Pakistan Security Brief

Pakistan shuts U.S. out of drone base; Obama: U.S. will continue to “cripple” al Qaeda; ISPR chief asks U.S. to consider Pakistani “constraints”; Indian PM tells Pakistan to forget Kashmir and focus on fighting terror; Army kills forty militants in Mohmand; Ex-TTP commander receives support offers for new group; Kharotabad report to be public; HRCP releases report on human rights situation in Balochistan; Rangers’ defense wants trial to be moved from anti-terrorism court.

U.S.-Pakistan Relations

• On Wednesday night, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar said Pakistan had asked the U.S. to leave Shamshi airbase in Balochistan, effectively ending drone strikes being launched from the base. While U.S. officials have declined to comment on Mukhtar’s statement, it is suspected the U.S. will continue drone strikes from C.I.A. bases in Afghanistan. According to the Guardian, Pakistan may have shut the U.S. out of the base in response to a recent U.S. reduction in military aid to Pakistan.[i]

• On Wednesday, President Barack Obama said the U.S. would continue operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan aimed at “crippl[ing] al Qaeda’s capacities.” President Obama also noted that the U.S. had been successful in targeting al Qaeda’s leadership long before the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden and that such successes would continue. He also claimed al Qaeda was feeling unprecedented pressure on its ability to operate and obtain financial support. President Obama’s comments coincide with the counter-terrorism advisor John Brennan’s announcement and description of a new national counter-terrorism strategy. Brennan stated the U.S. would continue to hit al Qaeda hard and often using expanded special operations forces and “unique assets,” likely predator drones.[ii]

• In response to recent statements by U.S. Vice Admiral William McRaven, current commander of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) and nominee for commander of U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM,) and Lieutenant General John Allen, Special Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) and nominee to succeed General David Petraeus as ISAF commander, Pakistan’s Inter-Service Public Relations chief Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said the U.S. had to consider Pakistan’s “concerns and constraints” before criticizing their counter-terrorism efforts. Abbas noted that Pakistan’s security forces were spread extremely thin, given their involvement throughout several agencies of the FATA.[iii]

India-Pakistan Relations

• Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recommended that Pakistan “leave Kashmir alone” and focus on combating terror. Singh said he believes Pakistan could do much more to fight terrorism. He also mentioned that Pakistan is “not ready” to allow trade between India and Afghanistan going through Afghanistan.[iv]

FATA

• In the last three days, Pakistani troops with air support have killed at least forty militants in Mohmand Agency. Brig. Aftab Ahmad said troops under his command destroyed seventeen “militant hideouts” in the Baizai area of Mohmand. The operation targeted militants the army believed were responsible for recent attacks on security posts along the Afghan border. On Wednesday, a roadside blast in Baizai killed one soldier and injured three others. Militants also fired on a security post in the area, but retreated after the troops returned fire.[v]

• Fazal Saeed, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan’s (TTP) former commander in Kurram Agency,claims to have received offers of support from all over the FATA and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa for his new group, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Islami Pakistan (TTIP). Fazal Saeed recently broke from the TTP, claiming they killed too many Pakistani civilians. He has pledged that his group will not execute suicide bombings and other attacks in public places or attack mosques. Fazal Saeed, formerly the TTP’s commander in Kurram Agency, claimed he used no foreign fighters and built his ranks entirely from “local tribesman from Kurram Agency.” According to The News, many tribesman are skeptical of Fazal Saeed’s claims, citing that he is responsible for killing and kidnapping “dozens of people,” some of whom he allegedly still holds in “private prisons” throughout Kurram. The News reports air strikes began after Fazal Saeed’s break from the TTP. For the past three days, the Pakistani air force (PAF) has targeted “militant positions in the mountains of central Kurram.” In light of the commencement of military operations in Kurram, residents are leaving for safer areas. The FATA Disaster Management Authority (FDMA) has already “registered 167 internally displaced persons (IDPs)” since the operation began.[vi]

Balochistan

• The report on the Kharotabad incident, which was originally going to remain confidential for fear of damaging the reputation of security forces, may be made public at the request of the chief minister of Balochistan. According to The News, a “credible Balochistan government source” claims the report, which details the investigation of the shooting of five foreigners in Kharotabad last month, will recommend criminal charges be brought against the security personnel involved in the shooting.[vii]

• On Wednesday, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) released a report entitled “Balochistan: Blinkered Slide into Chaos” detailing the human rights situation in Balochistan. The report says the security forces hold a disproportionate amount of responsibility while the provincial government “seems non-existent.” The report also accuses security forces of executing “enforced disappearances” throughout the province.[viii]

Sarfaraz Shah Murder

• The defense for the six rangers charged with murdering Sarfaraz Shah has requested that the case be tried outside of the anti-terrorism court (ATC.) Given the provision regarding extrajudicial killing in the Anti-Terrorism act, however, the case is likely to remain in the ATC.[ix]