Country Reports on Terrorism 2012

Throughout 2011, TTP carried out attacks against the Government of Pakistan and civilian
targets, as well as against U.S. targets in Pakistan. Attacks in 2011 included: a March bombing at
a gas station in Faisalabad that killed 31 people; an April double suicide bombing at a Sufi shrine
in Dera Ghazi Khan that left more than 50 dead; a May bombing of an American consulate
convoy in Peshawar that killed one person and injured 12; a May siege of a naval base in
Karachi; and a September attack against a school bus that killed four children and the bus driver.
TTP continued to utilize the same tactics against similar targets in 2012. In March, a suicide
bomber struck at a mosque in Khyber Agency, and killed over a dozen people while injuring
approximately 10 others. In May, an attack in the Bajaur tribal region killed 24 people when a
suicide bomber detonated his explosives at a police checkpoint near a crowded market. In
August, TTP stormed a Pakistani Air Force base in Kamra; five Pakistani soldiers were killed in
the ensuing firefight. Also in August, TTP militants pulled 22 Shia Muslims off busses in the
remote Pakistani district of Manshera before shooting them dead.
Strength: Several thousand.
Location/Area of Operation: Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Pakistan
Funding and External Aid: TTP is believed to raise most of its funds through kidnapping for
ransom and operations that target Afghanistan-bound military transport trucks for robbery. Such
operations allow TTP to steal military equipment, which it sells in Afghan and Pakistani markets.
UNITED SELF-DEFENSE FORCES OF COLOMBIA
aka AUC; Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia
Description: Designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization on September 10, 2001, the United
Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) – commonly referred to as the paramilitaries – was
formed in April 1997. AUC was designed to serve as an umbrella group for loosely affiliated,
illegal paramilitary groups retaliating against leftist guerillas. As the Colombian government
increasingly confronted terrorist organizations, including the AUC, the group’s activities
decreased. In the years after the AUC declared a cease-fire in December 2002, the AUC’s
centralized military structure was dismantled and all of the top paramilitary chiefs have since
stepped down.
Activities: The AUC has carried out political killings and kidnappings of human rights workers,
journalists, teachers, and trade unionists, among others. As much as 70 percent of the AUC’s
paramilitary operational costs were financed with drug-related earnings. Some former members
of the AUC never demobilized or are recidivists, and these elements have continued to engage
heavily in criminal activities. The AUC did not carry out any terrorist attacks in 2012.
Strength: Unknown
Location/Area of Operation: Strongest in Northwest Colombia, with affiliate groups in Valle
del Cauca, on the west coast, and Meta Department, in Central Columbia.
Funding and External Aid: None
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