TERRORISM - 2008 - Indian Social Institute

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Maharashtra. In the hinterland, terrorism has seen no respite. The involvement of HuJI (Harkat-ul- Jehadi-Islami), LeT and JeM in recent attacks including the Hyderabad, Samjhauta and Varanasi blasts is worrying security agencies. Most of the operatives manage to escape after executing the blasts, and the terrorists’ success rate is quite high. The silver lining in the security situation is the initiative taken by the government to modernise the police force and improve the quality of investigations. An amount of Rs 1065 crore was released to the state government during the last fiscal to improve police and policing, another Rs 924 crore has been allocated for 2007-08. The outlay for police modernisation in the 11th five year plan is almost four times that allocated during the 10th five year plan. (Statesman 2/1/07) Rampur strike provokes new terror fears for 2008 (12) BARAMULLA (J&K): Shrouded by fog and diesel fumes, the highway from Srinagar to Baramulla bears a curious resemblance to New Delhi roads at rush hour. For the first time in a decade and a half, much of the traffic is made up of buses and jeeps bearing tourists to winter resorts like Gulmarg — not just troops on their way to the Line of Control (LoC). But Tuesday’s terror strike on a Central Reserve Police Force training facility in Rampur in Uttar Pradesh appears to vindicate what some intelligence analysts have been warning for months — that the apparent calm in Jammu and Kashmir and the lull along the LoC, both of which have led to claims that the long jihad in the State is drawing to a close, is deceptive. Intelligence estimates suggest that up to 300 terrorists — most of them battle-hardened Pakistani nationals — succeeded in penetrating LoC defences in 2007. But while these numbers suggest that more terrorists entered Jammu and Kashmir than were killed in counter-terrorist operations last year, a reversal of the trends since 2002, violence within the State has continued to decline. Experts in the intelligence community believe that groups such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba, thought to be responsible for the Rampur strike, are working to a plan. “One objective is to provide infrastructure and support for the Islamist terror groups springing up elsewhere in India, and the second is to prepare for a major offensive before this year’s Assembly elections, an intelligence analyst told The Hindu.” These fears have been underlined by aggressive rhetoric emanating from the Lashkar leadership in Pakistan, which operates under the banner of a political-religious formation, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa. As Pakistan’s movement towards political meltdown accelerated last month, Lashkar leaders became increasingly vocal in their demands for a renewal of the jihad in Jammu and Kashmir. At a December 11 address to his followers, the Lashkar’s overall religious and spiritual head, Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, argued that while “the founder of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, had referred to Kashmir as the ‘jugular vein of Pakistan’, the present rulers seem to be hell-bent on handing over our jugular vein to India with their own hands.” In Dr. Saeed’s view, the waning jihad in Jammu and Kashmir was the outcome of the Pakistan “government’s imprudent policies after the 9/11 events, which dealt a severe blow to the confidence and trust of Kashmiri Muslims.” These policies made clear that “it was hopeless to expect any good from the current rulers.” None the less, “the Kashmiris will never compromise on their freedom.” Dr. Saeed said a “plot is being hatched at the instigation of foreign powers to roll back the Kashmir freedom movement.” Part of this plot, he claimed, involved committing Pakistani troops against Taliban forces “to please the enemies of Islam.” In another speech to Lashkar supporters, he said these policies succeeded because “Muslims neglect Dawa [propagation of Islam] and jihad” Lashkar leaders have linked their position on Jammu and Kashmir to a larger critique of President Pervez Musharraf’s policies. On December 18, Abdul Rehman Makki, the Lashkar’s second-in-command, told worshippers at Lahore’s Jamia Masjid al-Qudsia: “Befriending the United States and India and being servile to them is not the solution to Pakistan’s problems.”…….. (The Hindu 3/1/08) 22 killed in Lahore suicide bombing (12) ISLAMABAD: A suicide bombing in Lahore on Thursday killed 22 people, mostly policemen, and left over 50 fighting for their lives in hospital. The bombing, the latest in an unrelenting wave of terror attacks that began in late 2006, deepened the sense of gloom and uncertainty that has set in over Pakistan since the December 27 killing of Benazir Bhutto in a gun-and-bomb attack. This is the first time in all these months that Lahore has fallen target to a terror attack. Panic and rumours of more bomb blasts gripped the city as emergency services and hospitals struggled to deal with the fallout. Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema said a red alert was
sounded in all four provinces of the country following the incident. The suicide bomber struck near the gates of the Lahore High Court, at a key intersection on the city’s Mall Road, minutes before an anti-government lawyers’ procession was to arrive there. On the court premises, members of the Lahore Bar Association were preparing to step out to receive the procession. The police had been deployed in large numbers, and a barricade set up to stop the lawyers who were on their weekly Thursday protest seeking restoration of Iftikhar Chaudhary, who was removed as Chief Justice after the November 3 imposition of Emergency, and the other judges who were sacked with him. Police officials said a man went up close to the barricades, and on being challenged, blew himself up. Television footage showed policemen’s bodies in their khakis and blue anti-riot vests and riot helmets lying scattered all over the road, several damaged vehicles, and a dead horse still attached to its mangled cart. Inspector-General of Punjab Police Nasim Ahmed told journalists that the police were the intended target. He commended the policemen killed in the attack for their bravery, and said such attacks would not demoralise the force. The suicide bombing has also increased the uncertainty surrounding the February 18 general elections. Though apparently targeted at the police, the bombing in Lahore was a violent prelude to the month of Moharram, which sees rising Sunni-Shia tensions in Pakistan. (The Hindu 11/1/08) Six militants involved in attacks on IISc, CRPF camp held in Uttar Pradesh (12) LUCKNOW: Six Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists, who were involved in the terror attacks on the CRPF Group Centre in Rampur and the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, were arrested in Rampur and here late on Saturday night and early hours of Sunday by the Special Task Force (STF) of the Uttar Pradesh Police. While eight persons, including seven CRPF personnel, were killed in the January 1 Rampur attack, one scientist died and few others injured in the Bangalore attack on December 29, 2005 during a seminar in the J.N. Tata auditorium. Fahim Ahmed Ansari alias Abu Zaraar alias Saquib, Mohammad Sharif alias Mohammad Anwar and Jang Bahadur alias Baba were arrested in Rampur around 12.15 a.m. on Sunday and Mohammad Sabahuddin alias Abu Qasim alias Sameer Singh, Amar Singh alias Abu Jaar and Abu Osama alias Aavesh, were detained at the Charbagh Railway Station tempo stand here around 6.30 a.m. Uttar Pradesh Director-General of Police Vikram Singh said Pakistan nationals Amar Singh alias Abu Zaar and Abu Osama, who played a major role in the Rampur and Bangalore attacks, planned terror strikes at Churchgate in Mumbai, the Bombay Stock Exchange and the Army convoys in Rampur and Bareilly. Mr. Singh said the Bangalore and Mumbai police were informed about the arrests and a joint interrogation would be held soon. He, however, denied that the militants planned to target VVIPs. Initial interrogation showed that before the Rampur attack, the ultras were given training in intelligence gathering and handling explosives for about a month by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Reconnaissance was done by Jang Bahadur alias Baba. Mohammad Sharif, Mohammad Sabahuddin and Abu Saama killed the seven CRPF personnel sitting around a fireplace and hurled grenades, while Abu Zaar provided the cover fire. Of the three arrested here, Mohammad Sabahuddin revealed his links to the Bangalore attack. A one-time resident of Madhubani district in Bihar, he was trained by the ISI and LeT in Pakistan before settling down in Patna. In 2004, he met Lashkar commander Abdul Aziz, who asked him to take a room on rent in Bangalore and inform the LeT chief. He enrolled himself as a student in a college in Bangalore and rented a one-room house near the college. Acting on instructions, he went to Kathmandu and came back with Hamza, who led the attack on the IISc on the second day of the convention. (The Hindu 11/2/08) Since 2002, seven people are killed in terror violence every 10 days (12) Chandigarh, February 16: As Congress and the BJP argue about national security and who can ensure safety in the time of terror, here is a reality check: at least 1333 persons — civilians and security personnel — have lost their lives across the country in attacks by terrorists and separatists between January 2002 and December 2007. This works out to seven people getting killed every 10 days. The number of injured in the same period is just under three times that number: 3678. These numbers, obtained from the Union Home Ministry by The Sunday Express under the Right to Information Act, show a couple of clearly new trends: • In Jammu and Kashmir, long known as the epicentre of terrorism, there has been a marked decrease in casualties since 2002 in contrast to the trend in the rest of the country. For the period January 2002-December
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Page 5 and 6: and caps littering the bombing site
Page 7 and 8: teams of scientists from academic,
Page 9 and 10: COLOMBO: At least 75 LTTE militants
Page 11 and 12: groups active, semi-active or dorma
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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TERRORISM - 2008 - Indian Social Institute

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