Pakistan Security Brief
Drone strike in South Waziristan kills five TTP members; Suicide bomber kills eighteen, injures fifty at ANP rally; IED targets ANP leader in Charsadda; Suicide bomber kills nine soldiers in North Waziristan; Six militants die in attack on security check post; Polio team attacked in Karachi; Five shot in Karachi, including police officer and MQM activist; U.S. general says Pakistan not hindering peace talks; Pakistan Army deploys 300 for earthquake relief; Man opens fire in Faisalabad court; Man dies in KP; Pakistani delegation flies to U.S. for IMF talks.
Drone Strike
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On Wednesday, a U.S. drone strike killed at least five Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants at a training camp in the Babar Ghar area of South Waziristan. Local security officials reported that at least seven additional militants were injured in the strike.[1]
Militancy
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On Tuesday, a suicide bomber killed eighteen people and injured nearly fifty more when he detonated his explosive vest near Awami National Party (ANP) leader Ghulam Ahmed Bilour’s meeting in Yakatoot, Peshawar. Bilour was not seriously injured, reportedly because four policemen who died blocked much of the blast from hitting him. The TTP took responsibility for the attack. In the announcement, TTP spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan apologized for injuring Bilour, for whom the TTP had previously “announced an amnesty,” for calling for a $100,000 bounty for the death of a U.S. filmmaker who made a so-called anti-Islam film. Ehsan said the attack was meant to be targeting Bilour’s nephew, Haroon Bilour, the son of Bashir Bilour, a senior ANP leader previously assassinated in a TTP bombing. Among those killed was the senior news editor from Daily Pakistan, a daily paper. In addition, two other journalists were injured in the attack.[2]
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On Wednesday, militants detonated a bomb targeting ANP member Farooq Khan’s house in Charsadda, slightly injuring him and some of his companions who were on their way home from campaigning.[3]
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On Tuesday, a suicide bomber killed nine soldiers and injured eight more when he drove his vehicle into a military convoy in the Saidgai area of North Waziristan.[4]
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On Tuesday, six militants were killed and five soldiers injured in a gun battle in the Akakhel area of Bara sub-district in Khyber agency. Militants attacked a security check post there but were repelled by security forces.[5]
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On Tuesday, five people were killed in various incidents of targeted violence across Karachi. An activist from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) was shot to death when two motorcyclists attacked him in Ghousia Colony. Separately, a police officer died when unknown motorcyclists opened fire on him as he went to work. In another attack, unknown assailants shot and killed a man in a tea shop in Qayyumabad. Another man was killed on Jahangir Road when attackers shot him. Police recovered the body of an unknown man who had been kidnapped, tortured, and shot to death on the Bara Board Road.[6]
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On Wednesday, a man opened fire in a Faisalabad courtroom in Punjab and injured two people before being subdued and arrested by police.[7]
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On Tuesday, unidentified militants shot and killed a man in Hazar Khawani area, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, near a police station.[8]
U.S.-Pakistan Relations
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On Tuesday, U.S. General Joseph Dunford said he did not think Pakistan is intentionally sabotaging peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban. He explained that he did not feel Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s accusations about Pakistanis undermining the peace process were substantiated, and then expressed his views on the role of the U.S. in the talks. He said it is for the U.S. to set the conditions for talks to happen, not to “ensure their success.”[9]
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On Tuesday, a delegation of Pakistani finance officials left for the U.S. to enter discussions with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) about a potential bailout package that would help prevent a Pakistani default on their spring debt payments for foreign loans. Some experts speculate that, because the upcoming election will change over the Pakistani government, the Pakistani delegation headed to Washington will not be taken seriously.[10]
Earthquake
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In response to the 7.8 earthquake that rocked southern Pakistan and Iran on Tuesday, the Pakistan Army deployed over 300 soldiers to help with relief efforts. The government in Balochistan sent over 20 trucks to bring supplies to the tens of thousands of people affected by the earth quake, many of whom are without shelter, water, and basic provisions. Local government officials sent international appeals for relief support after the quake.[11]
