India faces terror from another front
By Siddharth Srivastava
NEW DELHI - Deadly bombings in the remote northeastern state of Assam have
confounded authorities with their unprecedented scope and complexity - opening
what's been described as a "sinister" front for jihadi terror in India.
The Assam strikes - most recently a string of blasts on October 30 that took 85
lives and left nearly 500 injured - have added a disturbing new angle to
terrorism in India, a former high-ranking police official told Asia Times
Online. Citing sophisticated weaponry and mysterious smuggling networks, he
compared Assam's embattled capital, Guwahati, to the war-torn Iraqi capital,
Baghdad.
Unlike the relatively crude, locally assembled explosives used elsewhere in
India - including strikes in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Varanasi - the bombs
used in Assam have raised concerns
about the region's porous borders as well as jihadi groups' links with local
militants, especially from Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Security experts say that the car and motorcycle bombs - often laden with over
80 kilograms of RDX (rapid detonating explosive) - are beyond the capability of
homegrown separatist outfits such as the United Liberation Front of Assam
(ULFA) or the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB).
According
to reports, the remote-controlled or timed bombs used in Assam were placed at
carefully chosen targets such as crowded weekend markets to inflict maximum
splinter damage to human lives in a small area. Most of the bombs were
camouflaged in dustbins, food stalls or parked vehicles.
Northeast India is surrounded by Myanmar, Bangladesh, Bhutan and China. Except
for Bhutan, India's relations with the other neighbors have never been
comfortable. The neighboring state of Tripura was also struck with serial bomb
blasts last month that killed two and injured over 100. Two other regional
states, Nagaland and Manipur, have endured years of bloody separatist movements
and powerful militant elements remain entrenched.
Unlike India's western frontiers with Pakistan, which have been effectively
plugged by fencing and troop deployment of troops, border controls in the
northeast are notoriously weak.
"Assam has a history of local population angst against illegal settlers from
Bangladesh, resulting in a tussle over land and fears of demographic dilution,"
D N S Shrivastava, former director general of police, who served in Assam for
over two decades, told Asia Times Online. "This has contributed to the growth
of extremist groups such as ULFA. However, these attacks are much more
sinister."
Terror on the borders
India's Home Ministry believes that the Bangladeshi jihadi outfit
Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HJI ) is involved in the blasts in Assam, according
to Indian media reports. The HJI is thought to maintain close ties to the
Indian Mujahideen (IM), an indigenous terror group that has claimed
responsibility for most of the recent bomb blasts across India.
The IM has been closely linked to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba and with
the banned Students Islamic Movement of India.
Investigators are also trying to forge linkages between the Assam blasts and
others in the country. In May, serial blasts killed 80 people and injured 200
in the western Indian city of Jaipur, capital of the tourist state of
Rajasthan. Serial explosions in Ahmedabad in Gujarat in July left more than 50
dead and over 200 injured. In September, five serial bomb blasts killed at
least 25 and wounded more than 100 people in Delhi.
In Assam, the HJI is said to utilize its close connections with illegal
immigrants from Bangladesh for new recruits, safehouses and logistical support.
The Indian Express has recently reported that federal security agencies
intercepted a congratulatory message from Bangladesh a day after the Assam
blasts that suggests the involvement of HJI. Officials in New Delhi have vowed
to take the issue up with counterparts in Dhaka.
Assam's chief minister Tarun Gogoi has been quoted as saying, "Assam is the
most vulnerable to terror attacks from Bangladeshi soil. A large number of
terrorist groups there help our local outfits. There are militant outfits in
Myanmar and Nepal, but Bangladesh remains our biggest threat."
Reports say that the government has identified 46 points along the border with
Bangladesh that are being used as exit and entry points by the HJI.
"Border Security Force's Tripura frontier had received information in the first
week of October that some 20 HJI cadres would sneak into Assam to carry out
explosions with the help of local outfits such as ULFA," P K Mishra, inspector
general of police in Assam and Meghalaya, has been quoted as saying.
Still, security official say that given the scale and impact of the latest
strikes, it is apparent that wider jihadi groups have capitalized on the
established networks of local militants who would not have the wherewithal to
carry such attacks on their own.
Unseen adversaries
Despite security officials' focus on the Bangladesh-based HJI, domestic and
foreign media have speculated that armed groups in India's northeast may be
receiving support from China by way of Myanmar.
Recently, Jane's Intelligence Review reported that China had replaced Cambodia
and Thailand as the biggest source of weapons for insurgent groups in India's
northeast, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. The report said the United Wa State Army
(UWSA), a rebel group in Myanmar, acts as the conduit between Chinese arms
manufacturers and insurgent groups.
Additionally, the Times of India recently reported that trade routes where
China and Myanmar's borders meet are "fluid". In recent months, the report
alleges, the Chinese have managed to increase the flow of funds - and possibly
arms - to northeast terrorist groups such as the National Socialist Council of
Nagaland (NSCN) and ULFA.
China, however, has strongly refuted any hand in the Assam blasts. "Such
reports were groundless," Jiang Yu, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, was quoted
by Chinese news agency Xinhua. "The Chinese government always sticks to the
principle of non-interference in other nations' domestic affairs. We won't
support any anti-government groups in India," Jiang said.
Observers say that New Delhi must refocus its attention on the northeast to
prevent another round of lethal terror attacks which would worsen an already
precarious situation.
Given the region's reputation for smuggling, lawlessness and violence, this
will not be an easy task.
Siddharth Srivastava is a New Delhi-based journalist. He can be reached
at sidsri@yahoo.com
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According
to reports, the remote-controlled or timed bombs used in Assam were placed at
carefully chosen targets such as crowded weekend markets to inflict maximum
splinter damage to human lives in a small area. Most of the bombs were
camouflaged in dustbins, food stalls or parked vehicles.
