" Nepal's national intelligence must uncover how terrorists get their support in Nepal in terms of logistics, money, fake IDs and communication capabilities "
Australia's Institute of Economics and Peace (IEP) in its Global Terrorism Index 2023 ranked Nepal 36th with a score of 4.13, which means the country suffered medium impact from terrorism. The report showed that Afghanistan and Pakistan have the highest rates of terrorist incidents in South Asia. However, with no terrorist organisation existing in Nepal, what the report constituted as terrorism in the country is a researchable topic. Upon doing some research, I noticed that the UK Government's official website's travel advisory suggests that terrorists are likely to carry out attacks in Nepal, especially at places frequented by expatriates.
Since the armed revolt by the Maoist insurgents concluded in 2006, no terrorist attacks have been carried out as such by a terrorist-designated organised group in Nepal, contradicting the advisory or the report.
However, indiscriminate violence creating terror among the people remains a law enforcement issue for the national police.
Yet Nepal's military, paramilitary and civilian intelligence must understand the security implications from the resurgence of terrorism, especially in South Asia.
The threat of terrorism in the region has escalated in recent years, with the emergence of the offshoots of the Islamic State (IS) and the Taliban in Afghanistan, as well as the rise of terrorist groups in Pakistan's Baluchistan province. Nepal, which shares a porous border with India and has poor security protocols at its land ports of entry and international airports, is particularly vulnerable to the spread of terrorism. India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives have also experienced terrorism sporadically.
In this context, Nepal is at risk of being exploited as a terrorist safe haven.
Nepal's airport security flaws were exposed on December 24, 1999, when an Indian Airlines plane was hijacked 20 minutes after taking off from Kathmandu.
The country's international airports lack critical security management tools. Automated Screening Lanes (ASLs) lack a vital human body scanner to detect objects inside a passenger's clothes or inside the human body. Biometrics technology is expected to modernise aviation passenger identity verification over the coming years.
Installing Computed Tomography (CT) at airport security checks enhances threat detection capabilities for carry-on baggage.
Nepal's current screening technology for carry-on bags uses 2-D images. The CT technology applies sophisticated algorithms for the detection of explosives, including liquids, by creating a 3-D image that can be viewed and rotated 360 degrees for a thorough analysis.
Credential Authentication Technology (CAT) is an urgent requirement at the checkpoints. To respond to growing fraudulent incidents associated with ID and boarding passes, CAT helps improve the travel document checker's ability to accurately authenticate passenger identification and pre-screening status through a single machine.
Since thousands of travellers cross the Nepal-India border each day, keeping track of each one of them with limited human resources and technology is a herculean task. However, with the application of human and technology intelligence, the land port of entry can be regulated.
The U.S. State Department's report highlights that the unregulated movement across the Nepal-India border heightens the risk of international terrorism.
There is no proper exit control, and people moving on foot and vehicles are checked randomly. The practice is risky, so reconstructing roads and security gates to easily control movements at the checkpoints is vital.
In 2020, The Himalayan Times posted a story about how a racket that had been producing forged documents, including smart driving licenses, Nepali citizenship certificates, government employees' identity cards, and identity cards of the Armed Police Force, had been busted. International terrorists wishing to cause harm in India may use such fake documents to either hide in Nepal or travel to India to carry out their mission.
As an immediate policy, there could be more deployment of personnel from the Armed Police Force responsible for border security, the Nepal Police and the Immigration Department for the scrutiny of travellers' data and identification of suspicious documents, goods, or behavior until high-tech security protocols can be adopted.
In 2013, the Indian police picked up Indian Mujahideen (IM) co-founder Yasin Bhatkal, responsible for several bombings that had claimed over 140 lives, from the tourist hub of Pokhara. The Kathmandu Post wrote that in January 2020, the special cell of the Delhi Police arrested three alleged Islamic State operatives from a north Delhi locale.
Although all three were residents of Tamil Nadu, they had travelled to India from Nepal. There are several incidents of international terrorists hiding in Nepal.
The Nepal Police has the greatest reach in the communities and could leverage its presence throughout the country for intelligence collection on terrorism in Nepal. By coordinating with other security agencies, special training and directives, the national police must be able to collect intelligence on suspicious terrorist activities or individuals in their area of responsibility. Whether it's domestically born, politically motivated individuals or groups trying to tap on ethno-religious sentiments to gain political objectives, or international terrorists, the thriving business of small firearms and weapons, which terrorists may acquire, in the border towns is a growing problem.
Nepal's national intelligence must uncover how these terrorists get their support in Nepal in terms of logistics, money, fake IDs and communication capabilities and act on time to intercept them by developing an integrated counterterrorism intelligence sharing strategy. The National Defence Council is the right organisation to take the initiative.
A version of this article appears in the print on April 19, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.