Wednesday’s statement was delivered by Germany’s ambassador Konrad Scharinger at a closed-door meeting of the IAEA’S 35-nation board of governors in Vienna.
The IAEA’s latest quarterly report on Iran, circulated on May 22, showed Iran continuing to build up its capacity to enrich uranium,which in highly purified form could be used in a nuclear weapon.
Iraq car bomb kills 10 pilgrims
A car bomb in a restive town north of Iraq’s capital killed 10 Iranian pilgrims on Friday, June 7 officials said, the latest in a spike in violence that has sparked fears of all-out sectarian war.
Another 30 pilgrims were wounded in the attack, which struck their bus as it was passing through the town of Muqdadiyah en route from the Iranian border to the Shia holy city of Najaf.
Muslims visiting holy shrines and religious sites form the backbone of Iraq’s tourism industry, with the vast majority of pilgrims coming from Iran. When completing a tour of Iraq’s key religious sites. pilgrims typically visit Najaf, nearby Karbala. Baghdad, and Samarra, the latter of which lies north of the capital. But Sunni militants, including those linked to al Qaeda, view as apostates and often target them for attacks. No group immediately claimed responsibility for Friday’s bombing, however. Police said that in Friday’s attack in Muqdadiya, 80- km northeast of Baghdad, the bomber targeted a convoy of three buses carrying Iranian pilgrims, who often visit Iraq’s shrines in the south of the country.
Libya’s army chief quits after clashes
Libya’s army chief of staff resigned on Sunday, June 9 after clashes in the eastern city of Benghazi the previous day in which 31 people were killed, national assembly sources said. In a closed door meeting, Youssef al-Mangoush told the General National Congress, Libya’s highest political body, that he would no longer continue in the job and the assembly accepted the resignation, three members told Reuters. “Youssef al-Mangoush has told the congress he is no longer willing to continue the journey,” one politician told Reuters in a mobile phone message. Two other sources confirmed the resignation. The congress picked Mangoush’s deputy, Salem al-Gnaidy, tofill the position until a new army chief is picked, one member said. Speculation has been rife for months about Mangoush’s fateamid an increase in violence.
On Saturday, fighting broke out at the headquarters of the Libya Shield brigade in Benghazi when protester demanded the disbanding of militias made up of former rebels. Resentment has been building for months over the myriad militias’ continued existence nearly two years after the fall of Moamer Qadhafi, not least after militiamen laid siege to ministries in Tripoli last month to force their will on the national assembly.
But the central government, whose own forces are too weak to maintain security in a country awash with weapons, has found itself having to co-opt or license some of the most powerful militias to maintain even a semblance of order, while shutting down some others.
Order was only restored in Libya’s second city on Saturday when special forces seized the compound of Libya Shield, which said it was operating with official approval.
Libya Shield is an umbrella group of brigades with bases in Benghazi. cradle of Libya’s 2011 uprising. Earlier, Ali al-Sheikhi, spokesman for the army chief of staff, said any decision on disband ing the brigades could only be taken by the national assembly, but that national army colonels had been ordered to take control of these bases in Benghazi.
“This is what the people want,” he said. The planned to seize the bases was confirmed by Abdullah Al Shafi, spokesman for the government’s Benghazi security operations room, but it was not immediately clear when this would happen or whether the brigades would cooperate.
“What army can take control?” said Ismail Salabi, a Libya Shield commander. “There is no army but Libya Shield.” Thirty -one people were killed and more than 100 wounded in Saturday’s fighting in Benghazi, a doctor at the city’s al Jalaa hospital said. A military source said at least five soldiers from the national army were among them.
British police find evidence of explosion at mosque
British counter-terror ism police said on Friday, July 19 they had found evidence of a three week-old explosion outside a mosque in central England, one of a spate of similar attacks in recent months.
The Wolverhampton central mosque was evacuated on Thursday night following the arrest of two Ukrainian men suspected of involvement in explosions at two other mosques in the area.
Police said debris from an explosion was found on a roundabout, and early indications suggested it had blown up on June 28. “The debris… has been declared safe and further detailed forensic enquiries will be conducted at the scene throughout the day,” the force said in a statement.
Friday prayers were expected to proceed at lunchtime as normal at the mosque. The find comes after two Ukrainian men aged 22 and 25 were arrested on Thursday as part of an investigation into explosions near mosques in the nearby towns of Tipton and Walsall. They were arrested on suspicion of being involved in the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism.
“We recognise the impact news of the latest find will have on the commun ities of Wolverhampton and further afield,” said police Assistant Chief Constable Marcus Beale.
Syrian Kurds plan temporary autonomous govt…Fierce fighting claims over 139 lives across Syria
Syrian rebel fighters killed 12 members of a pro-regime militia during clashes overnight in the central city of Homs, and troops responded by shelling them on Friday, July 19 monitors said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported that, elsewhere; shells hit the Sayyida Zeinab shrine, a Muslim pilgrimage site on the outskirts of Damascus, killing at least one person. “Twelve members of the pro-regime People’s Committees were killed… during fighting with rebel forces on the outskirts of the Khaldiyeh neighbourhood,” the group said. The rebel-held district is one of several regime forces have laid siege to for more than a year.
The regime has increasingly used militia groups to bolster its regular forces in battles against rebel fighters seeking to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad. The Observatory, which relies on a network of activists, doctors and lawyers on the ground, said government troops were continuing to shell the neighbourhood on Friday.
At least 139 people were killed in violence across Syria on Friday, the group said, adding to its overall toll of more than 100,000 dead since the country’s uprising flared in March 2011.
Meanwhile, Syrian Kurds are planning to create a temporary autonomous government to administer Kurdish regions in the north of the war-torn country, Kurdish officials told AFP on Friday. “We think that the crisis in Syria will not end anytime soon, so we need to create democratic self-rule in western Kurdistan,” said Salih Muslim, head of Syria’s Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD).
Western Kurdistan refers to Kurdish majority areas in northern Syria, including Hassakeh province in the northeast of the country and parts of A leppo province. Shirzad Izidi, a spokesman for the People’s Council of Western Kurdistan, another Syrian Kurdish group, confirmed the plans to form a temporary government. “This Kurdish administration will serve as a temporary local government and will take measures to organise elections in Kurdish areas,” Izidi told AFP.
Izidi said ideas for the formation of the government and elections were being discussed by various Kurdish parties, and that “there is an idea also to write an interim constitution so that there will be no vacuurrf”.
Kurdish regions of northern Syria have Been administered by local Kurdish councils since regime forces withdrew from the areas in the middle of 2012. The redeployment was seen as a tactical move by the regime, freeing up forces to battle rebels elsewhere, and encouraging the Kurds to avoid allying with the opposition in order to maintain their new-found autonomy. Since then, the Kurds have walked a fine line, trying to avoid antagonising either the regime or the rebels, and focusing on maintaining security in Kurdish areas while strengthening control over their own affairs.
Kurds represent about 15 percent bf the Syrian population, and are mostly concentrated in the northern part of the country. Unlike their counterparts in Iraq, Syrian Kurdish leaders have not usually called publicly for a separate state, but in the wake of the uprising that began in March 2011, they have said they hope to maintain their new-found autonomy.
Osama’s son-in-law accuses United States of torture
Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law on July 20 asked a New York court to throw out terrorism charges against him, partly on the grounds he had been tortured on the flight that brought him to the United States. In a motion seeking the dismissal of the case, lawyers for former al-Qaeda spokesman Sulaiman Abu Ghaith also claimed US officials had cof luded with Iran over his detention there for more than a decade after the 9/11 attacks. The move marks the first salvo of a landmark legal battle in which Abu Ghaith’s lawyers will seek to chal lenge the US government’s conduct in the “war on terror.”
Prosecutors declined to comment on the di missal motion. They have three weeks to respond, and the judge then has two weeks to set a date for a ruling or a hearing on the issues raised.
Abu Ghaith was detained by US agents in Jordan at the end of February and flown to New York. He was indicted on March 1 on a single count of conspiracy to kill US nationals. That move was decried by prominent Republicans who said he should have been treated as an enemy combatant and sent to Guantanamo Bay – though human rights groups welcomed President Barack Obama’s decision to seek a civilian trial.
Abu Ghaith, a 47-year-old Kuwaiti national, is best-known for his incendiary statements alongside bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri in the immediate aftermath of 9/11.
The submission says Abu Ghaith was interrogated on the flight from Jordan under “capture shock” tactics designed to induce extreme vulnerability and terror in their client. The tactics included being stripped naked; shackled and subjected to sensory deprivation through the use of blackout goggles and ear coverings, which the defendant says were refitted whenever he stopped answering questions.
The dismissal motion also alleges Abu Ghaith could have been brought to trial much sooner, given that the US had been able to secure the smooth transfer of other al Qaeda suspects from Iran in the years following 9/11.
They argued Abu Ghaith’s chances of a fair trial have also been compromised by the killings of potential witnesses in US drone attacks, as well as by other assassinations of Qaeda leaders, including that of bin Laden himself. And they say other witness testimony has been compromised by the well-documented use of torture at Guantanamo. The defence also argued the charges should be thrown out on grounds that the relevant five-year statute of limitations has been violated and that the terms of the indictment are so vague that Abu Ghaith’s constitutional right to be made aware of the detailed charges against him have been infringed.
In light of the torture claims, the judge was asked to rule inadmissible a 21-page FBI report largely based on the defendant’s statements made during his 13-hour in flight interrogation.Defence lawyers also requested that several sections of the indictment relating to bin Laden and the 9/11 attacks be struck down, saying they are likely to prejudice a jury in a trial to be held close to the site of the 2001 attacks on New York.
Earlier this month, Abu Ghaith’s defence team unsuccessfully petitioned the court to issue a restraining order formally restricting the US government from monitoring their communications amongst themselves, with Ghaith and his family or with potential witnesses. The request, lodged in response to Edward Snowden’s revelations about the scale of US surveillance activities, was dismissed by the judge, who said that, even if such monitoring was taking place, there was no evidence it would be used to help the prosecution.
Current Threat Levels:
| City/Region | Threat | Level |
| Islamabad | Level 2 | ** |
| Karachi | Level 2 | ** |
| Lahore | Level 2 | ** |
| Punjab | Level 2 | ** |
| Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | Level 3 | *** |
| Peshawar | Level 2 | ** |
| Quetta | Level 2 | ** |
| Upper Balochistan | Level 3 | *** |
| Lower Balochistan | Level 2 | ** |
| Upper / Rural Sindh | Level 2 | ** |
| Gilgit and Northern areas | Level 3 | *** |
| Tribal areas, close to Afghan | Level 3 | *** |
Index to Threat Level Perceptions
Threat Level 1 *
Indicates there is no threat to foreigners although there may be isolated incidents involving petty crime. No security precautions are required.
Threat Level 2 **
Indicates there is no specific threat to foreigners; however because of the overall general law & order situation, some security precautions are advised if traveling.
Threat Level 3 ***
Indicates that law and order situation is cause for concern and travel should be avoided unless absolutely necessary. Level dictates that foreigners should rehearse plans for evacuation.
Threat Level 4 ****
Indicates complete breakdown of civil administration and law & order leading to anarchy. All foreigners advised to remain indoors and confined to their own city. Families and staff not required to be evacuated retaining only a skeleton staff.
Threat Level 5 *****
Indicates complete breakdown of law and order, enemy action/hostilities, invasion /occupation by enemy.
