Pakistan Security Brief

Pakistan Security Brief - August 17, 2009

Pakistani police reportedly arrested a recruiter for suicide bombers affiliated with Beitullah Mehsud's Pakistani Taliban in Islamabad on Monday; a Sipah-e-Sehaba Pakistan (SSP) associated militant leader was assassinated by unknown attackers in Khairpur on Monday; militants affiliated with Maulvi Nazir were ambushed by unknown assailants in territory formerly claimed by the apparently dead Beitullah Mehsud in South Waziristan while spokesmen for the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) denied involvement and locals implicated Uzbek militants in the attack; Pakistani security force operations reportedly led to the surrender of more than a dozen militants in Swat. �

• Qari Saifullah, a Taliban recruiter for suicide bombers and deputy of the late Beitullah Mehsud, was arrested in Islamabad on Monday. He was reportedly wounded in a suspected U.S. drone strike, and secretly transported to a hospital to recover from his injuries, where he was apprehended by Pakistani police.[1]
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• The leader of banned Sunni Islamist group Millat-e-Islamia Pakistan, Ali Sher Haideri, was assassinated Monday in Khairpur. No one has yet claimed credit for the attack, but members of Millat-e-Islamia, which is a splinter group of Sipah-e-Sehaba Pakistan (SSP), have claimed that the killing was sectarian in motivation and blamed regional Shi'ite groups.[2]
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• Infighting between Taliban elements left at least seventeen militants affiliated with Maulvi Nazir's group, based in South Waziristan, dead on Monday. A group of Nazir's men were passing through territory formerly claimed by the late Beitullah Mehsud when they were attacked by unknown assailants. A Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman has denied any responsibility for the ambush, which was attributed by some local sources to Uzbek militants.[3]
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• The latest round of security operations in the Swat area led to the surrender of sixteen militants Monday. Meanwhile, two security officials were injured in a reported suicide attack there Sunday night.[4]