Pakistan Security Brief

Two senior TTP commanders killed in Nangarhar drone strike that missed TTP chief; Former interior minister claims to have evidence of IS presence in Pakistan; Defence minister denies claims; IS pamphlets reportedly distributed in South Waziristan; Anti-Islamic State graffiti appears in Karachi; AQIS releases video encouraging Bangladeshi Muslims to join jihad; Airstrike kills 11 militants in Khyber Agency; Two TTP commanders killed in Khyber Agency; Jundullah claims attack on polio workers in near Quetta; Security forces seize explosives-laden truck in Quetta; FC personnel killed in Kech district, Balochistan; IED kills two FC personnel in Peshawar; IED targets Tank anti-Taliban militia chief in Tank district; One killed in grenade attack in Hyderabad; Militants attack Indian Army bunker, killing seven, in Indian-administered Kashmir; Village leader killed by Indian troops ahead of polls in Indian-administered Kashmir; Indian, Pakistani armies accuse each other of unprovoked firing across the border; India, Pakistan expected to resume talks, claims report; Russia, Pakistan to cooperate in energy-related projects; India displeased with increasing Russia-Pakistan defense cooperation, claims report; Iran ready to supply gas to Pakistan, says Iranian Oil Minister; Army chief’s U.S. visit “significant” says American Ambassador; U.S.-Pakistan Defense Consultative Group to meet in December; PTI chief holds massive rally in Islamabad, threatens countrywide shutdown; JuD to hold convention in Lahore.

Drone Strikes

• In an update to a story reported on November 25, two of the five Terhik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP commanders killed in a November 24 drone strike in Nazyan area of Nangarhar province have been identified as Zarqavi and Assad Mehsud. All five commanders were reportedly close to TTP chief Maulana Fazlullah. Fazlullah is believed to have been the target of the November 24 strike but was not killed in the attack, despite rumors to the contrary.[1]

• In an update to a story reported November 26, The News reported that a U.S. drone strike killed at least eight suspected militants and injured two others in Kund Sar village, 40 miles south of Miram Shah, North Waziristan Agency. The strike occurred in an area where militants affiliated with the Haqqani Network, the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, and Uzbek militants are known to operate.[2]

Islamic State

• On November 26, former interior minister Rehman Malik claimed that he has documentary evidence that Islamic State (IS) has a presence in Pakistan. Malik recommended that Prime Minister Sharif use the ongoing South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) conference in Nepal in order to set up an international desk to share information regarding IS in the region with other nations. Malik stated that he possessed evidence that IS might name a TTP commander to lead a new IS chapter in Pakistan. Malik stated that he would make the documentary evidence he possessed public within the next few days.[3]

• On November 28, Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif denied claims regarding the presence of IS in Pakistan.[4]

• On November 28, pamphlets supporting IS were reportedly distributed in Wana, South Waziristan. The pamphlets stated that action ought to be taken against those responsible for killing militants as well as tribal elders who have spied for the U.S. Additionally, the pamphlets thanked tribesmen for supporting the late militant commander Mullah Nazir and Nazir’s successor, Mufti Salahuddin Ayubi.[5]

• According to a November 30 Dawn report, anti- IS graffiti calling supporters of IS traitors of Pakistan has appeared in Karachi. Graffiti in support of IS had appeared earlier in various parts of the country.[6]

Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent

• On November 29, an English-sub-titled video entitled “A Glimpse of a Markaz (Center) of al Qa’eda in Khurasan” was distributed on Facebook and Twitter by the Bangla division of al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS). The video encourages Bangladeshi Muslims to take up jihad and gives a brief view of life at an AQIS base in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region. The footage reportedly shows five fighters, two of whom are identified in the video.[7]

Militancy

• On November 28, Pakistan security forces killed 11 militants and destroyed five hideouts in airstrikes in the Tor Darra, Sur Kas, Sra Vela, and Wacho Wany areas of Kuki Khel in the Tirah Valley, Khyber Agency. According to official sources, eight of the militants killed belonged to the Tariq Afridi militant group.[8]

• On November 29, security forces killed two TTP commanders in a clash in the Lashora area of Jamrud sub-district, Khyber Agency. TTP sources denied claims that one of its commanders, Wajid Abu Bakr, had been killed.[9]

• On November 28, Jundullah claimed responsibility for a November 26 attack near the Eastern Bypass of Quetta that killed four polio vaccination workers and injured three others.[10]

• On December 1, security forces seized a truck carrying around 5,000 kilograms of explosives attempting to enter Quetta, Balochistan. Separately, security forces also conducted raids in the Quetta, Panjgur and Zhob areas of Balochistan and recovered weapons including landmines, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), rocket launchers, mortars and rifles.[11]

• On November 30, militants ambushed Frontier Corps (FC) personnel, killing one and injuring two others, in Kech district, Balochistan. Militants used an RPG in the attack.[12]

• On November 28, a roadside IED killed two FC personnel and injured three others in Phase-3, Hayatabad, Peshawar.[13]

• On November 28, a remote controlled IED was detonated, targeting an anti-Taliban militia chief from Tank, Gul Islam, at the Tank-Wana road intersection near Gara Mhito, Tank district, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Gul Islam’s bodyguard was injured in the attack but Gul was himself unhurt.[14]

• On November 29, unknown attackers injured three Pakistan Rangers in a grenade attack at a Rangers check post in Kamaila Stop, Lyari, Karachi. Security personnel believe the attackers were gang members from Lyari.[15]

• On November 29, unidentified attackers killed a child and injured five others in a grenade attack on a police vehicle in Hyderabad, Sindh.[16]

Indian-administered Kashmir

• On November 27, armed militants attacked an Indian Army patrol in Arnia town of Jammu district, about four kilometers from the international boundary in Indian-administered Kashmir. The ensuing, protracted encounter between the Indian forces and militants resulted in the death of four civilians and three soldiers. Five militants were also reportedly killed by Indian forces.[17]

• On November 30, a suspected militant shot dead a village head in Nazneenpora village, 60 kilometers south of the capital city of Srinagar in Indian-administered Kashmir. The attack came ahead of the second phase of voting to be held on December 1. Indian-administered Kashmir will vote in five phases, with results to be declared on December 23. Prime Minister Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is attempting to win a majority in the Muslim-majority state’s 87-member assembly for the first time. The BJP traditionally has had no base in the Kashmir Valley.[18]

Indo-Pak Relations

• Since November 27, the Pakistani and Indian armies have accused each other of “unprovoked firing” across the international boundary and the Line of Control (LoC) in separate incidents. On November 27 and 28, Indian Border Security Forces (BSF) reportedly resorted to firing and mortar shelling in the Charwah sector near Sialkot along the LoC.  The targeted villages included Charwah, Tulsipur, Bhimala and Dandeala. On November 30, BSF officials claimed that Pakistani Rangers resorted to small-arms firing at a BSF post in the Samba sector of Indian-administered Kashmir along the international boundary.[19]

• A November 28, an Express Tribune report claimed that India and Pakistan may resume talks on the stalled peace process after brief interaction between the prime ministers of the two countries at the SAARC summit in Nepal on November 26-27. The two countries are first expected to restore the ceasefire along the LoC and the working boundary followed by a meeting between the states’ foreign secretaries. On November 28, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif declared that Pakistan wanted a relationship with India on the basis of “dignity, self-respect and honor” and that it desired a “meaningful dialogue to resolve all issues including Kashmir.” Meanwhile, on November 29, Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh declared that Pakistani “state actors” in addition to “non-state actors” were responsible for trying to destabilize India. Singh further said that Islamic terror is a major challenge for India and expressed confidence that terror outfits would not succeed in India.[20]

Foreign Affairs

• On November 28, Pakistani and Russian officials issued a joint statement at the conclusion of the third meeting of Pak-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation in Moscow and reiterated their commitment to cooperate with each other and encourage private investment mainly in the energy sector. Separately, senior officials of the Russian bank Vnesh Togov Bank (VTB) offered the Pakistani Finance Minister, Ishaq Dar, a credit line of $1 billion for energy projects in Pakistan.[21]

• A November 28 report in The News claims that the Indian security establishment had made efforts through diplomatic channels to stop Russia from lifting an embargo on arms sales to Pakistan and selling it Mi-35 helicopters. The Russian administration, however, lifted the embargo on Russian arms supplies to Pakistan in June 2014 and has reportedly agreed to supply 20 Mi-35 helicopters to Pakistan. Russia has long been the largest supplier of arms to India.[22]

• According to a November 27 Express Tribune report, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh declared that the Iranian government “will not suspend” its gas export contract with Pakistan. Zanganeh also declared that Iran had almost completed the establishment of the Iran-Pakistan (IP) pipeline in its territory and is ready to export gas to Pakistan as soon as the Pakistani section of the pipeline is built. The gas contract between Iran and Pakistan requires the Pakistani government to pay $3 million in compensation to Iran for each day of delay, starting in 2015.[23]

Military

• According to a November 28 Dawn report, U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Dan Feldman, declared that Army chief Gen. Raheel Sharif’s visit to the U.S. was “significant” and that the Army chief received broad support for the country’s counter-terrorism campaign from the U.S. On November 30, Army Chief Gen. Raheel Sharif met U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at the U.S. Department of State in Washington D.C. and discussed regional security issues. Kerry reportedly appreciated Pakistan’s role in fighting terrorism and offered full U.S. support in this regard.[24]

• On December 1, a Pakistan Air Force Mirage-5 jet crashed in Athara Hazari area of Jhang district in Punjab province. The pilot survived the crash and no other casualties were reported.[25]

• According to a December 1 Dawn report, the U.S.-Pakistan Defense Consultative Group will meet in Washington D.C. in the second week of December. While the Pakistani delegation is expected to give a detailed review of Operation Zarb-e-Azb in North Waziristan, the U.S. delegation is expected to review the post-2014 U.S. and NATO strategy for the Pak-Afghan region.[26]

Domestic Politics

• On November 30, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan held a massive rally on Constitution Avenue in Islamabad amid tight security and threatened to “shut down” the entire country by December 16 if the party’s demand for an independent audit of the May 2013 general elections was not accepted by the government. Khan threated to “shut down” the cities of Lahore, Faisalabad and Karachi on December 4, 8 and 12 respectively as a part of his “Plan C” against the government. Khan also declared that the PTI would announce its “Plan D” after December 16. On December 1, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced the government’s decision to resume talks with the PTI. Information Minister Pervez Rashid had declared on November 30 that the government would not resume talks with PTI until Imran Khan gave up his “politics of turmoil.”[27]

• According to a December 1 report in The News, militant front Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) is making arrangements for its two-day convention to be held on December 4-5 at the Minar-e-Pakistan monument in Lahore. According to a JuD spokesman, the convention is aimed at promoting “Pakistani ideology and making the Ummah one nation.”[28]