– MANTRAYA DATABASE#03: 21 JANUARY 2016 Timeline: Taliban attacks in Afghanistan: 2015 (January-June) – – 1 January: Transition of power from the NATO-led coalition forces to Afghan National Security forces and the beginning of the NATO-led non-combat Resolute Mission. 1 January: Taliban carry out attack on a team of 200 former Taliban fighters in Qosh Tapa […]
MANTRAYA BRIEF#12: 04 January 2016 Bangladesh’s Ansarullah Bangla Team Surya Valliappan Krishna – Abstract Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) has emerged as a radical Islamist group with a limited operational objective of targeting secular bloggers in Bangladesh. However, behind its attacks on and killings of these bloggers, is its larger intent of establishing Islamic rule in the […]
– MANTRAYA ANALYSIS#08: 17 DECEMBER 2015 Road to the Dragon: Overcoming Challenges to the Wakhan Corridor Boh Ze Kai – Abstract Product of an 1894 treaty to separate the Russian Empire from British India, the Wakhan Corridor is a thin panhandle in North Afghanistan. The Emirs of Badakhshan once leveraged on the region’s control […]
EVENT: 09 DECEMBER 2015 Radicalisation: A Growing Security Challenge for India – Bibhu Prasad Routray made a presentation on “Causes of Radicalization” at the 3rd Annual Internal Security Seminar, organised by the Institute of Defence Studies & Analyses, New Delhi, on 9 December 2015, on “Radicalisation: A Growing security challenge for India”. The panel was chaired […]
MANTRAYA BRIEF#11: 1 DECEMBER 2015 Afghanistan: Reversing Losses? V. Vidya Lakshmi – Abstract Recurrent insurgent attacks and rising civilian fatalities in Afghanistan raise questions on the capacities of ANSF. The US decision to revise the withdrawal plan in the wake of the Kunduz attack has indicated the gaps in the strategic and tactical capacities of ANA […]
– MANTRAYA ANALYSIS#07: 30 NOVEMBER 2015 Maldives: Helping China counter American design Jhinuk Chowdhury – Abstract Strategically located Maldives plays an important role in alternative maritime routes that China is seeking to build through initiatives like One Road One Belt. Much of Beijing’s growing assertion in the Indian Ocean is projected towards the US centric club China […]
– MANTRAYA ANALYSIS#06: 20 NOVEMBER 2015 Islamic State: Patterns of Mobilisation in India Bibhu Prasad Routray – Abstract Seven specific patterns can be inferred from the mobilisation carried out in support of the Islamic State in India. These patterns help in understanding whether and in what form the Islamic State may be able to reinforce itself within […]
– MANTRAYA ANALYSIS#05: 10 NOVEMBER 2015 Dragon in the Himalayas: Expanding Chinese footprints in Nepal Bibhu Prasad Routray – Abstract Chinese footprints in Nepal have consistently expanded in the past decade. Not only that the Chinese investments in the country have increased substantially overtaking India as the largest investor, Mandarin is being seen as the language […]
– MANTRAYA DATABASE#02: 03 OCTOBER 2015 Timeline 2015: Islamic State and South Asia – – 5 January – Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani expresses concern over the growth of the Islamic State and its possible impact in the country. 10 January – The Islamic State releases a video showing former Taliban commanders pledging allegiance to the IS […]
– MANTRAYA DATABASE#01: 28 SEPTEMBER 2015 Timeline 2014: Islamic State and South Asia – The timeline begins in May 2014, the month in which the first ever incident in South Asia relating to the Islamic State was reported. – 23 May– Four young men from Mumbai identified as Areeb Majid, Aman Tandel, Fahad Shaikh and Saleem Tanki join […]