Pakistan Security Brief

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to convene Federal Cabinet meeting to discuss Karachi; DG Rangers claims political party militants are responsible for violence in Karachi; Kutchi community leaders warn government of impending protests if security continues to deteriorate in Karachi; MQM plans to convene Sindh Assembly to discuss potential Pakistan Army administrative control of Karachi; Indian government officials request Pakistan locate and extradite D-Company leader Dawood Ibrahim; United Jihad Council chief warns of imminent increase in militancy throughout Kashmir in wake of U.S. drawdown in Afghanistan; World Bank advises Pakistan grant India Most Favored Nation status; European Union cautions Pakistan against reinstating the death penalty; Supreme Court drops contempt of court charges against PTI leader Imran Khan; Prime Minister appoints Khawaja Zaheer as principal Secretary.

Violence in Karachi

• According to a report in The News on Tuesday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will convene a meeting of the Federal Cabinet next week to address the deteriorating security situation in Karachi.  In addition to Cabinet members, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government has extended invitations to several Sindh provincial government officials and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Farooq Sattar.[1]

• The Director General of Rangers Major General Rizwan Akhtar claimed on Wednesday that recent violent activity in Karachi is directly attributable to the militant wings of the city’s political parties.  He observed that the pattern of political activists released on bail from police custody correlates to an increase in violence.  Akhtar delivered his remarks to an apex court investigating the extent to which administrative officials in Karachi have implemented the court’s orders to curb a spate of violent activity in Karachi through the summer of 2011.[2]

• Former Pakistani ambassador to the UN and Kutchi patron-in-chief Abdullah Hussain Haroon advised the Sindh government via a press conference on Tuesday to stabilize Karachi, particularly the Lyari and Malir areas, immediately.  He said that the Kutchi community would protest its vulnerability with a series of protests and strikes if the government failed to take action.  The internally-displaced Kutchi residents of Lyari returned home on Monday, welcomed by a spate of rocket and firearm attacks. Kutchi and Baloch communities in Lyari have engaged in violence in the recent past.[3]

• Tensions between PPP and MQM members appear to be increasing as violence continues in Karachi.  PPP MPA Javed Nagori claims the recent outbreak of violent activity occurred following the Sindh provincial government’s decision to approve a Local Government Ordinance.  Meanwhile, MQM leaders have called for the Army to assume administrative control over the city due to local security officials’ inability to quell the violence.[4]

• According to a report in the Express Tribune on Wednesday, the MQM’s leadership has filed a requisition to convene the Sindh Assembly to discuss granting the Pakistan Army administrative control of Karachi.[5]

• Three political workers – two from the MQM and one from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) – were shot to death in separate incidents in Karachi on Monday.   Separately, unidentified gunmen injured a Pakistan Sunni Tehreek (PST) worker today at Nadeem Sarwar Park.[6]

• As of Tuesday, security officials have detained at least 136 suspects and seized 21 firearms from around Karachi.[7]

Indo-Pakistan Relations

• Indian Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde revealed on Tuesday that he requested the government of Pakistan extradite D-Company crime syndicate leader Dawood Ibrahim to Indian custody.  Shinde said that he has also discussed the issue with Interpol.[8]

• United Jihad Council chief Syed Salahudin told the press on Wednesday that there would be an “unprecedented” increase in militant activity in Kashmir after the departure of NATO troops from Afghanistan in 2014.  He warned that “thousands” of fighters would relocate from Afghanistan to Indian-held Kashmir to oppose Indian rule.[9]

• In a series of Policy Notes finalized on August 20, the World Bank (WB) suggested that the government of Pakistan grant India Most Favored Nation (MFN) status and work harder to integrate communities along the Indo-Pakistan border.  According to the WB, “exports to India are 40 percent below their predicted potential”   and assigning India MFN status would allow the Pakistani economy to benefit from access to expansive markets and swift growth.  [10]

Afghan-Pakistan Relations

• Foreign Office spokesman Aizaz Chaudhary announced on Tuesday that the government of Pakistan was prepared to provide an unspecified platform for dialogue between the Taliban and the government of Afghanistan.  Chaudhary said that Afghan President Hamid Karzai had specifically requested diplomatic assistance on this matter from senior Pakistani officials.[11]

Sino-Pakistan Relations

• As of Wednesday, the Foreign Office has created a new division under its Asia Pacific Affairs branch dedicated to expanding relations with China.  Foreign Ministry Director General Nadim Riaz will lead the new division.  The move is reportedly indicative of the importance the PML-N government has placed on strengthening economic and strategic ties with China.[12]

• On Tuesday, Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal and Vice Chairman of China’s National Development and Reforms Commission Zhang Ziaoqiang inaugurated the Pak-China Economic Corridor Secretariat to transform political initiatives into economic policies.  Iqbal remarked that the economic corridor with China was strategically placed to counter the anticipated security and economic vacuum that will likely result when the U.S. withdraws from Afghanistan next year.[13]

European Union

• The Prime Minister’s Adviser on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz met with a European Parliament delegation on Tuesday.  Aziz addressed the Sub-Committee on Human Rights at the Foreign Office, where he informed them that the government of Pakistan was dedicated to the protection of human rights.[14]

• On Tuesday, the European Union’s Sub-Committee on Human Rights informed the PML-N government that a decision to reinstate the death penalty could negatively impact the EU’s consideration of Pakistan for access to a block of preferential trading partner tariffs.  Members are required to accede to a number of human rights guarantees and labor laws; although capital punishment is not explicitly prohibited, it would “send an overall negative signal,” according to EU Ambassador to Pakistan Lars-Gunnar Wigemark.  Yesterday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif suspended the executions of 468 convicts pending further discussion on the matter with President Asif Ali Zardari.[15]

Domestic

• On Wednesday, the Supreme Court dropped its contempt of court charges against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Imran Khan.  Khan previously criticized both the Election Commission of Pakistan and members of the judiciary over what he perceived as a failure to address allegations of election-rigging.  When Khan appeared before the Court, he insisted that he did not intend for his remarks to be construed as an attempt to undermine the judicial system.  The Court has accepted his apology.[16]

• The Federal Cabinet met with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today to authorize rules for the Cabinet Committee on National Security.  A draft of the new national security policy likely circulated amongst attendees, and the Cabinet was also expected to set a date for the All-Parties Conference (APC).[17]

• On Tuesday, the Supreme Court gave the PML-N government 24 hours to provide the justices with a copy of its new energy policy in order to disambiguate the legality of loadshedding, license authorization, and the electricity distribution scheme.[18]

• On Wednesday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appointed Khawaja Zaheer as his principal Secretary.  Zaheer is reportedly an expert on constitutional and legal issues, so his appointment is possibly intended to counter the absence of a formal Law Minister.[19]

Militancy

• According to a report today in the Express Tribune, TTP Commander Khan Saeed authorized yesterday’s attack on a Pakistan Army camp in South Waziristan.  Asimullah Asim Mehsud, the TTP’s South Waziristan spokesman, told the press on Tuesday that 29 militants and four suicide bombers were involved in the attack.  Mehsud also claimed that the attackers killed approximately 100 security personnel; however the media has confirmed only two deaths.[20]

• Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan announced on Tuesday that official Ministry records indicate 12,795 people have died and an additional 28,881 have sustained injuries in terrorist attacks within Pakistan since 2002.  This number is approximately 1/3 of the estimate suggested by the press and non-government sources.  Khan also said the PML-N government intends to punish telecommunications companies that decline to block unregistered SIM cards, given that these cards are frequently used to coordinate attacks.[21]

• On Tuesday, unidentified kidnappers abducted and killed a little girl from Gulabad in the Peshawar district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.  Separately, a local political officer and three of his relatives were reported missing from Hayatabad, in the vicinity of Peshawar.[22]

• At least eight people were killed in various locations around Karachi during the early hours of Wednesday morning, including three torture victims.[23]

• Unidentified gunmen killed one person on Tuesday in the vicinity of Bibi Nani area of Sariab in Quetta.[24]