Sri Lanka government only too happy to help them out John Robb reports that the Tamil guerrilla air force has turned to systems disruption, attacking oil infrastructure north of Colombo. This is the third air raid by the Tamil homebuilt light aircraft, but previous raids targeted air force and army personnel. It is also not [...]

4GW, Energy, Infrastructure, Non-state actors, Resilience, South Asia, Technology | No Comments »

Keith Ng has a chilling report from one of the world’s forgotten but bloody civil wars – the endless LTTE campaign for Tamil independence in Sri Lanka. “The Future. Today.” boasts a rusty billboard in Batticaloa. The coastal town in Sri Lanka’s troubled eastern province is at the centre of a renewed military campaign to [...]

Catastrophes, Development, Failed states, Non-state actors, South Asia | 5 Comments »

BBC: Two people were killed and 17 injured as LTTE light aircraft – probably assembled using parts smuggled into the country – dropped two bombs on the main air force base in Colombo. Bandaranaike International Airport, adjacent to the base, was shut down as a precaution. The war in Sri Lanka has been going on [...]

4GW, South Asia, Terrorism | 19 Comments »

Here’s a brief rundown on some major current threats to world stability. Pakistan: Nuclear instability The headlines at the moment are all about Iran. But Pakistan is another potential flashpoint, only with dozens of nukes, questionable military loyalty, multiple insurgencies, and tense borders. Musharraf’s leadership has been increasingly called into question, as he fired a [...]

4GW, Black globalization, Catastrophes, Energy, Failed states, Middle East, South Asia, Terrorism, UN | 4 Comments »

This map, taken from the South Asia Terrorism Portal, shows the geographical spread of India’s Maoist insurgency. Massacre: 55 police killed in Chattisgarh I started writing this post in November last year, but thought I’d wait until India’s Maoist rebels were back in the news to actually post it. Last week a female Naxalite assassinated [...]

4GW, Development, Infrastructure, Non-state actors, South Asia, Terrorism | 4 Comments »

On Tuesday, high-ranking diplomats and officials – including ambassadors from the US, Italy, Germany, Canada, Japan, the EU and the UN – touched down at a paramilitary base in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka. Minutes after the first helicopter landed, it came under artillery and mortar fire, injuring soldiers, civilians and the Italian ambassador Pio Marani. The [...]

Non-state actors, South Asia, Terrorism, World | 1 Comment »

It’s always worrying when something like this happens – a direct attack on the connections between two nuclear-armed rivals. Attacks on India seem to be increasing in frequency as well as severity. This latest attack appears to have used simple incendiary devices rather than high explosive, but to deadly effect (at least 64 killed, mostly [...]

South Asia, Terrorism | 20 Comments »

Background Sri Lanka’s Liberation Army of Tamil Eelam, or Tamil Tigers, are one of the most capable non-state armed groups. They aren’t state-supported, their main funding comes from Tamils in southern India and the Tamil diaspora around the world (including New Zealand). They have been fighting since 1976, succeeding in maintaining autonomy for the rural [...]

4GW, Black globalization, Non-state actors, South Asia, Suicide, Terrorism | 2 Comments »

The Naxalite movement, inspired by Mao, has been fighting a low-level insurgency in remote areas of India for decades. As their attacks have become more high-tech, so has their propaganda. In June some Naxal sympathisers started the Naxal Revolution blog, in response to the older, anti-communist Naxal Watch. Unfortunately, the pro-Naxal blog is better designed, [...]

4GW, Infrastructure, Non-state actors, South Asia, Technology | 1 Comment »

But first, from FP Passport: “Ignorance is Bliss.” America, you have a problem. Only in the United States are Annie Leibovitz photos considered more important than the dire situation in Afghanistan… Foreign Policy’s Passport blog also picks up on one of John Robb’s recent posts on Global Guerrillas, “Taking Out Musharraf.” Pakistan recently suffered a [...]

4GW, Failed states, Infrastructure, Islam, South Asia, Terrorism | No Comments »