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9
killed in rebel violence in India's Manipur
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At
least nine people, including a trooper,
were killed in separate insurgency-related
violence in India's eastern state of Manipur
as additional security forces were deployed
to prevent further attacks in vulnerable
areas, it was reported Friday. A police
spokesman told the IANS news agency that
three members of the Anti-Narcotic and Drug
Organization (ANDO), a voluntary group leading
a campaign to eliminate drug-abuse in Manipur
were shot dead near the main city of Imphal
on Thursday. Police official B Singh said
unidentified militants shot dead the three
workers at close range in the Wangoi area.
Police had yet to ascertain the motive behind
the killings of the volunteers. Manipur
lies near the heroin producing golden triangle
of Laos, Myanmar and Thailand with an estimated
200,000 intravenous drug users in the area.
In a separate incident on Thursday, a trooper
of the Manipur Rifles, a paramilitary force,
was killed by the separatist Kuki Revolutionary
Army (KRA) in the northern Senapati district.
Militants of the Kuki National Front (KNF)
also shot dead five of their members Thursday
for allegedly deserting their camps with
weapons. 'The five were executed for fleeing
the camp with weapons. We have recovered
all the weapons,' a statement issued by
the KNF on Friday mentioned. Both the KRA
and the KNF are fighting for an independent
homeland for the minority Kuki tribe in
Manipur. The KRA and KNF are among 19 rebel
groups active in Manipur that borders Myanmar,
with demands ranging from secession to autonomy.
The Manipur police has meanwhile intensified
security in all sensitive areas to curb
further attacks. India's north-east is a
restive region where nearly 40 separatist,
tribal or leftist groups are active in five
states. More than 15,000 people have lost
their lives to insurgency in the region
in the past decade.
Courtesy:
www.khaleejtimes.com, June 01, 2007
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Qaeda
warns of attacks 'worse than 9/11'
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An
American member of Al Qaeda warned in an
Internet video that US President George
W Bush should withdraw all his troops from
Muslim land or face attacks worse than September
11. Adam Gadahn, a convert to Islam who
has been indicted for treason by a US jury,
issued a list of demands which he said were
not up for negotiation.
"Your
failure to heed our demands means that you
and your people ... will experience things
that will make you forget all about the
horrors of September 11, Afghanistan and
Iraq, and Virginia Tech," he said in the
video posted on Tuesday.
"You're
losing on all fronts and losing big time,"
said Gadahn, who is the English-language
spokesman for Al Qaeda.
The
tape entitled "Legitimate Demands" was produced
by As-Sahab, a media outfit that specialises
in Al Qaeda online material. - sporting
a headdress, glasses and long beard - said
Bush had "embroiled his nation in a series
of unwinnable and bloody conflicts in the
Islamic world."
He
also called on the United States to cease
support for the "bastard state of Israel"
and the "56-plus apostate regimes of the
Muslim world" and to free all Muslims from
its prisons.
"We
don't negotiate with war criminals and baby
killers like you. No, these are legitimate
demands which must be met," he said.
Gadahn
- also known Azzam al-Amriki and Azzam the
American - has appeared in several videotapes
for Al Qaeda since 2004, praising the September
11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington
and threatening new terror onslaughts. In
October 2006, he became the first person
to be charged in the US with treason since
the World War II era. The charge carries
a minimum of five years in prison and a
maximum penalty of death.
Gadahn
has a one million dollar reward for his
capture and appears along with Bin Laden
on a US "Wanted" poster featuring 26 "faces
of global terrorism".
His
last appearance in a video was in September
last year.
Gadahn
was born in 1978 in southern California,
the son of a 1960s Jewish rock musician
who later converted to Christianity and
became a rural goat farmer. His conversion
to Islam came after he began attending the
Islamic Centre of Orange County, where he
is believed to have come under the influence
of two foreign-born Islamic radicals.
Gadahn
is believed to have left California for
Karachi in 1998 and gradually fell out of
contact with relatives in the US. His reference
to Virginia Tech was to the shooting of
32 people at the university by a Korean-born
gunman who then turned the gun on himself.
Courtesy:
www.dailytimes.com.pk, May 31, 2007
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Pakistan
among 10 least peaceful countries
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Pakistan
is among 10 least peaceful countries in
the world, according to a study released
on Wednesday. Norway is the most peaceful
country in the world and Iraq the least,
according to the study, which notably puts
Japan near the top and Russia and Israel
close to the bottom. The Global Peace Index,
published a week before a Group of Eight
(G8) summit in Germany, rates 121 countries
from Algeria to Zimbabwe on factors including
levels of violence, organised crime and
military expenditure. While most European
countries including Britain rank in the
top, more peaceful, half of the league table,
the United States is nearer the bottom in
96th place, while Russia is fifth from last
on 118th.
"This
is a wake-up call for leaders around the
globe," said Steve Killelea, who commissioned
the study from the Economist Intelligence
Unit, which is linked to the weekly The
Economist. The index is backed by international
figures including the Dalai Lama, Archbishop
Desmond Tutu, former US president Jimmy
Carter and US economist Joseph Stiglitz,
all winners of the Nobel peace prize. It
is also supported by Queen Noor of Jordan.
Overall the study found that small, stable
countries which are part of regional blocs
such as the 27-nation European Union are
most likely to be more peaceful. Income
and education are crucial in promoting peace,
it said. "I believe there is a link between
the peacefulness and the wealth of nations
and therefore business has a key role to
play in peace," said Killelea. The Dalai
Lama, the Tibetan Buddhist leader who fled
China after an aborted uprising in 1959,
said the launch of the Index could be a
useful tool for policymakers. "Compiling
and maintaining an Index of which countries
are the most peaceful and publishing the
results will undoubtedly make the factors
and qualities that contribute to that status
better known, and will encourage people
to foster them in their own countries,"
he said. Top 10: Norway is number one in
the index, New Zealand number two, Denmark
number three, Ireland number four, Japan
number five, Finland number six, Sweden
number seven, Canada number eight, Portugal
number nine and Austria number 10. Bottom
10: Angola is number 112, Ivory Coast 113,
Lebanon 114, Pakistan 115, Colombia 116,
Nigeria 117, Russia 118, Israel 119, Sudan
120 and Iraq 121.
Courtesy:
www.dailytimes.com.pk, May 31, 2007
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Manipur
militancy blame on Myanmar
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Illicit
flow of weapons from Myanmar is fuelling
Manipur's insurgency, according to Assam
Rifles inspector-general (south) Maj. Gen.
B.K. Chengapa here today. The general said
inflow of a large quantity of arms from
neighbouring Myanmar had helped "insurgency
and terrorism" thrive in Manipur. He called
for ensuring effective policing of the international
border. "The disturbed environment in our
neighbour (Myanmar) has led to the inflow
of arms and drugs to Manipur, which, in
turn, facilitated insurgency and terrorism
in the state," the senior Assam Rifles official
said while opening a renovated rehabilitation
centre for surrendered militants here today.
The general pointed out that the Indo-Myanmar
border was porous and this problem has to
be addressed as a part of the process of
combating militancy in Manipur. "The Assam
Rifles has already been given the task of
guarding the border here in Manipur. But
unlike the western sector, here the border
could not be effectively guarded because
of a shortage of security strength," Gen.
Chengapa said. He, however, expressed the
hope that the task of protecting the border
would be gradually extended along the 500-km-plus
international border. According to the Manipur
government's records, more than 20 militant
groups are currently operating in the state.
The insurgent outfits belong to various
ethnic groups and the goals range from "restoring
the sovereignty" of Manipur to protecting
the interests of ethnic communities. Stating
that the internal security environment in
Manipur has deteriorated further over the
past few years as a result of escalating
violence and extortion, Gen. Chengapa called
for a major, comprehensive initiative to
bring "misguided" youths to the national
mainstream. He praised the surrender policy
announced by the Ibobi Singh government
as a step towards mitigating insurgency
and helping militants return to normal life.
The general added that renovation of the
rehabilitation centre was a small contribution
from the Assam Rifles supplementing the
government's efforts to resettle the former
rebels. The rehabilitation centre, located
at Lamphel in Imphal West, currently houses
22 former rebels belonging to various militant
outfits, including the National Socialist
Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah), United
National Liberation Front, Peoples Liberation
Army and the Peoples Revolutionary Party
of Kangleipak. The Assam Rifles has opened
a computer training centre and will also
impart driving lessons and training in tailoring
to former insurgents.
Courtesy:
www.telegraphindia.com, May 31, 2007
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Hyderabad
blasts: Jalna man confesses
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Investigators
in the Mecca Masjid bomb blast case say
that Shoaib Jagirdar, the Jalna man arrested
for supplying RDX to the bombers, has confessed
to delivering the explosive. They also say
that he was a link in a "much longer" supply
chain, and that the explosives were originally
smuggled over the Pakistan or Bangladesh
borders. Jagirdar has been remanded to judicial
custody by a Hyderabad Court. According
to officials, the bomb that exploded contained
about 300 gm of "military grade RDX". "By
examining at the bomb that did not explode
we can say it was about 300 gm," a senior
police official said. Jagirdar reportedly
told the police that he had obtained about
1.5 kg of the explosive. Police said he
gave a part of it to the perpetrators. Police
officials also said Jagirdar may not have
had any direct links with the bombing, but
"he provided the RDX for the blast. That
is enough". According to the police, Jagirdar
got the RDX from another source. A senior
official said the source of the RDX was
"from over the border." "We have got some
clues (from Jagirdar) and we are working
on them," Hyderabad Police Commissioner
Balwinder Singh said. He declined to say
if the police had identified the people
from whom Jagirdar sourced the RDX, or the
people to whom he sold it. Police were also
investigating links between Jagirdar and
LeT operative Shaikh Samir alias Abdul Nayeem.
Nayeem, at present in custody in Mumbai,
reportedly smuggled four Pakistani nationals
into the country. Police officials said
he visited Hyderabad in February this year
and could have brought the Mecca Masjid
bombers to the city. Hyderabad Police obtained
his narco-analysis report from the Mumbai
Police, and officials were studying it.
The blast, on May 18, killed 11 people during
Friday afternoon prayers. Five more died
later in police firing as rioting broke
out across the Old City. Police suspect
that the Harkat-Ul-Jihad-e-Islami-Bangladesh
(HUJI-B) was behind the blast. Senior HUJI
operative Shahid Bilal is originally from
Hyderabad. Bilal and HUJI are both prime
suspects in the suicide bomb attack on the
Hyderabad Task Force office in 2005. Police
were also investigating links between the
HUJI and Students Islamic Movement of India
(SIMI) in the blast, due to the striking
similarities between this attack and the
one in Malegaon last year.
Courtesy:
www.indianexpress.com, May 30, 2007
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Children
at war in insurgency zone
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Heinrich
Wolfgang of Germany was kidnapped by activists
of Kuki National Army in 2003 when he visited
Manipur for inspection while working with
an NGO. Wolfgang was in captivity in Manipur
jungles for 18 days. After his release,
he said what he feared most during captivity
was not the unfamiliar environment or wild
animals, it was the thought of the rifle
in the hands of his guard misfiring. Wolfgang
was being guarded by a 14-year-old, whose
rifle was taller than him. Poor children
in states like Manipur, Assam, Nagaland,
Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir
have an umbilical association with insurgency,
having been in the face of armed conflict
for years now. Pushed into the vortex of
an unending armed conflict, child soldiers
in these regions fight alongside their grown-up
comrades in the thick of battle. Many are
indirectly involved with militant groups,
used as decoys or scouts to spot movements
of security forces, transport ammunition,
for money laundering and cooking. Worldwide
figures by Unicef estimate that 2,50,000
children have been recruited as soldiers
in various capacities, laid bare to physical
and psychological trauma. A report brought
out by the International Committee of the
Red Cross recently said, "Armed with lethal
weapons, plied with alcohol and drugs to
incite them to violence and fearlessness,
forced into dependence on the group that
has recruited them, children become loose
canons, a danger to themselves and others."
Though
rights activists in India say child soldiers
are not as wide a problem here as in some
neighbouring countries, they agree it needs
to be tackled before it snowballs to proportions
in Sri Lanka and Nepal. Activists, however,
also add that figures are difficult to establish
and any that would be quoted would only
be rough estimates. Talking to TOI on phone
from Chhattisgarh's Jagdalpur district,
SP G P Singh related an encounter between
police and Naxals about two months back
near Dhanora village. "Two girls, about
14 to 15 years old, who were dressed in
uniforms were caught. They were not well-trained
and hiding in a crevice during the encounter.
When we tracked them down, they started
crying, thinking they'll be killed. They
said Naxalites had picked them up from school."
On investigation, police found that powerless
due to their extreme poverty and fear, parents
of the girls had not even lodged a complaint
of missing persons or kidnapping. According
to the police, Naxalites have a military
wing of children called Bal Militia. They
indoctrinate children and train them in
handling arms. Rebels then use children
dressed in school uniforms, so that they
do not arouse suspicion, to attack unsuspecting
policemen. "Curiosity, poverty, lack of
opportunities and dearth of recreation opportunities,
push children into joining rebels. The situation
of abnormality has become a part of conflict
zones, where there is constant tension because
of bandhs and combing," said founder-secretary
of Control Arms Foundation of India (CAFI)
Binalakshmi Nepram. "Rebels share the feel
of a weapon with kids. They allow them to
touch and handle it. A nine or 10 year-old
gets attracted and is eventually using weapons
for killing people," she added. According
to sources, police usually do not register
cases against child soldiers caught during
raids or encounters. The reason is they
are very young and usually not part of rebel
groups voluntarily. However, though the
children are returned to their parents,
there are no guarantees that they will not
be picked up by the rebels again. About
North-East, Nepram, said, "The number of
adolescents involved in militancy is growing
because they are constantly exposed to violence,
death, encounters and loss of parents."
There is no way of ensuring a better chance
at life for these children. Official sources
said there was neither any policy at the
government level nor any official guideline
to direct what should be done with child
soldiers. Rights activists in Chhattisgarh
allege even security forces use children
and adolescents as special police officers.
A report by Asian Centre for Human Rights
said a team visited Bangapal relief camp
in the state and interviewed nine minor
girls, who were recruited as SPOs. These
girls reportedly told the team that they
were being trained in fighting tactics.
Officials deny the allegations. "No children
have been recruited by security forces.
The basic built of tribals and undernourishment
makes them look younger," said K P S Gill,
ex-security advisor to Chhattisgarh govt.
What children who drift towards violence
and conflict need is more opportunities
to education and recreation. Government
policies too must take this alarming trend
into account while formulating policies,
and encourage villagers to report missing
children.
Courtesy:
www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, May 29,
2007
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Maoists
bar Indian vehicles in Nepal
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Nepal
Maoists forced Indian vehicles to return
to India, accusing its neighbour of encroaching
upon Nepalese territory, a news report has
said. Accusing India of encroaching upon
Nepalese territory and alleging that Indian
vehicles were plying in the Himalayan state
illegally without paying any tax, Young
Communist League (YCL), the Maoist youth
wing, turned back at least 50 vehicles to
India at the Pashupati Nagar customs point
while taking out a rally on Sunday. Security
has been beefed up at the Pashupati Nagar
customs point along the Nepal-India border
after Indian vehicles were forced to return
to India. The situation was tense after
around 100 YCL cadres shouted slogans such
as "stop border encroachment," "down with
expansionism" at the border point. Following
the YCL activities, top Indian border security
officials, expressing serious concern over
the incident, have stepped up 'inspections"
of the bordering areas.
Courtesy:
www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, May 29,
2007
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Chetia
calling shots from Dhaka
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The
Interim Administration in Dhaka is yet to
keep its pledge to send back Ulfa leader
Anup Chetia, who has served his prison sentence
in Bangladesh. Dhaka had assured the South
Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
(SAARC) summit in April that it would send
back Chetia, government sources said. Instead,
Chetia is controlling and planning insurgent
operations against targets in Assam and
other parts of the northeast from the Dhaka
Central jail, Shahriar Kabir, a prominent
Bangladeshi writer, film maker and civil
rights activist says. The attacks and the
incidents of kidnapping saw a sharp rise
in Assam over the last year. Kabir had shared
jail quarters with the United Liberation
Front of Asom leader during his detention
in Dhaka Central Jail. He said Chetia has
"access to a mobile telephone and runs the
ULFA's operations from the jail, where he
is kept in royal style". Chetia is lodged
in a three-room complex and has a separate
bathroom and kitchen. Bangladesh authorities
are refusing to send him back to India,
citing the lack of an extradition treaty
between the two countries. India rejects
the argument saying Bangladesh could return
him "if it had the will to do so". During
his visit to New Delhi for the SAARC summit,
Foreign Adviser to the Interim Administration,
Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury had accepted that
ULFA leaders were hiding in Dhaka. He also
assured that his government would do its
best to ensure no anti-Indian activities
were spearheaded from Bangladesh.
Courtesy:
www.hindustantimes.com, May 25, 2007
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Political
instability in Bangladesh and the growth
of jihadi terrorism organisations has its
most visible fallout in India's northeast,
which has witnessed a sudden spurt in terror
activities including suicide bombings, something
that was not in the repertoire of the indigenous
groups. Of much greater concern are footprints
of Pakistan's ISI in ULFA activities and
creeping Islamisation in these parts that
has security quarters in India in a tizzy.
ULFA, according to security think tank Stratfor,
had pumped $6 million into Bangladesh's
elections, funding 15 candidates of Awami
League and BNP. The postponement of the
elections has unsettled ULFA, but not to
the extent of prompting its leaders, Paresh
Barua and others, from leaving their luxurious
homes in Dhaka.
Meanwhile,
Pakistan's ISI is reportedly working with
Bangladesh's intelligence agencies to increase
financial and terror links between ULFA
and other jihadis - the aim apparently being
to bring militant and jihadi groups operating
in these states under one umbrella. The
first suicide bombing in Assam took place
on April 9 this year, which pointed to a
qualitative change in ULFA's tactics. This
is a favourite modus operandi of Islamist
groups in Pakistan and Afghanistan. An internal
assessment of security agencies which has
been submitted to the Bangladesh government,
reveals that the breeding grounds of terror
lie in the 1,800-km belt in north and south
Bangladesh, bordering northeast India. According
to the report, this area is a safe haven
for as many as 176 training camps of Indian
ultras. ULFA leads the list with the highest
number of training camps - 38 - within the
terror belt which stretches from Sherpur
district in the north, bordering West Garo
Hills in Meghalaya, to Cox's Bazaar in the
south near Myanmar. Similarly the National
Liberation Front of Tripura (Biswamohan)
reportedly has 34 camps spread along the
Bangladesh-Tripura border in three Bangladesh
districts of Rangamati, Moulavi Bazar and
Khagrachari and one at Dhanmandi in Dhaka.
The All Tripura Tiger Force also has 15
camps in the same belt. Also in the list
are locations of camps of Borok National
Council of Tripura and Bru National Liberation
Front in Rangamati district. The National
Democratic Front of Bodoland has 14 camps,
Dima Halam Daogah of NC Hills district of
Assam has one camp in Maulvi Bazaar, Meghalaya's
Hyniewtrep National Liberation Council has
two, the People's Liberation Army has sixteen,
Kongeiyawal Kamba Lup has three, United
National Liberation Front has one, People's
Revolutionary Front of Kangleipak one, Kamatapur
Liberation Organisation eight, Muslim United
Liberation Tigers of Assam 11 and Islamic
United Reformation Protest of India has
three camps reportedly located in madrassas
in Kurigram district. Indian intelligence
agencies are also concerned about "suspect
activities", particularly in the 96 madrassas
and 243 mosques in Dhubri in south-western
Assam. Long an area of strife and unrest,
the north-east now seems to have become
a battleground against terrorism.
Courtesy:
www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, May 27,
2007
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Liquid
bomb is new terror device
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Terrorists
striking in India have found yet another
locally available explosive - picric acid
- a shock-sensitive liquid explosive capable
of creating a huge impact like the explosion
at Hyderabad last week. Security agencies
came across the lethal acid for the first
time when they recovered two IEDs from Trall
in Jammu and Kashmir early this month. The
laboratory report on the IEDs, which was
shared with the Centre on Friday, revealed
its use in the Valley by jehadi outfits
like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen
(HuM). The use of locally available picric
acid is also seen as an attempt by J&K terrorists
to mask their cross-border links and project
the blasts as homegrown acts. "Though it
is still not clear whether picric acid was
used at other places to carry out blasts,
as in Hyderabad and Malegaon, the finding
has certainly raised suspicion as the varied
composition of explosives at these two places
has left forensic experts confused," said
a senior security agency official. The two
liquid IEDs of two litres each seized by
the CRPF's counter-insurgency units in Trall
were kept in steel containers carrying small
circuits using mobile phones as detonators.
The composition is similar to the chemical
compound and detonator used not only in
the Mecca mosque blast last week but also
in a number of blasts in J&K in the past
couple of months. "Though the use of picric
acid as liquid bomb outside J&K is still
being investigated, security agencies, on
the basis of their intelligence as well
as interrogation reports of militants, suspect
that jehadis in the Valley already have
80-100 litres of this explosive in their
possession," said the official. The test
report of the liquid bomb, identifying it
as picric acid, assumes significance in
view of attempts by Pakistan-based terrorists
to shift their focus from RDX to locally-made
explosives. Security agencies believe that
the jehadis are strategically using local
materials to carry out their operations
to give an impression of internal disturbance
in India. The test report has also come
as an eye-opener for security agencies,
which were unable to decode the composition
of the 'mystery liquid' - with traces of
yellow crystalline solids - whenever they
came across non-RDX blasts in J&K and elsewhere.
Though the use of a very small quantity
of RDX in the picric acid-based liquid bomb
is not ruled out, its content is negligible
enough to hide its presence.
Courtesy:
www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, May 26,
2007
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ULFA
triggers powerfule blast killing 7 and injuring
30
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The
bomb, kept inside an auto-rickshaw near
the Marwari Maternity Hospital, went off
around 10.45 am killing five passersby and
shoppers on the spot in the busy commercial
area. The blast also caused a LPG gas cylinder
being transported at that time in a cycle-rickshaw,
to burst, police said. Altogehter 30 people
were injured in the two blasts. Two vehicles
and two auto-rickshaws parked there were
damaged, police said. Chaos prevailed as
the people attempted to flee. Police cordonerd
off the area and the injured were rescued.
Twenty-two of the injured were admitted
to the Gauhati Medical College Hospital,
one to the Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Civil
Hospital and others at various other private
hospitals, police said. Local people in
the area and nearby Fancy Bazar, the commercial
hub of the N-E Region, took to the streets
to demand police action against the repeated
blasts. The crowd urged the shopkeepers
in Fancy Bazar to down their shutters as
some of the agitators pelted stones at the
police who attempted to pacify them. The
agitators later dispersed, police said.
On the eve of the Tarun Gogoi government's
one year in office, the proscribed ULFA
today trigerred a powerful blast in Guwahati's
Athgaon area killing seven persons and injuring
30 others which prompted an irate crowd
to pelt stones at police. Police said the
bomb, kept inside an auto-rickshaw near
the Marwari Maternity Hospital, went off
around 10.45 am killing five passersby and
shoppers on the spot in the busy commercial
area.
Courtesy:
www.deccanherald.com, May 26, 2007
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Taking
on Naxals and benefiting from it
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On
entering the Naxalite-affected areas of
Chandauli, Sonebhadra and Mirzapur your
fear will be forgotten for a while. Some
of the best village roads in Uttar Pradesh,
including the road to Chief Minister Mulayam
Singh Yadav's home Safai, run through these
areas. Smooth roads cutting through forests,
alongside the Vindhyas and the Gaderia river,
are some of the most picturesque views in
the Purvanchal area.
But
the districts fall in the so-called 'Red
Corridor', and the hills, the forests and
the clusters of huts in a distance could
be Naxalite hideouts.
Two
weeks ago, a Maoist commander Sanjay Kol-carrying
a reward of Rs 1 lakh for his arrest-was
killed in an encounter. On Sunday, his wife
was picked up by the police. And the fight,
what the Maoists describe as state oppression
and the government calls terrorism, has
led poor tribals to believe that the way
out of the situation would be through political
empowerment and development.
One
such person is Dashrath Kol, Sanjay Kol's
father, who is now contesting from the Robertsganj
(Reserved) seat on a Rashtriya Samanta Dal
ticket. The older Kol is said to have suffered
at the hands of authorities because of his
son. But according to some in the Madhupur
kasba of Sonebhadra, where the family stays,
Sanjay was killed while trying to muster
support for his father. Maoist sympathisers
do not agree and have called for an election
boycott in Chandauli, Sonebhadra and Mirzapur.
"The
Maoists are not a threat to common people.
Their fight is only with the police," said
Ram Dular, a local. He could be right, for
the area is remarkably incident free. The
only signs of threat are the police armoured
vehicles.
Local
CPI(M-L) leaders, often mistaken by villagers
and the police for Naxalites, say some of
the Maoist cadre are joining them. CPI(M-L)
activist Prashant Shukla said after the
mainstream Indian Left lost support in the
area about 15 years ago, their place was
taken by the Maoists.
"We
are intervening in the area and some of
the Maoist cadre have joined us. Even though
there is hype about the Maoist terror, there
isn't much truth in it. But this hype is
fetching the police and the administration
a lot of funds from the Centre," he said.
Party
General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharyya,
who was campaigning in Robertsganj on Monday,
said his party has put up 33 candidates
in the three districts. According to him,
the party is getting reasonable support.
Sonebhadra
Superintendent of Police Raghuvir Lal said
he has tried to fight the Maoist terror
by holding camps with the local people.
He has asked his men to establish good relations
with villagers by promising them development.
The two-pronged approach, to continue with
combing operations while trying to inculcate
confidence in people, has begun to pay off.
"We promise a fair trial to the Maoists
who want to surrender. I can tell you that
no further recruitment is taking place,"
Lal said.
The
local population has little time for either
the Maoists or the police. The school in
Madhupur does function and the teachers
are regular, but other facilities barely
exist. The hospital is actually a dispensary.
The farmers have had a bad year because
of an acute water problem and the high cost
of fertilisers. Even if they manage to sow
their fields, they are hit by the water
shortage. The power crisis is overwhelming.
The
police, who have the best facilities, which
they demand for their fight against the
Maoists, say it is endemic: the usual pattern
is they get power during the day for a week,
and for the next at night.
The
districts, where candidates are rarely seen
and top political leaders almost never visit,
will go to polls on May 3. During election
time, talks here focus on the development
that has taken place using funds meant for
curbing the Naxal menace. Akhileshwar Singh,
the village pradhan of Dhansaria in Mirzapur,
about 50 km from Madhupur, says: "In the
name of fighting Naxalites, a lot of development
has taken place in our area. We have good
roads and are giving BPL cards to the poor.
The police are now better equipped to fight
Naxalites."
The
ground reality is that apart from the roads,
development is taking place only in pockets.
One such example is the upcoming Benaras
Hindu University South Campus named after
late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The campus
is spread over an area of 2,800 acres in
Mirzapur. Petrol pumps are coming up right
in the centre of what the police will call
the 'Maoist area'. There are branches of
the Triveni Kshetriya Gramin Bank in villages
and the NREGA has been implemented in the
districts.
The
police have gained the most, and all police
stations in the area have armoured vehicles
and better arms. Sabhajit Pandey, the police
post in-charge at Rajgarh, says the police
feel more confident now. They do not want
a repeat of the November 2004 Maoist attack
in Chandauli, in which 13 security personnel
were killed. That was in retaliation of
the killing of 14 Maoists in Bhawanipore
in 2001.
As
you drive out of the Naxal belt, you realise
the importance of caste. Surely for all
the talk of development, the alienation
of the lower caste is evident. The Maoists,
perhaps, still have a constituency after
all.
Courtesy:
www.indianexpress.com, April 25, 2007
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Taliban
warns of more attacks
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The
Taliban's newly named top field commander
purportedly warned in a first statement
on Wednesday that new recruits were volunteering
as suicide bombers and that Taliban fighters
would continue their holy war until Western
powers leave Afghanistan. Violence struck
throughout the country with two bomb blasts
that killed four persons, including a Finnish
soldier in the usually quiet north, while
NATO said it attacked a meeting of Taliban
leaders in the south, killing an unspecified
number of militants. Shuhabuddin Athul,
a Taliban spokesman, played an audio tape
over the telephone to an Associated Press
reporter that Athul said was a recording
of Dadullah Mansoor, brother and replacement
of Mullah Dadullah, the top Taliban commander
shot to death in a U.S. operation this month
in southern Afghanistan.
Courtesy:
www.hindu.com, May 24, 2007
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From
Lahore, Babbar Khalsa stokes Dera fire
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Pakistan
has rushed to fish in troubled Punjab waters
in the wake of the Sikh-Dera Sacha Sauda
feud, with Babbar Khalsa International chief
Wadhawan Singh Babbar, operating from Lahore
under ISI patronage, seeking to stoke violence
in the state. Government sources in Punjab
and here disclosed that Wadhawan, who is
on India's 'Most Wanted' list, has been
in touch with radical elements in the Sikh
community at a time when the Dera fire have
been raging. They also said that Wadhawan
had worked on the radical Sikh priest whose
Gurudwara near Talwandi Sabo in Bathinda
was the catalyst for setting off the clash
with the Dera over advertisements featuring
its chief, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, attired
as Guru Gobind Singh. Telephone intercepts
with agencies clearly bring out the interest
of the ISI auxiliary in fanning the confrontation
which has triggered fears of revival of
extremism in Punjab. The meddling in Punjab
has been part of Pakistan's game plan to
stir trouble once again in a state which
beat back Khalistani secessionists. Pakistan's
role in fuelling the Khalistan movement,
along with the insurgency in J&K, as part
of the strategy to avenge the liberation
of Bangladesh is well established. If the
restoration of normalcy marked a setback
to the plot to inflict a war of 'thousand
cuts' on India, Wadhawan's meddling in the
Sikh-Dera clash brings out the desire to
play the destabilisation game once again.
The intent of Babbar Khalsa and its patrons
was evident in 2005 when investigation into
the bombing of Liberty cinema hall in the
Capital led to the arrest of its agent,
Jagtar Singh Hawara, wanted for assassination
of Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, and
uncovered the vast network he had built
in Delhi and Punjab. For the authorities,
the effort to fan tension in Punjab coincides
with the ever-growing body of evidence pointing
to the continued resolve of anti-India elements,
sheltered and patronised in Pakistan, to
persist with their subversive agenda.
Courtesy:
www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, May 23,
2007
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UP
on edge as series of blasts rock Gorakhpur
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By
Amita Verma
A series of three low-density bomb blasts
ripped across Gorakhpur on Tuesday evening,
leaving half a dozen people injured. The
explosions, which took place at intervals
of three to four minutes each, occurred
in three places in the Golghar area, which
is the city centre. The first blast occurred
at Baldev Plaza, the second at Jalkal Building
and the third at Ganesh Chauraha. People
began running for cover as soon as the explosions
ripped through the area, and tension continues
to prevail in the city. The injured have
been admitted to hospital and senior officials
have rushed to the site of the blasts. The
area has been cordoned off and forensic
teams are being rushed to assist in investigations.
A high alert has been sounded in Varanasi
and other communally-sensitive towns of
Uttar Pradesh and the vigil along the UP-Nepal
border has been stepped up.
According
to Gorakhpur SSP Rajesh Rai, the bombs had
been placed in plastic tiffin boxes that
were kept in cycles at Baldev Plaza and
Jalkal Building and in a motorcycle at Ganesh
Chauraha. The cycles had been parked near
power transformers, while the motorcycle
was parked near a petrol pump, possibly
to ensure maximum damage. The impact of
the explosions was felt within a radius
of about 100 metres and the cycles on which
the bombs were placed were blown to smithereens.
The window panes of nearby shops were also
smashed due to the impact of the blasts.
Mr Brijlal, ADG (law and order), said the
blasts seemed to be the handiwork of some
local people. "If a terrorist group had
been involved in these blasts, the explosions
and the bombs used would have been far more
powerful. However, we shall be able to say
something definite after the preliminary
investigations are over," he stated. Meanwhile,
the local MP, Mahant Yogi Adityanath, told
this correspondent over the telephone that
the blasts were a result of the unchecked
infiltration of anti-social elements across
the UP-Nepal border. "On a number of occasions,
I have warned the district officials that
Nepal is turning into a haven for the ISI
and the porous border allows these elements
to take refuge in eastern UP as well. However,
no one paid attention to my warnings and
the results are there for all to see," he
said. In New Delhi, the Union home ministry
directed the Uttar Pradesh government to
take special care to maintain the peace
in Gorakhpur and said it was in constant
touch with the state government, our Delhi
correspondent reports. Union home secretary
Madhukar Gupta had spoken to the director-general
of police in Lucknow to take stock of the
situation, an MHA official said. Mr Gupta
told the DGP to take adequate steps to ensure
that peace was maintained in the area.
Courtesy:
www.asianage.com, May 22, 2007
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Samjhauta
blasts handiwork of Pak-based militant:
Security
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Security
agencies probing the Samjhauta Express blasts
on Tuesday night said the incident was the
handiwork of Pakistan-based militant groups.
Highly placed sources in Union home ministry
said they had "vital clues" which included
a telephonic conversation between a caller
from Delhi to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
The sources declined to give out the identity
of the militant groups behind the blasts
but hinted at sleeper cells of Lashker-e-Taiba
and Jaish-e-Mohammed. These militant groups,
the sources said, have adopted a new modus
operandi of detonating low-intensity blasts
with explosive materials comprising readily
available combustibles. The matter would
be taken up with Pakistan authorities who
would also be apprised of the investigation
into the blasts, the sources said but ruled
out it would be part of the agenda of the
meeting between External affairs Minister
Pranab Mukherjee and his Pakistani counterpart
Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri on Wednesday.
Courtesy:
www.newindpress.com, February 22, 2007
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Six
hurt in Gorakhpur blasts
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Three
bombs ripped through as many places in Golghar
locality of Gorakhpur this evening injuring
six persons. The blasts took place within
a span of 20 minutes in an area of 150 metres
in the heart of the city. The first blast
occurred at Jalkal building, second at Baldeo
Plaza and the third at Ganesh Chauraha.
The bags and tiffin boxes containing the
bombs were kept on new children's bicycles
parked near a petrol pump, next to two electric
transformers. Additional Director General
of Police Brij Lal told The Indian Express
that the bombs were not of high explosive
quality. "They were simple blasts and nobody
is seriously injured. The bombs contained
ball bearings," he said. Meanwhile, Gorakhpur
IG Dilip Trivedi said it was too early to
link the incident with any terror attack.
"But one thing is clear, it is a part of
conspiracy to disturb the peace in this
city," Trivedi said. The explosions created
panic in the Golghar area. Shopkeepers downed
their shutters soon after the explosion.
The five injured were identified as Santosh
Singh, an employee of the petrol pump, Rajeshwar
Patel, a resident of Saket Nagar, Sanjay
Ray and Rajesh Verma, both from Kushinagar
district, and Guddu Choubey. One Harendra
Yadav, who sustained minor injuries, received
treatment at a private hospital. Gorakhpur
and adjacent districts had recently witnessed
communal violence. There have been recent
reports about infiltration of terrorists
through the nearby Nepal border and eastern
UP into the county. Police and intelligence
sources said all these aspects would be
kept in mind while investigating the case.
The Union Home Ministry is in touch with
the Uttar Pradesh Government following the
blasts. Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta
spoke to senior state police officers this
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