Pakistan Security Brief

TTP shura meets to discuss peace talks, ceasefire, and TTP infighting; Government will consult with army on release of TTP prisoners; Prime Minister approves release of 12 TTP prisoners; Feuding TTP factions reportedly agree to ceasefire, clashes between them kill 6-10; Pakistan to send delegation to Russia next week; Militants kidnap up to 100 in Tirah Valley, Khyber Agency; TTP may use Islamic seminaries to launch attacks against Islamabad if talks fail; Attacks on trains have spiked in last four years; Two policemen and two militants killed in  Indian Kashmir; Unknown militants kill five in Darra Adam Khel; Militants fire rockets at NATO convoy in Jamrud, Khyber agency; Militants kill two Shia Hazaras in Quetta; 186 Elite Force Commandos arrive in Islamabad to increase security in the federal capital.

TTP Peace Talks

• On Sunday, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan’s (TTP) political shura met at an unknown location in North Waziristan to discuss ongoing peace talks with the government and a possible ceasefire extension. Sources added that the shura would discuss the exchange of non-combatants with the government as well as infighting among two rival TTP factions. According to TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid, the differences between the two factions had been “blown out of proportion by the media,” and that the clashes were “not of much importance.” Members of the TTP’s leadership claim that there is no longer infighting among TTP factions and that the clashes had nothing to do with the TTP.[1]

• On Sunday, Interior Ministry Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said that the government has spoken with the army about releasing TTP prisoners, adding that the government wanted the immediate release of non-combatants currently held captive by the TTP. In response to reports that the government would release “non-combatant” prisoners without consulting with the army, Khan told reporters that it would be impossible to release non-combatants without the army’s consent, given that most of the prisoners were being held at internment centers run by the army. Khan also denied that any tensions existed between the government and the military.[2]

• According to a Sunday report in Dawn, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif approved the release of 12 “low-profile suspected militants,” who could be released in the next couple of days, in order to resume peace talks with the TTP. TTP negotiator Professor Ibrahim Khan had previously stated that talks between the government and TTP were deadlocked; he appealed to both sides to show flexibility. The government has reportedly requested that the TTP release prisoners including the sons of former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and slain Punjab governor Salman Taseer.[3]

• According to a Friday report in Reuters, police believe that the TTP has allied itself with several radical seminaries near Islamabad with the intention of using them to launch attacks against the capital or Rawalpindi if the talks with the government fail.[4]

TTP Infighting

• On Saturday, two feuding TTP factions reportedly agreed to a ceasefire with the help of a TTP Jirga. Senior TTP commanders met separately with Khan Said Sajna of the “Waliur Rehman” faction and Commander Sheharyar of the “Hakimullah Mehsud” faction to ask them to stop fighting. According to TTP intermediary Maulana Yousaf Shah, the Jirga helped broker a peace deal between the two factions that settled their differences and ended hostilities. Other sources, however, reported that the factions only agreed to a temporary ceasefire at the encouragement of the Haqqani Network.[5]

• On Friday, clashes between the Khan Said Sajna- and Commander Shehryar-led factions of the TTP reportedly killed “several more.” In the latest incident, an IED blast targeting Sheryar Mehsud killed six TTP militants in Shawal, North Waziristan. A Friday article in the Express Tribune reported that clashes in Shawal killed ten militants of Shehryar’s faction.[6]

• Russia-Pakistan Relations

• Next Sunday, Pakistan will send a delegation of parliamentarians to Russia to meet high-ranking Russian leaders including President Vladimir Putin with the intention of improving relations between the two countries.[7]

Militancy

• On Saturday, according to differing reports, Orakzai-based militants led by Hafiz Saeed kidnapped up to 100 tribesmen from the Haider Kandow area of Tirah Valley, Khyber agency, for their alleged participation in an “un-Islamic” drug bazaar. The militants are part of a group called the Tehrik-e-Taliban Islami, or the Orakzai Freedom Movement, which split from the TTP in 2011. Some reports said as many as 30 people were later released on Sunday. Another article in the Express Tribune reported that the nearly 108 tribesmen, who were kidnapped from Khyber, Kurram, and Orakzai agencies, have been released. However, a local militant commander, Abu Abdullah, told reporters that over 60 “militants” are still in the group’s custody for violating its injunctions against taking part in the bazaar.[8]

• According to a Monday report in The News, the number of attacks on trains in Pakistan has spiked in the last four years, with a total of 88 attacks leaving 63 dead and 319 injured. A total of 25 attacks on trains were reported from 2000 to 2009.[9]

• On Sunday, unidentified gunmen killed two policemen who were guarding the house of a pro-Indian politician in Khrew, Pulwama district, Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir. Two of the attackers were killed by nearby security forces. The politician who was targeted was unharmed.[10]

• On Saturday, a bomb blast in a Quetta market injured one person.[11]

• On Monday, Afghan security forces killed two Pakistanis, who had accidentally crossed into Afghanistan near the Badini area of Killa Saifullah district, Balochistan. Afghan forces reportedly told a Levies officer that they thought the Pakistani shepherds were TTP insurgents.[12]

• On Sunday, unknown persons killed five militants, including one key TTP commander identified as Jangraiz, in Frontier Region Darra Adam Khel, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP). Police sources rejected previous media reports that claimed the militants were killed in an operation conducted by security forces, adding that they were unaware of any operations being conducted in the area.[13]

• On Monday, unknown militants fired rockets and heavy machine guns at a NATO supply convoy on the Pakistan-Afghanistan highway in Jamrud sub-district of Khyber agency, injuring two.[14]

• On Saturday, unknown militants fired on and killed two Shia members of the Hazara community who were traveling to Karachi on a passenger bus in the Sariab road area of Quetta.[15]

Domestic

• According to a Sunday article in Dawn, 186 Elite Force police commandos from Punjab province arrived in Islamabad in response to two recent terrorist attacks on the district court complex and the vegetable market, as well as intelligence suggesting that future terror attacks in Islamabad will be more lethal than before. Sources added that another 40 personnel will arrive soon. The Elite Force teams will be deployed throughout the city along with Rangers and police in order to react immediately to any situation.[16]