Pakistan Security Brief

Peace talks between the Pakistani government and the TTP postponed; Talks may be causing TTP rifts; TTP spokesman regrets decision of Imran Khan and Mufti Kifayatullah to not participate in peace talks; JUI-F leader distances himself from peace talks; Prime Minister Sharif expresses optimism over peace talks; Former President Musharraf to appear before special court on February 7; Pakistani Interior Minister meets with U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan; IED damages boys’ school in Shabqadar; Three soldiers injured in South Waziristan blast; Gunmen kill Frontier Corps soldier in Khyber agency; Militants kill one police officer in Dadu; Gunmen kill four policemen in Karachi.

Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Peace Talks

• On Tuesday, members of the government’s negotiating committee failed to meet with members of the Taliban-nominated committee, prompting Maulana Samiul Haq to allege that military operations against the militants were “imminent.”  A senior journalist and member of the government’s negotiating committee, Rahimullah Yusufzai, stated that his committee wanted to clarify first who was on the TTP’s committee before the two groups began negotiations. Irfan Siddiqui of the government committee reportedly contacted Samiul Haq to postpone the meeting between the two sides while the government sought clarification from the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on certain matters relating to the makeup of the TTP’s committee after a number of TTP nominees distanced themselves from the talks.[1]

• According to a Tuesday report in The News, the possible peace talks with the government may be causing rifts within the TTP. According to the report, no commanders from the Mehsud tribe are part of the committee overseeing peace talks although it is unclear whether that is their decision or if Mullah Fazlullah has chosen to leave them out. The Punjabi Taliban, led by Asmatullah Muawiya, is reportedly part of the talks, despite Hakimullah Mehsud’s previous decision to sack Muawiya after he expressed willingness to talk with the government.[2]

• On Monday, TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid stated that the TTP regret the decision of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Imran Khan and senior Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) politician Mufti Kifayatullah to distance themselves from the TTP’s negotiating committee. According to the Taliban spokesman, columnist, Orya Maqbool Jan, and senior journalist with The News, Ansar Abbasi, are being considered to replace Khan and Kifayatullah. Abbasi, who was first offered a position on the government’s negotiating team, has insisted that he cannot represent either side. Shahid later stated that the three-member negotiating committee was final, and that no new members will be added.[3]

• On Monday, the leader of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Maulana Fazlur Rehman, distanced himself and his party from the peace talks that Rehman described as “ineffective.” Explaining his decision, Rehman said the JUI-F was not consulted or informed about the government’s decision to engage in peace talks with the TTP.[4]

• On Monday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressed optimism about the peace talks with the TTP and said he would participate in the talks whenever it was necessary. He reiterated that the government preferred to settle all issues through dialogue.[5]

Musharraf Trial

• On Tuesday, former president Pervez Musharraf received his arrest warrant and is required to appear before the special court on February 7. The court also dismissed Musharraf’s application to seek medical care in the United States.[6]

Domestic

• On Monday, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told the U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan, Richard Olson, that Pakistan has a key role to play in the region following the 2014 withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, and hoped that the U.S. would respect Pakistan’s regional security interests. In response, Olson told Khan that the U.S. would not abandon Pakistan or Afghanistan after U.S. and NATO forces withdraw.[7]

• On Monday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the Chief of the Army Staff General Raheel Sharif met to discuss the overall security situation in Pakistan and the impending peace talks with the TTP.[8]

• A Tuesday article in The News reported that representatives from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission in Pakistan believe the government in Pakistan is fully committed to the IMF’s reform agenda and that the economy is making positive progress.[9]

Militancy

• On Tuesday, an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated, damaging part of a boys’ primary school in Konra colony of Shabqadar, Mohmand agency. Following the blast, police found a second bomb, which the Bomb Disposal Unit successfully defused.[10]

• On Monday, a roadside bomb blast in Kharsar, South Waziristan agency injured three soldiers.[11]

• On Sunday, unidentified gunmen killed a Frontier Corps soldier in Ghundi, Khyber agency.[12]

• On Monday, a bomb in Hyderabad, Sindh destroyed a small portion of a railroad.[13]

• On Tuesday, three unknown militants fired on a police check point in the Juhi area of Dadu, Sindh province, killing one police officer and injuring another.[14]

• On Monday, unknown gunmen shot and killed four policemen in Karachi’s Ibrahim Hyderi area.[15]