Terrorist Activities in Pakistan
Suicide Bombings/Attacks
Three people were killed and 13 others sustained injuries when a Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) bus was hit by a suicide bomber in the Dhok Gama area of Attock city (Attock District) in Punjab on May 3, reports The Nation. Initial reports suggested a man riding a motorcycle first opened fire on the bus carrying employees, before detonating his explosives. According to District Emergency Officer (DEO) Dr. Ashfaq, the attacker opened fire on the bus as it slowed down at a speed breaker on Basal Road. When the driver of the bus, identified as Muhammad Akram Niazi, disembarked and attempted to overpower the attacker with the help of a passer-by, the bomber blew himself up, killing himself, the driver and the passerby identified as Habib-ur-Rehman. The bus was heavily damaged in the powerful blast. No group has claimed the responsibility for the attack as yet.
Bomb/IED attacks
Three Security Force (SF) personnel were injured on May 3 in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in Jani Khel area of Bannu District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The SF personnel were on a patrol duty when their vehicle hit the IED.
An explosive device kept in a pressure cooker near a railway track in the Dasht town of Kharan District exploded on May 10, reports Daily Times. No casualties were reported but the railway scheduled was affected. Another bomb kept nearby was diffused later.
One Policeman was killed and 13 others were injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast at the General Bus Stand in Bannu town (Bannu District) on May 11, reports Daily Times. The device, apparently planted in a motorcycle, exploded when a Police patrol passed by the bus terminal. The Police van and other cars parked in the area were damaged due to the impact of the blast.
Five members of a family were killed and two others sustained injuries in an explosion at a hotel on the main Grand Trunk Road early Friday, May 11. The fire that broke out in the building after the mysterious explosion also engulfed other floors of the hotel. The blast damaged parts of the hotel as well as four cars parked outside the building.
One person was killed and 14 others injured on May 16 in a Vehicle Borne Improvised Device Explosive (VBIED) attack conducted by one militant attacked targeting a Frontier Corps (FC) vehicle carrying six Personnel, including one Officer, on Mall Road near Katchehri Chowk in Nowshera District on May 17, reports Daily Times.
Two Frontier Corps (FC) men were injured when a vehicle hit a landmine Dera Bugti on May 24.
Targetted Killings
A 62-year-old man was shot dead by unidentified armed assailants in Old Muzaffarabad Colony, Landhi in Karachi on April 27. According to Quaidabad police, the incident took place near Bismillah Masjid where unidentified men shot dead Laal Khan. Police suspects the motive of the murder to be a family feud.
Unknown assailants shot a Frontier Constabulary (FC) personal dead at his house in Tehsil Kalachi in Dera Ismail Khan on night of May 1. Local police said the FC personnel, Muhammad Ramzan was asleep at home in Madi area of Tehsil Kalachi when two unknown assailants entered the house and shot him dead. Kalachi police have registered a case on complaint of the deceased’s brother Ghafoor under sections 302, 449/34 PPC.
On April 28, three local tourists and a driver were shot dead by unidentified gunmen at Momi Karam area in South Waziristan of Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA), reports Dawn. Ikhlaq Bangash, the deputy administrator in South Waziristan stated that attackers torched the camp after shooting the tourists and fleeing.
At least three persons were killed and two others injured in a firing incident at Jan Muhammad Road in Quetta in the evening of April 29, reports Dawn. According to Police, unidentified attackers opened fire at people sitting inside a shop on Jan Muhammad Road. The assailants managed to escape unhurt after the attack.
Meanwhile, two shopkeepers belonging to the Shia Hazara community were killed in a drive-by shooting at Jamaluddin Afghani Road area in Quetta on April 28, reports Dawn. According to Police, unidentified assailants opened fire at an electronics shop, killing two Hazara men, identified as Jaffar and Muhammad Ali, on the spot. The assailants managed to escape unhurt from the scene after the attack. No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.
A worker of Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) was shot dead and a woman sustained injuries when armed assailants opened fire at them in Korangi on May 1. According to Zulfiqar Khokhar, the SHO of Zaman Town police station, the firing incident took place near a paint shop in Korangi 5½. Two unidentified motorcyclists opened fire at 40-year old Shahid Khan. A passer-by, 35-year-old Ameena, was also injured in the firing. The two were rushed to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre where doctors pronounced Shahid dead on arrival and took Ameena in for treatment.
Six ethnic Punjabi labourers were killed and one injured in an incident of firing in the Laijay area of Kharan District in Balochistan on May 4, reports Dawn. Levies sources said the labourers who hail from the eastern Punjab were working on a mobile tower and were sleeping in tents at the site when unidentified militants on motorcycles opened fire on them. The assailants escaped unhurt from the spot after the attack. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
Three people were killed in a suspected target killing as unidentified assailants on a motorcycle opened fire at a car in Bilal Town area of Jhelum District in Punjab on May 18, reports Daily Times. The deceased were identified as Zakariya, Mohsin and Mazhar.
Two tribesmen were killed and 33 others sustained injuries in a hand-grenade attack on the venue of a wedding in Saidgi area in North Wazirsitan Agency, local sources on May 26. The injured also included Musa, the bridegroom, and his family members. The injured were taken to a hospital in Miranshah, the headquarters of North Waziristan.
Armed men shot dead a tribesman Omar Saeed in Tappi area in Miranshah tehsil on May 26. The attackers escaped after killing the tribesman. The motive for the killing was unclear. The political administration has started investigation into both the incidents.
Miscellaneous
Three militants and one Soldier were killed during an exchange of fire along Pak-Afghan border in Mohmand Agency on April 26, reports Dawn. Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that a Soldier deployed at a checkpost near Pak-Afghan border embraced martyrdom during an exchange of fire with militants who raided the post from across the border. Forces deployed at the checkpost effectively responded and killed three terrorists. The killed Soldier was identified as Sepoy Farman Ullah (21).
A reporter of Geo News narrowly escaped when two gunmen opened firing at him as he reached near his home in Bhabhra Bazar from office late on night of Apr 30. The police reached the scene and cordoned off the area but couldn’t trace the shooters. Irshad Qureshi told this correspondent that two gunmen intercepted him with gunfire when he entered his street. He rushed to his home but they followed him and kept shooting. He, however, entered his house and saved his life. The police have registered a case and started investigation.
A suspected Lashkar-i-Jhangvi (LeJ) leader was killed during a search operation jointly launched by the Police and Frontier Corps in the mountainous areas of Splingy and Qabu of Mastung District in Balochistan on April 30, reports Dawn. Addressing a press conference along with FC Sector Commander Brigadier Tasawar, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Quetta, Abdul Razzaq Cheema said the FC and Police had conducted the search operation on information about the hideouts of the banned group three days ago. He said when the Security Forces (SFs) cordoned off the area and started searching, armed men hiding in the mountains opened fire on the FC vehicle. As a result, an FC man was injured. A heavy exchange of fire between the SFs and suspected militants continued for several hours. A large quantity of arms and ammunition was seized from the militants’ hideout.
A suspected leader of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), Abdul Rahim Muhammad Shahi was arrested in a joint operation conducted by the Police’s Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) and other security agencies in Sariab area of Quetta on May 1, reports Dawn. Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of the CTD Atizaz Ahmed Goraya said “LeJ leader Abdul Rahim Muhammad Shahi was arrested in the Village Aid area. A hand grenade and a pistol were found from his possession. Shahi was involved in suicide bombings, target killings and other subversive activities. He carried a head money of PKR 2 million.” The DIG Atizaz Ahmed Goraya said during interrogation the suspect had confessed that he was involved in the suicide bombing in Hazara Town’s Vegetable Market, the truck blast at the official residence of the inspector general of Balochistan, suicide attacks on Bahadur Khan Women University and Hazar Ganji, a firing incident in the Bolan Medical College hospital and many incidents of target killings in Quetta. The suspect was involved in around 200 incidents of target killings, the DIG said, adding that he had been using different aliases, including Babul, captain and doctor, to hide his identity. His name had been placed in the Red Book. The DIG Atizaz Ahmed Goraya said the suspect had disclosed names of his group’s members, adding that efforts were under way to arrest them.
Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Qamar Javed Bajwa approved death sentence for 11 hardcore terrorists on April 5, reports Daily Times. According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), COAS approved death sentences of 11 terrorists who were being tried by the military courts. Additionally, the court also handed prison sentences of varied duration to 3 other terrorists.
The Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) on May 6 arrested at least five suspects, including target killers, during raids across Karachi, reports The Express Tribune. According to a Rangers spokesperson, two suspects were arrested during targeted raids conducted on a tip off in Khawaja Ajmer Nagri. They were identified as Nazim Ahmed and Arif alias Tunda. The spokesperson said the suspects were involved in several targeted killings and robberies. Three more suspects were arrested by Rangers during targeted raids conducted in the Awami Colony and Gulshan-e-lqbal areas. They were identified as Shakeel Mughal, Mobin and Yasin Panwar alias Kabari. The Rangers recovered arms, ammunition and drugs from their possession.
The five suspected Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) cadres who had been arrested for conspiring to assassinate Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairperson and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on December 27, 2007, were granted bail on surety bonds worth PKR 500,000 each on May 7, reports Dawn. A two-member Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court comprising Justice Mirza Waqas and Justice Sardar Serfraz granted bail to the TTP suspects Abdul Rashid, Aitzaz Shah, Rafaqat Hussain, Husnain Gul and Sher Zaman who were shifted to the Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore from the Adiala jail on Nov 28, 2017.
Three persons were injured when unidentified assailants carried out an attack at an office at Ghatib Shah Road of Lyari in Karachi on May 9, reports Daily Times. According to law enforcement agencies, a member of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Aqeel Rehmani, was shot at by unidentified assailants near Ghareeb Shah Mazar. Rehmani’s bodyguard injured two suspects while they attacked the group with the hand grenade. The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) Thursday rounded up two terrorists of proscribed Hizbut Tahrir (HuT) and recovered explosives from them on May 10. The CTD personnel received a tip-off that two HuT terrorists were hiding in the area of Nigana Chowk and were planning for major sabotage activity in Multan. The CTD team raided their hideout and arrested two terrorists, who were later identified as Shahid Irfan and Arshad Jamal. The CTD personnel recovered two hand grandees, one pistol of 30 bore, eight bullets, hate material and pamphlets of HuT.
At least six Army personnel, including a junior commissioned officer, were killed and another injured in a terrorist attack on them near the Afghan border in the Shawal Valley area of North Waziristan Agency on May 13, reports The News. Security officials said that members of the bomb disposal squad were clearing a road near the Afghan border for the Security Forces (SFs) when a group of terrorists from Afghanistan’s Paktika province ambushed them. No militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Three suspected terrorists were apprehended by the Pakistan Rangers Punjab in an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Dera Ghazi Khan District of Punjab besides ceasing a large number of weapons and ammunition on May 15, The Nation reported quoting Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
Three Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) militant, including provincial chief Salman Badeni, and Army Colonel Sohail Abid were killed in an exchange of fire during intelligence based operation in Killi Almas area of Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, on May 16, reports Dawn. Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said Security Forces (SFs) conducted an intelligence-based operation in Killi Almas area on pointation from apprehended high-value target about the presence of suicide bombers along with other terrorists in hideouts. SF intercepted and killed a ‘high-value target’ Salman Badeni said to be involved in the killings of over 100 members of the Hazara community as well as Police personnel. Colonel Sohail Abid of Military Intelligence was killed in the gunfight. Four other soldiers were also sustained injuries. According to the statement, three terrorists were identified as provincial chief Salman Badeni and two suicide bombers of Afghani nationality. One injured militant is in military custody.
The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) on May 16 foiled a terror bid by arresting four suspected terrorists in Khanewal town of same District in Punjab, reports Daily Times. The CTD conducted an operation on an intelligence tip-off near the city’s bus stand, and apprehended the four suspects who have been identified as Ghulam Ali, Ahmed Bilal, Hassan Ameen and Tahir. Officials of the CTD also confiscated hand grenades, explosive material and other ammunition that was found in the suspects’ custody.
In a major development on Wednesday, May 16 two key military check posts in Peshawar were handed over to the police while more roads including the one leading to the official residences of the governor and chief minister of the province were opened for traffic after demolishing the walls erected during the last few years.
As many as 68 policemen were deployed at the checkpost near Gora Qabristan near Amn Chowk and another one opposite the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly. The army had erected the two check posts to keep a check on people entering the Cantonment area after the law and order situation deteriorated a decade ago. Policemen were deployed at the checkpoints on Wednesday.
Five militants attempting Vehicle Borne Improvised Device Explosive (VBIED) attack on Frontier Corps (FC) Help Center were killed and four other militants were injured in Quetta District on May 17, reports Daily Times.
The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) on May 20 recovered a cache of weapons during a raid on a house in Kili Barat area of Quetta, reports Daily Times. The CTD confiscated a large amount of weapons, explosive material and suicide vests from the house. A CTD spokesperson also claimed that the raid occurred after the CTD managed to gain information from terrorists it had earlier apprehended. The CTD, however, did not make any arrests during this operation.
The Frontier Corps (FC) on May 23 conducted an operation in Garar and Nullah areas of Mastung District in Balochistan and recovered a cache of weapons, reports Daily Times. According to FC Balochistan spokesperson, the operations were carried out on intelligence-based information in which five rocket launchers, two 107 MM missiles and hundreds of bullets were recovered.
A terrorist was killed and arms recovered from his possession after exchange of fire with security forces here on Thursday, May 24. Levies sources said that on an intelligence tip-off the security forces raided a compound in Spilinji area Dasht in district Mastung of Balochistan. The terrorist taking shelter started firing at security forces and tried to flee. In retaliatory firing of security forces, the terrorist was also killed and arms recovered from his possession. The body of killed terrorist was shifted to Civil Hospital Quetta for postmortem.
PAKISTAN
62 per cent cut in war on terror losses
According to Economic Survey 2017-18, Pakistan’s economic losses due to United Sates (US) war in Afghanistan and the resultant terrorism, though substantial, have seen a steady decline over the past four years with a healthy 62 per cent drop during Financial Year (FY) 2018. “After facing protracted violence for more than a decade, Pakistan has achieved progressive and significant improvements in the country’s overall security landscape in recent years,” said Economic Survey 2017-18, attributing it to comprehensive counter-terrorism operations and measures under the framework of National Action Plan as well as the sacrifices of the Security Forces (SFs). The latest survey, which has recorded the losses to the national economy under the chapter ‘Impact of War in Afghanistan and Ensuing Terrorism on Pakistan’s Economy’, showed them to be declining since 2011-12 except for a surge in 2014-15. The survey said the Afghan war-related costs to Pakistani economy peaked at USD 23.77 billion in 2010-11 and plunged by almost half to USD 12 billion in 2011-12.
In the first eight months (July-February) of 2017-18, these losses amounted to USD 2.07 billion, nearly 62 per cent down from the full year expenses of USD 5.47 billion in 2016-17. Economic losses due to deterioration in security conditions dipped by 30 per cent to stand at USD 6.49 billion in 2015-16 from USD 9.24 billion in 2014-15. The cumulative losses to the economy on account of terrorism in the country since it joined the global ‘war on terror’ in the aftermath of 9/11 have been estimated by the Government at USD 126.79 billion. The survey noted that 2017-18 was the third consecutive year where Pakistan witnessed fewer terrorist attacks and deaths. Moreover, the country was ranked at 5th out of 163 countries in global terrorism index, from its 4th position in 2007.
Government slashes number of check posts in Mohmand Agency of FATA by half
Acting on the directives of civil and military leadership, the political administration of Mohmand Agency in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) announced to slash the number of check posts in the agency by half, read a statement issued on April 27, reports Dawn. Moreover, it also announced that the administrative responsibilities of check posts have been handed over to civil administration where Khasadar and Levies personnel will perform duties from now onwards. The Security Forces (SFs) would fully cooperate with the civil administration in maintaining peace and order.
Members of banned outfits be kept under surveillance ahead of Ramadan, say Sindh CTD official
A high-level Sindh Police meeting on April 27 reviewed the list of members of banned organisations across the province and recommended to the Home Department to put several persons on the Fourth Schedule of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997 so that their activities could be monitored ahead of the holy month of Ramadan, reports Dawn. The meeting was held at an office of the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) with Additional Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr. Sanaullah Abbasi in the chair. It was attended by Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of three zones of Karachi and other senior officers. The Fourth Schedule is a list of “proscribed” individuals who are suspected of terrorism or those who are affiliated with organisations suspected to be involved in terrorism or sectarianism. CTD recommends monitoring members of organisations banned by UN. “We have recommended 15 persons from South, 10 from East and 12 from West Districts of Karachi to be kept under surveillance under Section 11EE of the ATA,” said Dr. Sanaullah Abbasi.
Pak Navy ship rescues Indian boat in open sea
Pakistan Navy Ship Alamgir (Oliver Hazard Perry Class Frigate) while conducting Maritime Security Operations (MSOs) in the Gulf of Aden undertook a successful rescue operation of a stranded Indian fishing dhow “St Marys”.
The Indian fishing boat, which sailed from Indian port of Colochel, was reported to have become non-operational due to loss of engine propulsion in open sea near the Salalah (Oman) for last eight days with 12 crew men onboard.
On receipt of information and request for help about the fishing dhow, the Pakistan Navy ship was promptly dispatched which through its technical team rectified the defect in the boat and made it operational and seaworthy.
Rectification of defect required miscellaneous repairs including gearbox removal and refixing followed by alignments and repairs through improvised solutions by technical team onboard the Indian boat.
The stranded boat crew was dehydrated and also required medical care and edibles. The spokesman of Pakistan Navy said that PNS Alamgir rescue team provided edibles and medical care to the crew members of the Indian fishing dhow. Master and crew of the stranded boat thanked for the kind gesture and swift response of the Pakistan Navy Ship. The fishing dhow thereafter shaped course to India port.
The spokesman said that Pakistan Navy ships are active participants of the Multinational Task Force-150 and Task Force-151, which are mandated to conduct Maritime Security Operations (MSOs) and anti-piracy respectively.
Quetta sit-in: COAS meets notables of Hazara community, says DG ISPR
Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Tuesday, May 1 met notables of the Hazara community in Quetta, said the Inter-Services Public Relations Major General Asif Ghafoor.
Director General of ISPR Major General Asif Ghafoor, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Commander Southern Command Lieutenant General Asim Saleem Bajwa, Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo, and Balochistan Home Minister Sarfraz Bugti were part of the meeting.
Earlier on Monday night, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal visited a protest camp set up outside the Balochistan Assembly. He had held talks with provincial minister Syed Agha Raza, who was leading the protest against unabated killings of members of the Hazara community. The protesters, however, had refused to end their protest until the army chief visited them.
General Qamar Javed Bajwa will receive an update on the security situation in the city, said the military’s media wing. Interior Minister Iqbal had expressed solidarity with the protesters over the killing of two Hazara men by terrorists. “In last five years, the situation has much improved with killings dropping from 215 in 2014 to 8. Our efforts will continue to bring it to zero,” he wrote on social media.
A protest by Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslimeen continued for the second consecutive day on Tuesday. Along with the sit-in outside the assembly, a hunger strike was also being staged by the Hazara community women outside the Quetta Press Club. Social activist Advocate Jalila Haider was leading the strike. The protesters demanded an immediate end to the targeting of Hazara community members and arrest of culprits involved in the heinous acts.
Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal injured in assassination bid
Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal was shot at and injured during a corner meeting in his constituency in Narowal on Sunday, May 6.
The attacker, identified as Abid Hussain, shot at the interior minister from a distance of 15 yards as the latter was about to leave the venue in Tehsil Kanjrur, confirmed DPO Imran Kishwar.
PML-N workers and law-enforcers overpowered the man after he opened fire on the minister, said Punjab government spokesperson Malik Ahmed Khan. He said the attacker was stopped from firing the second shot. A 30-bore pistol was recovered from the attacker, who is about 20-22 years old, confirmed DPO Kishwar. Abid is reportedly a resident of Narowal. The minister was shifted to the area hospital immediately after the attack. His son Ahmed confirmed his father was conscious and out of danger.
Council unanimously dismissed former PM Nawaz Sharif’s recent statement on the 2008 Mumbai attacks, states NSC
National Security Council (NSC) meeting chaired by Pakistan Prime Minster (PM) Shahid Khaqan Abbasi including Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Zubair Mahmood Hayat and Director General Inter-Services Intelligence Lieutenant General Naveed Mukhtar issued a statement on May 14 that the council unanimously dismissed former PM Nawaz Sharif’s recent statement on the 2008 Mumbai attacks, terming it incorrect and misleading, reports Daily Times. It observed that India had denied Pakistani investigators access to Ajmal Kasab, the convicted attacker who was hanged by India. Further, the statement said that Kasab’s hurried hanging by India impeded the investigation of the case, adding that India repeatedly denied assistance in the probe while there was complete cooperation from Pakistan.
Any hostility to be responded befittingly, says COAS
Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Friday, May 11 appreciated the high state of operational readiness and morale of troops and said that despite the desire for maintaining peace with neighbours, any hostile action anywhere along the country’s frontiers shall be effectively and befittingly responded.
The COAS said this while chairing the 76th Annual Formation Commanders’ Conference at the General Headquarters (GHQ). The conference was attended by all the General Officers of Pakistan Army, the ISPR said.
The Formation Commanders pledged that as a state institution, the Pakistan Army will continue to serve the nation in support of and in coordination with other state institutions. The participants were briefed on the evolving geo-strategic environment, threats to national security and the challenges. The forum discussed the response in place and progress of ongoing operations. Progress of Operation Radd-ul-Fasad, including gradual transition of control of cleared areas from military to civil administration, was also deliberated. The COAS attributed successes achieved so far to great sacrifices by the people of Pakistan, security forces, intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
REGIONAL
Bangladesh – Internal Dynamics
Three Neo-JMB cadres arrested in Dhaka city
Police on April 26 arrested three cadres of Neo-Jama’at-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (Neo-JMB) in a raid in the capital Dhaka city’s Mohammadpur area, reports The Daily Star. The arrestees are Mohamad Kamrul Islam Shakil alias Robot alias Tanzim (25), Mohamad Jamil Uddin Tushar alias Raju Hassan (22) and Mohamad Al Amin alias Jahid (21). Police recovered explosive materials including 100 detonators, a knife and a mobile phone from their possession.
Five JMB militants arrested in Chapai Nawabganj District
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in a drive arrested five militants of Jama’at-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) from Bajitpur area of Chapai Nawabganj District in Rajshahi Division on April 29, reports New Age. The arrestees were identified as Ziaul Haque Zia alias Abir alias Ranjit (38), Belad-ul-slam Belal (50), Toufiq-ul Islam Toufiq (32), Kamal Hossain (35) and Sharif-ul Islam (34). RAB recovered 2 pistols, 2 magazines, seven rounds bullet, 800 gram gunpowder and bomb making materials from them.
Seven Jama’at-ul-Muslemin militants arrested in Dhaka city
Police arrested seven militants belonging to Jama’at-ul-Muslemin in the Dhaka city’s Adabar and Bhashantek areas on April 30, reports The Daily Star. The arrestees are Syed Sadman Chowdhury (26), Matiur Rahman alias Abu Sumia (43), Ashiqur Rahman (32), Azimul Haque alias Jion (31), Sabbir Ahmed (34), Abdur Rahim Shikder (42) and Kamal Hossain (40). Police said the arrestees are members of Jama’atul Muslemin, a secret group formed several years back by some members of Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).
PBCP leader killed in ‘gunfight’ with Police in Chuadanga District
Miraj-ul-Islam alias Mira Mondol (42), a leader of Purba Banglar Communist Party (PBCP) was killed in a ‘gunfight’ with Police at Gobindohuda village in Chuadanga District of Khulna Division on May 10, reports The Daily Star. Police recovered one pistol, three crude bombs and three machetes and from the spot.
Two female JMB militants arrested in Dhaka city
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested two female militants of Jama’at-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) from a house at Arambagh in the capital Dhaka city on May 16, reports The Daily Star. RAB said the two had been planning an attack on law enforcement agencies and they were taking various trainings including on the use of firearms through Facebook and YouTube. The arrestees are Rubaiya Binte Noor Uddin alias Hurer Rani Labiba (20) and Naima Akter alias Himalay Konya (25), members of JMB’s women wing.
Bangladesh urges Myanmar to hand over ‘specific list’ of ARSA members in Bangladesh territory
Bangladeshi officials at a meeting of the Joint Working Group on Rohingya repatriation in Dhaka city on May 17 urged Myanmar to hand over a ‘specific list’ of members of Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), if any, staying in Bangladesh territory, reports New Age. At the meeting, the Myanmar side raised the issue of ARSA and Bangladesh officials asserted that there was no existence of members of the group in Bangladesh territory, said a Bangladesh official attending the meeting. Myanmar officials argued that they found a number of news reports that members of the group were living in Bangladesh. Bangladesh officials replied that many Rohingyas wanted to brand their fellows as members of the group out of their previous enmity.
BD kills 13 drug dealers in major crackdown
Bangladesh police have shot dead 13 drug traffickers and arrested thousands in an aggressive campaign against the surging trade in methamphetamines and other narcotics, officers said on Sunday, May 20.
Four drug dealers were killed early on Sunday in separate raids, police said, while the elite Rapid Action Battalion said its forces had killed nine others since Tuesday. Around 2,300 suspected drug traffickers and users had been arrested, the battalion said, in raids since early May. An estimated $2.5 million worth of drugs had been seized.
Authorities last week warned traffickers to surrender or face the full force of the law. Police have vowed to stamp out drugs, most notably “yaba”, a popular street pill made of caffeine and methamphetamine that is doing a roaring trade in Bangladesh.
The alleged dealers all died in what authorities described as shootouts, but parallels have been drawn to the Philippines where police have been accused of executing suspects. “We have spoken to families of some victims. They said the victims were killed extra judicially,” said Nasiruddin Elan from local rights group Odhikar.
Authorities have been struggling to control a huge surge in yaba crossing its southeastern border from Myanmar, where the cheap pills are manufactured by the hundreds of millions. Officials say the bulk of the drugs entering Bangladesh last year were brought by Rohingya refugees fleeing a military crackdown in Myanmar.
This year nine million yaba tablets were seized in less than three months as the refugee influx reached its peak. Nearly two million pills were discovered in a single haul. A director at the narcotics control department predicted that $600 million worth of yaba could be sold on Bangladesh’s streets this year.
India – Internal Dynamics
Canadian Police freed Khalistani terrorist after 24 hours of the arrest, says report
The Canadian Police has freed Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Khalistani terrorist, after 24 hours without any charges being filed against him, reports Hindustan Times on April 27. Nijjar was arrested on April 13 by the Surrey unit of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). He was released after 24 hours with no charges filed against him. The RCMP spokesperson declined to comment on this case as the organisation does not speak anything on the on-going investigation or in the case where no charges were filed. Nijjar’s name was enlisted in the terrorist list handed-over by the Punjab’s CM (Capt.) Amarinder Singh to Canadian PM Justine Trudeau during latter’s visit to India in February 2018. It does not appear that any of the enlisted Khalistani separatists has been arrested by the Canadian authorities so far.
DNA tests confirmed 2016 Jeddah bomber was an Indian, says report
Based upon the DNA tests, the Saudi Arabia authorities confirmed that the bomber Fayaz Kagzi, who blew himself up outside the US consulate in Jeddah city in 2016, was an Indian national and an operative of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), reports The Indian Express on May 1. India has received a DNA confirmation from the Saudi Arabia authorities that DNA samples of Kagzi sent by the Indian authorities matched with the Jeddah suicide bomber, said an unnamed Security official. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has informed the NIA special court in Delhi that Kagzi is dead, said unnamed source. Fayaz Kagzi was not an accused of 2008 Mumbai attacks but the investigators believed that he taught Hindi language to 10 terrorists who carried-out the attack, including Ajmal Kasab. Kagzi may have shifted his allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) in 2014 but later tasked to carried-out the Jeddah suicide attack, said unnamed sources.
Canadian PM skipped but leaders attended the Khalsa Day parade in Toronto, says report
Canadian Prime Minister (PM) Justin Trudeau on April 29, skipped the annual Khalsa Day parade in Toronto, Canada but could not prevent other politicians from appearing at the Nagar Kirtan (Holy March), reports The Hindustan Times. Among the politicians who attended the event, was the New Democratic Party (NDP) national leader Jagmeet Singh who took the opportunity to speak about the Human Rights violation in India that were similar to those in Syria and those against Rohingya in Myanmar. Ontario’s Premier Kathleen Wynne also addressed the gathering in the event where Khalistan flags and banners of ‘Referendum 2020’ for a separate Sikh homeland were held up. The Khalsa Day parade had posters featuring Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale a Sikh militant and founder of the Khalistan movement. Canadian politicians used the opportunity to interact with the Sikh community in Canada and India has no place to direct Canadian political leaders where to go and not to go. These politicians respect the freedom of expression of Canadian Sikhs who are seeking referendum, said Sikh For Justice’s (SFJ) legal advisor Gurpatwant Pannun.
Maoist IED blast kill two Policemen in Chhattisgarh
Two Policemen, identified as Lekhram and Bhoj Singh, were killed in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast triggered by Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres near Odh village under Mainpur Police Station area in Gariaband District on May 2, reports Business Standard. The IED blast targeted the motorcycle, killing one of the Police personnel on the spot. Another injured Policeman succumbed while being moved out of the forest area. CPI-Maoist cadres opened fire on Security Forces (SFs) after the blast and fled from the spot after retaliatory fire by Police, said Inspector General of Police (IG), (Raipur Range), Pradeep Gupta.
Khalsa tradition justifies use of force, says founder member of Sikh Liberation Front
The founding member of new Sikh youth group Sikh Liberation Front (SLF), Moninder Singh has claimed that in “Khalsa tradition”, use of force is permissible and justified as the last resort in the situation, reports Hindustan Times on May 5. The group SLF comprises of Sikh youth from the groups based in Canada, the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK). However, the Khalistan movement does not necessarily to be associated with violence every time. Self-resistance, resistance against the State, and Self defence these modes sometimes require people to resist in many different ways which also includes armed struggle, said Moninder Singh. Reacting to Moninder Singh’s statement, an unnamed senior Indian government official has said that such blatant exhortation to violence aimed at India cannot be tolerated. It is incumbent upon the host government [Canada] to take stringent action against such elements whose only agenda is of hate, violence and mayhem. Moninder Singh is a prominent figure in the Khalistan movement based in British Columbia and other suburbs of Vancouver city in Canada.
Maoists kill Police constable and injure a civilian in Chhattisgarh
Three Communist Party of India-Maoist cadres killed a District Reserve Guard (DRG) constable identified as Ganeshwar Singh Uike alias Ravi (39) and injured a civilian at Sadak Banajari village in Rajnandgaon District on May 5, reports The New Indian Express. Uike, who was a former CPI-Maoist cadre before being recruited as constable in the District Reserve Guard (DRG) of Chhattisgarh, had surrendered before the police in 2011. He was said to be on the target of CPI-Maoist cadres since 2016 when he joined the DRG. The injured civilian, who sustained bullet injuries is out of danger, said Police official.
Two BSF troopers killed and three civilians wounded in IED blast in Manipur
Two Border Security Force (BSF) troopers were killed and three civilians wounded in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) explosion near the gate of 49 BSF battalion head quarter Luwangsangbam Awang Leikai in Imphal West District on May 12, reports Imphal Free Press. The BSF fatalities have been identified as N. Ningthouba Meitei and Sanjay Tirkey. Three wounded civilians have been identified as Mangshatabam Premlata, Heishnam Mubi and Bindya Thakuri. No militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Twelve dead in political violence in east India
Twelve people were killed on Monday, May 14 in clashes between rival political groups vying for village council seats in eastern India, police said. Ballot boxes were set ablaze and gunshots fired in West Bengal state, which has a history of fractious politics and polling violence. Anuj Sharma, a senior state police officer, said violence began almost as soon as voting got underway in the “panchayat” elections, the most local tier of governance in India.
Crude bombs were found near several polling booths in the districts. Twelve people were killed, while five local journalists were injured trying to cover the melee. India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party blamed West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress Party for the deadly clashes.
The Trinamool party, led by firebrand Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, sought to play down the violence. “Every death is a tragedy,” Derek O’Brien, a Trinamool leader, wrote on Twitter. “Yes, few dozen incidents. Say, 40 out of 58000 booths. What’s the percentage?” More than 60,000 security personnel from West Bengal and neighbouring states were deployed to oversee security for the polls.
Two civilians shot dead in Assam
A shopkeeper and a customer were killed on May 18 when unidentified motor cycle borne assailants opened fire at Rupai-Siding Market under Doomdooma Police Station in Tinsukia District, reports The Sentinel. One of the fatalities have been identified as Jit Verma while the other is yet to be identified. One of the assailants, identified as Rupantar Moran was arrested by Police. He stated that he was deputed by United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I) to carry out the attack. The Telegraph further adds that , ULFA-I in a statement has denied its involvement in the incident. Police officials further added that the outfit was issuing extortion demand over mobile phones and WhatsApp and avoided responsibility when its members were apprehended.
Eight persons, including seven SF personnel killed in separate Maoist attacks in Chhattisgarh
Seven Security Forces (SFs) were killed and one critically injured in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast triggered by the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres near Cholnar in Dantewada District on May 20, reports The Asian Age. The joint team of the Chhattisgarh Armed Force (CAF) and the District Force (DF) were patrolling the Cholnar-Kirandul road to provide security to trucks carrying construction material for road works between Kirandul and Palnar villages. CPI-Maoist cadres blew up Police vehicle, carrying the SFs with an IED blast creating 10-feet crater on the road and tossed the Police vehicle into the air. Five SFs died on the spot, while two jawans succumbed to their injuries during treatment. CPI-Maoist cadres took away two INSAS (Indian Small Arms System) assault rifles, two AK 47s and two Self Loading Rifles (SLRs) from the slain Police personnel. The CAF killed are identified as head constable Vikram Yadav and constables Rajesh Kumar Singh, Ravinath Patel and Arjun Rajbhar. While, the slain DF jawans were identified as head constable Ramkumar Yadav, constable Tikeshwar Dhruv and assistant constable Shalik Ram Sinha. The identity of the injured personnel is yet t be ascertained. The IED might have been planted around six months ago and was detonated on May 20, targeting the Police vehicle, said Deputy Inspector General (DIG), P. Sundarraj.
Special Police Commando unit to be set up in Manipur
State Police Department has decided to upgrade its security measured by constituting a dedicated special commando unit to tackle law and order situation, including counter-insurgency, reports Northeast Today on May 20. Director-general of Police L.M. Khaute stated that ‘The manpower for the special commando unit is being culled from the 265 state police personnel’. Khaute said of the 265 Policemen, 20 officers, including five each from Imphal West, Imphal East, Thoubal and Bishnupur Districts, will be picked up to supervise the personnel. The officers will work under the command of inspector James Thangal, who will be the unit’s officer-in-charge. Thangal will work under the command of Imphal West Additional Superintendent of Police (operations) N. Madhunimai Singh. The unit’s overall control will be under the purview of the deputy inspector-general of police-range 1.
Refugees in Mizoram reluctant to return to Myanmar
According to sources, resumption of armed conflict between the Myanmar Army and rebel Arakan Army (AA) has made over 300 Myanmar refugees reluctant to return to their villages, reports The Telegraph on May 20. Police said nearly 1,750 Buddhist and Christian refugees from Myanmar’s Arakan (Rakhine) state fled their villages, crossed the international border and entered Mizoram’s Lawngtlai district in November 2017. Nearly 321 refugees are still in Mizoram and are reluctant to return to their respective villages fearing reprisal as armed conflict between Myanmar Army and the rebels intensified recently. After a short break from February to April, two encounters took place again between the Myanmar Army and Arakan Army on May 9 and 12. Initially, about 1,750 refugees entered Mizoram and were taking refuge at makeshift camps in four villages Zochachhuah, Laitlang, Dumzautlang and Hmawngbuchhuah in Lawngtlai District. The refugees who arrived in Mizoram are mostly Buddhists and Christians belonging to the Zhakai tribe. Lawngtlai police also said the refugees were reluctant to return to their villages out of fear of landmines. Assam Rifles personnel had defused 31 landmines in Mizoram since November last year.
Afghanistan Government engaged in talks with Taliban over release of abducted Indians, says report
The Afghanistan Government has engaged in negotiations with Taliban regarding the release of seven Indian engineers who were abducted by the outfit near Cheshma-e-Sher area in Baghlan Province in Afghanistan on May 6, reports The Times of India on May 21. All negotiations will be secret until the safe release of Indians. The meeting were held with some elders in the tribal area for the release of Indians and they [elders] are talking to the leaders of Taliban to endure the safe release, said an unnamed Afghanistan official. India’s National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval also had telephonic conversation with his Afghanistan counterpart Mohammad Hanif Atmar in the matter.
77 out of 221 new Karnataka MLAs have criminal record
There has been a steady rise in the number of Members of Legislative Assembly with a criminal background in the Karnataka assembly. Among the 221 newly-elected MLAS, 77 (35%) have declared criminal cases against themselves, of which 54 MLAs have declared serious criminal cases, like murder and attempt to murder, reports foreign media.
In 2013, the Karnataka assembly had 34% MLAs with criminal cases, while in 2008, the proportion of elected MLAs with criminal background was 24%, says an analysis by Karnataka Election Watch and Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR).
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has bagged the highest number of seats at 103, has 42 (41%) MLAs with criminal backgrounds, followed by the Congress with 23 out for 78 MLAs elected declaring criminal cases and 11 out 37 MLAs from Janata Dal (Secular).
When it comes to wealth, a majority of elected MLAs cutting across party lines have made the cut as crorepatis, with 215 out of 221 MLAs declaring assets of Rs. 1 crore and more. Overall, 50% of all elected MLAs have declared assets worth Rs. 10 crore and above. In comparison, out of the 218 MLAs analysed during Karnataka 2013 assembly elections, 203 (93%) MLAs were crorepatis, while in 2008, the proportion of crorepatis among elected MLA was 63%, said the ADR analysis.
When it comes to educational qualifications, 61% or 135 MLAs are graduates or above, 36% or 80 of them have declared themselves as Class V-XII pass, one MLA has said he is ‘literate’ while one has not declared anything.
Maoist IED blast kills CRPF sub-inspector in Chhattisgarh
An Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast triggered by the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres killed a COBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Sub-Inspector (SI), identified as Rajesh Kumar and injured COBRA constable identified as Manik Tinpare near Puswada village in Sukma District on May 24, reports The New Indian Express. The Security Forces (SFs) launched the operation between Timilwada to Dornapal and the COBRA official, Rajesh came in contact with an IED, planted by Maoists beneath the dirt track, which exploded leaving the two injured. Rajesh Kumar succumbed to his injuries at field hospital of the CRPF in Chintagufa.
Meanwhile, suspected CPI-Maoist cadres blew up a farmhouse owned by a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator, identified as Vikram Usendi in Bodanaar village in Takodi in Kanker District, reports Hindustan Times on May 23. CPI-Maoist cadres forced the security guard at the farmhouse to leave the place and then targeted it with IEDs. Two rooms of farmhouse were damaged.
Monthly Fatalities
The following casualties, related to ongoing insurgencies and acts of terrorism occurred during the period April 25, 2018 to May 25, 2018:
| Civilian | Indian Security Personnel | Militant | Total | |
| Assam | 03 | 01 | 02 | 06 |
| Arunachal P | 01 | 00 | 00 | 01 |
| Left wing | 24 | 11 | 38 | 73 |
| Total | 28 | 12 | 40 | 80 |
Nepal – Internal Dynamics
IED exploded at Arun-III Hydropower Project office in Sankhuwasabha District
An unidentified group detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) at the office of Arun-III Hydropower Project in Sankhuwasabha District in Province No 1 on April 29, reports Kathmandu Post. The explosion carried at the Tumlingtar-based administrative building of the project caused minor damage to the compound wall. Police suspect that the attack was perpetrated the Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) cadres
Meanwhile, Unification between the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML) and the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist Centre (CPN-Maoist Center) remained deadlocked on April 28 with both sides refusing to budge from their stances, reports The Himalayan Times. CPN-Maoist Center Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has demanded equal representation in the unified party’s structures, including in the Central Committee (CC), but CPN-UML leaders are not willing to give CPN-Maoist Center equal representation in the CC. Dahal and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli held a meeting but failed to agree.
Three-year-old child injured in bomb attack in Sunsari District
A three-year-old Helen Gautam sustained minor injuries when bomb was hurled at a moving bus on May 5 along the Dharan-Itahari road section of Itahari Sub-Metropolitan City-4 in the Sunsari District of Province 1, reports The Himalayan Times. Police said as the Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) cadres enforced a strike in order to pile pressure on the Government for the release of its cadres, the cadres of the same outfit are suspected responsible for the blast.
Meanwhile, a pressure cooker bomb went off at the office of Kalika Construction at Habaldarpur in Banke District of Province 5 on May 5, reports The Himalayan Times. The explosion had damaged the asphalt plant of the company.
Separately, an improvised explosive device (IED) went off near Gauriganga Municipality ward 10 office in Dhangadhi city of Kailali District in Province 7 on May 5, reports The Himalayan Times. The explosion however did not cause any kind of damage.
Similarly, improvised explosive devices (IED) went off simultaneously at Baletaxar, Ruru Municipality; and Tamghas of Resunga Municipality in Gulmi District of Province 5 on May 6, reports The Himalayan Times. No casualty was reported, said Police.
Sporadic blasts and arson mark bandh enforced by Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal
A nationwide bandh (general shutdown) enforced by the Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) on May 13 was marked by sporadic incidents of arson and explosion in some places, reports Kathmandu Post. The shutdown, which was called to protest against the agreements signed by Nepal and India during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s latest Nepal visit, had no impact on Kathmandu Valley, but daily life in several other Districts were brought to a grinding halt.
In Palpa District of Province 5, IEDs were detonated at Srinagardanda and Tansen. There were no casualties. Normal life in the District was greatly affected because of the band.
In Chitwan District of Province 3, an early morning explosion near the Bharatpur-based Bhatbhateni Supermarket shattered some windows and damaged the building wall. The blast occurred at the passage between Hotel Royal Century and Bhatbhateni Supermarket at 3:45 am.
Another early morning attack allegedly perpetrated by the CPN workers, explosives was hurled at two parked buses belonging to Suryodaya Yatayat at a garage in Mechinagar, Jhapa District of Province 1.
Similarly, suspected CPN activists set ablaze two Lorries parked at Dharke Bazaar in Dhunibeshi Municipality, Dhading District of Province 3. The two cargo transporters from India (R J 42 GA 5021 and R J 42 GA 0756) were torched at around 3 am, causing panic at the highway settlement that has a LPG bottling plant and a petrol station nearby.
In Sunsari District of Province 1, a group set fire to the office vehicle of NHIDCL, the consultancy firm for Postal Road Project which is being undertaken by the Indian government, at around 1:00 am. The front section of the car was damaged in the incident.
In Banke District of Province 5, the generators of the telecom company, Ncell, were torched at Khajura and Baijanath area, police said.
Two persons injured in bomb explosion in Jhapa District
Two persons were injured in a bomb explosion at the house of Bhim Poudel, the Ward Chairperson of the Damak Municipality Ward Number 7 in Jhapa District of Province 1, reports Kathmandu Post. Those injured in the incident are Semu Rai and Tilochan Pokhrel who had come to visit their relatives at the house next to Poudel’s. Both them who have been wounded in the hands and legs are being treated at the Lifeline Hospital in Damak.
Sri Lanka – Internal Dynamics
Four LTTE supporters sentenced to jail in Tamil Nadu
A court in Ramanathapuram, Tamil Nadu (India) on April 28 sentenced four supporters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to varied jail terms for procuring weapons and trying to smuggle them to Sri Lanka, reports Daily Mirror. District court judge A Kayalvizhi awarded the jail term to Krishna Kumar, Subhashkaran, Rajendran and Sasikumar. While Krishna Kumar and Subhashkaran were each sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, Rajendran and Sasikumar got three years and six months jail terms respectively. All the four, arrested near Rameswaram in 2014, had landed on Indian shores earlier, the prosecution said. They were accused of getting cyanide capsules and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) meant to be supplied to LTTE in the island nation and help revive the organisation.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s Office on Missing Persons (OMP) will travel to different places of the island to hold discussions with families of the disappeared starting from next month, OMP Chairman Saliya Pieris PC, said, reports Colombo Page on April 29. “The OMP will from May onwards visit different places to speak to families of the missing and disappeared to share our plans and obtain their views on how we should proceed,” he said. The OMP Commissioners will first meet with families in Mannar on May 12.
Five Aava Group members arrested in Jaffna District
Police arrested five members of the Aava Group from Chunnakam town in Jaffna District of Northern Province on May 6, reports Daily News. Three swords and few faces covering clothing’s were recovered from them. Two motorbikes used for the murders along with illegal helmets were also taken into custody by the Police. All the suspects are residents of Jaffna and are aged between 22 and 26.
Sri Lanka president urges end to power struggle
Sri Lanka’s president on Tuesday, May 9 appealed to his prime minister to end a bitter power struggle and said the coalition government had failed to deliver promised reforms. But Maithripala Sirisena suffered a new blow when 16 of his MPs joined the opposition.
Sirisena told parliament that the coalition partners should commit to a reform agenda to revive the island nation emerging from a decades-long ethnic war that claimed more than 100,000 lives.
“This is not a time for parties to engage in a power struggle,” Sirisena said after opening a new session of parliament. “Although we formed a coalition government in August 2015, we still have not politically matured to accept and work within this reality. Consensus government is still a foreign concept to us.”
He urged the government dominated by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s United National Party (UNP) to work towards ethnic reconciliation to rebuild the country. Tamil rebels who fought for independence for the island’s ethnic minority were crushed in a military offensive that ended in May 2009.
The military drive has sparked allegations that more than 40,000 Tamil civilians were killed by government forces in the final months of the war. Sirisena said the government must address the causes of the ethnic conflict and ensure a permanent political solution so that the nation of 21 million people does not return to war.
Sri Lankan army unit to fight civil war abuse claims
The Sri Lankan army has formed a special unit to defend itself against allegations of grave human rights abuses at the end of the island’s decades-long ethnic war.
Army chief Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake said on May 10 that the group would collate local and international reports, and establish the truth to clear the military’s name. International rights groups accuse the military of killing 40,000 Tamil civilians in the final months of the war which ended in May 2009. The government of the time said not one civilian was killed. Senanayake distanced the military from the previous claims that no civilians died, and acknowledged there may have been individual excesses.
He said there were conflicting claims of casualties from the 37-year old Tamil separatist war. “Different units of the army involved in the final offensive maintained figures of casualties. I want to collate all that. The government has said it lost at least 26,000 soldiers in the war with another 37,000 wounded. About 20,000 of the injured ended up with a permanent disability. The Tamil Tiger rebels also lost heavily and the entire guerrilla leadership was wiped out in the military onslaught.
The government under then president Mahinda Rajapakse, who ordered the offensive, faced international censure for refusing to acknowledge what the UN called credible allegations. The administration which came to power in January 2015 said it was willing to investigate and pay reparations to victims, but progress has been extremely slow.
Amnesty International calls on Sri Lanka to release lists of forcibly disappeared
On the ninth anniversary of the end of the war, Amnesty International called on the Government of Sri Lanka to provide information to the families of the disappeared, with detailed lists and information of persons who surrendered to the armed forces in the final phase of the war, reports Colombo Page on May 18. In a statement Amnesty International recalled that the President Maithripala Sirisena, acknowledging the grievances presented by family members in June 2017, promised that he would instruct the National Security Council to release these lists.
Meanwhile, Human rights Watch (HRW) says nine years after the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) terrorists ended in Sri Lanka with the elimination of the terror group, justice for human right abuses committed by both sides remains elusive, reports Colombo Page on May 18. Sri Lanka’s three-decade long war with the LTTE came to an end on 18 May 2009 with the elimination of most of the LTTE leadership. According to the HRW, the Government’s victory, however, had come at the cost of serious violations of the laws of war by both sides. During the conflict the LTTE committed sectarian massacres, political assassinations and suicide bombings, widely deployed child soldiers, and executed detainees while the Sri Lankan military committed countless arbitrary detentions, extrajudicial killings, and enforced disappearances.
SL warns of Tamil separatist resurgence
Sri Lanka’s president on Saturday, May 19 warned that Tamil extremists were regrouping abroad to revive their demand to divide the island nation nine years after the end of its decades-long ethnic war.
Maithripala Sirisena said government forces had failed to quash the Tamil rebels’ separatism, although they were militarily conquered by May 2009 following a no-holds-barred offensive.
“We have defeated terrorism of the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam), but we have not been able to defeat their ideology,” Sirisena said.
At a ceremony to mark the ninth anniversary of the end of the war, Sirisena said Tamil extremists abroad were still hoping to establish an independent homeland in Sri Lanka.
There has been no violence blamed on Tamil rebels since their top leader Velupillai Prabhakaran was shot dead on May 18, 2009, but pro-rebel activists abroad are known to have staged frequent anti-Sri Lankan protests.
Sole endeavour of UNP was to prevent another military type regime coming into power, says Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe addressing a meeting held at United National Party (UNP) headquarters, Colombo on May 25 said the sole endeavour of the UNP was to prevent another military type regime coming into power, reports Daily News. “As such, the decision confronting the people was whether they needed democracy or a second Rajapaksa regime in power,” the Premier said. The Premier added that when UNP leaders addressed Parliament with pride and honour, Pohottuwa members only shouted and disrupted the proceedings. “Their sole objective was to bring back the Rajapaksa regime to power. The question was as to whether they wanted to safeguard democracy if they returned to power. Lasantha Wickrematunga was murdered and Ekneligoda was abducted during their rule,” he said.
INTERNATIONAL
Four killed in Boko Haram attacks in Nigeria
At least four people were killed when Boko Haram suicide bombers attacked northeast Nigeria’s biggest city, the emergency services said on Friday, Apr 27 as residents returned home.
Violence broke out on the outskirts of Maiduguri on Thursday night, with indications the jihadists were trying to reach the city’s Giwa Barracks, where suspected militants are held. The attack and an announcement that 22 soldiers from a regional force have been killed in fighting this month again underlined the threat posed by the Islamist insurgents.
Nigeria has repeatedly maintained the Islamic State group affiliate is a spent force and on the verge of defeat. In Maiduguri, Bashir Garga, from the National Emergency Management Agency, said: “There were innocent citizens, four of them, who died.
“The victims and corpses have been evacuated to the state specialist hospital in Maiduguri,” said police chief Damian Chukwu. “Normalcy has been restored in the area.” Thursday’s attack, which was repelled with the arrival of troop reinforcements and air support, was a rare urban incursion by Boko Haram.
Nigeria has been fighting Boko Haram in northern Borno around the shores of Lake Chad, which forms the border with Cameroon, Chad and Niger. Troops from all four countries, and Nigeria’s western neighbour Benin, have combined in a regional force to combat the cross-border threat from the group.
Colonel Timothy Antigha, spokesman for the N’Djamena-based Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF), said operations this month had made “substantial operational dividends”. But 22 soldiers have been killed and 75 others wounded since April 5. The nationalities of the dead were not disclosed.
Turkey detains scores linked to Gulen
Turkish authorities have detained 63 people suspected of links to a network accused of orchestrating a failed coup and were hunting for 40 others on Saturday, Apr 28 the state-run Anadolu news agency said. Officials said some of the suspects had worked as matchmakers finding spouses for followers of US based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who the Turkish government says was behind the failed 2016 putsch, Anadolu reported. Others had appeared on lists of potential partners drawn up by the matchmakers, Anadolu added.
Gulen denies any involvement in the coup attempt and has not commented on the Turkish government´s assertion that his supporters run a matchmaking service.
The suspects were detained in Istanbul and 35 other areas across Turkey, Anadolu said, part of a security crackdown that has been condemned by the United Nations and Western powers.
The UN human rights office said last month Turkish authorities had detained 160,000 people and dismissed nearly the same number of civil servants since the failed putsch.
Among those detained, more than 50,000 have been formally charged and kept in jail during their trials. Rights groups have accused President Tayyip Erdogan of using the coup as a pretext to muzzle dissent.
Germany to prevent weapons’ exports to S Arabia, UAE
Germany’s democratic socialist political party Die Linke has proposed a draft bill aimed at banning weapons exports to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for their role in the three-year-old Yemen war, which has claimed the lives of thousands of civilians in the impoverished Arab country.
The bill seeks to prevent weapons exports and all other related goods and services to the two countries over their human rights abuses in Yemen. The proposed law, if approved, would not only stop future transactions from being made but would also retroactively recall deals already made.
There are reports that German-made patrol boats bought by Saudi Arabia were used to blockade Yemeni ports from receiving aid and basic commodities, which consequently exacerbated the dire humanitarian situation in the conflict-plagued country. The Yemeni Ministry of Human Rights announced in a statement on March 25 that the Saudi-led war had left 600,000 civilians dead and injured since March 2015.
The UAE is Saudi Arabia’s key partner in its deadly military campaign against Yemen. The United Nations says a record 22.2 million Yemenis are in need of food aid, including 8.4 million threatened by severe hunger. A high-ranking UN aid official recently warned against the “catastrophic” living conditions in Yemen, stating that there was a growing risk of famine and cholera there.
100 arrested, explosives seized in Burkina Faso raids
Burkinabe authorities have arrested around 100 people and seized explosives in operations in eastern and northern regions near the Malian border where Jihadists are active, the chief of army staff said on Saturday, April 28.
Burkina Faso´s border regions with Mali and Niger have both been the scene of regular attacks by Jihadist groups over the past three years. Official figures say 89 ambushes have left 134 people dead.
Security sweeps of the areas by specialist anti-terrorist units since the end of last year had already led to the arrest of 30 people suspected to have links with extremist groups, according to the military.
IS ‘emir’ killed in southern Yemen
A top Islamic State group leader was killed and three others arrested in a government raid on Saturday, April 28 in southern Yemen, police said.
Saleh Nasr Fadl al-Bakhshi, self-proclaimed “emir” of the radical group´s branch in the Aden and Abyan regions, was killed in the raid on an IS hideout in government-held territory, a senior officer with Aden´s police force told AFP.
Islamist networks, including IS and al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, have exploited years of war in Yemen to expand their presence in the country´s south.
The government of Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi has been based in southern Yemen since 2015, after Huthi rebels drove it from the capital Sanaa and much of the country´s north, prompting a Saudi-led military intervention.
Southern Yemen is the target of a US-backed operation against AQAP, led by the United Arab Emirates, as well as a long-running US drone campaign.
The Yemen war has claimed nearly 10,000 lives since Saudi Arabia and its military allies joined the conflict in March 2015, triggering what the United Nations has called the world´s worst humanitarian crisis.
Iraq sentences 19 Russian women to life
Iraq on Sunday, April 29 sentenced 19 Russian women to life in prison for joining the Islamic State group, the latest in a series of heavy verdicts against foreign women linked to the Jihadists.
The head of Baghdad’s Central Criminal Court, which deals with terrorism cases, said the women were found guilty of “joining and supporting IS”, according to an AFP journalist at the hearing. Six women from Azerbaijan and four from Tajikistan were also condemned to life in prison on Sunday on the same charge.
The women, who have the right to appeal against the sentences, entered the court one-by-one dressed in black headscarves and pink blouses, most of them accompanied by their children.
Iran says it will respond to Israeli strike in Syria
A senior Iranian member of parliament vowed on Tuesday, May 1 that his country will react to “Israeli aggression” against it in Syria, issuing his warning following a missile strike on Syrian military bases at the weekend.
Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy committee, made the comments in Damascus after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented purported evidence of past Iranian nuclear arms work, but later insisted he was not seeking war with the country.
Israel generally does not comment on specific missions, but acknowledges it has carried out scores of strikes against what it describes as Iranian deployments or arms transfers to the Hizbullah movement, its ally in Lebanon.
A British-based war monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, has said that at least 26 people were killed in the strikes and that most of them were Iranians or members of an Iran-backed Iraqi militia.
The semi-official Iranian news agency Tasnim said no Iranian base had been hit or Iranians killed. Earlier this month, Tehran and its allies including the Hizbullah group accused Israel of a missile strike which Tehran said killed seven of its military personnel in Syria.
Boroujerdi did not directly accuse Israel of Sunday’s attack, but said such strikes in Syria were in response to the Damascus government’s victories over insurgents and militants. “The presence of our military advisers in Syria has nothing to do with Israel,” he said, adding that they were there in coordination with Damascus and as part of a military operations room that included Russia.
Strikes kill 23 civilians in IS-held area in Syria
Air strikes killed at least 23 civilians including 10 children in a village held by the Islamic State group in northeastern Syria on Tuesday, May 2 the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.
“We don’t know for the moment if the US-led international coalition or Iraqi forces carried out the strike” on the village of Al-Qasr in Hasakeh province, the Observatory said. The Britain-based monitor relies on a network of sources on the ground for its information.
The US-led coalition is backing a Kurdish-Arab alliance that has been fighting IS in eastern Syria near the border with Iraq. Iraq has also previously carried out strikes against IS Jihadists in Syria, including a raid last month in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor.
The Jihadists have lost much of the territory they once controlled in Syria and Iraq since declaring a cross-border caliphate there in 2014. In Syria, they have faced two separate offensives one by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces alliance and a second by Russia-backed regime fighters.
The overall death toll of non-fighters killed in coalition strikes since 2014 in both countries to at least 883. Monitoring group Airwars says the true toll of the bombing campaign is much higher, estimating that at least 6,259 civilians have been killed.
Dozens killed in Nigeria suicide blasts
Suicide bombers killed dozens of people at a mosque and a market in northeast Nigeria on Tuesday, May 1 in a twin attack bearing the hallmarks of Islamist insurgents Boko Haram.
The blasts happened at about 1:20 pm (1220 GMT) in Mubi, a city some 200 kilometres from the Adamawa state capital, Yola. Adamawa state police spokesman Othman Abubakar said, “For now the death toll is 24,” but other sources gave far higher figures.
Suspicion immediately fell on Boko Haram, the Jihadist group whose quest to establish a hardline Islamic state in northeast Nigeria has left at least 20,000 dead since 2009. Mubi has been repeatedly targeted in attacks blamed on Boko Haram since it was briefly overrun by the militants in late 2014.
Six killed in Boko Haram attack on Lake Chad island
Six people were killed, including four government officials and a soldier, in an attack by Boko Haram Jihadists on a Chadian army checkpoint on an island in Lake Chad, a military source told AFP on Sunday, May 6.
The overnight killings, which cost the life of a civilian along with two customs officials, two forestry agents and the soldier, occurred when “Boko Haram elements attacked an advanced post of the Chad army” in Gabalami in the country’s far west, the source said. The attackers were “repelled” but managed to escape without suffering losses, the source added.
Boko Haram, a militant movement opposed to Western influence and seeking an Islamic state based on Sharia law, has caused the deaths of at least 20,000 people since it took up arms in 2009 in Nigeria. Neighbouring Chad has seen a recent increase in attacks by the group.
Last month, Chad’s national television reported that three of the country’s soldiers had been killed during a clash with the Jihadists, without giving the location. It came as fighting took place between Boko Haram and Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) soldiers in Arge in Nigeria’s Abadam district, which is on the Chad border.
100,000 migrants fled to war-torn Yemen in 2017
Nearly 100,000 migrants fled last year to Yemen, itself gripped by war and impending famine, to escape poverty and violence at home, the International Organisation for Migration said on May 8.
Some 7,000 migrants entered Yemen each month, with the total number of arrivals in 2017 reaching near 100,000, the IOM said. Fleeing violence and poverty in the Horn of Africa, and at the mercy of smugglers, they hope to ultimately reach the more prosperous Gulf countries.
Less fortunate migrants face torture, sexual abuse and death. “Both en route and once in Yemen, many migrants suffer at the hands of cruel smugglers and other criminals, including physical and sexual abuse, torture for ransom, arbitrary detention for long periods of time, forced labour for no pay and even death,” the IOM said.
Human Rights Watch last month released a report documenting Yemeni government employees who had “tortured, raped, and executed” migrants and asylum seekers at the Buraika migrant detention facility in the southern province of Aden, where the country’s embattled government is based.
23 fighters killed in Israeli strikes on Syria
Israeli strikes on several areas of Syria overnight killed at least 23 fighters, including five Syrian regime troops and 18 other allied forces, a monitor said on May 11. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said an officer was among the regime troops killed in the strikes and that the casualties included foreigners.
Israel´s army said it hit dozens of Iranian military targets in Syria. The Russian defence ministry, whose country has forces in Syria supporting the regime, said 28 Israeli warplanes took part in the raids and around 70 missiles were fired.
Areas near Damascus as well as in the centre and south west of the country were among the targets, the Observatory said.
The strikes “caused human losses in a number of the targeted areas”, it said, adding the death toll was likely to rise.
Syria´s army announced a death toll of just three people.
Israel said it targeted Syrian positions after rocket fire towards its forces in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that it blamed on Iran. A senior military pro-regime source in Syria confirmed the salvo of rockets, but insisted Israel fired first.
France warns Iran against ‘mly provocation’
France on May 13 called on Iran to refrain from “any military provocation” in Syria following a series of Israeli strikes on what it said were Iranian positions in the country. A foreign ministry spokesman also warned Tehran “against any temptation for regional dominance”, a matter that French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian would address in talks with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif next week.
The Israeli strikes in Syria come just days after US President Donald Trump withdrew from a key 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, in part because it does not attempt to curb Tehran’s role in several crises in the Middle East.
Tehran has portrayed itself as the focus of Middle East “resistance” against Israel, which said it struck the Syria sites in retaliation for rocket fire it blamed on Iran’s Al-Quds force.
The foreign ministry reiterated France’s “unwavering support for Israel’s security and condemns all attempts to harm it.” He also called for “restraint by all sides in order to avoid a dangerous escalation of tensions in the Middle East.
“That is why, as the president has said, it hopes in particular to begin talks with Iran over a larger framework that would encompass its nuclear activities as well as its ballistic missile programme and a solution to crises in the region,” it said. Iran is backing the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in his seven-year civil war against rebel opposition groups, and is also supporting Shiite militia forces in Iraq.
UN experts have also accused Iran of violating an arms embargo in Yemen by sending missiles and other weaponry to Huthi rebels fighting government forces backed by Saudi Arabia, Tehran’s archrival in the region.
Four dead as suicide blast hits Baghdad mourners
Four people were killed and 27 others wounded on Wednesday, May 16 when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a tent filled with mourners in north Baghdad, Iraqi police and medical sources said.
The attack hit the Taji district of the Iraqi capital at around 1030 GMT, a police source said. Medical sources at a local hospital confirmed the toll. Security forces central command said the attack had “killed and wounded civilians” without providing figures.
A source from the Hashed al-Shaabi militia that was influential in the fightback against the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group in the past three years said members of the force were present when the suicide bomber struck. IS has lost most of the territory it seized in Iraq in 2014 but still carries out regular individual attacks.
Toll from blasts at Syria airbase climbs to 28
At least 28 pro-government fighters have been killed in a string of blasts at a regime airbase in central Syria earlier this week, a monitor said on Sunday, May 20 giving a new toll.
The deadly explosions tore through weapons and fuel depots on Friday at a military airport in Syria’s Hama province, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. “The toll has gone up to at least 28 regime forces and loyalist fighters, all Syrian,” said the Britain-based monitor, after initially reporting 11 killed.
It said the death toll could rise as “dozens” are wounded “some in of them in critical condition,” it said. Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said there may also be casualties from other nationalities, as fighters from regime backer Iran and allied Lebanese militia Hizbullah were deployed there.
But a joint operations room of Syria’s regional allies denied any of their forces had been killed in the explosions. “We have no military advisers in the Hama airbase. We have no depots and have not positioned forces from Iran or elsewhere at this airport,” it said in a statement carried on Hizbullah’s War Media Channel.
Syrian state media reported the blasts at the time but did not provide any details, while the Observatory had said they were likely due to a technical malfunction. Tensions are high in Syria after several Israeli strikes in recent weeks on regime positions, as well as military installations reportedly used by Iran.
The latest wave came in the early hours of May 10, when Israel carried out dozens of raids against what it said were “Iranian” targets in Syria. Israel has repeatedly threatened to act if Iran developed an entrenched military presence in southern Syria, which borders the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. More than 350,000 people have been killed since Syria’s conflict erupted in March 2011 with protests that spiralled into a brutal war.
S Arabia intercepts Yemen missile
Saudi air defences on Monday, May 21 intercepted a ballistic missile over southern city Jizan fired from rebel-held territory in neighbouring Yemen, a spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition said.
Debris from the missile landed in residential areas of Jizan, but without causing casualties, coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said in a statement released by the official Saudi Press Agency. Yemen’s Iran-allied Huthi rebels have in recent months ramped up missile attacks against neighbouring Saudi Arabia, which leads a military coalition against them.
Two rebel missiles targeted the southern city of Khamis Mushait on Saturday, according to Maliki. One missile was intercepted and destroyed by Saudi forces, while the other crashed in an unpopulated desert area, he said. Saudi Arabia earlier this month tested a new siren system for the capital Riyadh and the oil-rich Eastern Province, in a sign of the increased challenge posed by the rebels’ armaments.
Ten killed by suspected Ugandan rebels in DR Congo
Ten civilians were killed overnight in a flashpoint area in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in an attack by suspected Ugandan rebels, an official said on Monday, May 21.
The attack was carried out by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) militia, said Jonas Kibwana, administrator of the Beni region in North Kivu province. “The ADF attacked the town of Mbau. 10 civilians were shot dead and two others were wounded,” Kibwana told AFP, giving a toll confirmed separately by sources in the armed forces and civil society.
Eastern DRC has been wracked by violence since the mid-1990s. The ADF created by Muslim radicals to oppose the rule of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is one of a number of armed groups fighting over the region’s rich mineral resources. It stands accused of killing hundreds of civilians over the years and of carrying out a deadly attack on UN troops in Beni last December that left 15 peacekeepers dead.
Five dead in Baghdad
At least five people were killed and several others wounded when a suicide bomber struck a cafe in Baghdad where people had gathered after breaking their daily Ramazan fast, police said on Thursday, May 24. “A suicide bomber blew up his explosive belt while he was surrounded by police near a public garden in Al-Shoala district,” a mainly northern neighbourhood of the capital, a security forces statement said. A police source told AFP four people had been killed and 16 others wounded in the overnight bombing.
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 border Level 3 ***
Index to Threat Level References
Threat Level 1 *
No threat to foreigners although there may be isolated incidents involving petty crime. No security precautions are required.
Threat Level 2 **
No specific threat to foreigners, however because of the overall general law & order situation, some security precautions are advised, especially if traveling.
Threat Level 3 ***
Indicates that law and order situation is cause for concern and travel should be avoided unless absolutely necessary. Foreigners should rehearse plans for evacuation.
Threat Level 4 ****
Indicates complete breakdown of civil administration and law and order leading to possible anarchy. All foreigners 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.
