Pakistan Security Brief

India arrests founder of Indian Mujahideen; Interior Minister rejects all-out military operation for Karachi, proposes provincially authorized targeted operation, Altaf Hussain gives conditional approval; MQM condemns arrest of its members; Dr. Shakil Afridi’s conviction overturned; Minister says Iran-Pakistan pipeline to be completed on time; Pakistan, Russia conclude strategic dialogue talks; Militia members wounded in Mohmand landmine blast; explosives seized in Hangu, destroyed in Khyber, Bomb defused, cleric shot in Karachi.

Indian Terror Arrest

• Indian officials on Thursday said that they had arrested the alleged co-founder of the Indian Mujahideen, a major home-grown militant group with suspected links to Pakistan-based militant organizations. Yasin Bhatkal, a conspirator in the 2010 blast outside a German bakery in Pune, India, was reportedly arrested near the Indian border with Nepal, near the town of Gorakhpur, and is undergoing interrogation. Another senior militant with links to Lashkar-e-Taiba was also recently arrested along the India-Nepal border.[1]

Karachi Violence and Crackdown

• On Wednesday, Interior Minister Chaudary Nisar Ali Khan rejected the idea of an all-out military operation in Karachi as called for by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), saying only a targeted operation would be necessary; he argued that many of those responsible for recent violence were backed by local political parties. He was also against the use of the army without the express permission and invitation of the provincial government. On Thursday, he proposed the creation of a parliamentary committee to review Karachi’s deteriorating security situation. He also announced that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would visit Karachi on September 3 where he would meet with Sindh’s governor and Chief Minister to discuss the security breakdown in the metropolis. [2]

• MQM members on Thursday staged a walkout from parliament over what they termed the arrest and harassment of their members in overnight raids across Karachi. MQM leader Farooq Sattar claimed that over 100 innocent people had been arrested in raids in Karachi and the he too was on the politically-motivated arrest list. Search operations were launched in Karachi on Thursday in the Garden, Shah Latif, Kharadar, Meethadar and Lyari areas.[3]

• MQM chief Altaf Hussain on Wednesday gave his conditional approval to an “apolitical targeted operation” in Karachi that was aimed at restoring peace and eradicating terrorism. On Thursday, Hussain publicly condemned what he claimed was a Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)-launched crackdown on MQM activists and warned of consequences if the PPP-led provincial government did not cease committing “atrocities” against his party.[4]

Iran-Pakistan Pipeline

• Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resrouces Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Wednesday told the National Assembly that the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline would be completed within the agreed-upon timeframe. He claimed the government was liable for a $3 million per day penalty for delays on the pipeline.[5]

Russo-Pakistani Relations

• Officials from Russian and Pakistan on Thursday completed a two-day “strategic dialogue” session in Moscow. Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Jalil Jilani headed the Pakistani delegation which discussed topics ranging from “economic, political and defense cooperation to regional and international security issues.” The report claims relations between Russia and Pakistan are at a high point, and that both countries are backing each other’s bids for observer status and membership, respectively, in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.[6]

Militancy

• The member of a local anti-Taliban militia and five others were wounded after a landmine exploded while they were on patrol in Sheikhan village, Baizai sub-district of Mohmand agency on Wednesday. Elsewhere in Baizai, security forces defused a landmine in Surandarra.[7]

• Police in Shakas, Khyber agency on Wednesday destroyed an 8,000 kg cache of explosives they seized on August 25. The original raid occurred after a roadside blast wounded three people in the area.[8]

• Police arrested three militants and seized explosives from them in Sarokhel village, Hangu district on Wednesday.[9]

• A 10 kg bomb was defused by bomb disposal officials near Gana Mandi on the Super Highway in Karachi on Thursday.[10]

• A religious cleric was shot dead in his office inside the Rehmani Mosque in Karachi’s Jamshed Quarters area on Thursday.[11]

Dr. Shakil Afridi Case

• A judicial official at Pakistan’s Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) on Thursday ruled to overturn the 33-year conviction for Dr. Shakil Afridi, who stands accused of running a fake vaccination program to help the CIA hunt down Osama bin Laden. The official said the previous judge acted in the capacity of a magistrate for which he was not authorized, and that Afridi’s trial was unfair. A retrial by the Political Agency for Khyber agency has been ordered.[12]