Tanks rolled and fighter jets roared over India's main ceremonial avenue in an annual Republic Day military parade Jan. 26—hours after Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged heavy fire in disputed Kashmir. A spokesman for the Indian border force said Pakistani troops fired to provide cover to militants trying to infiltrate into Indian-controlled Kashmir. But a Pakistani official said Indian forces used automatic weapons and mortar rounds in "unprovoked firing" that hit Bijhwat village near the Pakistani city of Sialkot. No casualties were reported. (Reuters, Jan. 26)

Four explosions rocked Sri Lanka's Jaffna peninsula in the wee hours on Jan. 26, the day slated for the first national election since the government declared victory in the war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in May. At least two bombs went off outside the home of a ruling party activist in the Jaffna peninsula, but there were no reports of casualties, the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) said.

An Indian court on Jan. 25 rejected a request by suspected Mumbai terror attack gunman Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab to be tried in an international court. Kasab claimed he would not receive a fair trial in India and that police had falsely accused him of taking part in the 2008 terror attacks. Special Court Judge ML Tahaliyani denied Kasab's request, calling it "premature." Kasab also requested that he be allowed to examine defense witnesses, including passport officers and government staff, from Pakistan and that he be allowed to meet with Pakistani officials. Tahaliyani told Kasab he should file a petition through his lawyer. Kasab faces 86 charges, including murder, for his role in the attacks and, may face the death penalty. A verdict is expected sometime early this year.

A 20-hour gun battle at a hotel seized by militants who had earlier killed an officer at a police checkpoint in Srinagar, Indian-controlled Kashmir, ended Jan. 7 after police killed two militants, including a Pakistani citizen. A police officer and a civilian were killed, and 10 others wounded. Jammu and Kashmir authorities said both militants belonged to Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan-based terrorist group that has been blamed for the 2008 attacks in Mumbai. Other sources said Jamait-ul-Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the initial attack. (NYT, AlJazeera, Jan. 8)

UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial killings Philip Alston on Jan. 8 urged an investigation into possible Sri Lankan war crimes after authenticating a video of captive members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) being executed by members of Sri Lanka's military. Alston said that an investigation by experts in forensic pathology, forensic video analysis, and firearm evidence concluded that the video was authentic.

Six months after the end of Sri Lanka's civil war some 245,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) remain in camps, where aid donors are increasingly concerned over harsh conditions. A UN official warned Sri Lanka that international donors are less likely to provide funding if authorities continue to restrict IDPs' freedom of movement. Neil Buhne, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Sri Lanka, said "donor fatigue is really in respect to continuing these closed camps."

Just a day after India's Home Minister P. Chidambaram declared that Naxalite violence will not disrupt the Oct. 13 elections in Maharashtra state, the guerillas struck Gadchiroli district Oct. 8, killing 17 police officers. A 300-strong band of Naxals attacked a 40-man patrol of police and commandos of the elite anti-Naxal force C-60, just a kilometer from the Lahiri police station. A pitched battle ensued for four hours.

Pakistan's Supreme Court adjourned a hearing Aug. 3 on whether to re-arrest Hafiz Saeed, founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group said to have been behind last year's Mumbai attacks. Detained after the attacks, Saeed was released in June because of lack of evidence. The government appealed the release, but the hearing on the appeal was adjourned because the attorney general was not prepared for the case. No new date was set. (Reuters, Aug. 4) Meanwhile, two men and a woman convicted of the 2003 Mumbai attacks will be executed by hanging, an Indian court ruled Aug. 6. Indian investigators linked those attacks as well to Lashkar-e-Taiba. (NYT, Aug. 6)