Pakistan Security Brief

Pakistan Security Brief - August 5, 2009�

A suspected drone strike in Zanghara, South Waziristan reportedly killed one of Tehrik-i-Taliban-Pakistan (TTP) leader Beitullah Mehsud's wives on Wednesday along with three others; operations by Pakistani security forces and local anti-Taliban militias reportedly killed a dozen militants in Swat and Dir on Wednesday; a local Taliban commander in Maidan announced Tuesday his intention to vacate the Swat area and cease hostilities; Pakistani police forces have set up a community police station in the Swat valley and hope to recruit four thousand "community police" to work alongside regular police forces and enforce security.� �

• Separatist insurgents in Naseerabad, Baluchistan, shot four policemen on Tuesday and threatened to execute the other twenty-one hostages they captured in an attack last week if their demands that the Frontier Corps withdraw from Quetta by Sunday are not met.[1]
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• According to local residents, an American drone strike targeting a compound in the village of Zanghara, South Waziristan--known to be inhabited by relatives of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader Baitullah Mehsud--killed four on Wednesday, including one of the militant commander's two wives. It is unknown whether Baitullah himself was in the area at the time of the attack.[2]
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• Continuing operations by security forces in Swat and Dir killed eight suspected militants and led to the arrest of fourteen more on Wednesday, according to the Pakistani military. Another four were also killed by local anti-Taliban militia (lashkars).[3]
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• Maulana Shahid, alias Qari Shahid, commander of the Maidan tehsil Taliban in Swat announced Tuesday that he and his fighters will be leaving the Swat area, and have agreed to cease all hostile activity against the government.[4]
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• Pakistani police have set up the first community police station in the Swat Valley to bolster security in the face of ongoing clashes with local Taliban. The area's new police chief reported that he eventually hoped to be able to recruit some four thousand troops to supplement the current number, estimated at only one hundred and twelve.[5]� �