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Showing posts from February 22, 2009

Bangladesh Rifles Uprising : A Jihadi Warning

Source: DIKGAJ's Blog I began to write this post on the 26th of December last year, but held it as I thought it might appear too paranoid. Now the drama of the BDR uprising made me rethink that my earlier worry about the real strengths of the Jihadis within the Bangladesh state machinery and armed forces were justified. I have already written at some length about the general long term societal balance of forces within Bangladesh society. Here I have maintained that the forces of Bengali nationalism is slightly weaker than the forces of Islamic retrogression - and it has been so right from the post-47 start of the journey as part of Pakistan. The immediate background of the BDR uprising could turn out to be a damp squib officially - it will be blamed on long-standing grievances, and “wayward” soldiers. But it takes a greater significance in the light of the recent urging by the emissary of Pakistan to the BD government to drop the proceedings towards war-crimes trials of th
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Source: MEMRI Special Dispatch - No. 2265 February 27, 2009 Leading Pakistani Columnist: 'All Pakistan's Cities Are Within the Taliban's Reach – Lahore, Faisalabad, Karachi, Hyderabad, Rawalpindi, and Islamabad' On February 16, 2009 , the Taliban militants and the government of Pakistan 's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) signed a Shari'a-for-peace deal. Under the deal, the Taliban militants led by Maulana Fazlullah have been allowed by Pakistan to establish Islamic Shari'a in the province's Swat district and broader Malakand region. [1] A few days before the deal was signed, noted Pakistani columnist, senior journalist, and commentator Nazeer Naji wrote an article in the mass-circulation, Urdu-language newspaper Roznama Jang , titled "Toward Bloodshed." In it, Nazeer Naji, who lives in Pakistan 's cultural city of Lahore , warned that the Taliban militants are gradually taking over parts of Pakistan , and that even Islam

COMMENT: The Swat deal is wrong —Shaukat Qadir

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Source: Dailytimes The Swat deal amounts to the opening of a Pandora’s Box: where will it stop? The other chapters of the Taliban are only waiting to ask for their own ‘Islamic’ government. Is this the beginning of the real Talibanisation of the NWFP? The Taliban in Pakistan are far from a monolithic structure. There is, at best, a loose union with a disputed leadership and undefined hierarchy. However, the undisputed Taliban leader in Swat is Fazlullah. Pakistan has attempted to strike a peace deal with the Swat Taliban, in return for the imposition of sharia — Islamic law — in Swat. The attempt has been heralded by some, viewed sceptically by others, and condemned by a few. Let us attempt to examine what is wrong with this deal. To begin with, the government’s deal has been brokered with Sufi Muhammed, Fazlullah’s father-in-law, not with Fazlullah who, despite their relationship (or because of it), is not on the best of terms with Sufi. If Fazlullah accepts Sufi’s terms, it mig

Maoist splinters becoming cause for concern for India too

By Anand Gurung The breakaway Maoist groups including the latest one led by fiery Maoist leader Matrika Yadav is not only a cause for concern for the ruling Unified CPN (Maoist) party and the country, but increasingly India too which is reeling under its own version of red terror. Until recently, the Indian media was abuzz with speculation about breakaway Maoist group in Nepal collaborating with Indian Naxalites (Maoists). However, this serious issue concerning India’s internal security has now started to find its way into the floors of the Indian parliament – the Rajya Sabha. This became clear after a senior Indian minister Wednesday denied rumors about Maoist splinters in Nepal collaborating with Indian Naxalites as baseless, saying that there is no valid evidence to suggest the same. "There is no firm evidence of any breakaway Maoist group in Nepal collaborating with Naxalites here," Indian Home Minister P Chidamabram was quoted as saying by Press Trust of India (PTI). Rep

Pakistan evasive on 'army link' to Mumbai attacks

NEW DELHI: The 11,000 page chargesheet into the 26/11 Mumbai attacks which was presented in a Mumbai court on Wednesday has thrown up some interesting findings. Investigations have revealed that the VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) calls made by the 26/11 terrorists to their handlers have been traced to a serving colonel of the Pakistani army. However, the Pakistan army downplayed its link to the Mumbai terror carnage and said that the chargesheet filed on Wednesday is very vague on the link. Speaking to TIMES NOW, Brigadier Azmat Ali, Pak army spokesperson said, "Chargesheet does not accurately identify armyman allegedly linked to 26/11. There are many Colonel Sadatullahs in the Pakistan army. We are trying to find out if this is true or it is all a media speculation." Though the chargesheet filed does not spell out the Pakistan army link explicitly, it does name the officer as Colonel R Sadatullah from the SCO. The SCO, army sources say, stands for Special Communication

Bangladesh Rifles: border guardians with a grievance

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Bangladesh Rifles: border guardians with a grievance 1 hour ago DHAKA (AFP) — The Bangladesh Rifles, whose troops have mutinied in the capital Dhaka and elsewhere, is a well-armed paramilitary unit tagged as the country's first line of defence. With a total force of nearly 70,000 troops, the BDR's primary task is to patrol and secure Bangladesh's 4,000-kilometre (2,500-mile) border with both India and Myanmar. As a border unit, it is highly involved in anti-smuggling operations, and its mandate further requires that it lend support to the military and civilian government in the event of war. It has also been called in to assist police during times of national unrest. The average BDR trooper earns about 70 dollars a month -- the equivalent to a very low government clerk and a salary that has long been a source of simmering discontent within the ranks. The revolt, which began at the BDR headquarters in Dhaka early Wednesday, was reportedly triggered by the refusal of senior o

Pakistan paid 6 million dollars to Taliban for ceasefire

Source: Rediff.com February 25, 2009 03:30 IST The Taliban [ Images ] in Pakistan's restive Swat valley received US $ 6 million in compensation from the government after agreeing to a ceasefire with security forces for an indefinite period, a media report said on Tuesday. The militants agreed to lay down arms and endorse a peace deal between the government and religious hardliner Sufi Mohammad to impose Shariah or Islamic laws in Swat in exchange for the payment, Italian news agency Adnkronos International reported quoting security sources. "The amount has been paid through a backchannel," a senior security official told AKI on condition of anonymity. "It is compensation for those who were killed during military operations and compensation for the properties destroyed by the security forces. In fact, negotiations for this package were finalised well before Maulana Sufi Mohammad signed a peace deal." The security official said the amount wa

Reports: Border guards launch mutiny in Dhaka

Source: Associated Press & Reuters 55 minutes ago DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Mutinous Bangladesh border guards opened fire at their headquarters in the capital Wednesday and seized a nearby shopping mall, injuring several people in an insurrection apparently sparked by pay disputes, television reports said. Gunshots and mortar shells boomed at the well-guarded complex of the Bangladesh Rifles, surrounded by busy shopping malls, colleges and residential buildings, private TV stations Bangla Vision and ETV said. Officials could not be immediately reached for comment on the violence. An ETV correspondent reporting live from the scene said guards came out of their barracks and seized a conference hall where officers were meeting. The report said troops of the Bangladesh Rifles, the official name of the country's border guards, chanted slogans for more pay and better facilities. Several bystanders outside the complex were injured and taken to state-run Dhaka Medical College Hospital,

200 witnesses listed in 26/11 chargesheet

Source: NDTV Rashmi Rajput Wednesday, February 25, 2009 9:19 AM ( Mumbai ) The 26/11 case stands on a huge body of evidence and most importantly on eyewitnesses who saw the terrorists unleash the carnage. The list includes police officers who were part of the 26/11 operation, Indian survivors from the Taj, Trident and Nariman House, Railway employees at the CST station who were present there on that fateful day, staff at the GT and Cama Hospitals

Praying for the victims

Prayers for the victims

Terrorism Versus South Asian Trio

by J. Sri Raman , t r u t h o u t | Perspective A South Asian task force against terrorism - is this an idea whose time has come? Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed of Bangladesh seems to think it has. The task force was one of her election promises and, after winning a tidal vote to power, she has opened talks on it with two important visitors, India's External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher. Few, however, can miss a familiar pattern in Dhaka's moves in the matter. Election promises, as a rule, sound more enthusiastic than ensuing action on them. If Prime Minister Hasina is sounding far more cautious about the task force than during the poll campaign, official constraints are not the only obvious reason. Even more obvious is an ironical fact that militates against formation of such a force by the South Asian countries concerned - India, Pakistan and Bangladesh (with the Himalayan states of Nepal and Bh

Pakistan Taleban in Bajaur truce

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Pakistani soldiers launched an operation in Bajaur in August Source: BBC News A senior Taleban figure in Pakistan's Bajaur district has announced a unilateral ceasefire. Faqir Mohammad made the announcement in a radio speech. Faqir Mohammad is thought to be the deputy of Baitullah Mehsud, who the Pakistani authorities say is the main Taleban commander in the region. The military says it has seized the strategic Bachina heights in Bajaur and it remains to be seen whether it will agree to a ceasefire. The military began its operation in Bajaur last August and has used it as proof of its commitment to tackle the Taleban in the restive north-west. The truce move comes a week after a deal was signed between Pakistani officials and Taleban representatives to end an insurgency in the Swat region in return for the imposition of Sharia law. Alliances Faqir Mohammad said in his 30-minute speech: "We made this announcement of a unilateral ce

The terror tree

THE KINGPIN Abu Al-Qama PoK-based chief of Lashkar-e-Toiba’s India operations. In his 50s. THE second rung Amir Raza Khan Heads Indian Mujahideen, reports to Al-Qama. Was behind the Kolkata American Center attack of January 2002 Roshan Khan alias Riyaz Bhatkar Former Fazl-ur-Rehman gangster, IM co-founder. Name cropped up in 7/11, Malegaon blasts probes Mohd Sadiq Israr Sheikh (32)* From Sanjarpur, Azamgarh; IM co-founder. “Controlled” Delhi blasts. Worked as techie in Mumbai NEXT IN LINE Atif Amin Headed IM’s Delhi module; executed bombings in Delhi, Jaipur, Ahmedabad. Was killed in Jamia encounter, reported to Sadiq ASSOCIATES* Afzal Mutalib Usmani (32) Stole the 4 Navi Mumbai cars used in Ahmedabad, Surat Mohd Zakir Sheikh (28) Scrap dealer, helped plant Gujarat bombs Mohd Arif Sheikh (28) Mumbra electrician, built circuits used in Ahmedabad, Surat Sheikh Mohd Ansar (31) Software techie, cops probing if he hacked WiFi networks

Taliban pledges cease-fire in 2nd Pakistani region

Source: Associated press By HABIB KHAN – 11 hours ago KHAR, Pakistan (AP) — A Taliban commander announced a unilateral cease-fire Monday in a northwestern Pakistan region where the military says it has killed around 1,500 militants in an ongoing offensive. The military was not available for comment on the Taliban's move in Bajur region, which is a major transit route for militants traveling to fight U.S. and NATO forces in neighboring Afghanistan. It follows the introduction of an already week-old cease-fire between the government and militants in the Swat Valley, another northwestern region, in support of a peace process there. The United States and other Western governments have criticized the Swat truce and negotiations, saying they could create a safe haven for al-Qaida and Taliban in the region. Unlike in Swat, the Taliban in Bajur had been losing ground in recent months, most analysts say, and the military has several times claimed to be close to victory. Taliban comman

Single-faith nation is an open invitation to Taliban

Source: TOI 22 Feb 2009, 0000 hrs IST, M J Akbar Breast-beating has its dangers. You could lacerate yourself while the assassin laughs all the way to the graveyard. The international lamentation over the negotiated surrender of Swat in Pakistan to what might broadly be called the Taliban is high on moaning and low on illumination. There is a symmetrical irony. Benazir Bhutto handed over Afghanistan to the Taliban. Her husband Asif Zardari might have laid the foundation stone of Talibanistan inside Pakistan by accepting Sufi Mohammad's Tehrik-e-Nifz-e-Shariat Mohammadi as the law for the former princely state of Swat. This demand was first heard in November 1994, the month in which Kandahar fell to the Taliban. Many questions demand answers. The Pakistani army has an estimated strength of 12,000 in the region of Swat. Why was it unable, or unwilling, to subdue an insurgent force of some 3,000? The Pakistani army is not a pushover. Why was it pushed over in Swat? Is the Pakistani sol

Swat violence reveals fallacy of peace deal

23 Feb 2009, Source: ET NEW DELHI: External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee has said that Pakistan’s ceasefire deal with the Taliban was a matter of concern for India. “No compromise should be made with terrorist organisations such as the Taliban,” Mr Mukherjee said. The dangers of accepting the spurious “good Taliban and bad Taliban” was evident on Sunday when militants kidnapped the top government administrator and six of his guards in Pakistan's northwestern Swat Valley. The development is worrying for India as security establishment maintains that Islamabad’s decision to cede geographical and ideological space to extremists could have dangerous consequences to the neigbourhood. Reports from Mingora said the abduction was a major blow to efforts to restore peace. Pakistani authorities had on last Monday struck a deal with Islamists to restore Sharia law in an effort to pacify Swat, a valley where the Pakistan military has failed to put down a Taliban uprising. Last Sunday, Isl

86 pc naxal attacks in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa

Source: PTI New Delhi : Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar and Orissa together account for about 86 per cent of incidents of naxal violence and casualties, both civilian and security personnel, in the country. In the 1,591 incidents in the country in 2008, the number being slightly higher than those in the previous year, 231 security personnel and 490 civilians were killed, Home Ministry sources said. Chhattisgarh accounted for the highest number of 620 incidents, followed by Jharkhand (484), Bihar (164) and Orissa (103), they said. In Chhattisgarh, 85 security personnel and 157 civilians lost their lives in naxal violence in 2008, while in Jharkhand the corresponding figures were 38 policemen and 169 civilians. Bihar accounted for the deaths of 21 security men and 52 civilians and for Orissa the respective figures were 73 security personnel and 28 civilians. In fact, this year's figures available till first week of this month show that 53 incidents of naxal violence have already take

100-day anti-terror plan gets green signal

Source: Indian Express , India Maneesh Chhibber Posted: Feb 23, 2009 at 0323 hrs IST New Delhi: A 100-DAY plan to make the country a safer place is ready and sources in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) say P Chidambaram has already ordered its implementation. The go-ahead was given at a high-level meeting chaired by him on Friday. The plan was one of the first things that Chidambaram told bureaucrats to work upon after assuming charge as Home Minister of the country, after the Mumbai Terror attacks. His lead probably came from the speech of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at a conference of state police chiefs recently, in which he suggested a 100-day plan to develop an integrated mechanism to fight terrorism and Naxalism. The Indian Express was provided exclusive access to the blueprint of what is the biggest-ever exercise undertaken by the MHA to counter terrorism and give more firepower to the forces and other agencies. Among other things, the plan aims to secure the country’s porou

Mother of captive American issues appeal

21 Feb 2009, 1730 hrs IST, AP Source: Times of India QUETTA: The mother of an American kidnapped in Pakistan appealed for his freedom in a message released on Saturday, describing her son as a "verygentle person" devoted to his humanitarian work.Rose Solecki asked for help from the people of southwest Pakistan's Baluchistan province, where her son John Solecki was serving as the head of the regional UN refugee office when he was taken captive Feb. 2. The UN has been trying to establish contact with the kidnappers, who have threatened to kill John Solecki. The kidnapping has underlined the overall deteriorating security situation in nuclear-armed Pakistan, which is battling al-Qaida and Taliban-led militants in its northwest. In her message, Rose Solecki expressed bewilderment at her son's predicament."I simply do not understand why this is happening to our dear John," said Rose Solecki, 83. "I cannot begin to explain the sorrows and pain that I am going

3,000 ex-Maoists line up to join Chiranjeevi's party

22 Feb 2009, 0840 hrs IST, TNN Source: Times of India HYDERABAD: Hundreds of former naxalites, who jettisoned the Maoist movement in the last ten years, will join the Prajarajyam Party on February 24. According to party sources, around 3,000 former militants of various factions of the CPI (ML) and CPI (Maoist) will join the newly-floated party in Hyderabad in the presence of PRP chief Chiranjeevi and Yuvarajyam president Pavan Kalyan. This was the culmination of around six months of hardwork to mobilise the former rebels and bring them into PRP. The association of Marxist-Leninist singer Gadar and other pro-naxal intellectuals with the actor are said to have coordinated the move. First meeting of the former naxalites was organised in Guntur in December last attended by over 800 people. The meeting was addressed by Dr P Mitra, party’s senior leader. “In fact we wanted to organise a meeting in each district. But, due to logistic reasons and lack of time, a state-level meeting is planned

US launched air attack inside Pak after verifying ISI-Taliban link

: Book22 Feb 2009, 0854 hrs IST, PTI Source: Times of India NEW DELHI: The US national security agency (NSA) has intercepted messages to indicate that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence was in"complete coordination" with the Taliban, according to a US journalist. New York Times' White House correspondent David E Sanger has claimed in his latest book that the US decision to launch air attacks inside Pakistan's western borders was taken after "one such high-level conversation was intercepted" in which a speaker said the Taliban was a "strategic asset" for Pakistan. Excerpts of the book 'The Inheritance: The World Obama Confronts and the challenges to American power' were published by Pakistani newspaper The News.The daily said former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf called a press conference recently to "repeatedly deny" allegations in the book that he had held a series of parleys with slain PPP leader Benazir Bhutto abou

Obama widening missile strikes inside Pak

: Report21 Feb 2009, 1107 hrs IST, IANS Source: Times of India NEW YORK: The Obama administration has expanded the covert war run by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) inside Pakistan by attacking amilitant network seeking to topple the Pakistani government, the New York Times reported on Saturday.Two missile strikes over the last week, on training camps run by Baitullah Mehsud, represent a broadening of the American campaign inside Pakistan, which has been largely carried out by drone aircraft, the influential US daily said in a report from Washington. Under President George Bush, the US frequently attacked militants from al-Qaida and the Taliban involved in cross-border attacks into Afghanistan, but had stopped short of raids aimed at Mehsud and his followers, who have played less of a direct role in attacks on American troops.The strikes are another sign that President Obama is continuing, and in some cases extending, the Bush administration policy of using American spy agencies

Illegal migration of Bangladeshis continues Special Correspondent

Source: The Hindu NEW DELHI: About five lakh Bangladeshi nationals came to India on valid travel documents during 2007 and 25,712 were reported to have overstayed. The government could deport 12,135 in the same year, official data available with the Home Ministry shows. Admitting that illegal migration and infiltration from Bangladesh into various parts of the country was taking place clandestinely, the Ministry said specific details were not available as to how many persons entered the country through illegal means. “While foreign nationals, including Bangladeshi migrants, are not entitled for inclusion in electoral rolls or benefits of various government schemes, the possibility of such benefits being availed by some illegal migrants and foreigners cannot be totally ruled out,” according to official documents. It said the powers of identification and deportation have been delegated to the State governments and the Union Territories under Section 3(2) of the Foreigners Act.

Militants answer distress call Sushanta Talukdar

Source: The Hindu Rescue Tamil Nadu surveyors abducted by another outfit in southern Assam Abductors talked to each other in Nagamese DNLF militants demanded Rs. 14 crore for release Guwahati: For 15 days they only cooked rice, salt and some biscuits to eat as they were made to trek for hours through deep jungles, even during late night, in southern Assam’s North Cachar Hills district as their abductors – nine tribal youth heavily armed with Kalashnikovs and other sophisticated weapons – kept guard all the time. Captives’ ordeal The ordeal of being held captive in an unknown place began on February 5 for D.S.K. Shathrac from Chennai, C. Suresh from Vellore, Nitish Kumar from Jharkhand and Mahinder Kumar from Kanpur