Pakistan Security Brief

Pakistan Security Brief – June 17, 2010

Pakistani army confirms 40 Frontier Corps soldiers missing; 38 militants, 10 soldiers killed in Bajaur Agency; Taliban publically executes alleged murderer; Pakistan seeks U.S. helicopters; U.S. links Haqqani Network in North Waziristan with attacks in Afghanistan; Pakistan’s Prime Minister says long-term cooperation with U.S. is necessary; China says nuclear deal with Pakistan meets international obligations; reports suggest full-fledged operation in Punjab; intelligence reports allege militants provided cell-phones in Punjab prisons; two tribal leaders killed by gunmen in Mohmand Agency; Pakistan’s President says action to be taken to quell violence in Karachi; U.S.  requests access to “bin-Laden Hunter.”

FATA

• Major General Athar Abbas, spokesperson for the Pakistan army, confirmed a Monday attack by militants on Pakistani troops in Mohmand and said 40 Frontier Corps soldiers were missing after their checkpoint was overrun by Afghan Taliban.  The AFP, quoting a local administration official, said that of the 65 soldiers stationed at the checkpoint, 11 had returned and 54 were still missing. Afghan Taliban spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, rejected earlier reports that the Afghan Taliban were holding the soldiers: “We have nothing to do with the kidnapping of Pakistani troops. Our fighters are engaged in their fight against the U.S.-led occupying forces inside Afghanistan and have no information about the missing Pakistani soldiers.” The checkpoint was attacked at night, which panicked the soldiers. Many of them left their positions and mistakenly crossed into Afghanistan, according to military officials. 10 soldiers are reported to have been arrested by Afghan security forces and returned to Pakistan.[1]

• 38 militants and 10 soldiers were killed in clashes between security forces and militants in Bajaur Agency after the government conducted actions there on Wednesday. Sources said security forces, backed by helicopter gunships, heavy artillery, and tanks, advanced on militant positions in Ghuandu and Samsai. Prior to the launching of the operation, intelligence agencies received information that a meeting of Taliban commanders was to take place in the area. 23 militants were also arrested during the operation, according to sources. Security forces have twice declared Bajaur Agency to be a militant-free area.[2]

• The Taliban on Wednesday publically executed an alleged murderer in North Waziristan. This is the second public execution by the Taliban in the last month. “The people were stunned by the Taliban-style justice,” said eyewitnesses. Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan enforce a strict form of Sharia law and often use public executions to demonstrate their authority in the region.[3]

U.S.-Pak Relations

• Pakistan is seeking U.S. helicopters as part of a comprehensive arms package to bolster preparations for what its military is calling a “silent surge” into the country’s mountainous Northwest Frontier Province, where helicopters provide critical lift and combat advantage. The $2.5 billion in arms that Pakistan has requested includes new helicopter gunships, including AH-1W and the Apache-64-D, armed helicopters, such as the AH-6 and MD-530 Little Bird, and utility and cargo helicopters, such as the UH-60 Black Hawk, the CH-47 D Chinook and the UH-1Y Huey, the report said. Senator John McCain, a ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and a former US commander in Afghanistan, view Pakistan's request favorably, according to a report in The Washington Times Wednesday.[4]

• The U.S. has presented evidence to Pakistan that the Haqqani Network based in North Waziristan orchestrated deadly attacks last month in Afghanistan, a top general said on Wednesday. In a Senate hearing on Tuesday, David Petraeus, Commander of U.S. Central Commander said: “We have shared information with him [Pakistan Army Chief General Ashfaq Kayani] about links of the leadership of the Haqqani network located in North Waziristan that clearly commanded and controlled the operation against Bagram airbase and the attack in Kabul, among others.” The U.S. has repeatedly called on Pakistan to crackdown on the Haqqani Network and its allies, but Pakistan is yet to launch an operation against the group.[5]

• Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani said on Wednesday that long-term cooperation between the U.S. and Pakistan is necessary to bring peace and ensure security in the region. Talking to Special Assistant to the US President David Lipton, Gilani also emphasized that Pakistan needed U.S. support to gain access to international markets for Pakistani products. “Pakistan believes in achieving economic sustenance through increased trade rather than assistance,” he said. Speaking on the occasion, David Lipton said that the U.S. government was pleased with the progress made in the U.S.-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue and expressed the hope that economic reforms would lead to further improvement.[6]

Sino-Pak Relations

• China said on Thursday that its civilian nuclear cooperation with Pakistan is in accordance with international obligations, after the State Department said it was seeking clarification from China on a deal to build two reactors in Pakistan’s Punjab province. "This cooperation is in line with our respective international obligations and totally for peaceful purposes, and has International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards and supervision,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters in Beijing. The China National Nuclear Corporation agreed to finance the new reactors, which experts have said violates international guidelines forbidding nuclear exports to counties that did not sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and do not have international safeguards on reactors. The deal is expected to come up before the 46-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group meeting next week in New Zealand.[7]

Punjab

• Unconfirmed reports suggest a full-fledged operation targeting three banned groups has been launched in Punjab province.  Sources in the Punjab Home Department have said that final approval for the operation had been given by Chief Minister of Punjab. The Chief Secretary of Punjab, Nasir Mehmood Khosa and the Inspector General of Punjab, Saleem Dogar are reported to have visited major cities in Punjab and finalized plans for the operation.[8]

• The Punjab government notified the Punjab Inspector General that intelligence sources have reported that imprisoned militants are still active as they are able to provide information to others through cell phones provided by police officers. Police commissioners and investigators have been ordered to make unannounced visits to the prisons in question.[9]

Peshawar

• Two tribal leaders from Mohmand Agency and members of an anti-Taliban militia were killed near the Paharipura Police Station in Peshawar on Tuesday. According to sources, two gunmen riding a motorcycle killed two brothers of a prominent anti-Taliban militia leader, Malik Rahin Jan. The two brothers were on their way to tribal meeting when they were killed. The targeting of anti-Taliban militia members is a “routine phenomenon” in tribal areas, said Dr. Atafullah Khan, who teaches journalism at Peshawar University. Dr. Khan added that the lack of security for those fighting militants is “one of the issues that people in Mohmand, Bajaur and Swat are talking about.”[10]

Karachi

• President Asif Ali Zardari told leaders of Awami National Party (ANP) and PML-F on Wednesday that action would be taken against those involved in target killings in Karachi. During his meeting with ANP leaders, Zardari was reminded that Interior Minister Rehman Malik’s promises following the previous wave of violence were not kept. Issues of unemployment, price hikes, land-grabbing, and local elections were also discussed.[11]

Bin Laden Hunter

• The U.S. has sought access to the American arrested by security forces in Pakistan while on a mission to kill Osama bin-Laden. The U.S. embassy filed an application seeking access to Gary Brooks Faulkner, spokesperson Richard Snalsire said.[12]