IS-KP: Another Weapon in the ISI Armory
On June 12, 2020, at least four civilians, were killed in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attack that occurred at Sher Shah Suri Mosque in the Kart-e-Char area of Kabul city in Kabul Province. The blast took place when people were offering Friday prayers, killing four worshippers, including the prayer leader Imam Maulavi Azizullah Mufleh.
Northeast: Consolidating the Peace
The declining trend of insurgency-linked fatalities in the Northeast, established since 2015, continued through 2019 as well. According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), the Northeast recorded a total of 34 fatalities (18 civilians, five Security Force (SF) personnel and 11 insurgents) in 2019, as against 73 fatalities (20 civilians, 15 SF personnel, and 38 insurgents) recorded in 2018.
Punjab: No Place for Minorities
On March 31, 2020, a crowd of Islamist radicals attacked the Gurudwara in Nankana Sahib city. The crowd gathered in the evening in front of the main entrance of the Gurudwara and started throwing stones. The extremists threatened to eliminate every single Sikh faithful from the city and announced that they would give the location with an Islamic name.
On February 29, 2020, the United States (US) and the Afghan Taliban inked a comprehensive peace agreement (CPA) paving the way for withdrawal of “all military forces of the United States, its allies, and Coalition partners, including all non-diplomatic civilian personnel, private security contractors, trainers, advisors, and supporting services personnel within 14 months following announcement of this agreement”. There were 16,551 foreign troops from 38 countries , including 8,000 US troops, in Afghanistan as on February 29, 2020.
On February 10, 2020, Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio announced that the Government of India (GoI), the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak Muivah (NSCN-IM), and the Working Committee of the Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs) had wound up “the talks and are now working out the competencies to ink a solution to the Naga issue.” Adding a note of caution, CM Neiphiu Rio clarified that “nowhere has it been mentioned that the peace process has concluded. Only the talks have concluded on a positive note, which signifies that the negotiating parties have arrived at meeting points on the various topics of the negotiations”.
In the first of incident of its kind reported in Odisha, on January 25, 2020, villagers of Janturai village in Malkangiri District, lynched a Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadre, while another Maoist sustained injuries at the hands of the outraged villagers. The slain Maoist was identified as Ganga Madhi, a resident of the same District, and was carrying a cash reward of INR 100,000 on his head. The injured Maoist was identified as Jipro Hatrika, a resident of Koraput District, who had a reward of INR 400,000 on his head.
Countering Religious Extremism
On November 25, 2019, Maldives Police Commissioner Mohamed Hameed posted statistics of religious extremism cases recorded between January 1, 2014, and October 31, 2019. According to the data shared, 188 cases related to extremism in the name of religion had been reported since January 2014, but only 14 of these were sent for prosecution. No further details regarding the remaining cases were made available.
On November 11, 2019, the Chawang-Kamson faction of the Zeliangrong United Front (ZUF-Chawang- Kamson) claimed that its defection from the ZUF was to secure better future for Zeliangrong people living in Assam, Manipur and Nagaland. The group broke away from ZUF (on an unspecified date) and signed a Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) with the Government of India (GoI) on October 26, 2019. Raitu Chawang is the ‘chairman’ and S. Kamson the ‘vice chairman’ of the splinter group. They were in the same position, respectively, in the United ZUF. The ‘parent’ ZUF is led by ‘chairman’ Pou Jenchui Kamei.
Plight of Bengali Muslims in Pakistan
There are around three million Bengalis in Pakistan, and a significant portion of them live in Karachi. They are the poorest segment of Pakistani society. They are hindered by their status as aliens in the country and there are very few, almost negligible portion, who hold official documentation as Pakistani citizen. Usman Town Bangalipara is the area where Bengalis have been living for more than six decades. In fact they are living in Pakistan from the days of Partition of India and Pakistan. Yet they are facing lots of problems and living in constant tension and harassment.
On January 29, 2019, the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT), a Tripura based tribal political party, an ally of the ruling Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), along with another 10 political parties of the Northeast, met in Guwahati, the capital of neighbouring Assam, to announce their opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB). The other political parties included the Mizo National Front (MNF), the United Democratic Party (UDP), the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), the Naga Peoples Front (NPF), the National Peoples’ Party (NPP), the National Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), the Hill State Peoples Party (HSPP) and the Peoples Democratic Front (PDF).
On January 15, 2019, at least 10 persons were wounded in a clash between protesters and Police at Khwairamband Keithel in Imphal West District. The clash occurred when people protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, [first introduced as the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016, and passed on in the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Indian Parliament) on January 8, 2019, following the submission of a Joint Parliamentary Committee report on January 7, 2019] were heading towards Raj Bhavan (the official residence of the State’s Governor).
On January 1, 2019, four Frontier Corps (FC) personnel were killed and another two injured during an exchange of fire with militants who were trying to enter the residential and administration compound at an FC training centre in Loralai District of Balochistan. Four militants were also killed.
On November 28, 2018, at least 10 people were killed and another 29 injured in a suicide attack in Kabul City (District), the national capital.
Bijapur: Leaning on the Maoists
On October 20, 2018, Security Forces (SFs) killed at least three Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres during an encounter, which ensued when SFs launched a combing operation in the Madpal Forest of Bijapur District. SFs later recovered the bodies of the slainMaoists, a .303 rifle, live rounds, a tiffin bomb, cordex detonating cord, ‘revolutionary’ literature and other material from the encounter site. A day earlier, SFs had destroyed two Maoist camps in the Indravati National Park forest area in the District.
On October 14, 2018, Security Forces(SFs) of Pakistan and Afghanistan exchanged fire along the border in the Tandah Dara Sarochahan area of Qilla Abdullah District in Balochistan Province.Afghan media claimed three Pakistani soldiers were killed in the clashes that lasted for several hours, although the Pakistan military denied this claim.Pakistani officials, however, confirmed the incident and claimed Afghan troops opened fire on Pakistani personnel who were erecting a fence along the border in the area. After the incident, Pakistani border authorities closed the Friendship Gate near Chaman, leaving thousands of people stranded on both sides of the Pak-Afghan border.