Data and assessments from SAIR can be freely published in any form with credit to the South Asia Intelligence Review of the South Asia Terrorism Portal.
PAKISTAN, AFGHANISTAN
On October 14, 2018, Security Forces(SFs) of Pakistan and Afghanistan exchanged fire along the border in the Tandah Dara Sarochahan area of Qilla Abdullah District in Balochistan Province.Afghan media claimed three Pakistani soldiers were killed in the clashes that lasted for several hours, although the Pakistan military denied this claim.Pakistani officials, however, confirmed the incident and claimed Afghan troops opened fire on Pakistani personnel who were erecting a fence along the border in the area. After the incident, Pakistani border authorities closed the Friendship Gate near Chaman, leaving thousands of people stranded on both sides of the Pak-Afghan border.
On October 2, 2018, seven terrorists were killed and three others injured in an exchange of fire between militants inside Afghanistan and Pakistani SFsdeployed at a check-post in North Waziristan District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP)[formerly of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), which merged with KP on May 31, 2018]. According to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), terrorists from across the Afghan border engaged in a 'fire raid' at the check-post, prompting army officials to quickly retaliate. Military sources say that, due to the extensive fencing along the border, terrorists cannot physically attack posts and now resort to 'fire raids' — concerted targeting of Pakistani assets from a distance.
On June 24, 2018, a Pakistan Army soldier, identified as Sepoy Niaz Ali, was killed in an exchange of fire between militants inside Afghanistan and Pakistani SFsdeployed at a check-post in the North Waziristan District of KP.
On June 15, 2018, five terrorists and three Army soldiers were killed during action when militants from across the Pak-Afghan border attempted multiple raids on Pakistani posts in the Shawal area of the North Waziristan District in KP. According to ISPR, SFs repulsed the attempts to overrun posts and inflict major damage.
On June 3, 2018, SFs repulsed attacks from across the Pak-Afghan border in the Bajaur District in KP. ISPR disclosed that the attacks targeted border posts and border fencing parties. SF personnel had foiled seven infiltration attempts in the Bajaur area alone during the preceding 24 hours. An ISPR Press Release stated,
Four security personnel and a soldier of the Pakistan Air Force, deployed at an observation post, got injured during the exchange of fire… Taking advantage of ungoverned spaces and [with] facilitation [from] inside Afghanistan, terrorists are resorting to such attacks to prevent fencing and construction of border posts.
On May 13, 2018, at least six Pakistan Army personnel, including a junior commissioned officer, were killed and another injured in a terrorist attack near the Afghan border in the Shawal Valley area of the North Waziristan District in KP. Security officials stated that members of the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) were clearing a road near the Afghan border for SFs, when a group of militants from Afghanistan's Paktika Province ambushed them.
In between, in a related incident, on September 22, 2018, nine militants and seven soldiers, including an Army Captain, were killed in an exchange of fire between militants who infiltrated from the Afgha side and Pakistani SFs,during an intelligence-based operation in the Gharlamai area of North Waziristan District in KP. A statement issued by the ISPR said that a group of “terrorists was reported to have infiltrated from across and was hiding in a compound” in Gharlamai area.
According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), there have been 10incidents of firingfrom the Afghan side of the border,in which 30 militants (21 in Afghanistan and nine in Pakistan) and 23 Pakistani SF personnel (all in Pakistan)have been killed in the current year (data till October 21, 2018). The whole of 2017 had recorded 16 incidents of cross-border engagements in which 35 militants (all in Afghanistan), 15 Pakistani SF personnel (all in Pakistan) and 11 civilians(all in Pakistan) were killed.
In a series of tweets posted on his official account, ISPR Director General (DG) Major General Asif Ghafoor had,however,disclosed, on November 13, 2017, that there had been an increasing trend of cross-border attacks on Pakistani posts from Afghanistan. Almost 308 such attacks had taken place in 2017, the highest number since 2012, when 324 attacks were reported. On an average there have been 248 attacks every year since 2012. About 29 soldiers have been killed in the attacks between 2012-17.
The problem, however, is far more acute in Afghanistan, with Pakistan-based terrorist formations dominating vast regions and continuously executing a barrage of terrorist and militant attacks on Afghan soil, both against SFs and civilians. According to the United Nations Assistance Mission (UNAMA) Mid Year Report released on July 15, 2018, for instance, the number of civilians killed in Afghanistan hit a record high in the first half of 2018, with 1,692 civilian fatalities – the highest recorded in the same time period in any year over the last decade since the agency began documenting civilian casualties in 2009. There were 1,672 civilian deaths in 2017, 1644 in 2016 and 1615 in 2015 in the same time period.
Kabul has, for long, held Pakistan responsible for violence inside Afghanistan. Most recently, subsequent to emergence of reports stating that militants who participated in Ghazni attack retreated to Pakistan and were taking treatment there, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani on August 27, 2018, stated
General Bajwa [Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa], you signed a document with us and told me repeatedly in our conversations over the phone that when the elections [in Pakistan] are over you will pay attention to it. I need answers now... From where they came and why are they receiving treatment in your hospitals?
The Taliban assaulted Ghazni, the capital of the province also called Ghazni, a week earlier and over the subsequent days of clashes reportedly killed an estimated 500 people, including SF personnel, insurgents and civilians. The Afghan military at the time had alleged foreign militants, including Arabs, Chechens and Pakistanis participated in the fighting.
Earlier, unveiling his South Asia Policy, US President Donald Trump had noted on August 21, 2017,
…The next pillar of our new strategy is to change the approach and how to deal with Pakistan. We can no longer be silent about Pakistan's safe havens for terrorist organizations, the Taliban, and other groups that pose a threat to the region and beyond. Pakistan has much to gain from partnering with our effort in Afghanistan. It has much to lose by continuing to harbour criminals and terrorists…
Nevertheless, Kabul rejects the Pakistani fencing exercise. Pakistan and Afghanistan has a contentious border. The conflict over the legitimacy of the Durand Line – the border imposed by Imperial Britain – between Pakistan and Afghanistan is more than a century old. The Durand Line, named after British diplomat Mortimer Durand, was drawn in 1893 as the international border between British India and Afghanistan in an agreement with Afghan ruler Abdur Rahman Khan. No Afghan Government has accepted the border since the creation of Pakistan in 1947, on the grounds that the agreement with the British lapsed after their withdrawal from their Indian empire, and because it divides the Pashtun ethnic homeland and tribal communities living on both side of the border. These tribal populations are accustomed to moving back and forth freely and, in some cases, own land on both sides of the border.
In September 2005, Pakistan announced for the first time that it had plans to build a 2,611-kilometre fence (1,230km in KP and 1,381km in Balochistan) along its border with Afghanistan, purportedly to check armed militants and drug smugglers moving between the two countries. But Afghanistan raised objections on the grounds that this was an attempt to make the disputed border permanent. Over a year later, on December 26, 2006, Pakistan again declared its plans for mining and fencing the border, but was again opposed by the Afghanistan Government. The then President Hamid Karzai on December 28, 2006, said the moves would only hurt the people living in the region and would not stem cross-border terrorism.
The erstwhile South Waziristan Agency of FATA saw escalating a border skirmishes in April 2007, among the first reported between SFs of both the countries after Pakistan had initiated border fencing. Pakistani SFs operating in South Waziristan made a three-tier security deployment on April 11, 2007, to stop cross-border infiltration by militants from Afghanistan. Pakistan fenced 12-kilometers of its border stretch with Afghanistan to ‘choke off’ cross-border infiltration, but Afghan troops tore down the fence on April 19, 2007, leading to a gun-battle, though there were no casualties.
Between 2007 and 2013, Pakistan’s border fencing plans were not implementedfully due to internal terrorist violence and numerous Army operations in tribal areas. However,in 2011, s 35 kilometre (22 miles) long portion along selected border areas was fenced. However, the work was discontinued for lack of funds. On June 23, 2011, the then ISPR DG Major General Athar Abbas, disclosed: "We did fence around 35km of the border area as it faced continuous militant incursions. It was a joint project of ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) and Afghanistan. But then they backed out. It was a very costly project”.
Again, in April 2013, Pakistan started excavation work on a several hundred kilometre-long trench along the Balochistan border. After about three years of constant efforts, an 1,100-kilometre trench in Balochistan along the Afghan border was completed on June 20, 2016. The 11-foot-deep, 14-foot-wide ditch on the entire stretch of the border was excavated under the supervision of Frontier Corps (FC) at a cost of PKR 14 billion.
After the border skirmish with the Afghan Army in the Kali Luqman and Kali Jahangir areas of Chaman in Qilla Abdullah District of Balochistanon May 5, 2017, the Pakistan Army initiated work on constructing a fence along the 2,611-kilometre long border between Pakistan and Afghanistan on June 20, 2017, with an anticipated budget of PKR 56 billion (USD 505 million). According to ISPR, the process of phased fencing on the Pak-Afghan border commenced on the directions of the of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa. In Phase 1, high infiltration-prone border areas in the Bajaur, Mohmand and Khyber agencies of FATA are being fenced. In Phase 2, fencing of the remaining border areas, including Balochistan, is to be executed. Besides fencing, the Pakistan Army and FC are constructing new forts/border posts to improve surveillance and defensibility.
To demonstrate the progress on the Pak-Afghan border fencing, ISPR arranged a trip for journalists from the national print media to Miramshah Valley on February 9, 2018. A senior Army officer at Miramshah Divisional Headquarters told the reporters that fencing on 830 kilometres of the 1,229 kilometre-long Pak-Afghan border covering the Chitral and FATA region, would be completed by December 2019. Thousands of soldiers and hundreds of vehicles are deployed at 14 different sites on a daily basis to undertake the task of fencing from Chitral to South Waziristan, putting in 7,000 man-hours for the installation of pre-fabricated material. The first phase of the project, which will see the fencing of 430 kilometres of the most critical points along the border, is slated to be completed by the end of 2018. The second phase, called “desirable”, would see the fencing of another stretch of 400 kilometres. The entire project was set to be completed in over two years.
As part of the project, construction of 150 of 443 planned forts, some on mountaintops as high as 12,000 feet, had been completed. Another 750 forts with an inter-fort distance of 1.5 to 3 kilometres, are under construction or at a planning stage. Meanwhile, according to a February 10, 2018, report, at least 1,100 border posts have also been established.
Pakistan seems to be determined to continue with the fencing process.DG ISPR Major General Ghafoor vowed, on June 24, 2018, "We shall... complete the fencing undeterred”, adding that Afghanistan’s cooperation was required [for fencing of the border], and that this was in the mutual interest of both countries.
Afghanistan, however, continues to insist that the installation of a physical barrier would make this border permanent and is therefore opposing construction. Kabul's Ambassador to Islamabad, Omar Zakhilwal, reiterated these objections while speaking to the media on October 10, 2018,
We do oppose the barbed wire. That is against the closeness of the population on both sides and the interdependency that exists [between them]."
Pakistan’s unilateral fencing and construction of new observation posts on the long border with Afghanistan is a bone of contention between the two countries, and draws fire from the militants as well, who have been crossing the border at will. The continuing militant attackson border establishments and the exchange of fire between the Forces of both the countries demonstrates and compounds this irreducible conflict.
INDIA
Manipur: Festering Rivalries
M.A. Athul
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management
On October 7, 2018, a Zeliangrong United Front (ZUF) militant was shot dead by suspected National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) militants at Samliangtiang village under the Khoupum Police Station of Noney District.
Earlier, on September 1, 2018, a militant was killed in a fire fight between NSCN-IM and ZUF cadres at Nungnang village in Noney District. The factional affiliation of the slain militant has not yet been determined.
On August 7, 2018, an NSCN-IM militant was killed in a clash with ZUF militants at Khumji in Noney District.
On March 3, 2018, a fire fight occurred between militants of ZUF and NSCN-IM near Nungadang in Tamenglong District. No fatalities were reported.
According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), the Naga militant groups – NSCN-IM and ZUF – have featured in four incidents of factional clashes in the current year so far (data till October 21, 2018) in Manipur, and these have resulted in the death of three militants. In the corresponding period of 2017, these two groups were involved in onesuch incidentwhich in which one ZUF militant was killed. Through 2017, there was only this one incident of factional clash involving ZUF and NSCN-IM. In 2016 as well, there was justone such clash, in which one ZUF militant was killed.
Since2011, a total of at least 28 clashes between these two outfits have been reported, resulting in the death of 35 militants –12 NSCN-IM, 13 ZUF, three NSCN-K,and seven unidentified.Significantly,on June 21, 2012, NSCN-Khaplang (NSCN-K) and ZUF militants together carried out an attack targeting NSCN-IM cadres inHaochong village in the Tamenglong District. In retaliatory fire NSCN-IM cadres killedone ZUF and three NSCN-K militants. The first reported incident of a clash between the NSCN-IM and ZUF took place on March 5, 2011, at Khoupum in Tamenglong District. Three civilians have also been killed in clashes between ZUF and NSCN-IMsince 2011 (till October 21, 2018).
Indeed, the rivalry and the resultant turf war between the two groups go back to 2011, when ZUF was created, after a split with the NSCN-IM. ZUF, at the time of its formation, defined its purported objectives: “We will defend the land and resources of the Zeliangrong people, our culture, our historical values, traditional and customary habitats of the Zeliangrong community.” In November 2011, ZUF had alleged that Zeliangrong lands (in Assam, Manipur and Nagaland) were shrinking day by day because of encroachments by the Dimasas in the Dima Hasao area of Assam; and by the Semas in the Itangki forest in Nagaland. The Sematribe is primarily aligned with NSCN-IM.
The two groups have antagonistic objective at present as well. NSCN-IM is engaged in peace talks with the Government of India (GoI) and is working for the integration of all Naga inhabited areas in Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. On July 23, 2018, R.N. Ravi the Centre’s Chief Interlocutor for the Naga peace talks, shared details of the Framework Agreement, indicating that special provisions were to be made for the Nagas in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur. According to Government officials, the proposed accord does not change the boundaries of the states.
The ZUF on the other has been continuing with its demand for separate statehood for the Zeliangrong people. On its seventh 'raising day' on February 25, 2018, a press release by ZUF 'chairman' S.Kamson stated,
Today, I also would like to appeal to the Government of India to seriously consider the legitimate and genuine demand of Zeliangrong people and grant Zeliangrong State at the earliest possible time. I also appeal to all the ethnic and indigenous communities in Northeast India to kindly cooperate with us in realizing the creation of a separate state for the Zeliangrong people.
Most recently, according to a press statement released on July 30, 2018,the NSCN-IM’s ‘joint council of the Steering Committee’ de-recognised the three apex Zeliangrong organizations – ZeliangrongBaudi (Assam, Manipur and Nagaland), Zeliangrong Youth Front (Assam, Manipur & Nagaland), and All Zeliangrong Students’ Union (Assam, Manipur & Nagaland).NSCN-IM reasoned that these three bodies were demanding a separate homeland for the Zeliangrong people in collaboration with ZUF. NSCN-IM alleged that ZUF made a declaration on May 3, 2018, demanding a separate homeland for Zeliangrong people and subsequently on June 29, 2018, the Zeliangrong Baudi (Assam, Manipur and Nagaland) also resolved to demand a Zeliangrong homeland. NSCN-IM added that ZUF and the Zeliangrong Baudi are ‘two sides of the same coin’.
Apart from the factional clashes between NSCN-IM and ZUF, Manipur has also recorded 12 incidents of factional clashes between NSCN-IM and other Naga Groups since 2011. Two of these involved NSCN-KholeKhitovi (NSCN-KK), currently known as NSCN-KhitoviNeopak (NSCN-KN), and NSCN-IM, in which two NSCN-KK militants were killed. NSCN-IM has also been involved in clashes with NSCN-K on at least 10 occasions, resulting in 17 militant fatalities.
Manipur also recorded factional clashes between Kuki groups –the United Tribal Liberation Army (UTLA), Kuki National Organisation (KNO), Kuki National Front (KNF), Kuki Revolutionary Army (KRA)and factions of KRA.Atleast15incidents of factional clashes between these Kuki groups have occurred since 2011,resulting in the death of 19 Kuki militants (three each from Kuki Independence Army (KIA) and Kuki National Army-India (KNA-I); two each from KNF-Zogram (KNF-Z), KNF-Nehlun (KNF-N), KNA, KLA, KNF-P; and one each from KRA-U and KLA; one unidentified).
Thus, the total number of factional clashes in the State since 2011 (till October 21, 2018) stands at 55 (40Naga factional clashes and 15 Kuki clashes), with 74militant fatalities (55Naga and 19 Kuki). Manipur has also seen two internecine clashes within the ZUF, since 2011, resulting in the death of three ZUF militants. During this period (January 1, 2011, to October 21, 2018)Manipur recorded a total of 245militant fatalities, 31.42 percent of which were due to factional/internecine clashes.
Insurgent violence in the State has definitely declined, with 19 fatalities(six civilians, seven Security Force personnel and six Militants) recorded in the current year (data till October 21, 2018) as compared to 47 (21 civilians, five SF personnel and 21 militants)during the corresponding time frame in 2017. Through 2017, the State recorded 55 fatalities (23 civilians, nine SF personnel, 23 militants). At peak, in 1997, Manipur saw as many as 495 militancy related fatalities.
Despite the dramatic diminution in fatalities, factional rivalries continue to fester. With the talks between NSCN-IM and the Government re in their ‘final stage’, Manipur is likely to witness continuing incidents of factional clashes in the foreseeable future. Moreover, if the eventual agreement with NSCN-IM fails to balance the conflicting interests of multiple stakeholders, the possibility of new grievances feeding renewed cycles of violence cannot be excluded.
NEWS BRIEFS
Weekly Fatalities: Major Conflicts in South Asia
October 15-21, 2018
Civilians
Security Force Personnel
Terrorists/Insurgents
Total
BANGLADESH
Islamist Terrorism
0
0
2
2
Left-wing Extremism
0
0
1
1
BANGLADESH (Total)
0
0
3
3
INDIA
Jammu and Kashmir
8
4
11
23
Manipur
0
1
0
1
INDIA (Left-Wing Extremism)
Chhattisgarh
0
0
3
3
Maharashtra
0
0
1
1
INDIA (Total)
8
5
15
28
PAKISTAN
KP
1
2
0
3
PAKISTAN (Total)
1
2
0
3
Provisional data compiled from English language media sources.
AFGHANISTAN
Kandahar Police Chief General Abdul Raziq, Kandahar National Directorate of Security (NDS) Chief General Abdul Momin Hussain Khel assassinated by Taliban in Kandahar Province: Kandahar Police Chief General Abdul Raziq, Kandahar National Directorate of Security (NDS) Chief General Abdul Momin Hussain Khel and one civilian were killed and Governor Tooryalai Weesa and his Spokesman Aziz Ahmad Azizi and two other US nationals were injured in the shooting attack conducted by Taliban during a high-level meeting with North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and United States (US) Forces Commander in Afghanistan General Scott Miller in Kandahar City (District) the capital of Kandahar Province on October 18. Pajhwok, October 19, 2018.
192 security incidents reported on Election Day, says Minister of Interior Wais Barmak: : Minister of Interior Wais Barmak on October 20 stated that 192 security incidents had been reported countrywide during the parliamentary elections. Interior Minister Wais Barmak said that these included a number of different types of incidents including grenade and IED explosions. Minister Wais Barmak said at least 17 civilians were killed and 83 civilians wounded in these incidents and there had been 1,700 threats issued. The Minister further said that 10 policemen were killed and one Afghan National Army soldier was killed. Seventeen security forces were wounded throughout the day. Elections were held on October 20 and 21. Tolo News, October 22, 2018.
Withdrawal of foreign forces not discussed between US and Taliban in Qatar, says Mohammad Akram Khpalwak: Mohammad Akram Khpalwak, an advisor to the president and head secretary of the High Peace Council (HPC) on October 16 rejected claims that discussions around the withdrawal of foreign troops were held between the United States (US) Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban representatives in Qatar. "It is said that the Taliban and the United States discussed the withdrawal of foreign forces, I completely reject this issue, it has not been discussed," said Khpalwak. Tolo News, October 17, 2018.
Taliban 'political leaders' meet US delegation led by Special Adviser for Afghanistan Reconciliation Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad in Qatar: Taliban militants released the details of the recent meeting between the United States (US) delegation led by Special Adviser for Afghanistan Reconciliation Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and the Taliban 'political leaders' in Qatar on October 12. Taliban 'spokesman' Zabiullah Mujahid in a statement said the Taliban political delegation consisting of the head of Qatar office Alhaj Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, 'deputy chief of the political office' of Taliban Mawlavi Abdul Salam Hanafi, 'members of the political office' Sherikh Shahabudin Delawar, Qari Din Mohammad Hanif, Alhaj Mohammad Zahid Ahmadzai, and Mohamamd Sohail Shaheen met with the U.S. delegation led by Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad. Khaama, October 16, 2018.
INDIA
Terrorists formulates new strategies to attack, says UMHA Rajnath Singh: Addressing on the occasion of the National Security Guard (NSG) Raising Day, the Union Minister of Home Affairs (UMHA) Rajnath Singh on October 16 has stated that the terrorists are conspiring new strategies to strike and the extensive use of Social-Media by the anti-National elements is a new threat. Rajnath Singh credited India's Security Forces (SFs) for ensuring the sense of Security to India as no major terrorist incident occurred after 2008 Mumbai attacks. The NSG Commando teams would be kept at the disposal of the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Police for all anti-militancy operations in the valley, said NSG Director-General (DG) Sudeep Lakhtakia. Times of India, October 19, 2018.
LeT distributed money among families in Mewat to set-up goodwill for the terror outfit, claims NIA: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) investigation has revealed that at-least at six instances the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) linked charity outfit-Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation (FIF) distributed money through Hawala (illegal money transfer) channels among poor families of Mewat region of Haryana and Rajasthan States, to build goodwill for the terrorist group. NIA suspect that the charity was done to create a base for LeT or FIF activities in the region. The idea was to generate goodwill by distributing money for organising weddings and the Mosque- to be encash at the right opportunity, said an NIA official on condition of anonymity. Hindustan Times, October 16, 2018.
Conductive atmosphere being created for resumption of peace talks, states NSCN-K 'general secretary': National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K) 'general secretary' Secretary Isaac Sumi has expressed that NSCN-K and Government of India (GoI) are on the verge of creating a conducive atmosphere for resumption of the peace talk. GoI is treading towards an agreement which will end violence and bloodshed in the region and Khango Konyak and Isaac Sumi led NSCN-K authorities are optimistic about the resumption of the much-awaited peace talks after NSCN-K unilaterally abrogated the cease fire on March 27, 2015. Nagaland Post, October 16, 2018.
Jammu and Kashmir Urban Local Bodies elections results declared: The results for Urban Local Bodies (ULB) elections held in four phases (October 8, 10, 13, 16) in Jammu and Kashmir were declared on October 20, reports Daily Excelsior. Out of 1,441 wards in 79 Municipal Committees, Independents won 363 in wards, followed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP, 312 wards), Indian National Congress (INC, 267 wards), Jammu and Kashmir Nationalist Panthers Party (JKNPP, 13 wards and other three wards. Daily Excelsior, October 16, 2018.
NEPAL
Development of country would remain unachievable in absence of development of Madhesh region, says Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Raghubir Mahaseth: Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Raghubir Mahaseth, in a greetings exchange ceremony organized on the occasion of Dashain, Deepawali and Chhath festivals at Rajaul of Janakpurdham said the development of the entire country would remain unachievable in the absence of development of Madhesh region. He said the Government had brought enough budget for the development of Madhesh. He utilized the occasion to pledge to connect every road of Madhesh to the national road network and every villages to the district headquarters. My Republica, October 17, 2018.
SRI LANKA
President assures to streamline development in North and East: President Maithripala Sirisena during a discussion with the representatives of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) on October 17 in Parliament has assured that the Government would extend every possible assistance to streamline the development activities in the North and East to provide maximum benefits to the people. The delegation included Opposition Leader R Sampanthan and parliamentarian M A Sumanthiran. The issues pertaining to development activities and the need for streamlining them and adverse effects of inclement weather were discussed during the meeting. Colombo Page , October 11, 2018.
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