At least 10 cadres of the ‘Telangana State Committee (TSC)’ of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) were killed in an encounter near the Pujari Kanker Forest under the Pamed Police Station limits in the Bijapur District of Chhattisgarh, along the Telangana-Chhattisgarh border, on March 1, 2018. According to reports, acting on tip-off about a ‘big meeting’ of CPI-Maoists in the area, personnel from the Greyhounds[the elite anti-Maoist force of the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Police] and Chhattisgarh Police started a combing operation. The combing team came across an estimated 50 to 100 CPI-Maoist cadres and asked them to surrender, but the Maoists opened fire. In the retaliatory fire, Security Forces (SFs) killed 10 Maoists, while the remaining rebel force managed to escape. B. Susheel Kumar, a Greyhounds commando, also lost his life in the encounter.
Jharkhand: Waning Maoist Influence
Four cadres of the ‘Madhya Zone’ (Central Zone) of the Bihar-Jharkhand Special Area Committee (BJSAC) of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), including ‘sub zonal commander’ Rakesh Bhuiyan, were killed in an encounter with the Security Forces (SFs) at Malanga Pahad (hill) under Chhatarpur Police Station in Palamu District, on February 26, 2018. The SFs, who had launched an operation on a tip off that Rakesh Bhuiyan was hiding in the area along with 20 others, were attacked by the Maoists. The encounter started at 8.50am and lasted for just 20 minutes, leaving four Maoists dead. The slain Maoists were identified as Bhuiyan, Lalloo Yadav, Ruby Kumari and Rinki Kumari. SFs also recovered two SLRs (Self Loading Rifles), five magazines, 219 bullets, eight cell phones, back packs, uniforms, Naxal [Left Wing Extremism (LWE)]- literature and eatables.
For the second consecutive year, Mizoram did not record a single insurgency-related fatality in 2017. Significantly, the last such fatality in the State was recorded on March 28, 2015, when three Policemen were killed in an ambush by cadres of the Democratic faction of Hmar People’s Convention (HPC-D) near Zokhawthiang in Aizawl District. The last civilian fatality was recorded on October 15, 2014, when the bodies of two non-tribals were found near the Tuikhurhlu area in Aizawl District. The last militant fatality was recorded on February 26, 2008, when a Kuki Liberation Army (KLA) militant was killed in a factional clash in the State capital Aizawl.
On February 5, 2018, Security Forces (SFs) killed a militant of the Saoraigwra faction of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB-S), ‘platoon commander’ Jordan Narzary, in an encounter at Belguri village in the Chirang District of Assam. A 7.62 mm pistol, along with one magazine and two rounds of live ammunition, was recovered from the possession of the slain militant.
On January 16, 2018, three fidayeen (suicide attackers) carried out an attack targeting the convoy of Rao Anwar, the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Malir Town, in the Malir Cantonment area of Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh. One of the attackers blew himself up near the convoy while two other attackers were killed in retaliatory fire by Policemen. SSP Anwar remained unhurt in the attack, but at least four Policemen travelling in the convoy sustained bullet wounds. SSP Anwar had survived an attack earlier on May 1, 2015, during which assailants had hurled grenades and opened fire on his convoy while he was returning home from the residence of slain Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Fateh Muhammad Sangi.
United National Liberation Front (UNLF) militants on January 4, 2018, shot dead a civilian, identified as Loukrakpam Sananingthem Singh, at Lamsang Khunou in Imphal West District. The victim was earlier arrested in connection with a sexual assault case in 2015.
In keeping with the Government's policy to release more security forces-held lands to the civilians, the Sri Lanka Army released another 133.34 acres on December 28, 2017, in the Keppapilavu area of Mullaitivu District to the civilian Tamil owners. As of December 1, 2017, the Army had released a total of 55,510.58 acres of land in Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Mannar and Vavuniya Districts in the Northern Province, in addition to the 133.34 acres released on December 28 in Keppapilavu. As on March 1, 2016, the Army was occupying 67,427 acres of land belonging to Tamil civilians in the Northern Province. The Army commenced the gradual release of private property used by the armed forces after the conclusion of the Eelam War on May 17, 2009.
At least nine persons, including six students, were killed and 37 were injured when Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorists attacked the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) in Peshawar, the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), on December 1, 2017. At least four attackers wearing suicide jackets under burqas (veils) reached the compound in a rickshaw. Their first target was the security guard, after which they headed inside towards the ATI students' hostel. Two soldiers were also injured in the rescue operation. A cache of arms and ammunition, including three suicide jackets, 20 hand grenades, AK-47 rifles and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were recovered from the incident site. According to reports, about 120 college residents, out of a total of nearly 400, were present at the time of the attack. Most of the others had gone home for a long holiday weekend.
Five bullet-riddled bodies of ethnic Punjabis were recovered by Levies Force personnel in the Tajaban area of Turbat tehsil (revenue unit) in the Kech District of Balochistan on November 18, 2017. The Levies Force disclosed that all the victims had received multiple bullet injuries and belonged to the Gujrat District of Punjab.
On November 16, 2017, Police raided a house at Nawduli village in the Naogaon District (in Northern Bangladesh) and arrested five cadres of the Neo-Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (Neo-JMB). Police recovered two foreign-made pistols, 13 rounds, electronic devices, explosives and grenade making materials from their possession.
Progress on an Unfinished Agenda
On October 30, 2017, the three-day debate on the Interim Report of the Steering Committee set up under the Constitutional Assembly (CA) began in Parliament. The debate was supposed to conclude on November 1. However, due to demands from a large number of Members of Parliament (MPs) for additional time to express their views, Chairman of the CA, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya decided on November 2, 2017, to continue the debate on November 2 and November 8.
PAKISTAN-USA: Drone Strikes Escalate
On October 17, 2017, at least 11 suspected terrorists were killed when two United States (US) drones fired six missiles on their hideouts in the mountainous region of the Kurram Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
On October 17, 2017, a National Investigation Agency (NIA) Court in Delhi extended tillNovember 15, 2017, the judicial custody of seven Kashmiri separatists arrested on July 24, 2017, in connection with the NIA case for funding terrorist organisations in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). These arrested separatists included Altaf Ahmad Shah Funtoosh Geelani, Ayaz Akbar Khandey, Raja Mehrajuddin Kalwal, Peer Saifullah, Aftab Hilali Shah aka Shahid-ul-Islam, Nayeem Khan and Farooq Ahmad Dar aka Bitta Karate. Farooq Ahmad Dar was arrested in New Delhi and the other accused persons were arrested from Srinagar, the summer capital of J&K. Altaf Ahmad Shah Funtoosh Geelani is the son-in-law of All Parties Hurriyat Conference-Geelani (APHC-G) chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani. Aftab Hilali Shah is a close aide of APHC-Mirwaiz (APHC-M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. Ayaz Akbar Khandey is the spokesperson for the APHC-G.
At least 20 persons were killed and more than 30 injured on October 5, 2017, when a suicide bomber struck outside the Dargah (Sufi shrine) of Pir Rakhyal Shah in the Gandawa area of Fatehpur, a small town in the Jhal Magsi District of Balochistan. The deceased included at least three children. Four of the injured people died later, two each on October 6 and October 7, raising the death toll to 24.
Chhattisgarh: Insecure in Sukma
On September 21, 2017, Security Forces (SFs) killed an 'area commander' of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), identified as Podiyam Bheema, during an encounter in the forests between Pidmel and Palamdgu villages under Polampalli Police Station limits in Sukma District. SFs later recovered the dead body of the slain Maoist along with three country-made firearms, explosives and other materials. The slain Maoist was handling operations in at least 10 villages in the area.