Pakistan Security Brief
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif proposes Supreme Court-led election commission to investigate rigging during 2013 general elections; PTI chief Imran Khan rejects Sharif’s, vows to go ahead with August 14 march and demands Sharif’s resignation; Intelligence officials warn of infiltration of armed agents provocateur into ranks of protestors ahead of August 14 march, estimate maximum of 100,000 protestors during upcoming marches; Pakistani government ramps up efforts to barricade both Lahore and Islamabad to thwart PAT and PTI protests; Police officials claim Pakistani government will designate PAT as banned organization; Poll shows majority of Pakistani citizens view Prime Minister Sharif and PTI chief Khan favorably and consider 2013 elections largely free and fair; Bara IDPs protest for eleventh day; IED targets Bajaur tribal elders; Policeman killed in Karachi; IED injures 20 in Quetta market.
PAT and PTI March
-
On August 12, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif spoke in a televised address to the nation and requested that the Supreme Court form a three-member commission to investigate alleged election rigging during the 2013 general elections.[1]
-
On August 12, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan said that the PTI will not abandon its scheduled August 14 march on Islamabad despite Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s concession to form a Supreme Court-led investigation into election rigging. Khan rejected the concession, saying that while he welcomed the formation of the commission, he would not accept the results of any investigation that took place without the prior resignation of Prime Minister Sharif and members of the Election Commission.[2]
-
On August 12, Intelligence officials reportedly warned Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that some armed agents provocateur have joined the ranks of Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) protestors with the intent of sparking violent clashes between security forces and protestors before then firing on protestors. Officials also reportedly warned that the PAT possesses “undesirable foreign links.” Intelligence sources also allegedly told Sharif that the PAT and PTI protests would likely be unable to attract more than 100,000 protestors. The sources said that the PAT could muster 10,000-20,000 protestors and the PTI 80,000.[3]
-
On August 12, the Pakistani government ramped up its efforts to prevent the PAT’s upcoming march by blocking all entry and exit points to PAT chief Tahirul Qadri’s residence and the PAT’s Minhajul Quran Secretariat in Lahore’s Model Town. The government has placed at least 120 containers and police forces armed with rubber bullets and teargas around Lahore’s Model Town to deter protestors. According to press reports, despite the government’s efforts, a “large number” of PAT supporters continue to arrive at the Party Secretariat from different parts of the country. PAT Punjab’s vice president Muhammad Ilyas supposedly died after suffering cardiac arrest and being prevented from leaving Model Town to go to a hospital. The Lahore High Court reportedly advised police to remove all unnecessary barricades.[4]
-
On August 12, authorities in Islamabad attempted to hinder the PAT and PTI’s protest marches by barricading all major entry and exit points in the city. The Islamabad administration has supposedly canceled leave for all 21,000 policemen currently deployed in the city. On August 12, the Interior Ministry reportedly suspended all mobile phone and wireless services in Islamabad for the next three days to impede the communications of PTI and PAT protestors. During a joint meeting of the Rawalpindi and Islamabad police on August 12, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said that violent protestors will not be allowed to enter Islamabad or disrupt the city through violence.[5]
-
Police officials said on August 12 that, following a high-level meeting in Lahore, the Pakistani government will likely designate Tahirul Qadri’s PAT party as a banned organization under the Anti-Terrorism Act.[6]
-
Defense Minister Khawaja Asif, in a recent Bloomberg News interview, rejected any possibility of a military coup happening in the wake of upcoming PTI and PAT marches. He asserted that the military and civilian government currently have “complete consensus” on matters of foreign policy and that civil-military relations in Pakistan are healthy.[7]
Public Opinion in Pakistan
-
Fifty-three percent of citizens polled in a nationwide Pakistan Institute Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT) poll view Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif positively and 52 percent view PTI chief Imran Khan as a good or very good leader. According to the poll, conducted from July 16, 2014 to August 6, 2014, only 21 percent of citizens polled view Dr. Tahir-ul-Qadri as a good or very good leader while 34 percent view Musharraf as a good or very good leader. Sixty-three percent of Pakistanis polled believe the 2013 General Election was largely free and fair, but 85 percent said Pakistan’s Election Commission should be reformed.[8]
Pakistan-India Relations
-
On August 13, Pakistani Foreign Office spokeswoman Tasneem Aslam expressed dismay with Indian Prime Minister Modi’s recent accusations that the Pakistani government is waging a militant proxy war against India.[9]
Internally Displaced Persons
-
August 13 marked the eleventh day of protests in a camp for Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) from Bara, Khyber agency. The IDPs have been demanding equal treatment to that of IDPs from North Waziristan. Representatives told The News that when IDPs first arrived they were given adequate food and non-food goods but now have to bribe camp officials for insufficient supplies.[10]
Militancy
-
On August 13, a remotely-detonated roadside-IED targeting Bajaur tribal elders exploded in the Gulu Shah area of Khar sub-district. The tribal elders were not harmed by the attack.[11]
-
On the night of August 12, a police station house officer from the Preedy police station in Karachi, was shot and killed by an unknown gunman in Karachi’s Garden area.[12]
-
Dawn reported that, on August 12, an unknown militant threw an explosive device at a Prince Road shop in Quetta. Twenty people were injured in the attack and the shop sustained damage. A conflicting report said that the explosive was planted near a roadside stall and was detonated with a timer, injuring 22. The News alleged that Baloch insurgents could possibly be responsible for the attack, as they frequently operate and execute attacks on government installations and infrastructure in the area.[13]
Internally Displaced Persons
-
August 13 marked the eleventh day of protests in a camp for Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) from Bara, Khyber agency. The IDPs have been demanding equal treatment to that of IDPs from North Waziristan. Representatives told The News that when IDPs first arrived they were given adequate food and non-food goods but now have to bribe camp officials for insufficient supplies.[14]
Trainer Plane Crashes
