Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management In the night of February 12, 2014, some 15 armed cadres of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) hacked a tribal, identified as Samuel Badra (50), to death in the tribal-dominated Pattamunda village under Pallahara Police Station limits of Angul District. Maoists left some posters at the incident site claiming he was punished for being a 'police informer'.
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management Tripura, the location of one of India's most virulent insurgencies, has now evolved into one of the most peaceful states in India's troubled Northeastern region. The state registered no terrorism-related fatalities through 2013, but the record was tarnished by four such fatalities in 2014, according to partial data compiled by theSouth Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP). In the process, the trend of continuous decline in such fatalities recorded since 2004 (with the exception of 2012) was reversed. In 2012, Tripura had recorded two fatalities (both militants) as against one (civilian) in 2011.
Andhra Pradesh: Maoists: Waning Support
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management Communist Party of India - Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres, along with a large number of armed militia members and sympathisers, attacked and destroyed an Ashram(hermitage) of a local spiritual guru, Jaggamdora Simhachalam akaSatyanarayana, at Gurramveedhi village in the G. Madugula mandal (administrative unit) of Vishakhapatnam District, Andhra Pradesh, in the night of January 17, 2015. Simhachalam was not at his Ashram at the time of the attack. Maoists beat up six persons present in the Ashram and set afire furniture, vehicles and a shed. Claiming responsibility for the incident the Korukonda 'local area committee', left pamphlets and hung a banner saying that the Ashram was attacked in retaliation to the killing of Sharath and militia member P. Ganapathi on October 19, 2014, and that Simhachalam would not be spared.
Nagaland: Evasive Reconciliation
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management The relative peace achieved in Nagaland was further consolidated through 2014, as insurgency-related fatalities continued to decline. According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) the State recorded a total of 15 fatalities, including 11 civilians and four militants in 2014; as compared to 32 fatalities in 2013, including 11 civilians and 21 militants; a decline of 53.12 per cent.
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management The trend of rising insurgency-related fatalities in Meghalaya continued through 2014, with a total of 76 fatalities, as compared to 60 in 2013, an increase of 26.67 per cent, according to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP). Consequently, the State continued to hold the dubious distinction of being the second-worst insurgency affected State in the Northeast in terms of overall fatalities, with Assam accounting for the highest number of fatalities at 305.Meghalaya secured this unenviable position for the first time in 2013.
Publisher: SAIR; President, Institute for Conflict Management
Jammu and Kashmir: Frantic Thrust
With major terrorist attacks intended to disrupt the electoral process in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), India accused Pakistan of "mainstreaming terrorism", even as the first two of five phases of the State Assembly Elections conducted on November 25 and November 30, 2014, registered record turn-outs of 71.28 and 72.1 per cents, respectively. Evidently, the anxiety within the establishment at Islamabad has been pushed to a new level, and terrorist groups operating in J&K, directly under the aegis of Pakistan's external intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), unleashed a series of attacks just two days after the first round of polls.
On October 9, 2014, Security Forces (SFs) killed an unidentified militant of the IK Songbijit faction of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB-IKS) at Tarajuli in the Sonitpur District of Assam. One pistol, a grenade and some ammunition were recovered from the slain militant.
On August 24, 2014, the Border Security Force (BSF) killed two terrorists along the International Border (IB) in Jammu District. The terrorists, while attempting to intrude into Indian territory, were receiving covering fire from Pakistani Rangers across the border.
Waziristan: Terror Destination
Waziristan, Pakistan's lawless tribal region, which has for long served as a safe haven for terrorist groups operating in India, Afghanistan, and other countries, is, according to the latest reports, now hosting a new terrorist formation, the Ansar Al-Tawheed fi Bilad Al-Hind (ATBH, Supporters of Monotheism in the Land of India). According to a May 22, 2014 news report, "the cadres of Ansar Al-Tawheed can be seen training at al Qaeda training camps in Pakistan's North Waziristan."
Pakistan: Self-inflicted Wounds
In an attack symbolic of the deteriorating security environment across Pakistan, more than 10 terrorists, equipped with suicide vests, grenades and rocket launchers, infiltrated the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh, at mid-night on June 8-9, 2014, engaging in an extended firefight against Security Forces (SFs), that had resulted in 24 deaths till the time of writing.
The body blow that the Security Forces (SFs) inflicted on the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) in West Bengal with the killing of its politburo member Mallojula Koteswara Rao alias Kishanji, on November 24, 2011, has been followed through with a number of other successes, including key arrests and surrenders, resulting in a near complete halt to Maoist violence in 2012.