Pakistan Security Brief
National Security Adviser announces strategic dialogue with U.S. will resume; U.S. considering switch to air transportation for NATO supplies; Afghan Peace Council says it is talking to the Afghan Taliban, Afghan Taliban spokesman issues denial; UN General Assembly passes resolution regulating drone strikes; Security forces convoy kills 23 militants in North Waziristan; Quetta bombing kills one, injures 20; PTI chairman has received threats from militants after supporting polio workers; New General in charge of Pakistani nukes appointed; Finance Minister says that power generation will sharply decline. Protestors in Dhaka storm Pakistan High Commission.
U.S.-Pakistan Relations
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On Wednesday, Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz announced that the strategic dialogue between Pakistan and the United States, which was suspended in 2010, will resume in early 2014.[1]
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According to a Thursday report in The Associated Press, American officials are considering halting North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) truck lines through Pakistan in favor of flying all NATO cargo into and out of Afghanistan. This would cost five to seven times as much as the truck routes, but the United States is losing patience with anti-drone protesters who have blockaded the supply routes for days.[2]
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On Wednesday, workers from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf distributed shawls and candy to Afghan Transit Trade truckers in an attempt to win over the truckers, who have been adversely affected by the PTI-led protests in Peshawar against NATO supply lines running through Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.[3]
Afghanistan Reconciliation Process
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On Wednesday, a spokesman for the Afghan Peace Council disputed comments made by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz indicating that the Afghan Taliban is refusing to take part in reconciliation talks. The spokesman said that “many Taliban leaders are in contact with the Council.” Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that the Taliban is not talking with the Karzai government in Afghanistan.[4]
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On Wednesday, Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said that the policy of using Afghanistan for “strategic depth” is out of date. He also said that Pakistan is not involved in proxy wars in Afghanistan, and has no favorites in the country.[5] U.S. Drone Strikes
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On Thursday, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly unanimously passed a resolution that seeks to regulate the use of drones against suspected terrorists. The resolution included a specific section on drone strikes, in part due to the Pakistani UN delegation’s efforts. The text of the resolution urges the U.S. to comply with international law, and to ensure that its counterterrorism efforts do not breach international legal obligations.[6]
Militancy
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On Wednesday, militants attacked a security force convoy in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan agency. Soldiers in the convoy retaliated, killing 23 militants, while suffering three injuries. The incident follows a massive vehicle-borne bomb attack yesterday by Ansar-ul-Mujahideen fighters on a Pakistani military checkpost in the Khajori area of Mir Ali that killed five soldiers and wounded over 30. The convoy that came under attack was returning from a rescue mission to the site of the bombing. On Thursday, in the Mir Ali area, soldiers acting on an intelligence tip that militants were preparing a second vehicle-borne bomb, raided a safe house and killed ten militants, most of whom were reported to be Uzbeks. Earlier, soldiers raiding two hotels close to the site of the bombing killed six militants they engaged in a firefight, Artillery fire was also reported in Moski village near Mir Ali, which killed at least two civilians.[7]
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On Thursday, a bomb blast in the Pashtunabad area of Quetta killed one person and injured 20 others.[8]
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On Wednesday, a clash between two groups in Darra Adam Khel, Frontier Region Kohat, Orakzai agency injured two men. Both of the injured belonged to the Arif Khan Group, which has been linked to the TTP in the past. The other group was an anti-TTP organization called the Momin Khan Afridi Group.[9]
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On Thursday, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shireen Mazari said that PTI chairman Imran Khan’s defense of polio workers who are being targeted by militants has led to Ansar-ul-Mujahideen, a group with ties to the TTP, issuing a threat against him.[10]
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On Wednesday, militants kidnapped five people in Akakhel, Bara sub-district, Khyber agency.[11]
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On Wednesday, police arrested two men who were transporting a large cache of weapons from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to Punjab along the Islamabad-Peshawar motorway.[12]
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On Wednesday, the Malakand Levies seized two sacks of explosives, reportedly weighing up to 20 kilograms, and three hand-grenades, from a house in Meherdi Cutbool, Malakand.[13]
Domestic
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On Wednesday, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) announced that Lieutenant General Zubair Mahmood Hayat will replace Lieutenant General Khalid Ahmed Kidwai as the director of Pakistan’s Strategic Plans Division (SPD), which is responsible for controlling Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal.[14]
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On Thursday, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar warned of impending rolling blackouts because of the closure of canals feeding hydroelectric plants and gas shortages leading to a reduction in gas supplies to thermal energy plants.[15]
Pakistan-Bangladesh Relations
“Heavy Fighting in Pakistan’s North Waziristan,” BBC News, December 19, 2013. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25446018
