TERRORISM - 2008 - Indian Social Institute

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Big LTTE blast kills top Lanka minister, 11 others (12) Colombo, April 6: An influential Sri Lankan minister, long on the hit list of the Tamil Tigers, was assassinated by a suspected LTTE suicide bomber while inaugurating a marathon race as part of the traditional Sinhala-Tamil New Year celebrations at Weliveriya town, about 20 km from here, early on Sunday. A former Olympian runner was also among the 11 others killed. Around 100 people were injured in the huge blast that left many mangled body parts in pools of blood at the Kanthi playground in a macabre beginning of the traditional new year. Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, 55, held the powerful highways and rural development portfolios besides being the chief whip of the ruling United People’s Freedom Party. Widely viewed as a potential Prime Minister, he is the second senior minister to be killed by the Tigers after D.M. Dassanayake, who died in a blast in the same Grampaha district on January 8, within days of the government scrapping a tenuous ceasefire with the LTTE. A Tamil by birth, critics faulted Mr Fernandopulle for his close association with Sinhala politicians, particularly President Mahinda Rajapakse. He was a fierce critic of the LTTE and also the international community, including the UN and human rights groups, for accusing the government of human rights violations. He was a member of the government delegation in two rounds of failed talks with the Tigers in Geneva in 2006. Along with the minister, Sri Lanka’s ace marathon runner K.A. Karunaratne, who had represented the country at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, and national athletic coach Lakshman de Alwisis were also killed in the blast. Though the government said it was a Black Tiger job, some reports quoted a young eyewitness claiming he saw a person hurl a parcel at Mr Fernandopulle after approaching the venue from a cemetery on the opposite side. President Rajapakse, in a statement later on Sunday, condemned the killing while appealing to the people "to be calm and collected in the face of such extreme provocation by the forces of terror." He said the "dastardly act will not weaken our resolve to eradicate terrorism from our midst." Analysts here see this latest assassination of a high-profile Sri Lankan leader as yet another demonstration of the deadly reach of the Tamil Tigers deep into the government-controlled parts of Sri Lanka. (Asian Age 7/4/08) Taliban kill 2 BRO workers (12) New Delhi, Suspected Taliban militants on Saturday targeted Indian construction workers in southwestern Afghanistan, killing two personnel of Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and injuring five in a suicide attack. M P Singh and C Govindaswamy were killed on the spot when the suicide bomber driving a vehicle rammed into the construction workers near Minar area in Nimroz province at around 9 am. Bishram Oroan, Vikram Singh, Muhammad Nazin Khan, Anil Kumar Thampee and Mayaram were injured in the attack, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said. The injured have been moved to Zaranj for medical attention and arrangements are being made for immediate evacuation of the dead bodies and those wounded, he said. A report from Herat said a man claiming to be Taliban spokesman had said his outfit was behind the attack. The man, identifying himself as Yousuf Ahmadi, said the Taliban first detonated two mines and then a suicide bomber blew himself up. Nearly 400 BRO personnel are engaged in construction of a crucial 218-km highway between Zaranj and Delaram in Afghanistan as part of India’s assistance programme. Conveying the government’s deepest condolences to the families of the victims of the terror attack, Sarna said families of the deceased and wounded are being contacted for immediate disbursement of compensation and insurance. The Taliban has been issuing threats to Indian workers in Afghanistan from time to time. (Deccan Herald 13/4/08) '175 terrorist groups active in India' (12) Mumbai, : Manipur has the highest number of terror outfits, followed by Assam and Jammu and Kashmir, according to a list prepared by the Union Home Ministry in consultation with state governments and intelligence agencies. The ministry is monitoring the activities of nearly 175 terror organisations spread across India and attempting to ascertain their links both within and outside the country. The list includes those suspected of, or indulging in terrorist, insurgent, extremist or fanatical activities. The majority of the outfits are centred and active in the northeast, according to intelligence sources. Manipur tops the list with a whopping 39 organisations, followed by Assam with 36 organisations. A total of 115 groups operate in seven states in the restive northeast, including those bordering China. The state of Jammu and Kashmir has 32
groups active, semi-active or dormant. In addition to these, there are at least four other independent groups that are not based in Jammu and Kashmir but are coordinating or supporting terror groups in the state from across the border. The surprise inclusion here is Dukhtaran-e- Millat, an all-women organisation that exerts community pressures to further social norms dictated by Islamic fundamental groups. Mumbai Anti-Terrorist Squad chief Hemant Karkare said there are around eight to ten frontline terror groups on which they keep tabs on a regular basis, but he declined to identify them. “In addition, there are more than a couple of hundred other such groups of which we have knowledge. At times, new ones suddenly crop up, like the Hindu Garjana, which attacked communist party workers in Pune last fortnight. Then we do the needful investigations,” said Karkare, but did not elaborate. In addition to these state-level groups, the agencies are keeping a watch on the activities of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Tamil Nadu Liberation Army, Tamil National Retrieval Troops, Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI, banned since September 2001), Deendar Anjuman, Asif Reza Commando Force, Kamatapur Liberation Organisation as well as the Ranvir Sena. Left-wing extremist groups that are under a close watch include the Communist Party of India (Maoist), Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)-Janashakti and People’s Guerrilla Army, according to the list. (Deccam Herald 14/4/08) Militants meet in PoK again, vow to pursue jihad in J-K (12) Srinagar, April 22 : In the second meeting of its kind in the past one month, Pakistan-based militant groups and secessionist leaders on Monday held a conference in Muzaffarabad in PoK to resolve their commitment to revive ‘jihad’ in Kashmir. The conference, attended by United Jihad Council chief Syed Salahuddin, LeT chief Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and leaders of PoK-based Hurriyat factions, made no secret of their growing disillusionment with the new Pakistan establishment, and indicated a resolve to strike on their own. “Who says we are tired. We are not. We will continue to pursue jihad in Kashmir,” Salahuddin said at the conference titled Azam-i- Jihad (Resolve for Jihad) attended by around 1,000 militants. He called upon the PoK Government to pursue an “independent policy” on Kashmir and set aside “75 per cent of its budget for jihad in Kashmir and train its youth on war footing” for the purpose. The meeting, which comes in the wake of reports about fresh militant infiltration into Kashmir, was also a show of new-found solidarity between militant groups and the separatist politicians including moderate Hurriyat faction represented in PoK by its convenor Syed Yousuf Naseem. A number of militant leaders including Sheikh Jamil ur Rehman of Tehrik ul Mujahideen, Abdullah of Jamiat ul Mujahideen, Attiq-ur-Rehman of Harkat ul Mujahideen, Farooq Qureshi of Al Badar, Mastoid Sarfraz of Hizb-e-Islami and Uzair Ghizali of Pasban-i-Hurriyat attended the meeting. “In 2000 and 2001, our struggle had reached a decisive phase. But then President Musharraf succumbed to the international pressure following 9/11. As a result, the political and diplomatic support to our struggle declined considerably,” said Salahuddin. At the conference, those like Yousuf Naseem and the convenor of Tehreek Kashmir Ghulam Muhammad Safi, a former Jamaat-i-Islami ideologue, talked bitterly about Islamabad’s volte face. They were particularly sore about the recent visits to Pakistan by the Valley’s leaders like Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah and Zardari’s press conference with Mehbooba. (Indian Express 23.4.08) Northeast surpasses J&K in terrorism (12) Guwahati, April 23: If the number of insurgent-related violence is any indicator of law and order, the north-eastern states are passing through the worst phase, surpassing the Jammu and Kashmir. This has been revealed by the home ministry in its latest report, "Status Paper on Naxal Activities", released on Tuesday. According to the report, the north-eastern states recorded 1,489 militant-related incidents in 2007, beating Jammu and Kashmir by a little less than 500 incidents. In comparison, Jammu and Kashmir recorded 3,401 incidents in 2003 whereas the number of violent incidents in north-eastern states was limited to 1,332. This implies that the law and order situation of north-eastern states has deteriorated in the last five years in comparison to Jammu and Kashmir. The report said that terrorist attacks are claiming more civilian lives in the Northeast than in Jammu and Kashmir. The region is also witnessing more insurgency-linked violence. "Civilian casualties in the Northeast in 2007 stood at 498 as against 158 civilian deaths in Jammu and Kashmir," said the home ministry report. Of the 498 civilian casualties in the Northeast, 287
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Page 3 and 4: sounded in all four provinces of th
Page 5 and 6: and caps littering the bombing site
Page 7 and 8: teams of scientists from academic,
Page 9: COLOMBO: At least 75 LTTE militants
Page 13 and 14: Assembly constituencies in Srinagar
Page 15 and 16: Haflong, the district headquarters,
Page 17 and 18: meanwhile, ransacked Lumding railwa
Page 19 and 20: President Pervez Musharraf at a ral
Page 21 and 22: movement of road workers and vehicl
Page 23 and 24: heavily populated city was ordered
Page 25 and 26: areas alone. In Saturday’s blasts
Page 27 and 28: struck a school occupied by Taliban
Page 29 and 30: Unlawful Activities (prevention) Ac
Page 31 and 32: autorickshaw driver, identified as
Page 33 and 34: GUWAHATI: Sept. 14: Union home mini
Page 35 and 36: hotel. The fire that started in the
Page 37 and 38: including six policemen, were injur
Page 39 and 40: government. A three-judge Bench of
Page 41 and 42: Muslim League, the second largest c
Page 43 and 44: Chief Minister Digvijay Singh annou
Page 45 and 46: landmark Taj Mahal Hotel, they were
Page 47 and 48: to be used for terror attacks on In
Page 49 and 50: entire world hostage," he said whil
Page 51 and 52: militancy and insurgency affected a
Page 53: Mere talk is not enough. It has to

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