Pakistan Security Brief

Security agencies suspect TTP involvement in attacks on Islamabad district court complex and fruit market; 10-day TTP ceasefire extension expires, TTP plans to meet on Friday to determine if talks have been productive; Sajna and Hakimullah TTP factions agree to ceasefire on Thursday but clash again on Friday in Shawal, North Waziristan, killing 13; U.S., Pakistan highlight joint plan to expand trade and investment over next five years; Prime Minister meets with Chinese Premier; Pakistan will seek good relations with India regardless of election results; Foreign Office Spokesman says relations with Iran are “good” despite border guards incident; Lahore bomb blast injures 17; Rawalpindi anti-terrorism court grants bail to LeJ leader.

Islamabad Attack

• According to a Friday article in The News, Pakistan’s security agencies are investigating those responsible for Tuesday’s terrorist attack in Islamabad, despite the fact that the United Baloch Army (UBA) claimed responsibility for the attack. Security sources cited state that the same group that carried out the attack on the district court building on March 8 was also responsible for the attack on Tuesday. Although the TTP has distanced itself from both attacks, some agencies believe both attacks were ordered by high-ranking members within the TTP in order to pressure the government to concede to its demands. Agencies investigating the fruit market attack suspect that two commanders from the TTP’s chapter in Mohmand agency, Qari Mansoor and Mufti Hasan, planned the attack. The leader of the TTP Mohmand, Omar Khalid Khurasani, stated previously that his faction would not agree to an extension of the ceasefire, and promised to resume attacks against security forces.[1]

TTP Infighting

• On Thursday, feuding TTP factions loyal to Khan Said Sajna and the late Hakimullah Mehsud agreed to a one-month ceasefire to end fighting between the two groups in the Shaktoi area of South Waziristan. According to Taliban sources, the Haqqani network “played a key role” in persuading the two groups to cease their attacks against each other. The report claims the two sides plan to hold meetings during the one-month ceasefire to resolve their differences. A senior Taliban commander stated that Sajna was in favor of peace talks while Commander Sheharyar, the leader of opposing faction, opposed talks.[2]

• Despite the above report of a ceasefire, fresh fighting involving both factions was reported on Friday in Shawal sub-district of North Waziristan. Ten militants were reported killed in the clashes. A similar article in the Express Tribune reported that a bombing and gunfight between the two rival factions killed 13 militants. Fighting between the two groups has occurred in Shawal, North Waziristan, Shaktoi and Makin areas of South Waziristan, and Tank district, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP).[3]

TTP Peace Talks

• On Thursday, the one-month ceasefire that the TTP had extended for ten more days expired. According to an unnamed source cited in Dawn, the TTP shura will meet on Friday to discuss whether peace talks with the government have made any progress. According to a Friday article in the Express Tribune, both the government and the TTP are working to extend the ceasefire, despite infighting within the TTP and disagreements over the peace talks between Pakistan’s civil and military leadership. TTP intermediary Professor Ibrahim Khan stated that peace talks were deadlocked over issues like the release of prisoners and the establishment of a peace zone.[4]

U.S.-Pakistan Relations

• On Thursday, a statement issued after a meeting of the U.S.-Pakistan Economic and Finance Working Group in Washington, D.C. highlighted a joint plan to expand trade and investment flows between the U.S. and Pakistan over the next five years.[5]

China-Pakistan Relations

• On Thursday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif met with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to discuss the Pakistan-China relationship, including ways to improve economic ties and security cooperation. Sharif was in China for the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA).[6]

India-Pakistan Relations

• On Thursday, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said that Pakistan will try to have good relations with whoever wins the Indian elections. She said that Pakistan would like to restart dialogue with India on Kashmir.[7]

Iran-Pakistan Relations

• On Thursday, Foreign Office Spokesman Tasneem Aslam stated that relations between Iran and Pakistan are good, despite the recent kidnapping of Iranian border guards by Pakistan-based militants. Aslam added the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is expected to visit Iran in June, although the exact dates are still being discussed.[8]

Kuwait-Pakistan Relations

• According to a Friday report in The News, Kuwait will open a defense office in Islamabad and hire Pakistani military experts to train its military. Kuwait will also relax visa restrictions for Pakistanis living in Kuwait.[9]

Militancy

• On Friday, a bomb blast in Lahore injured 17 people. All of the injuries were reported to be minor. The owner of the shop that was targeted said that he had refused to pay extortion money.[10]

• On Wednesday, a Rawalpindi anti-terrorism court granted bail to Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) leader Malik Ishaq, who has been under house arrest in southern Punjab province.[11]

• According to a Friday report in The Express Tribune, Karachi police believe that the same group that killed a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawyer on Thursday was responsible for the assassination of a Shia doctor in the Gulistan-i-Jauhar neighborhood of Karachi on Wednesday.[12]

• On Friday, unknown militants detonated a remote controlled bomb, killing three people in Datta Khel sub-district of North Waziristan. The victims reportedly belonged to the Haqqani Network, and included Sher Amanullah, a Haqqani commander.[13]