South Asia
In 1999 the locus of terrorism directed against the United States continued
to shift 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 they controlled. Despite the serious
and ongoing dialogue between the Taliban and the United States, Taliban leadership
has refused to comply with a unanimously adopted UNSC resolution demanding that
they turn Bin Ladin over to a country where he can be brought to justice.
The United States made repeated requests to Islamabad to end support for elements
harboring and training terrorists in Afghanistan and urged the Government of
Pakistan to close certain Pakistani religious schools that serve as conduits
for terrorism. Credible reports also continued to indicate official Pakistani
support for Kashmiri militant groups, such as the Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM),
that engaged in terrorism.
In Sri Lanka the government continued its protracted conflict with the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Afghanistan
Islamist 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 1999. The Taliban, which controlled most Afghan territory,
permitted the operation of training and indoctrination facilities for non-Afghans
and provided logistic support to members of various terrorist organizations
and mujahidin, including those waging jihads in Chechnya, Lebanon,
Kosovo, Kashmir, and elsewhere.
Throughout the year, the Taliban continued to host Usama Bin Ladin--indicted
in November 1998 for the bombings of two US Embassies in East Africa--despite
US and UN sanctions, a unanimously adopted United Security Council resolution,
and other international pressure to deliver him to stand trial in the United
States or a third country. The United States repeatedly made clear to the Taliban
that they will be held responsible for any terrorist acts undertaken by Bin
Ladin while he is in their territory.
In early December, Jordanian authorities arrested members of a cell linked
to Bin Ladin's al-Qaida organization--some of whom had undergone explosives
and weapons training in Afghanistan--who were planning terrorist operations
against Western tourists visiting holy sites in Jordan over the millennium holiday.
On 25 December the Taliban permitted hijacked Indian Airlines flight 814 to
land at Qandahar airport after refusing it permission to land the previous day.
The hijacking ended on 31 December when the Indian Government released from
prison three individuals linked to Kashmiri militant groups in return for the
release of the passengers aboard the aircraft. The hijackers, who had murdered
one of the Indian passengers during the course of the incident, were allowed
to go free. The Taliban stated that the hijackers, who reportedly are Kashmiri
militants, would leave Afghanistan even if they were unable to obtain political
asylum from another country. Their whereabouts remained unknown at yearend.
India
Security problems persisted in India in 1999 from ongoing insurgencies in
Kashmir and the northeast. Kashmiri militant groups continued to attack Indian
Government, military, and civilian targets in India-held Kashmir and elsewhere
in the country. The militants probably bombed a passenger train traveling from
Kashmir to New Delhi on 12 November, killing 13 persons and wounding 50. Militant
groups operating in Kashmir also mounted a grenade attack against a wedding
in Srinagar, Kashmir's summer capital, which wounded at least 20 wedding participants.
In the northeast, Nagaland's Chief Minister escaped injury on 29 November when
a local extremist group attacked his convoy. The attack killed two of his guards
and injured several others.
The Indian Government took a number of steps against terrorism at home and
abroad. In August the Indian cabinet ratified the international convention for
the suppression of terrorist bombings. New Delhi also introduced a convention
on the suppression of terrorism at the UN General Assembly meeting. Indian law
enforcement authorities continued to cooperate with US officials to ascertain
the fate of four Western hostages--including one US citizen-- kidnapped in 1995
in Indian Kashmir, although the hostages' whereabouts remained unknown. New
Delhi announced in November 1999 the establishment of a US-India Counterterrorism
Working Group, which aimed to enhance efforts to counter international terrorism
worldwide.
Pakistan
Pakistan is one of only three countries that maintains formal diplomatic
relations with--and one of several that supported--Afghanistan's Taliban, which
permitted many known terrorists to reside and operate in its territory. The
United States repeatedly has asked Islamabad to end support to elements that
conduct terrorist training in Afghanistan, to interdict travel of militants
to and from camps in Afghanistan, to prevent militant groups from acquiring
weapons, and to block financial and logistic support to camps in Afghanistan.
In addition, the United States has urged Islamabad to close certain madrasses,
or "religious" schools, that actually serve as conduits for terrorism.
Credible reports continued to indicate official Pakistani support for Kashmiri
militant groups that engage in terrorism, such as the Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM).
The hijackers of the Air India flight reportedly belong to one of these militant
groups. One of the HUM leaders, Maulana Masood Azhar, was freed from an Indian
prison in exchange for the hostages on the aircraft in the Air India hijacking
in December and has since returned to Pakistan.
Kashmiri extremist groups continued to operate in Pakistan, raising funds and
recruiting new cadre. The groups were responsible for numerous terrorist attacks
in 1999 against civilian targets in India-held Kashmir and elsewhere in India.
Pakistani officials from both Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's government and,
after his removal by the military, General Pervez Musharraf's regime publicly
stated that Pakistan provided diplomatic, political, and moral support for "freedom
fighters" in Kashmir--including the terrorist group Harakat ul-Mujahidin--but
denied providing the militants training or materiel.
On 12 November, shortly after the United Nations authorized sanctions against
the Taliban, but before the sanctions were implemented, unidentified terrorists
launched a coordinated rocket attack against the US Embassy, the American center,
and possibly UN offices in Islamabad. The attacks caused no fatalities but injured
a guard and damaged US facilities.
Sectarian and political violence remained a problem in 1999 as Sunni and Shia
extremists conducted attacks against each other, primarily in Punjab Province,
and as rival wings of an ethnic party feuded in Karachi. Pakistan experienced
a particularly strong wave of such attacks across the country in August and
September. Domestic violence dropped significantly after the military coup on
12 October.
In the wake of US diplomatic intervention to end the Kargil conflict that broke
out in April between Pakistan and India, several Pakistani and Kashmiri extremist
groups stridently denounced US interference and activities. Jamiat-e-Ulema Islami
leaders, for example, reacted to US diplomacy in the region by harshly and publicly
berating US efforts to bring wanted terrorist Usama Bin Ladin, who is based
in Afghanistan, to justice for his role in the 1998 US Embassy bombings in Nairobi
and Dar es Salaam. The imposition of US sanctions on 14 November against Afghanistan's
Taliban for its continued support for Bin Ladin drew a similar response.
Sri Lanka
The separatist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which the
United States has designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization, maintained a
high level of violence in 1999, conducting numerous attacks on government, police,
civilian, and military targets. President Chandrika Kumaratunga narrowly escaped
an LTTE assassination attempt in December. The group's suicide bombers assassinated
moderate Tamil politician Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam in July and killed 34 bystanders
at election rallies in December. LTTE gunmen murdered a Tamil Member of Parliament
from Jaffna representing the Eelam People's Democratic Party and the leader
of a Tamil military unit supporting the Sri Lankan Army.
Over the year, LTTE attacks against police officers killed 50 and wounded 77.
Bombings of buses, trains, and bus terminals in March, April, and September
killed four persons and injured more than 80, and Sri Lankan authorities attributed
several bombings of telecommunications and power facilities to the LTTE. In
July an LTTE suicide diver bombed a civilian passenger ferry while it was in
Trincomalee port, and the group's Sea Tigers naval wing attacked a Chinese vessel
that had come too close to the Sri Lankan coastline. The LTTE allegedly massacred
more than 50 civilians in September, apparently retaliating against a Sri Lankan
Air Force bombing that killed 21 Tamil civilians. The LTTE is suspected in the
shooting death in Jaffna of a regional military commander for the progovernment
People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) and may be responsible
for bombings at a PLOTE office and a camp in Vavuniya that killed three and
injured seven.
LTTE activity against the Sri Lankan Government centered on the continuing
war in the north. The Sri Lankan military's offensive to open and secure a ground
supply route through LTTE-held territory suffered a major defeat when the LTTE
fought a series of intense battles in early November and regained control of
nearly all land the government had captured in the past two years. The battles
resulted in thousands of casualties on both sides.
There were no confirmed cases of LTTE or other terrorist groups targeting US
citizens or businesses in Sri Lanka in 1999. Nonetheless, the Sri Lankan Government
was quick to cooperate with US requests to enhance security for US personnel
and facilities and cooperated fully with US officials investigating possible
violations of US law by international terrorist organizations. Battlefield requirements
forced Sri Lankan security forces to cancel their participation in a senior
crisis management seminar under the Department of State's Anti-Terrorism Assistance
Program in 1999.
East Asia
The scorecard for terrorism in East Asian nations in 1999 was mixed, with
some countries enjoying significant improvements and others suffering an upswing
of attacks. The most positive development occurred in Cambodia, where the Khmer
Rouge's once-deadly threat all but ended with the group's dissolution as a viable
terrorist organization.
Political disagreements frequently were the inspiration for terrorist acts
in East Asia. In Indonesia the overwhelming East Timor vote in favor of independence
provoked violent reprisals by militias on that island as well as in Jakarta.
In addition, a US-owned oil company's facilities were targeted in Aceh, Sumatra.
Japan's Aum Shinrikyo, which was redesignated a Foreign Terrorist Organization
(FTO) in October, admitted to and apologized for its sarin attack on Tokyo's
subway in 1995. Facing increasing public pressure, the Japanese Government instituted
legal restrictions on the group. In response, the Aum announced plans to suspend
its public activities as of 1 October. The Government of Japan also continued
to seek the extradition of Japanese Red Army (JRA) members from Lebanon and
Thailand.
Several groups in the Philippines engaged in or threatened violent acts. The
Communist Party of the Philippines New People's Army (CPP/NPA) broke off peace
talks in June in retaliation for the government's Visiting Forces Agreement
with the United States that provides for joint military training exercises.
While the CPP/NPA only threatened to attack US forces, it targeted Philippine
security forces in numerous incidents. Both the separatist group Moro Islamic
Liberation Front (MILF), as well as the redesignated FTO Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG),
were blamed for various attacks and kidnappings for ransom.
In Thailand five prodemocracy students staged a takeover on 1 October of the
Burmese Embassy in Bangkok, holding 32 persons hostage, including one U.S. citizen.
The incident ended without violence.
Cambodia
The Khmer Rouge (KR) insurgency ended in 1999 following a series of defections,
military defeats, and the capture of group leader Ta Mok in March. The KR did
not conduct international terrorism in 1999, and the US Government removed it
from the list of designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations. Former KR members,
however, still posed an isolated threat in remote areas of the country. Suspected
ex-KR soldiers, for example, attacked a hill tribe in northeastern Cambodia
in July in an apparent criminal incident.
The Cambodian Government worked on drafting a law for the United Nations to
assist in establishing a court to try former KR members who were senior leaders
of the regime responsible for the deaths of up to 2 million persons in Cambodia
during the 1975-79 period. A former KR official warned in September, however,
that unrest would resurface if the Cambodian Government put the KR on trial.
Indonesia
The ballot results on 30 August favoring East Timor's independence sparked
prointegration militias--armed East Timorese favoring unity with Indonesia--to
mount a violent campaign throughout September against proindependence supporters.
A number of militia members accused the United Nations of manipulating the ballot
results, leading some militia units to seek foreign targets in the province.
Incidents included the serious wounding of a US police officer working for the
UN Assistance Mission to East Timor, an attack against the Australian Ambassador's
vehicle, and an assault against the Australian Consulate in Dili, East Timor's
capital. Militiamen also allegedly killed a Dutch Financial Times reporter
in a Dili suburb on 21 September after his motorcycle driver tried to flee six
armed men. In a separate incident the same day, prointegrationists ambushed
a British journalist and a US citizen photographer in Bacau, east of Dili, but
Australian troops later rescued the two.
A prointegration militia leader told former Indonesian Armed Forces Commander
General Wiranto in early September that he would have no regrets about killing
nongovernmental organization or UN persons who supported the proindependence
side. Militia threats and attacks against foreigners, however, dropped dramatically
after late September, when the situation began to stabilize.
Indonesian nationalists, mostly in Jakarta, responded to the referendum and
the subsequent deployment of the International Force for East Timor with protests
and low-level violence against perceived interference in their country's internal
affairs. In late September the Australian Embassy in Jakarta was the target
of almost daily demonstrations that included petrol bombs and stone throwing.
Gunmen fired shots at the Australian Embassy on three separate occasions in
apparent anger over Canberra's role in the international peacekeeping mission.
In addition, unidentified assailants threw Molotov cocktails at the Australian
International School in Jakarta on 4 October, but no injuries resulted. As of
25 October, pursuant to a UN Security Council resolution, the United Nations
Transitional Administration in East Timor assumed all legislative and executive
authority in East Timor and responsibility for the administration of justice.
Separatist violence flared in other parts of the country, particularly in Aceh,
Sumatra, where the Free Aceh Movement and its sympathizers clashed with Indonesian
security forces throughout the year. The separatists, demanding a referendum
on Aceh independence, primarily attacked Indonesian targets, but US interests
in the province suffered collateral damage. Unidentified assailants, for example,
fired at a Mobil Oil bus and burned a Mobil-operated community health clinic
on two separate occasions in late September. Free Papua Movement separatists
located in Irian Jaya did not attack foreign interests but conducted some violent
protests and low-level attacks against Indonesian targets in 1999.
Several small-scale bombings of undetermined motivation also occurred in Indonesia
during the year, including the attack against the National Istiqlal Mosque in
Jakarta that injured six persons on 19 April. In addition, unidentified assailants
conducted other bombings that injured several Indonesians in Jakarta's city
center following the presidential election in October.
Japan
Aum Shinrikyo, the Japanese cult that conducted the sarin attack on the Tokyo
subway system in March 1995, continued efforts to rebuild itself in 1999. The
group's recruitment, training, fundraising--especially a computer business that
generated more than $50 million--and property acquisition, however, provoked
numerous police raids and an extensive public backlash that included protests
and citizen-led efforts to monitor and barricade Aum facilities.
In an effort to alleviate public pressure and criticism, Aum leaders in late
September announced the group would suspend its public activities for an indeterminate
period beginning 1 October. The cult openly pledged to close its branch offices,
discontinue public gatherings, cease distribution of propaganda, shut down most
of its Internet Web site, and halt property purchases beyond that required to
provide adequate housing for existing members. The cult also said it would stop
using the name "Aum Shinrikyo." On 1 December, Aum leaders admitted
the cult conducted the sarin attack and other crimes--which they had denied
previously--and apologized publicly for the acts. The cult made its first compensation
payment to victims' families in late December.
Japanese courts sentenced one Aum member to death and another to life in prison
for the subway attack, while trials for other members involved in the attack
remain ongoing. The prosecution of cult founder Shoko Asahara continued at a
sluggish pace, and a verdict remained years away. Japanese authorities remained
concerned over the release in late December of popular former cult spokesman
Fumihiro Joyu--who served a three-and-a-half-year jail sentence for perjury--and
his expected return to the cult as a senior leader. The Japanese parliament
in December passed legislation strengthening government authority to crack down
on groups resembling the Aum and allowing the government to confiscate funds
from the group to compensate victims. The Public Security Investigation Agency
stated that it would again seek to outlaw the Aum under the Anti-Subversive
Activities Law. Separately, the Japanese Government continued to seek the extradition
of members of the Japanese Red Army (JRA) from Lebanon and Thailand.
Philippines
The Communist Party of the Philippines New People's Army (CPP/NPA) broke
off peace talks with the Philippine Government in June after the ratification
of the U.S.-Philippine Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), which provides a legal
framework for joint military training exercises between Philippine and US armed
forces. The CPP/NPA continued to oppose a U.S. military presence in the country
and claimed that the VFA violates the nation's sovereignty. Communist insurgents
did not target U.S. interests during the year, but a Communist member told the
press in May that guerrillas would target U.S. troops taking part in the joint
exercises. Press reporting in September alleged CPP/ NPA plans to target US
Embassy personnel at an unspecified time.
The CPP/NPA continued to target Philippine security forces in 1999. The organization
conducted several ambushes and abductions against Philippine military and police
elements in rural areas throughout the country. The CPP/NPA released most of
its hostages unharmed by late April but still was holding Philippine Army Major
Noel Buan and Philippine Police Official Abelardo Martin at yearend.
The Alex Boncayao Brigade (ABB)--a breakaway CPP/NPA faction--claimed responsibility
for a rifle grenade attack on 2 December against Shell Oil's headquarters in
Manila that injured a security guard. The attack apparently protested an increase
in oil prices.
Islamist extremists also remained active in the southern Philippines, engaging
in sporadic clashes with Philippine Armed Forces and conducting low-level attacks
and abductions against civilian targets. The groups did not attack US interests
in 1999, however. The Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG)--redesignated in 1999 as a Foreign
Terrorist Organization--in June abducted two Belgians and held them captive
for five days before releasing them unharmed without ransom. The ASG still was
working to fill a leadership void resulting from the death of Abdurajak Abubakar
Janjalani, who was killed in a clash with the Philippine Army on 18 December
1998.
The Philippine Government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the
largest Philippine Islamist separatist group, marked the opening of peace talks
on 25 October. Nonetheless, both sides continued to engage in low-level clashes.
MILF chief Hashim Salamat told the press in February that the group had received
from Usama Bin Ladin funds that it used to build mosques, health centers, and
schools in depressed Muslim communities.
Distinguishing between political and criminal motivation for many of the terrorist-related
activities in the Philippines was difficult, most notably in the numerous cases
of kidnapping for ransom in the south. Both Communist and Islamist insurgents
sought to extort funds from businesses or other organizations in their operating
areas, often conducting reprisal operations if money was not paid. Philippine
police officials, for example, said that three separate bomb attacks in August
against a bus company in the southern Philippines may have been the work of
extortionists rather than terrorists.
Thailand
Five prodemocracy students armed with AK-47s and grenades seized the Burmese
Embassy in Bangkok and held 32 hostages on 1 October. The hostages included
20 individuals applying for visas, one of whom was a US citizen. The terrorists
demanded that the Burmese Government release all political prisoners in Burma
and recognize the results of a national election held in 1990. No injuries occurred,
and the situation was resolved the next day after the Thai Deputy Foreign Minister
offered himself as a hostage in exchange for the safety of the hostages inside
the Burmese Embassy. The five terrorists and the Deputy Foreign Minister were
taken by helicopter to a remote jungle area on the Thai-Burmese border. The
Burmese fled into the jungle. (At least one and perhaps three of the five were
shot to death by Thai security forces on 25 January 2000 after participating
in the seizure of a Thai provincial hospital.)
Some low-level bombings and hoax bomb threats also occurred in Thailand during
the year, although no US interests suffered damage. Most of the incidents were
directed against Thai interests, including the bombing of the Democratic Party
headquarters in Bangkok on 14 January. Thai authorities suspect that a bomb
found and defused at the construction site of a new post office in the south
on 15 April was planted by members of the separatist New Pattani United Liberation
Organization to avenge government operations against the group.
[end of text]
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