Pakistan Security Brief
Pakistan Security Brief – January 14, 2010
TTP leader Hakimullah Mehsud is targeted in a drone strike in North Waziristan; an explosion in Mohmand Agency kills two and injures eight; the Sindh government’s chief minister says he did not give the order for a security operation in Karachi; US special envoy Richard Holbrooke visits Swat.
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Tehrik-e-Taliban Paksitan (TTP) leader Hakimullah Mehsud is believed to have been the target of a US drone strike in the village of Shaktoi in the Pasalkot area along the border between North and South Waziristan. Pakistani officials say at least twelve militants were killed when two missiles struck a compound where a meeting of TTP leaders was being held. Details regarding Hakimullah Mehsud’s death are still unclear but a TTP spokesman and at least one unnamed Pakistani intelligence official have both stated that Mehsud was not killed in the attack.[1]
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At least two people have been killed and eight others injured in an explosion near Halamzai sub-district in Mohmand Agency. One of those killed was Muhammad Akbar, a local peace committee leader.[2]
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Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah has said that his government did not give the order approving a recent security operation in the Karachi neighborhood of Lyari. Shah stated that the police and Rangers who carried out the operation had not arrested any criminals and had only detained innocent people. He also stressed that future security operations should be conducted using a wider scope and should not focus on Lyari specifically.[3]
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US special envoy Richard Holbrooke visited Swat and received a briefing on Operation Rah-e-Rast from its top commander. Holbrooke stated that he was satisfied with the military’s successes and pledged continued US support for reconstruction in the region.[4]
