Terrorism in South Asia
Abstract
This report reviews the recent incidence of terrorism in South Asia, concentrating on Pakistan and India, but also including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. The existence of international terrorist groups and their supporters in South Asia is identified as a threat to both regional stability and to the attainment of central U.S. policy goals. Al Qaeda forces that fled from Afghanistan with their Taliban supporters remain active on Pakistani territory, and Al Qaeda is believed to have links with indigenous Pakistani terrorist groups that have conducted anti-Western attacks and that support separatist militancy in Indian Kashmir. Al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden and his lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahiri, are believed to be in Pakistan. A significant portion of Pakistan's ethnic Pashtun population is reported to sympathize with the Taliban and even Al Qaeda. The United States maintains close counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan aimed especially at bolstering security and stability in neighboring Afghanistan. In the latter half of 2003, the Islamabad government began limited military operations in the traditionally autonomous tribal areas of western Pakistan. Such operations intensified in 2004 in coordination with U.S. and Afghan forces just across the international frontier. The relationships between international terrorists, indigenous Pakistani extremist groups, and some elements of Pakistan's political-military structure are complex and murky, but may represent a serious threat to the attainment of key U.S. policy goals. There are past indications that elements of Pakistan's intelligence service and Pakistani Islamist political parties provided assistance to U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs). The United States also remains concerned by the continued cross-border infiltration of Islamic militants who traverse the Kashmiri Line of Control to engage in terrorist acts in India and Indian Kashmir.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 13, 2004
- Accession Number
- ADA444777
Entities
People
- Bruce Vaughn
- K. A. Krondtadt
Organizations
- Library of Congress