Pakistan Security Brief

Pakistan will cooperate with U.K. investigation into MQM chief; Interior Minister reiterates drone strike grievances to U.S. Ambassador; Suicide bomber kills eight, wounds fifteen at Pakistan-Afghan border; Palestinian Ambassador to Pakistan pledged improved strategic relations; U.S. to reduce aid to Pakistan; Pakistan and India unite over energy policies and track two diplomacy; Two TTP commanders killed in FR Peshawar; Nawaz Sharif considers oversight commission on security agencies; TTP to ramp up militant activity, says spokesman; Nanga Parbat militant arrested; Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif convenes high-level meeting for national security policy; Peshawar High Court calls for accountability in “missing persons” cases; FATA political leaders demand equal status; Four injured in rocket attack from Afghanistan; Pakistan reinstates death penalty; Militants attack NATO tanker, kill driver; Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs considers closing 22 overseas missions; Finance Minister Ishaq Dar requests early IMF loan disbursement; Sharif visit to China improves bilateral relations; Four killed in North Waziristan car blast; Rangers arrest eleven in Karachi; 9 killed in Karachi.

U.K.-Pakistan Relations

• In a press briefing on Thursday, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan announced that the government would initiate proceedings involving Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Altaf Hussain as necessary in response to the United Kingdom’s investigation into the death of MQM co-founder Imran Farooq.  Speaking on behalf of the MQM Thursday, Dr. Farooq Sattar advised the press that the party would cooperate with law enforcement, but refused to permit interference in their political matters.[1]

U.S.-Pakistan Relations

• According to a Dawn report released on Thursday, the Obama administration will decrease its aid to Pakistan in 2013-2014 to $1.16 billion, from $2.6 billion in 2012-2013. According to U.S. State Department Spokeswoman Jen Psaki, the cut should not be interpreted as a deterioration of ties between the U.S. and Pakistan, but rather, the result of the 2014 drawdown in Afghanistan. Psaki also noted that Secretary of State John Kerry will likely visit Pakistan in the near future, although she did not give a definite date for the visit. [2]

• In a press briefing on Thursday, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan revealed he had informed U.S. Ambassador Richard Olson that the government of Pakistan has strong reservations against the drone program, and cautioned that continued strikes may harm bilateral relations with the United States.  His remarks follow Wednesday’s strike that killed 18 alleged militants, and the TTP’s ensuing condemnation of the government’s continued acquiescence to U.S. demands. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf  (PTI) chief Imran Khan expressed similar displeasure at the strike, noting that, “The drones targeting Pakistanis in FATA were against all international laws, from the UN Charter (Article 2:4), to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR: Article 6).”[3]

Militancy     

• A suicide bomber killed eight people and wounded another fifteen others after he detonated his explosive vest at Friendship Gate at the Pakistan-Afghan border, just outside of Chaman, Balochistan on Thursday. The bomber reportedly targeted, and killed, the checkpoint commander.[4]

• Two Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commanders and an Assistant Sub-Inspector police official were killed on Thursday in Sheikh Nala, Frontier Region (FR) Peshawar during a clash between militants and Frontier Corps personnel. Reportedly, the militants took refuge in a local house in the area, using children and women as hostages before being flushed out by an anti-Taliban militia and security forces. One of the militants was reportedly the brother of Taliban commander Jangrez, who masterminded the Badaber bombings that killed 18 people last week. The operation occurred in response to a July 3 TTP attack on a security post in FR Peshawar that killed six Frontier Corps members, and resulted in the kidnapping and subsequent death of two other security personnel.[5]

• According to a Thursday report in the The News, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is considering implementing the recommendations of the Air Chief Marshal Zulfiqar Ali Khan Commission, which suggests a two-tier oversight regulation mechanism for all security agencies, in an effort to increase transparency and decrease inter-agency competition in Pakistan’s war on terror. A key feature of the commission involves the establishment of a National Security Council and a “Joint Intelligence Committee” to oversee the Pakistani security apparatus.[6]

• In a phone interview with the Express Tribune on Wednesday, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan announced the TTP’s intention to ramp up terrorism in Pakistan. Ehsan also claimed that the TTP will not negotiate with the government anytime soon, noting that “the security establishment is still powerful” and makes decisions for the government.[7]  

• A third militant allegedly involved in the Nanga Parbat killings was arrested on Thursday in Diamer, according to police officials. Thirteen other militants identified in connection with the attacks remain at large.[8]

• Unknown militants on motorcycles attacked and killed the driver of a NATO tanker on Thursday in Wadh, Khuzdar district, Balochistan. Two others were also wounded in the attack, and the tanker was burned by the militants.[9]

• A woman was shot and killed in her home in Kuchlak, Quetta on Wednesday by a gunman who fled after the firing.[10] 

• A policeman was shot and killed in Pishtakhara, Peshawar on Friday. Unknown gunmen reportedly opened fire on the man just outside of the Pishtakhara police station.[11]

• A portion of a home in Sheikh Dheri, Swabi district, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was destroyed on Wednesday after an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded outside of the structure. A second bomb was reportedly found and defused in the vicinity.[12]   

• The home of a local Awami National Party (ANP) activist was damaged in an IED detonation on Thursday, after unknown men planted a half kilogram bomb in the immediate vicinity of the man’s home.[13]

• Unknown men blew up a local cellular tower in Togh Serai, Hangu district, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Tuesday night, planting explosives at the base of the tower before detonating them.[14] 

• Unknown gunmen shot and killed a health worker and her daughter in Tank, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday.[15]

• On Friday, unknown militants opened fire on a passenger van, killing two people and wounding three others in Akakhel, Khyber agency.[16]

• On Thursday, four security personnel were killed in a suicide car blast at a checkpost in Datta Khel, North Waziristan. After refusing to heed orders to stop at the checkpoint, the bomber detonated himself, and the car full of explosives.[17]      

• Frontier Corps members shot and killed an unknown militant on Thursday, killing the man and destroying the man’s explosive-laden car approximately 200 meters before he could reach the Boya checkpoint in Miram Shah, North Waziristan.[18]

• A government girl’s school was destroyed by an IED in Wana, South Waziristan on Thursday. Three devices were placed along the walls of the school; however, only one successfully detonated.[19]  

• On Thursday, unidentified militants in Kunar, Afghanistan, launched a rocket that landed in Kaga, Mamund sub-district of Bajaur agency; the attack injured four people.[20]

• Rangers personnel arrested eleven suspected militants, including a suicide bomber, during a raid in Manghopir, Karachi on Friday. The officials also seized an arms caches, mobile phones and motorcycles in the raid.[21]  

• Inspector General of Prisons Nusrat Mangan confirmed today that prison staff members frequently conduct search operations without scanners or metal detectors, allegedly due to financial limitations.  His remarks follow the massive June 29th search by Sindh Rangers of Karachi’s central prison, which revealed evidence suggesting that incarcerated militants had planned an attack on Sindh High Court’s Justice Maqbool Baqar in late June.[22]

•  On Friday, both Rangers personnel and unknown gunmen opened fire at Lyari residents protesting the death of a Lyari citizen killed the day before during a fire fight between security forces and extremists. Police initially negotiated with the protestors, but immediately after, used a water canon on the protestors, before firing live rounds into the group. During the confusion, unknown men in the area fired on the crowd as well, throwing a grenade into the fray, killing one man and wounding six others.[23]

• Shootings killed 9 people on Thursday in Karachi. A shop owner was shot dead in Hasan by men on motorcycles, while a rickshaw driver was killed in Agra Taj Colony. Another man was killed by unknown men in Surjani, while two bodies were also found in Bihar and Giziri. Another man was shot outside his home in Liaquatabad. A man was shot and killed, while one was wounded, near Hanif Manzil. Another man was found dead in Defence area, while the third was killed in a shooting that occurred near Sakhi Hussain.[24]  

India-Pakistan Relations

• Unnamed senior officials confirmed on Friday that the governments of India and Pakistan are in talks to build a transnational power grid that could ease Pakistan’s energy crisis.  Pakistan intends to send a delegation to finalize the deal shortly, and the project has an expected completion timeline of three years.[25]

• Pakistna's Jinnah Institute and India's New Delhi’s Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation initiated their third annual conference yesterday, termed the Islamabad Dialogue.  The conference hosted a variety of journalists, defense experts, and diplomats who debated the merits of trade, travel, and correcting false perceptions in an effort to improve bilateral relations between India and Pakistan.[26]

Domestic

• Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced on Wednesday that he will convene a meeting of major political party leaders on July 12th to develop a national strategy for combating militancy and restoring law and order.  Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan confirmed on Thursday that Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani would also be invited to the talks.  His announcement comes as criticism mounts that the incumbent Pakistan Muslim League’s has failed to devise and enact a comprehensive counterterrorism strategy. [27]

• Speaking before a congregation of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) residents at the presidential palace on Wednesday, President Asif Ali Zardari expressed his desire to empower and serve the citizens of Pakistan. The Shaheed Bhutto Foundation convened an assembly yesterday to discuss legal reforms for the FATA.  Attendees of the event approved a Citizens’ Declaration for FATA Reforms that requests the government implement changes to the Frontier Crime Regulations approved in 2011, and provide citizens of the FATA with equal status and the same rights as citizens in other parts of Pakistan in order to combat militancy.[28]

• In an order from the Peshawar High Court on Thursday, Chief Justice Dost Mohammad Khan and Justice Qaiser Rasheed declared that any missing person cases arising from detentions by the police or intelligence services would be met with the registration of criminal cases against the involved officers and their commanders, as well as the delay of any promotions. Furthermore, the justices demanded an update on the status and location of all missing persons.[29]

• Pakistan’s moratorium on the death penalty expired on June 30th; Interior Ministry spokesman Omar Hamid Khan confirmed on Friday that the government had no intention of renewing the prohibition, possibly in an effort to expand its arsenal of countermeasures against militancy and terrorism.  The decision has drawn criticism from Amnesty International.[30]

• The district coordinator for the Expanded Programme of Immunisation announced today that the government will launch a ten-day measles vaccination campaign in Bahawalpur district on July 8th.[31]

Budget Concerns

• Finance Minister Ishaq Dar requested today that the IMF provide $3.2 billion of the recently agreed upon loan upfront in order to prevent a continued drawdown in the government’s foreign reserves.  Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Syed Khursheed Ahmad Shah appealed on Friday to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his government to seek Parliament’s approval on the IMF loan.  Shah claimed Dar should be accountable for defending the government’s decision to accept the loan.[32]

• In response to budgetary constraints, Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi revealed plans today for closing 22 foreign missions in countries including: Chile, Niger, Serbia, and Bosnia.  Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will review the proposal upon his return from China.  This plan, in addition to a reduction in diplomatic perks, would cut government expenditures; however, according to a Friday report in Dawn, closing 22 missions would lead to a 25% reduction in Pakistan’s diplomatic presence overseas and possibly jeopardize its ability to forge bilateral trade relations with emerging markets and established defense industries.[33]

China-Pakistan Relations

• Speaking at the Great Hall of the People in China today on his first foreign visit since taking office, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif informed Chinese Premier Li Keqiang that their countries’ relationship was “sweeter than honey.”  Sharif and Keqiang signed eight agreements on Friday including: an “economic corridor” link to the Arabian Sea, a Pakistani-led crackdown on Uighur militants along the Chinese border, and the installation of a massive fiber-optic cable to improve communications. Furthermore, in a meeting with China’s Overseas Port Holding Company Sun Ziyun, Sharif pledged to fast track the infrastructural development of Gwadar Port, calling for an international airport and Karakoram Highway, and urging Ziyun to begin work on Attabad lake. As part of Nawaz Sharif’s delegation, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif met with a Chinese firm on Friday and pledged the government of Pakistan’s full support in accomplishing the stalled hydropower project at Nandipur, near Gujranwala, Punjab Province.[34]

Saudi-Pakistani Relations

• Saudi Ambassador Dr. Abdul Aziz Ibrahim al-Ghadeer met Minister of Interior Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan on Wednesday, praising bilateral relations between the two countries.   Separately, al-Ghadeer announced that the Saudi regime will decrease the hajj quota for each Islamic country by 20% for the next three years due to resource constraints imposed by ongoing renovations at the Masjid al Haraam.[35]

 Palestine-Pakistan Relations

• Speaking at the 17th National Research Conference held at the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology yesterday, Palestinian Ambassador Waleed Abu Ali pledged to improve strategic relations between Pakistan and Palestine by fostering cooperation in trade, economic matters, science, and technology.[36]