Pakistan Security Brief

Drone strike in NWA kills 26; U.S. to provide Pakistan with mini drones; Bashir meets with Clinton in Washington; Cross-border attack in Lower Dir; Six militants killed in Kurram; Bodies of eight passengers handed over to Turi elders; Suran area cleared of militants; Five militants killed in Khyber; TTP commander praises Mehsud tribe for not siding against Taliban; Blast in Karachi kills sixteen; Attack on NATO supply truck in Khuzdar.

Drone Strike in NWA

• A U.S. drone strike in Spin Wam village of North Waziristan killed at least twenty-six people on Friday, a day after Pakistani army chief General Kayani condemned such attacks. It is believed that three children and two women are among the dead. The attack reportedly targeted a compound of a local militant commander, Hafiz Gul Bahadur. According to Reuters, foreign militants were among the dead, but their nationalities and numbers could not be verified.  Meanwhile, the Express Tribune reports that on Wednesday,  U.S. Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mullen told General Kayani that the “CIA-led Predator strikes would continue until Pakistan eliminates [the] Haqqani network from its tribal region.” The Washington Post cites a Pakistani security official, who said that “military and intelligence officials were ‘highly displeased’ by Mullen’s allegations and by his rejection of Pakistani demands for a scaling back of attacks by unmanned aircraft.” He added that, “The way Admiral Mullen talked here, his tough stance, didn’t help at all. I would say, rather, it added to the prevailing tensions.” [i]
• A U.S. military official has told Reuters that the U.S. will provide Pakistan with eighty-five small ‘Raven’ drone aircraft, a “key step to addressing Islamabad's calls for access to U.S. drone technology.” The official did not disclose the cost of the surveillance aircraft, however, Reuters reports that Pakistan anticipates receiving around $3 billion in U.S. military aid in the upcoming fiscal year.The media outlet additionally states that, “the Raven drone order is separate from U.S. plans to offer Pakistan much larger, longer-range surveillance drones, a proposition put forward by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates during a visit to Pakistan in January 2010.” A senior U.S. defense official said that talks on offering Pakistan surveillance drone technology are in final discussions.[ii]

Cross-Border Attack in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

• On Thursday, hundreds of insurgents from Afghanistan attacked a border checkpoint in the Kharkai village of Lower Dir. A heavy exchange of fire occurred between the militants and security forces manning the checkpoint. Sixteen Frontier Corps officers were killed in the attack, which the New York Times attributes to the Taliban. The media outlet claims that the 150 militants who conducted the attack fled military operations in Mohmand by crossing into Afghanistan and then re-entering Pakistan to assault the soldiers. Meanwhile, a local resident places the number of militants who participated in the attack at 500.[iii]

U.S.-Pakistani Relations

• Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir at the Department of State in Washington DC for steering group discussions. The Express Tribune reports that “Both sides ‘shared their strategic vision,’ at a meeting of the steering group – led by Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir and Ambassador Marc Grossman – as they met to stress common objectives towards anti-terror success.”[iv]

FATA

• Six militants were killed in an operation by security forces in Kurram Agency on Wednesday. Militant hideouts were shelled by military helicopters in the Chinarak and Spairkach areas of the agency, after militants attacked a security checkpoint in the Torwarai area. Meanwhile, the bodies of eight kidnapped passengers were handed over to elders of the Turi tribe on Thursday. The men had been kidnapped in the Baggan area of the agency along with twenty-seven other passengers. The bodies had been beheaded and were identified through documents which accompanied them. A local administration official said that militants and their local supporters in Baggan were responsible for the kidnappings and killings. [v]
• Army chief General Kayani visited Mohmand Agency on Thursday to initiate the second phase of Operation Brekhna in the agency. The army claims to have successfully cleared the Suran area during the first phase of the operation.  Dawn reports that, “The operation was initially planned to be completed in weeks, but continued for almost four months because of underrated militant resistance, recovery of a large amount of weapons and explosives, about 50,000 displaced people and inclement weather.”[vi]
• Five militants were killed in Tirah Valley of Khyber Agency. Military helicopters shelled two militant hideouts, killing the five and wounding ten others.[vii]

• A top commander of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Wali-ur-Rehman, has “praised [the] Mehsud tribe for not siding with the government against Taliban in the South Waziristan Agency.” He said that the government had worked to turn the tribe against the TTP, but were unsuccessful in doing so. Rehman also stated that, “the government had formed tribal militias against mujahideen, however these militias were unable to fulfill the objectives set by the government. He alleged that the government had demolished houses, mosques and schools.”[viii]

Blast in Karachi

• A blast at the “Rummy Club,” an illegal gambling den in Karachi on Thursday killed sixteen and injured thirty-five. Police official Saqib Sultan told Reuters, "It was most likely a planted bomb, and it took place inside the club.” The media outlet reports that “Officials said that the club was…run by criminals. They suspected that the attack might be a result of a gang war.” However, local police chief Iqbal Mehmood said that, "We are investigating if it was an act of terrorism or the result of some internal rivalry." A separate police chief, Saud Mirza, said that it was unclear whether the incident was an act of terrorism or gang warfare. He stated, “The blast has been carried out with ball-bearings used in the bomb it shows the expertise of militants seen in the past.” Meanwhile, an activist for the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was killed in a case of a ‘target killing’ on Thursday in the Gulistan-e-Jauhar area. [ix]

Balochistan

• Unidentified militants killed a NATO supply truck driver on Friday in Khuzdar. Assailants on motorcycles opened fire on a convoy of trucks before fleeing the scene. [x]