Pakistan Security Brief

Pakistan Security Brief – July 17, 2009

A drone attack on Friday in North Waziristan reportedly killed five militants; two separate bomb attacks in Khyber agency on Friday targeted NATO fuel tankers destined for Afghanistan; Pakistani and Indian prime ministers pledged on Thursday to cooperate on counter-terrorism efforts and share actionable intelligence in the future; clashes between Pakistani security forces and militants continued in the Swat valley on Thursday. 

• Following talks on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement summit on Thursday, the prime ministers of Pakistan and India have issued a joint statement pledging to cooperate on stopping terrorism and to “share real-time, credible and actionable intelligence.”[1]
   
• A drone attack on a suspected militant compound in North Waziristan killed five militants on Friday. According to local security officials, the targeted stronghold in Bahadur Kaley village, 30 miles south of Miram Shah, was suspected of being a Beitullah Mehsud stronghold.[2]
   
• Two separate bomb attacks in Khyber agency on Friday destroyed one tanker and damaged another carrying fuel supplies to NATO forces in Afghanistan. The attacks were launched in the Jumrud and Landi Kotal areas, respectively.[3]
   
• A landmine explosion in North Waziristan killed three tribesmen on Thursday. Two others were killed in Mir Ali and Miram Shah in shelling by security forces. Elsewhere in the FATA, tribesmen in the Salarzai area of Bajaur agency repelled an attack on their village launched by scores of Taliban fighters.[4]
   
• Fighting continued on Thursday in the Matta area of the Swat valley as security forces killed eight militants, including a local commander, a Pakistani military public relations statement claimed. It said the military was hunting for new Taliban hideouts and tunnels in the area.[5]
   
• The Supreme Court of Pakistan has overturned Nawaz Sharif’s conviction for hijacking; the court said there was “no evidence to support the charge of hijacking”. The move clears the last legal obstacles that had thus far prevented Mr. Sharif from running for office.[6]