Pakistan Security Brief

John Kerry calls on Karzai to keep peace talks moving; 6 soldiers killed in ambush near Peshawar, TTP claims responsibility; Pakistani military reportedly convinced Afghan Taliban to hold talks; Mullah Omar to name negotiating team in peace talks; PTI Deputy leader of KP calls for peace talks with TTP; Zardari congratulates Iranian president-elect Rohani; Two more die from Mardan attack wounds, toll at 36; Pakistan Army to remain in Waziristan; India hopes to join NSG; IMF talks begin in Pakistan; Doctor kidnapped in Punjab; Pakistani government censoring internet; 7 more killed in Karachi; ISI chief meets with Nawaz Sharif; Interior Minister announces new security plan; Balochistan budget released; Woman injured in Gawadar grenade attack.

Afghan Taliban Talks

• After Afghan President Hamid Karzai cut off security talks with the U.S. on Wednesday in response to the Afghan Taliban raising its own flag over its new Qatar office and titling itself “The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called Karzai several times the same day, and convinced the Qatar government to remove the Taliban’s sign and flag from the premises. According to American officials, Thursday’s expected talks in Qatar have been called off.[1]  

• According to Reuters in a report on Thursday, the Pakistani military played a pivotal role in convincing Taliban leaders that peace talks with the United States are in the Taliban’s favor and Afghanistan’s interest as well. According to a senior army official, “it would not have been possible without our facilitation.” The military also reportedly convinced the United States to alter its own stance on the Taliban. In particular, Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Secretary of State John Kerry extensively discussed the peace process in Afghanistan in behind-the-scenes talks, according to a Pakistan Foreign Ministry source, eventually convincing the U.S. to allow the Haqqani Network to play a part in the Qatar talks. In turn, the Taliban responded to the U.S. with a letter, vowing to split with al Qaeda and to not allow attacks on the U.S. to be carried out from Afghan soil, which paved the way for the Qatar talks, and displayed an “unequivocal commitment to peace” according to the Pakistan Foreign Ministry source. [2] 

• On Thursday, a Taliban spokesman announced that Mullah Omar will name a high-level team for negotiations with the U.S. in the coming days, following preliminary talks with the United States. Reportedly, release of Taliban detainees from Guantanamo in exchange for captive U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl will be a central topic of the talks.[3]

• On Wednesday, members of Pakistan's Senate inquired into Pakistan’s role in the upcoming peace talks in Qatar. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) senator Kazim Khan called for formal inclusion into the talks, while Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri of the Jamiat-Ulema-Islami-Fazl (JUI-F) said that Pakistan’s law and order is closely linked to activities in Afghanistan.[4]

Militancy

• On Wednesday evening, militants ambushed a military convoy in the Sara Khwaara area of Matani, on the outskirts of Peshawar, killing six security personnel. The hour-long fire fight between the two parties left three officials wounded as well. On Thursday, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan announced the TTP was responsible for the attack; Ehsan also claimed the attack occurred in response to the death of Wali-ur-Rehman in a U.S. drone strike.[5]

• On Wednesday, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Deputy Parliamentary Leader of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Shaukat Yousafzai announced plans for an All Parties Conference in Peshawar in the next few days to consider peace talks with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Yousafzai cited the announcement of the Qatar talks as an example to follow, noting, “If the United States has started negotiations with the Afghan Taliban in Qatar, despite the former fighting the latter for the last 12 years, and recognized that talks are the only solution, then we should also start talks to bring peace in our region.”[6]

• Two more victims from Tuesday’s Mardan bombings succumbed to their wounds on Thursday, bringing the total death toll to 36. 60 people were also reported wounded in the suicide attack.[7]

• On Thursday, Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani announced that the Pakistan Army will remain in North and South Waziristan until peace is restored to the region, and urged all internally displaced persons to return to their homes. He was speaking on the inauguration of a new 50 km-long road running between Wana and Angoor Adda on the Afghan border. Also, General Kayani announced that the new government has plans to develop the Waziristan region, by providing increased amenities and roads to connect the agencies to the rest of the nation.[8]

• Four armed men kidnapped a doctor as he was walking into work on Wednesday at Bilal Memorial Hospital in Sadiqabad, Punjab.[9] 

• Violence continued in Karachi on Wednesday as seven people were gunned down in the city in separate incidents. A Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) activist was shot and killed in Orangi Town, while a bus driver was killed in North Karachi. Two rickshaw drivers were killed in separate firing incidents at Allana Road and Bihar colony. 3 other bodies were found; one in Malir, one by the Docks Police headquarters and one in Mianwali Colony.[10]

• A woman was injured on Thursday in Pasni, Gawadar district, Balochistan after unknown men lobbed a grenade at her home.[11]

 Iran-Pakistan Relations

• President Asif Ali Zardari telephoned Iranian President-elect Hassan Rohani on Thursday, congratulating him on his recent election. Zardari also expressed his intention to increase ties with Iran in different sectors. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also conveyed his congratulations to Rohani in a message released on Monday, and similarly called for expanded ties.[12]  

India-Pakistan Relations

• According to a Thursday report in the Express Tribune, India is seeking to join the 48 nation Nuclear Suppliers Group, a move the U.S., Britain and France all support. If India is allowed into the group, it will be the only nation that in the NSG that is not in the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which could result in lobbying claims from Pakistan and Israel to join as well.[13]

IMF Visit

• An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team began talks with Pakistan on Wednesday and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar provided an overview of the 2013-2014 fiscal budget. The IMF is currently considering whether or not to provide a $4.5 billion bailout package to Pakistan, which still owes $6.5 billion in loans. According to a senior official, the talks are still in the early stages as “they [the IMF] cautiously appreciated the fiscal framework but will give a formal response only after critically reviewing the numbers.”[14]

 Domestic  

• According to the University of Toronto, the Pakistani government has been using a Canadian filtering software program known as “Netsweeper” to censor internet web sites within Pakistan. According to the report, the program has been specifically used to block and censor, “websites of secessionist movements, sensitive religious topics, and independent media.”[15]

• Inter-Services Intelligence Director General Lt. General Zahirul Islam met with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday at Sharif’s home to discuss regional stability and national security issues.[16]

• Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan announced the formulation of a new domestic security plan on Thursday. Nisar’s proposed plan is expected to withdraw the Frontier Corps and Rangers from VIP security duty. Nisar’s plan also calls for the reformulation of a task force, termed the National Counter-Terrorism Authority (NACTA), to increase coordination among Pakistan’s security agencies and intelligence agencies. NACTA had been set up in 2009 by the PPP government, but has remained ineffective since its conception. Nisar aims to pass reforms through the new government, making NACTA fully operational.[17]     

• On Thursday, Chief Minister of Balochistan Dr. Abdul Malik Baloch released Balochistan’s 2013-2014 budget to the provincial assembly, which stands at Rs 198.4 billion ($2.01 billion). Capital expenditures and the education sector received the majority of the funding, at approximately 26 and 24 percent respectively.[18]

• The Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) began a referendum on Thursday throughout the country, in a bid to decide whether or not to join the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in the Sindh government.[19]