Pakistan Security Brief
CTC study says LeT recruits from Pakistan’s “best and brightest;” ; Security forces kill fourteen in Tirah valley; ECP forces candidates to prove Islamic credentials; HRCP survey says Pakistan not equal to challenges; Musharraf’s nomination papers denied; Trade imbalance with China and India increasing; Visas delayed as 96 seek German asylum PAF jets kill one TTP, two LI fighters; PAF jets kill eight in Orakzai; Deported Frenchmen set for questioning about militant intentions; Militants ambush security forces in Khyber; Police van attacked in Punjab; Violence in Karachi kills two British Parliament report skeptical that education counteracts militancy, extremism.
Lashkar-e-Taiba Study
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On Thursday, West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center released a study that reportedly contradicts conventional knowledge about Lashkar-e-Taiba and terrorism in Pakistan, specifically concluding that ignorance and poverty are not necessary for militant groups to thrive. The report analyzed biographies from roughly 900 Lashkar-e-Taiba fighters who died between 1997 and 2008. . The study describes how the group, largely protected by the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI), recruits young fighters who are typically more secularly educated than the average Pakistani man their age, and who tend not to be trained in madrassas. Most joined the popular group because they “wanted more meaningful lives, admired its anticorruption image and felt an obligation to help fellow Muslims.” The report explained that many of the fighters were closely related to influential Pakistani citizens, including Pakistan Army soldiers and, in one case, “a director of Pakistan's Atomic Energy Commission.” The report concludes that its findings disprove the “myth” that secular education, economic stability, and international exposure counteract militancy. [1]
Khyber Operation
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On Friday, security forces launched an offensive in the Tirah valley, Khyber agency, killing fourteen militants and destroying three hideouts. Four security personnel were killed in the attack, and another five were injured. In retaliation, militants launched four rockets at houses in the Hayatabad area of Peshawar, killing one civilian and injuring five others.[2]
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On Thursday, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) jets bombed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Lakshar-e-Islam (LI) hideouts in Ghaibi Neeka area of Sipah and the Nakai area of Malikdinkhel in the Tirah valley, Khyber agency, killing two LI fighters and one TTP member.[3]
French Suspects Deported
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On Thursday, French authorities began questioning the three Frenchmen who illegally entered Pakistan last year in an attempt to join the Taliban or al Qaeda and fight in Afghanistan. Pakistani authorities held the men in secret since they entered through Iran last May, and then sent the trio back to France earlier this week. [4]
British Education Survey
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On Thursday, a report published for the British Parliament in connection with its vote on aid to Pakistan raised doubts about the effects of education on combating militancy and extremism. The report cited a recent survey by the British Council that showed attitudes among young Pakistanis are largely unaffected by the surge in education spending, with more young people preferring military rule or Sharia law over a democratic government. [5]
Domestic Politics
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On Friday, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) rejected former President Pervez Musharraf’s nomination papers from NA-139 Kasur constituency on the grounds that he “does not meet the criteria established in Article 62 and 63 of the constitution.” Musharraf also submitted papers for candidacy in Karachi, Islamabad and Chitral, and faces the possibility that those will be disqualified as well. [6]
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In an attempt to screen electoral candidates prior to elections on May 11, the ECP is forcing candidates to take tests to prove their “Islamic credentials;” frequently making them take tests or answer questions relating to their knowledge of Islam and the Quran on TV. On Thursday, Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) candidate Ayaz Amir was disqualified for the content of some of his newspaper articles which were reportedly seen as too secular. There are “17,186 candidates running for 849 contested seats” which need to be resolved for elections in May.[7]
Trade Imbalance
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In the last eight months, Pakistan’s trade imbalance with China, India, and Afghanistan, has increased as Pakistani imports from these countries grow faster than their exports. Compared with the year before, Pakistan increased imports from China and India by roughly $200 million each, whereas exports to both countries remained relatively unchanged. [8]
Pakistani Seek German Asylum
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Over the last couple months, 96 Pakistanis applied for asylum in Germany, primarily citing violence in the Lyari gang-war and Shia-Sunni strife as the reasons for fleeing. The German embassy in Pakistan called for increased scrutiny, both for the asylum seekers’ applications, but also for business visas. [9]
Militancy
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On Thursday, PAF jets bombed militant hideouts in Kotkhel area of Orakzai agency, killing eight.[10]
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On Friday, militants ambushed security forces and peace volunteers in Landi Kotal, Khyber agency, killing four, including two security officers.[11]
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On Friday, unknown attackers opened fire on a police van in Gujranwala district, Punjab, killing one police officer and one prisoner, and injuring four police officers. [12]
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On Friday, militants detonated an improvised explosive device (IED), damaging a police van near Kohat, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. [13]
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Early Friday morning, Rangers arrested several suspects and seized an arms cache in an operation in Sohrab Goth and Al Asif Square, Karachi.[14]
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On Thursday, police recovered the tortured body of a kidnapped man who was found shot to death in Bakhtawar Park, Lyari, Karachi.[15]
HRCP Annual Survey
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On Thursday, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) released its 2012 survey of the human rights climate in Pakistan. The report was largely pessimistic, calling the human rights situation “murky,” but expressed optimism that upcoming elections would enable Pakistanis to “extract themselves from the quagmire.” The 383-page report gives detailed information about “Rule of Law…Enforcement of Law…Fundamental Freedoms…Democratic Development…Rights of the Disadvantaged… [and] Social and Economic Rights,” and summed the year up as a series of “challenges where Pakistan did not prove equal to the task.” The report highlighted that Pakistan is especially dangerous for journalists, that rights for women and children are dangerously lacking and violence against them is extreme, and that militancy and terrorism plague the country as one of its gravest threats. [16]
