Asia
Overview
Patterns of Global Terrorism -2000
Released by the Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism
April 2001
South Asia
In 2000, South Asia remained
a focal point for terrorism directed against the United States, further
confirming the trend of terrorism shifting from the Middle East to South
Asia. The Taliban continued to provide safehaven for international
terrorists, particularly Usama Bin Ladin and his network, in the
portions of Afghanistan it controlled.
Smart Sanctions
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1333, passed in December
2000, targets the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. The Taliban ignored its
obligations under UN Security Council Resolution 1267 (passed in
November 1999) and has continued to provide shelter to Usama Bin Ladin.
In UN Security Council Resolution 1333, the Security Council:
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Demands the Taliban
comply with Resolution 1267 and cease providing training and support
to international terrorists.
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Insists the Taliban turn
over indicted international terrorist Usama Bin Ladin so he can be
brought to justice.
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Directs the Taliban to
close all terrorist camps in Afghanistan within 30 days.
Until the Taliban fully
complies with its obligations under this resolution and Resolution 1267,
member states of the United Nations should:
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Observe an arms embargo
against the Taliban that includes a prohibition against providing
military weapons, training, or advice.
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Close all Taliban
offices overseas.
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Reduce the staff at the
limited number of Taliban missons abroad.
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Restrict travel of
senior Taliban officials except for the purposes of participation in
peace negotiations, compliance with the resolution, or for
humanitarian reasons, including religious obligations.
-
Ban the export to Afghan
territory of a precursor chemical, acetic anhydride, which is used
to manufacture heroin.
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Close all offices of
Ariana Afghan Airlines and ban all nonhumanitarian assistance
flights into and out of Afghanistan. Broad exemptions are given to
humanitarian flights operated by, or on behalf of, nongovernmental
organizations and government relief agencies providing humanitarian
assistance to Afghanistan.
The sanctions imposed by
these two resolutions are targeted sanctions. They are not economic
sanctions.
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They permit
private-sector trade and commerce, including food, medicine, and
consumer products.
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They permit, without
impediment, the work of the humanitarian organizations providing
assistance to the civilian population of Afghanistan.
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They permit Afghans to
travel by air for urgent humanitarian reasons and to fulfill their
religious obligations, such as the hajj, including on the banned
Ariana Afghan Airline. The UN Sanctions Committee already has
approved about 200 flights for 13,000 Afghans in 2001 for this
purpose. The Committee never has denied a request for a legitimate
humanitarian waiver.
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They permit Taliban
officials to travel abroad to participate in a peace process and to
discuss fulfilling the demands of the Resolutions.
The
Government of Pakistan increased its support to the Taliban and
continued its support to militant groups active in Indian-held Kashmir,
such as the Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM), some of which engaged in
terrorism. In Sri Lanka the government continued its 17-year conflict
with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE),
which engaged in several terrorist acts against government and civilian
targets during the year.
Afghanistan
Islamic extremists from around the world--including North America,
Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Central, South, and Southeast
Asia--continued to use Afghanistan as a training ground and base of
operations for their worldwide terrorist activities in 2000. The
Taliban, which controlled most Afghan territory, permitted the operation
of training and indoctrination facilities for non-Afghans and provided
logistics support to members of various terrorist organizations and mujahidin,
including those waging jihads (holy wars) in Central
Asia, Chechnya, and Kashmir.
Throughout 2000 the Taliban continued to host Usama Bin Ladin
despite UN sanctions and international pressure to hand him over to
stand trial in the United States or a third country. In a serious and
ongoing dialogue with the Taliban, the United States repeatedly made
clear to the Taliban that it would be held responsible for any terrorist
attacks undertaken by Bin Ladin while he is in its territory.
In October, a terrorist bomb attack against the USS Cole in Aden
Harbor, Yemen, killed 17 US sailors and injured scores of others.
Although no definitive link has been made to Bin Ladin's organization,
Yemeni authorities have determined that some suspects in custody and at
large are veterans of Afghan training camps.
In August, Bangladeshi authorities uncovered a bomb plot to
assassinate Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at a public rally. Bangladeshi
police maintained that Islamic terrorists trained in Afghanistan planted
the bomb.
India
Security problems associated with various insurgencies,
particularly in Kashmir, persisted through 2000 in India. Massacres of
civilians in Kashmir during March and August were attributed to Lashkar-e-Tayyiba
(LT) and other militant groups. India also faced continued
violence associated with several separatist movements based in the
northeast of the country.
The Indian Government continued cooperative
efforts with the United States against terrorism. During the year, the
US-India Joint Counterterrorism Working Group--founded in November
1999--met twice and agreed to increased cooperation on mutual
counterterrorism interests. New Delhi continued
to cooperate with US officials to ascertain the fate of four Western
hostages--including one US citizen--kidnapped in Indian-held Kashmir in
1995, although the hostages' whereabouts remained unknown.
Pakistan
Pakistan's military government, headed by Gen. Pervez
Musharraf, continued previous Pakistani Government support of the
Kashmir insurgency, and Kashmiri militant groups continued to operate in
Pakistan, raising funds and recruiting new cadre. Several of these
groups were responsible for attacks against civilians in Indian-held
Kashmir, and the largest of the groups, the Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, claimed
responsibility for a suicide car-bomb attack against an Indian garrison
in Srinagar in April.
In addition, the Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM), a designated Foreign
Terrorist Organization, continues to be active in Pakistan without
discouragement by the Government of Pakistan. Members of the group were
associated with the hijacking in December 1999 of an Air India flight
that resulted in the release from an Indian jail of former HUM leader
Maulana Masood Azhar. Azhar since has founded his own Kashmiri militant
group, Jaish-e-Mohammed, and publicly has threatened the United States.
Maulana Masood Azhar, Jaish-e-Mohammed leader
The United States remains concerned about reports of continued Pakistani
support for the Taliban's military operations in Afghanistan. Credible
reporting indicates that Pakistan is providing the Taliban with
materiel, fuel, funding, technical assistance, and military advisers.
Pakistan has not prevented large numbers of Pakistani nationals from
moving into Afghanistan to fight for the Taliban. Islamabad also failed
to take effective steps to curb the activities of certain madrassas, or
religious schools, that serve as recruiting grounds for terrorism.
Pakistan publicly and privately said it intends to comply fully with
UNSCR 1333, which imposes an arms embargo on the Taliban.
The attack on the USS Cole in Yemen in October prompted fears of US
retaliatory strikes against Bin Ladin's organization and targets in
Afghanistan if the investigation pointed in that direction. Pakistani
religious party leaders and militant groups threatened US citizens and
facilities if such an action were to occur, much as they did after the
US attacks on training camps in Afghanistan in August 1998 and following
the US diplomatic intervention in the Kargil conflict between Pakistan
and India in 1999. The Government of Pakistan generally has cooperated
with US requests to enhance security for US facilities and personnel.