Pakistan Security Brief

Security forces agree to postpone military operation in Bajaur; Security forces personnel carry out operation against militants planning to attack prime minister’s house; IED kills at least six in Hangu district; Police and Pakistan Rangers arrest four Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan outside of Islamabad; Security forces arrest six militants in connection with IED in Dera Bugti, Balochistan; Islamabad police and Rangers arrest 80 suspects during search in Sabzi Mandi area of Islamabad; One Indian Border Security Force solider killed in cross-border clash with Pakistan Rangers; Pakistan’s request for Iran to waive a penalty on Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline denied.

Bajaur Operation

• On July 16, Security forces agreed to postpone an imminent military operation in Mamund sub-district of Bajaur Agency after Mamund tribal elders announced that a local militia will be formed to combat militants and protect against cross-border activity.[1]  

Lahore Search Operation

• At 2 am on July 17, about 40-50 security forces personnel including Elite Force Punjab police and army personnel carried out an operation at a house containing militants in Araiyan village on Raiwind road near Lahore. The News reported that the militants were using the residence as a safehouse from which to launch an attack on the prime minister's personal residence in Raiwind. The subsequent 10-hour long firefight between militants and security forces left two Elite Force officials dead, four security officials injured, and one suspected militant dead.  In clearing the house, security force personnel arrested one suspected militant.  Colonel Shuja Khanzada said that police recovered AK-47 rifles, suicide jackets and hand grenades from the compound.[2]

Militancy

• On July 17, two consecutive roadside improvised explosive device (IED) explosions killed at least six people and injured three in Dorri Banda area of Kahi in Hangu district, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.  The first IED hit a passenger bus and caused all of the reported damage and casualties.  According to Bomb Disposal Squad official Akhtar Khan, the IEDs weighed ten kilograms each and were placed in a vegetable oil tin.[3]

• On July 17, police and Pakistan Rangers personnel arrested four Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) members during a search operation in the Sihala area of Islamabad.  Intelligence sources said that the militants had changed their appearance before moving into the area.[4]

• On July 16, Security forces defused a three kilogram roadside IED in Bogi area of Dera Bugti district, Balochistan.  Security forces also arrested six suspected militants involved in planting the explosive device in the surrounding area on July 16.[5]

• A joint force of Pakistan Rangers and Islamabad police arrested 80 suspects including 21 Afghans during a search operation in the Sabzi Mandi area in Islamabad on July 16.[6]

• On July 17, Dawn reported that security forces had arrested 500 cumulative suspected militants from banned outfits across Pakistan. Three hundred arrests were made in Punjab, primarily Bahawalpur, more than 100 in Karachi, and 150 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Pakistani intelligence agencies have said that the Taliban primarily moved to Karachi when they fled from the North Waziristan offensive.[7]

Indo-Pakistan Relation

• On July 16 in the Charwah sector near Sialkot, Pakistan, Pakistan Rangers and Indian Border Security Force (BSF) personnel engaged in a cross-border firefight during which a BSF guard was reportedly killed and three other Indians wounded.[8] 

Iran-Pakistan Relations

• On July 17, The News reported that the Pakistani government’s request to Iran to waive a penalty Pakistan would need to pay for missing production deadlines in the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project was denied. Pakistan submitted the request six months ago.  The denial means Pakistan will have to pay Iran a penalty of $2 million a day starting on January 1, 2015. Pakistan’s lack of progress on the pipeline stems from its fears of incurring U.S. sanctions should it continue the energy project with Iran. [9]