In the latest terrorist attack on immunisation teams in Pakistan, Doctor Zakaullah Khan, a senior member of the polio vaccination campaign, was shot dead by unidentified motorcycle borne terrorists near his house in Peshawar, the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), on September 11, 2016. Jama'at-ul-Ahrar (JuA), a breakaway faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed responsibility for the attack. TTP-JuA 'spokesman' Ehsanullah Ehsan, while claiming responsibility, vowed to carry out more such attacks.
Chhattisgarh:Bastar Division: Final Maoist Bastion
On September 7, 2016, two Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres were killed in an encounter with the Police in the dense forests of Bijapur District. Inspector General of Police (IGP), Bastar Range, SRP Kalluri disclosed, "The encounter took place this afternoon near Telmendri village under Farsegarh PS limits between a joint team of Police personnel and the ultras."
At least 13 persons- seven students, one professor, two security guards of the University, and three Security Force (SF) personnel - were killed and another 45 persons, including 36 students and staff members and nine SF personnel, were injured when terrorists carried out an attack targeting the well guarded American University of Afghanistan in capital Kabul. The attack, which commenced at 18:30 AST [Afghanistan Standard Time] on August 24, 2016, after the attackers exploded a car bomb at a University entry gate, stormed into the University complex and opened gunfire, lasted for almost 10 hours. The SFs eliminated two terrorists, bringing an end to the attack. There were about 750 students in the University compound at the time of the attack. According to reports, the attackers had made their way past the University's armed guards and watchtowers, lobbing grenades and checking out their maps.
The street violence that engulfed a large part of Kashmir Valley in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) has so far accounted for at least 68 deaths - 66 protestors and two Policemen (data till August 21, 2016). The violence was sparked subsequent to the killing of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) 'commander' Burhan Wani in an encounter on July 8, 2016. According to official figures, at least 4,515 Security Force (SF) personnel and 3,356 protestors were also injured during the protests till August 9. [No official figure about the number of inured has been released thereafter.] J& K consists of three divisions: Jammu, Kashmir Valley and Ladakh.
At least 55 lawyers were among 74 persons killed and over 100 wounded in a suicide bombing at the emergency ward of Quetta's Civil Hospital on August 8, 2016. Scores of people had gathered at the Hospital to mourn the death of Balochistan Bar Association (BBA) President Bilal Anwar Kasi in a gun attack earlier in the day. Law enforcement officials asserted that the two attacks were connected and confirmed that the blast was carried out by a suicide bomber. Kasi's body had been brought to the Civil Hospital, and a number of friends, colleagues and relatives, as well as a posse of Press photographers, reporters and television cameramen had also gathered. The 55 slain lawyers include BBA's former President Baz Muhammad Kakar; former Supreme Court Bar Association Vice-President Syed Qahir Shah; Advocate Sangat Jamaldani, son of Jahanzeb Jamaldani, Secretary General, Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M); and Advocate Dawood Kasi, son of Former Federal Minister Dr. Abdul Malik Kasi. Two cameramen - Shahzad Khan and Mehmood Khan- working for Aaj TV and Dawn, respectively, were also killed.
Islamist Recruitment: Intensifying Efforts
There is a visible increase in activity of militant outfits in South Asia - particularly India, Pakistan and Bangladesh - in their respective recruitment drives, especially using online communications. Previously, terrorist formations were using printed Jihadi literature, propaganda videos and face to face interactions with religious motivators to entice people to their cause. With the Internet boom and proliferation of online web-based communications, as well as the dramatic example of Daesh's (Islamic State's) cyber outreach, terrorist formations in the region are increasingly using the internet to communicate with youth and inspire them to embrace violent extremism.
On July 18, 2016, 10 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel belonging to the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) were killed and five others were injured in a Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) orchestrated Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast and encounter in the Chakarbanda-Dumarinala forests of Aurangabad District. Three Maoists were also killed in the encounter. Arms and ammunition, including an AK-47 rifle, Indian Small Arms System (INSAS) rifle and Under Barrel Grenade Launcher (UBGL), were also recovered from the encounter site. Commenting on the incident, Bihar Director General of Police (DGP) P.K. Thakur disclosed that eight paramilitary troopers were killed immediately and two of the five wounded died in a hospital.
Jharkhand: Appearances and Reality
Two People's Liberation Front of India (PLFI) cadres, identified as Tene Bhengra and Deepak Bhengra, were lynched by tribal villagers in Torpa block of the Khunti District on June 21, 2016. The PLFI cadres had come to Pandaria village to collect levies from a local when they were confronted by the villagers. Commenting on the incident, Khunti Superintendent of Police (SP) Anish Gupta disclosed, "The villagers who confronted the extremists became violent when the extremists threatened to kill them. The extremists were thrashed with sticks and other traditional weapons." PLFI is a splinter group of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist)
Dilemmas of Transitional Justice
On June 16, 2016, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), which had started recording testimonies regarding insurgency-era rights' violations and crimes from April 17, 2016, at District Peace Committee offices in all 75 Districts, and was supposed to wrap up the collection of complaints on June 16, 2016, decided to continue complaint collection until July 16, 2016, after it learnt that hundreds of victims are yet to lodge their complaints related to the war-era. The TRC had distributed 40,000 forms to victims and, as of June 15, 2016, had received 33,592 complaints.
The madrassas in Pakistan's tribal grounds are factories of suicide bombers.
While the turmoil and bloodshed in Afghanistan continues, with some indices escalating sharply in 2015-16, Pakistan's gameplan to restore its proxies to power in Kabul appears to be unraveling. In a development that has shaken Islamabad, a United States (US) drone targeted and killed the Pakistan-installed head of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, near Ahmed Wal in Balochistan, squarely on Pakistani soil, on May 21, 2016. While the US has long targeted al Qaeda and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) linked terrorists in Pakistan, the top Taliban leadership operated under cover of impunity till now as a result of a misconceived US policy that farmed out the 'management' of the Taliban to the Pakistan Army and its Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The strike suggests that Washington is now losing patience with Pakistan's protracted mischief in Afghanistan.
Madhya Pradesh: Disturbing Portents
On April 15, 2016, Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres from the Malajkhand Dalam (armed squad) abducted two villagers from Jalda Navhi village under the Pathri Police outpost in the Balaghat District of Madhya Pradesh. They were blindfolded and taken deep inside a nearby forest where they were assaulted and subsequently shot at. While one of the abductees, Rati aka Sunder, a Class 12 student, died on the spot with a bullet in his skull, the other, identified as Rajkumar, faked his death and managed to escape. He later told Police that there were 30 to 40 Maoist cadres and they were repeatedly asking about their linkages with the Police.
A group of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres on April 10, 2016, killed a villager, identified as Manju Guntha (32), under the Pottangi Police Station limits in the Koraput District by slitting his throat. Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) B.V. Rao said that the Maoists reached Manju's house and asked him to come out. They later took him to a nearby forest and killed him. It has not been established why Guntha was killed.
On April 6, 2016, United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) cadres protested the visit of Minister of Forest and Soil Conservation, Agni Prasad Sapkota, greeting him with black flags in the Rautahat District. Ram Niwas Yadav, District Coordinator of UDMF, observed, "We have restricted the Ministers or any other Government officials from visiting the District. But, Sapkota's visit sparked tension; so we protested." The agitation by UDMF - comprising the Upendra Yadav-led Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal (FSF-N), the Mahantha Thakur-led Tarai Madhes Democratic Party (TMDP), the Rajendra Mahato-led Sadbhawana Party (SP) and the Mahendra Raya Yadav-led Tarai Madhes Sadbhawana Party (TMSP) began - commenced on July 1, 2015, when they burnt copies of the preliminary draft of the Constitution in capital Kathmandu, as it failed to incorporate their demands. The Madhesi protestors are the demanding redrawing of the boundaries of Provinces in the Himalayan nation as proposed in the new Constitution, and the restoration of rights granted to Madhesis in the Interim Constitution of 2007 which, they claim, the new Constitution has snatched away.
On March 19, 2016, Counter-Terrorism and Trans National Crime Unit (CTTC) Chief Monirul Islam stated that Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) had set up eight hideouts in Dhaka city to carry out killings of secular people. A group of 20 militants, dubbed "the killing squad" by investigators, are reportedly engaged in 'managing' these hideouts. Explaining the modus operandi, investigators disclosed that, prior to killing secular targets, ABT terrorists rent houses from where they monitor their victims before making the final move."Last month, they planned to kill a blogger named Niloy who lives in Dhaka's Azimpur," Monirul Islam stated, adding that the Security Forces (SFs) had foiled the attempt.