Pakistan Security Brief

U.S. officials agree to target TTP militants in Afghanistan; Airstrikes kill 15 militants in Datta Khel, North Waziristan; Security forces kill 11 militants in Aka Khel, Kalaya areas of Khyber, Orakzai Agency; Militants kill two policemen in Quetta; Eight militants’ corpses recovered in Tirah Valley, Khyber; IED detonates in Hangu, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa; Indian soldiers foil infiltration bid, six militants killed in Indian-administered Kashmir; Militants attack security forces, six injured in Indian-administered Kashmir; Indian Finance Minister declares Kashmir an integral part of India; PAT chief rejects any deal with government; PTI, government likely to resume talks by December 6; Next $1.1 billion loan tranche expected to be approved by IMF.

Militancy

• According to a December 3 Express Tribune report, U.S. authorities have reportedly agreed to increase airstrikes and drone attacks on Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants sheltering in Afghanistan. Pakistani officials claim that TTP militants use the Afghan provinces of Kunar and Nuristan as launching pads for attacks on Pakistani security forces along the Pak-Afghan border. Pakistan Army chief Gen. Raheel Sharif reportedly discussed the issue with senior American military and administration officials during his visit to the U.S.[1]

• On December 3, the Pakistan military killed 15 militants in airstrikes the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan. Two TTP commanders were killed in the airstrikes.[2]

• On December 2, security forces killed 11 militants in clashes in the Aka Khel area of Khyber Agency and Kalaya area of Orakzai Agency.[3]

• In an update to a story reported on December 2, The News reported that security forces killed 13 militants during a militant attack on a security checkpost in the Dars Jumaat area of Aka Khel, Khyber Agency.[4]

• On December 2, Levies Forces recovered eight bullet-ridden bodies of suspected Lashkar-e-Islam militants from the Tirah Valley in Khyber Agency.[5]

• On December 3, militant gunmen killed two policemen in the Shalkot area of Quetta.[6]

• On December 3, an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated at Kahi Bazaar in Hangu, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. No casualties were reported. [7]

Indian-administered Kashmir

• On December 3, Indian soldiers killed six militants attempting to infiltrate across the Line of Control (LoC) in Kupwara district of Indian-administered Kashmir. One soldier was also killed and four injured in the encounter. The second phase of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections was held in Kupwara district earlier that day.[8]  

• On December 3, unknown militants attacked a party of security personnel in Pulwama district in the southern part of Indian-administered Kashmir.  Four Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel, a policeman and a civilian were injured in the attack.[9]

• Addressing a civil society meeting in Srinagar on December 3, Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley declared that Pakistan had to understand that boundaries with India could not be redrawn and that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India.[10]

Political Crisis  

• On December 2, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that if talks with the government resumed by December 6, the party would consider postponing a planned blockade of Faisalabad on December 8. In response, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar stated that if the PTI gave assurances to the government that it would defer its shutdown call, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif could be persuaded to resume talks with PTI by December 6 or 7. Prime Minister Sharif had declared earlier that the government was open to dialogue with the PTI. [11]

• On December 3, Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Tahirul Qadri declared that no deal had been made with the government and that he rejected the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) set up by the government to investigate the Model Town tragedy. Qadri left for the U.S. the same day for medical treatment.[12]

Economy

• On December 2, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced that the government had fulfilled all five pre-conditions laid out by International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the approval of the next loan tranche under the IMF’s $6.6 billion loan program to Pakistan. According to Dar, the IMF is now expected to approve the next $1.1 billion loan tranche to Pakistan at its meeting on December 17. [13]