Pakistan Security Brief

Nawaz Sharif returns as prime minister; 9 killed in Hangu over MPA death; University employee executed in Khairpur; Kidnapping leaves 3 dead, one severely wounded; MPA's home in Peshawar attacked; Pakistan’s economy at low point; NATO shipping banned through Khyber today; Drone attacks supported by U.S. population; Government disburses Rs 6.5 billion to power sector; Suicide attack foiled;  6 wounded in grenade attack; India accuses Pakistan of encouraging Sikh militancy; Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa police arrest 828 criminals; MQM holds sway in opposition leader decision;  Rangers officials order an inquiry; 29 criminals arrested in Quetta; FATA allots Rs18.5 billion for development; IMF delegation to meet in Pakistan on June 19; Punjab assembly votes leader on June 6; Musharraf willing to face charges.

New Government  

• Nawaz Sharif officially returned as prime minister for the third time on Wednesday, securing 244 votes out of the 342 available in the National Assembly. In a speech before members of the National Assembly, Sharif praised the democratic transition of the May 11 elections and pledged to improve Pakistan’s infrastructure and economy, while ending corruption. Sharif also urged the U.S. to end all drone activity in the Federally Administered Tribal Area. Following the vote in parliament, Sharif was sworn in as prime minister by President Asif Ali Zardari. [1] 

• The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party’s Shahbaz Sharif and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party’s Mian Mehmoodur Rashid both submitted their nominations for Punjab chief minister on Tuesday. A vote will take place on June 6. [2]

• The All Pakistan Muslim League (AMPL) reiterated former president Pervez Musharraf’s willingness to face charges in the Benazir Bhutto and Nawab Akbar Bugti murder cases on Wednesday. According to AMPL  member Chaudry Safraz Anjum Kahlon, “Musharraf is ready to face any court in order to defend himself against the politically motivated cases… [and] a Pakistani soldier never feels threatened by anyone.” [3]

• According to a Wednesday report in Dawn, while the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) currently holds the second-largest number of seats (39) in parliament, versus the third-placed Pakistan’s Tehreek-e-Insaaf’s (PTI) 29, it is the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) who will likely ultimately decide on the opposition leader, given its 23-seat haul. Whichever party the MQM decides to throw its weight behind will hold the clear opposition majority, and therefore, will select  the opposition leader. [4]

Militancy

• Angry protestors killed 9 people on Tuesday in Hangu, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in response to the death of provincial assembly member (MPA) Fareed Khan. In addition to burning public and private property around Hangu, the protestors burnt down militant commander Mohammad Asif’s home, killing his father, two of his brothers and his uncle.[5]

• According to District Police Officer Sajjad Khan in a statement on Wednesday, militant commander Mufti Hamid and six others have been arrested in connection with MPA Fareed Khan’s death. [6]

• Unknown gunmen attacked the home of provincial assembly member (MPA) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) member Arbab Jehan Dad on Tuesday evening; Dad’s security counter-assaulted, leaving one of the attackers wounded. [7]

• An employee of Shah Abdul Latif University was killed in Khairpur, Sindh on Wednesday when a group of armed men pulled the man off the bus he was riding in and shot him in the head. Protests occurred in response to the shooting when police arrived, as the man’s death marks the 13th murder in Khairpur in the last 3 weeks.[8]

• On Wednesday, Karachi police recovered three dead bodies, and one severely wounded man in Malir, Karachi. All four had been kidnapped on their way to work early Wednesday morning. In the wake of their kidnappings and recovery, the victims' families began protests outside the home of Qaim Ali Shah, the Chief Minister of Sindh. The Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) has announced a day of mourning in Sindh, on June 6, in honor of the victims.  [9]

• The police in the Guhlam Muhammabad area of Faisalabad, Punjab on Tuesday discovered an  impounded vehicle in its lot containing 3 suicide jackets, hand grenades, detonators, remote control kits and an assortment of assault rifles and pistols. The vehicle came to notice after a police officer was found to be illegally using the car—originally found deserted on Narwala road-- for personal use since Sunday.  [10]

• Six people, including a policeman, were wounded in a militant grenade attack on Tuesday in Anantnag, Pakistan-administered Kashmir, when militants threw the grenades at vehicles parked on the side of the road. [11]

• Khyber- Pakhtunkhwa police initiated a campaign against criminal activity in the province on Tuesday, arresting 828 criminals, and discovering hundreds of assault rifles and pistols, along with narcotics and liquor. [12]   

• Police officials arrested twenty-nine criminals wanted for various offenses in several different raids across Quetta on Tuesday. In the raids, 15 vehicles, arms caches and cash were discovered. [13]

• Mansoorgarh police arrested two men in a truck filled with explosives on Tuesday in Mansoorgarh, Karak, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa; the two men were stopped at a checkpoint and attempted to flee, but were detained. [14]

• Following the shooting of an unarmed man by Rangers officials on Tuesday in Karachi, the Director General of Pakistan Rangers pledged a full inquiry into the incident on Wednesday. [15]

• According to Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) Planning and Development Administrative Secretary, Shahzad Khan Bangash, Rs 18.5 billion (approximately $190 million) will be allotted to socio-economic development in FATA over the next fiscal year. [16]

 U.S.-Pakistan Relations

• The movement of NATO equipment will be banned through Khyber agency on Wednesday, as re-polling at 21 polling stations in constituency NA-46 occurs will be taking place following alleged vote rigging in the region during the May 11 elections. [17]  

• A poll released by the Wall Street Journal and NBC news on Wednesday, found that two-thirds (66 percent) of American supported the use of drones in the war on terror, while just 15 percent of respondents opposed drones. [18]

 Indo-Pak Relations

• On Wednesday, Indian Home Minister Sushilkumar Shine claimed that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency has been covertly supporting Sikh militancy in India’s Punjab regions. According to Shine, the ISI maintained facilities from which it continued to train Sikh youths to carry out attacks in India.[19]

Economy

• According to Reuters in a report released on Wednesday, Pakistan’s economy is at its lowest point in a decade. As Nawaz Sharif begins his third term as prime minister, Sharif will be faced with a economy in which, “less than a million Pakistanis pay income taxes, fiscal deficits run at close to 8 percent of gross domestic product and a big chunk of government revenue is used up subsidizing a power sector that covers just over half the country's needs.” [20]

• Amidst reports of a possible IMF bailout, government officials will meet with an IMF delegation on June 19 to discuss Pakistan’s ongoing fiscal crisis. Current projections indicate that Pakistan will carry a fiscal deficit of $3.5 billion in the coming fiscal year. [21]

• On Tuesday, the Pakistani government disbursed Rs 6.5 billion (approximately $70 million) to the power sector to maintain base levels of electricity generation throughout the summer. [22]