Pakistan Security Brief

Government considers establishing special panel to investigate cases of TTP prisoners; Ministry of Interior approves release of 13 more TTP prisoners; TTP intermediary says prisoners released not on TTP’s wish list; TTP Mohmand Chief says Shariah law can only be implemented through force; Anti-Terrorism Court in Quetta issues arrest warrant for former president Pervez Musharraf; Iran and Pakistan to conduct joint naval exercises; National security adviser says next Indian Prime Minister will have to negotiate on Kashmir; Possible TTP infighting kills 20 in North Waziristan; TTP-launched website promptly blocked; Frontier Corps kill 30 militants in Balochistan; Four injured in Balochistan grenade attack; Three suspected BRA militants arrested trying to blow up gas pipeline; IDPs beginning to return to Kurram agency; Three dead and two injured in North Waziristan tribal clashes; Mortar shells from Afghanistan land in North and South Waziristan; Police kill two TTP activists in Karachi; Policeman injured in Karachi grenade attack; Three killed in Karachi violence; Express News Peshawar bureau chief survives grenade attack.

TTP Peace Talks

• In response to reports that the military is reluctant to release “non-combatant” TTP prisoners, the government is considering establishing a special panel to investigate cases of TTP prisoners, according to a Monday article in the Express Tribune. The TTP has demanded that the government release approximately 300 detainees before peace talks could continue. A member of the TTP-nominated negotiating committee, Professor Ibrahim Khan, stated that the proposal is under consideration but that no decision has been made. Unnamed sources quoted in a Monday article in The News reported that all institutions, including the Army, were working together to ensure the success of peace talks.[1]

• On Saturday, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Kahn stated that the government has decided to release 13 more TTP prisoners, some of whom are on the list the TTP provided to the government, in order to move forward with the peace process. Khan also encouraged the TTP leadership to reciprocate the government’s actions. Members at a joint meeting between the government and TTP negotiating committees discussed venues and dates for the next round of direct talks, which should take place sometime next week. The head of the TTP coordinating committee, Maulana Samiul Haq, told the media that direct talks will begin in the next day or two.[2]

• On Saturday, a coordinator for the TTP committee, Maulana Yousuf Shah, said that the 19 prisoners released by the government on Thursday were not non-combatant members of the TTP and were not on the list given to the government by the TTP. In response to a Professor Ibrahim Khan’s statement that the government committee will meet with the TTP central shura in the next two or three days, Shah added that the TTP are not terrorists, but “the government’s angry brothers.” According to Professor Ibrahim Khan, the government committee and TTP shura will discuss the release of Professor Ajmal Khan and the sons of former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer, as well as other prisoners in TTP custody.[3]

• According to a Monday article in The News, the TTP head of Mohmand agency, Omar Khalid Khurasani, wrote a letter to the newly-appointed Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) leader, Sirajul Haq, stating that Islamic rule can only be established in Pakistan through force.[4]

Musharraf

• According to a Monday article in Dawn, an anti-terrorism court in Quetta issued an arrest warrant for former president Pervez Musharraf in a case relating to the murder of a Baloch nationalist leader, Nawab Akbar Bugti. The anti-terrorism court judge, Tariq Ahmed Kasi, stated that Musharraf’s bail will be canceled if the former president does not appear before the court on April 21st. According to the article, Bugti was killed on August 26, 2006 during a military crackdown ordered by Musharraf.[5]

Iran-Pakistan Relations

• On Sunday, Pakistani vessels reportedly arrived at Bandar Abbas, an Iranian port, to conduct joint exercises with the Iranian navy on Tuesday.[6]

• On Sunday, Iranian parliament approved a security pact between Iran and Pakistan that allows cooperation on security issues. The agreement was signed by representatives of both countries in February 2013.[7]

India-Pakistan Relations

• According to a Sunday report in The News, Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz believes that whoever wins the Indian elections will have to negotiate with Pakistan on the Kashmir dispute. He pointed to former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as an example of an Indian politician who came from the more hardline Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) but chose to negotiate with Pakistan once in office. He said that if BJP candidate Narendra Modi is elected, he will follow a similar path.[8]

Militancy

• On Monday, reported militant infighting near the border of North and South Waziristan led to the death of 20 fighters in separate incidents. Reports claim that overnight clashes along the border area on Sunday between fighters loyal to Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander Khan Said Sajna and those loyal to the late-TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud led to the deaths of 15 militants. Another attack on Monday involved militants from Sajna’s faction ambushing a vehicle driven by Hakimullah loyalists in Shaktoi, South Waziristan. Five militants from Hakimuallah’s faction were killed in the ambush, including a “commander” from Hakimullah’s faction reported variously as Kashed Khan Mehsud and Shadeed Mehsud; one militant was injured as well.[9]

• On Saturday, the TTP’s information and publication wing announced that the TTP launched a website that will serve as the central information portal for the group. The announcement added that Umar Media, which sponsored the website, is the only authorized entity to issue official TTP statements on the website, which includes pictures of houses allegedly bombed by the army, details regarding the TTP’s position on peace talks, and information about the assassination of TTP leader Asmatullah Shaheen. However, the website was taken down less than one day after its official launch.[10]

• On Monday, Frontier Corps (FC) forces killed at least 30 alleged militants in Kalat and Khuzdar districts in Balochistan. Ten FC personnel were also injured.[11]

• On Saturday, unidentified militants in Osta Mohammad, Jaffarabad, Balochistan injured four people in a grenade attack.[12]

• On Sunday, security forces stopped an attempt by alleged members of the Balochistan Republican Army (BRA) to blow up a gas pipeline in Bhong, Rahim Yar Khan district, Punjab. Three militants were arrested. [13]

• According to a Monday report in Dawn, the government has begun repatriating the estimated 55,000 internally displaced persons who left Kurram agency in 2010 as a result of the military operation there.[14]

• On Sunday, three people were killed and two injured in a clash between two tribes in Dattakhel, North Waziristan agency.[15]

• On Saturday, 12 mortar shells from Afghanistan landed in North Waziristan agency, four in Ghulam Khan and eight in Bhangidar. There were no casualties. On Saturday, two mortar shells also landed in South Waziristan agency.[16]

• On Saturday, two TTP activists were killed in a targeted police operation in Sohrab Goth area of Karachi.[17]

• On Monday, unidentified militants attacked a police post in Sohrab Goth, Karachi with hand grenades injuring a Deputy Superintendent of Police.[18]

• In three separate incidents on Saturday, a total of three people were killed in Karachi violence. One Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) worker was shot to death in Malir. Another man was killed in Liaquatabad in what police termed a likely sectarian attack. A third person died in the Shah Faisal area.[19]

• On Sunday, unidentified attackers threw a grenade at the house of the Express News’ Peshawar bureau chief, Jamshed Baghwan. No one was injured, though the house sustained some damage. Baghwan was also the target of a failed bombing on March 19.[20]