Pakistan Security Brief

TTP-nominated negotiating committee arrives in North Waziristan; PTI supports Prime Minister’s strategy with TTP; Government forms new TTP negotiating committee; Funding not a problem for potential military operation against TTP; UN rapporteur says drone strikes in Pakistan sharply down, with no civilian casualties in 2013; U.S. to sell Pakistan $100 million in upgrades for its C-130 airplane fleet; Pakistan will not grant India MFN status; Three dead in North Waziristan rocket attack; Gunmen kill four in North Waziristan; Two, including FC soldier dead in Bannu attack; Rangers kill nine and arrest 56 in response to Karachi gang violence; Two FC personnel injured in Balochistan bomb blast; Pakistan military’s joint chiefs promise to fight terrorism while respecting decisions of civilian leadership.

Peace Talks with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)

• On Thursday, the coordinator for the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)-nominated negotiating committee Maulana Yousuf Shah and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) member Ibrahim Khan arrived in North Waziristan agency to meet with leaders in the TTP shura. The two sides will agree to a time when the TTP and government committees will meet, although they have not yet decided on a venue.[1]

• At a Wednesday meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan agreed to the Prime Minister’s strategy to address militancy in Pakistan’s tribal areas and added that his party would support military operations as a last resort.[2]

• According to a Thursday article in The Frontier Post, the Special Advisor to the Prime Minister on National Security, Sartaj Aziz, said that the government is trying to resolve issues with the TTP through dialogue, though he could not provide a time frame for peace talks.[3]

• According to a Wednesday article in The Express Tribune, the government announced the formation of a new committee that will hold direct talks with the TTP. The Ports and Shipping Secretary, Habibullah Khattack, will head the four-member committee that will also include the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) Additional Secretary, Arbab Arif, the Additional Secretary to the Prime Minister’s Office, Fawad Hassan Hawad, and the former Chief Secretary of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Rustam Shah Mohmand, who was also on the previous negotiating committee.[4]

• On Wednesday, before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, the Commander of U.S. and International Forces in Afghanistan, General Joseph Dunford said that Prime Minister Sharif is committed to peace talks with the TTP, although he did not know if conditions for constructive engagement with the militant group were right. General Dunford also commented that Pakistan recognizes the threat that terrorism presents to their own internal security, and agrees with the U.S. that it is in Pakistan’s and the region’s best interest to have a stable, secure, and unified Afghanistan.[5]

Operations against the TTP

• On Wednesday, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said that funding for a military operation against the TTP will not be a problem, because eradicating terrorism is so important to Pakistan.[6]

U.S. Drone Strikes

• On Wednesday, United Nations special rapporteur on human rights Ben Emmerson said that, in 2013, there were no civilian casualties reported from drone strikes in Pakistan, with the total number of strikes reported at 27, down from 128 in 2010.[7]

U.S.-Pakistan Relations

• According to a Thursday report in The News, the U.S. plans to sell Pakistan a C-130 Fleet Upgrade Program for $100 million in order to help modernize Pakistan’s fleet of C-130 aircraft.[8]

India-Pakistan Relations

• According to a Thursday report in The News, Pakistan is no longer considering granting Most Favored Nation (MFN) status to India, although other avenues for improving trade between the two countries are being explored.[9]

Militancy

• On Wednesday, a rocket attack killed three people in the Sargadan area of North Waziristan agency.[10]

• On Wednesday, unidentified gunmen killed four people in Miram Shah, North Waziristan agency. Three of the dead reportedly belonged to a militant group, though their affiliation is unclear.[11]

• On Tuesday, gunmen killed a Frontier Corps (FC) soldier and his brother in Nala Tochi, Bannu district, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.[12]

• On Wednesday, police in Wach, Hangu district, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa arrested three alleged militants.[13]

• In a response to gang violence on Wednesday that left 15 people dead, Rangers forces carried out operations in Karachi’s Lyari neighborhood, killing nine suspects and arresting 56.[14]

• According to a Thursday report in The Associated Press, 44 Karachi police officers were killed in January and February, and 166 died in 2013. About 60 percent of those deaths are attributed to attacks by the TTP.[15]

• On Wednesday, a roadside bomb blast injured two FC personnel in Pirkoh, Dera Bugti district, Balochistan.[16]

• According to a Thursday report in Dawn, the government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has assured the Supreme Court that an increased security and Army presence in Chitral district, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa will protect the polytheistic Kalash and the Shia of the area from the TTP. In February, the TTP released a video demanding that the religious minorities of Chitral convert or face death.[17]

Domestic

• On Wednesday, a meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC) was held in Rawalpindi. The chiefs of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, and the Defence Secretary were in attendance. The JCSC agreed to continue combating terrorism while operating within the framework of the civilian leadership.[18]