Pakistan Security Brief

January 17, 2014

Prime Minister says that government is committed to restarting TTP talks; Interior Minister says that government is close to finalizing National Security Policy; Petroleum Minister says that that Pakistani delegation will travel to Iran to agree on new pipeline timeline; Indian and Pakistani armies hold meeting at LoC; Musharraf wants to go to U.S. for medical treatment; Blast derails train in Punjab, killing four and injuring 15; TTP denies involvement in Tablighi center attack in Peshawar; Gunman kills five, injures two in Rawalpindi; Blast in Khyber agency kills Khassadar soldier; Gunmen kill two policemen, injure two others in Karachi; A.Q. Khan’s TTP and PTI to merge in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa; Government transfers control of PSM to Privatization Committee.

Talks with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)

  • On Thursday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif reaffirmed his commitment to dialogue with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). He said that talks with the group had been progressing until Hakimullah Mehsud was killed in an American drone strike in November.[1]

  • On Thursday, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said that the government has restarted its attempts to negotiate with the TTP. He added that the government is finalizing a National Security Policy to fight extremism.[2]

Iran Gas Pipeline

  • On Thursday, Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi confirmed that a Pakistani delegation will leave for Iran on Friday. The purpose of the meeting is to agree on a new timeline for the completion of the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline. Pakistan is currently obliged to complete the pipeline by December 2014.[3]

  • On Thursday, a Foreign Office spokesperson said that the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline has been delayed due to a lack of funds, not pressure from the United States.[4]

India-Pakistan Relations

  • On Friday, the Indian and Pakistani armies held a brigadier-level meeting at the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district.[5]

Musharraf Trial

  • On Thursday, former President Pervez Musharraf’s lawyers presented an Islamabad court with a letter from Musharraf’s American doctor in Paris, Texas saying that Musharraf needs to be treated in the U.S., or he could be at risk for a major heart attack.[6]

Militancy

  • On Friday, a blast derailed a train that was travelling between Peshawar and Karachi in Umerkot, Rajanpur district, Punjab, killing four people and injuring at least 15. The TTP has denied responsibility for the attack.[7]

  • According to a Friday Reuters report, TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid denied the TTP’s involvement in the Thursday attack on a Tablighi center in Peshawar which killed 10 and injured more than 60. Shahid called the attack “inhuman.” At the same time, Shahid claimed responsibility for recent attacks on police forces in Malakand, Shangla, and Mansehra districts.[8]

  • The police report for the Thursday Tablighi Center blast in Peshawar was released on Friday, and it says that at least three people are believed to have been involved in the attack.[9]

  • On Friday, an unidentified gunman killed five people and injured two in Rawalpindi. According to the police, all of the victims were from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).[10]

  • An improvised explosive device (IED) blast in Sadukhel, Kyber agency killed one Khassadar soldier and injured another on Thursday.[11]

  • Unidentified gunmen on Thursday killed two policemen and injured two other people in the New Karachi neighborhood in Karachi.[12]

  • On Friday, the Sindh Rangers arrested 19 people in raids throughout Karachi.[13]

  • On Thursday, a bomb blast in Serai Naurang, Lakki Marwat district, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa damaged the house of Ali Sarwar Khan, an Awami National Party (ANP) leader. No one was injured in the blast.[14]

  • Police in Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa defused four hand grenades found on Thursday.[15]

Domestic

  • On Thursday, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa chapter of Pakistani nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan’s Tehreek-e-Tahaffuz Pakistan announced its merger with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).[16]

  • On Thursday, a Pakistan Air Force plane crashed in Qadirabad, Mandi Bahauddin district, Punjab. Both pilots died, though there were no civilian casualties.[17]

  • On Thursday, the government transferred control of Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) to the Privatization Commission, which will restructure PSM before privatizing it.[18]  

 
[1] “Nawaz Advocates Testing Dialogue Option with Taliban,” Dawn, January 17, 2014. Available at: http://www.dawn.com/news/1080799/nawaz-advocates-testing-dialogue-option-with-taliban
[2] “Nisar Promises New Security Policy, Restart of Drone-Disrupted Dialogue with Militants,” The Express Tribune, January 16, 2014. Available at: http://tribune.com.pk/story/659568/nisar-promises-new-security-policy-restart-of-drone-disrupted-dialogue-with-militants/
[3] Khalid Mustafa, “Pak-Iran Talks Tomorrow to Revise Pipeline Timeframe,” The News, January 17, 2014. Available at: http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-27976-Pak-Iran-talks-tomorrow-to-revise-pipeline-timeframe
[4] “Delays in Iran-Pakistan Pipeline Due to Money, not US: Foreign Office,” The Express Tribune, January 16, 2014. Available at: http://tribune.com.pk/story/659654/foreign-office-says-delays-in-iran-pakistan-pipeline-due-to-money-not-us/
[5] “Pak-India Brigadier Level Meeting Held on LoC,” The Express Tribune, January 17, 2014. Available at: http://tribune.com.pk/story/659958/pak-india-brigadier-level-meeting-held-on-loc/
[7] “Blast Derails Train in Rajanpur; Three Killed,” Dawn, January 17, 2014. Available at: http://www.dawn.com/news/1080912/blast-derails-train-in-rajanpur-three-killed
“deadly Blast Derails Train in Pakistan,” BBC, January 17, 2014. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25773296
[8] Zahir Shah Sherazi, “Blast at Peshawar Tablighi Centre Kills Ten, Injures More than 60,” Dawn, January 17, 2014. Available at: http://www.dawn.com/news/1080731/blast-at-peshawar-tablighi-centre-kills-ten-injures-more-than-60
“TTP Condemns Blast at Tableeghi Markaz in Peshawar,” The Frontier Post, January 16, 2014. Available at: http://www.thefrontierpost.com/article/68644/TTP-condemns-blast-at-Tableeghi-Markaz-in-Peshawar/
[9] “There Could be at Least 3 Terrorists Involved in Tableeghi Markaz Blast: Report,” The Express Tribune, January 17, 2014. Available at: http://tribune.com.pk/story/659933/there-could-be-at-least-3-terrorists-involved-in-tableeghi-markaz-blast-report/
[10] “Five People Gunned Down in Rawalpindi,” Dawn, January 17, 2014. Available at: http://www.dawn.com/news/1080924/five-people-gunned-down-in-rawalpindi
[11] “Khassadar Sepoy Killed in Landikotal Bomb Blast,” The News, January 17, 2014. Available at: http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-7-226962-Khassadar-sepoy-killed-in-Landikotal-bomb-blast
[12] “Two Cops Among Four Killed in Karachi Firing,” The News, January 16, 2014. Available at: http://www.thenews.com.pk/article-134404-Two-cops-among-4-killed-in-Karachi-firing
[13] “19 Arrested in Karachi Rangers Raids,” Geo News, January 17, 2014. Available at: http://www.geo.tv/article-134490-19-arrested-in-Karachi-Rangers-raids
[14] “ANP Leader’s Hujra Damaged in Lakki Blast,” The News, January 17, 2014. Available at: http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-7-226970-ANP-leaders-hujra-damaged-in-Lakki-blast
[15] “Four Grenades Defused in DIK,” The News, January 17, 2014. Available at: http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-226990-Four-grenades-defused-in-DIK
[16] “Birds of a Feather: PTI and AQ Khan’s TTP Come Together,” The Express Tribune, January 17, 2014. Available at: http://tribune.com.pk/story/659646/birds-of-a-feather-pti-and-aq-khans-ttp-come-together/
[17] “Two Pilots Killed after PAF Fighter Aircraft Crashes Near Mandi Bahauddin,” The Express Tribune, January 16, 2014. Available at: http://tribune.com.pk/story/659554/two-pilots-killed-after-paf-fighter-aircraft-crashes-near-mandi-bahauddin/
[18] Shabhaz Rana, “Final Notice: Privatisation of PSM Imminent,” The Express Tribune, January 17, 2014. Available at: http://tribune.com.pk/story/659731/final-notice-privatisation-of-psm-imminent/
View Citations
View Citations
TIMELINE
Arrow down red
Feb '14
Jan '14
Dec '13