Pakistan Security Brief

TTP negotiating committee member says TTP will not object if the government takes action against Ahrar-ul-Hind; Defense Minister rejects key TTP demand; TTP provides Interior Minister with 300-person list of women and children allegedly in security forces’ custody; Prime Minister reportedly head of informal “Super Committee” which will hold real power in TTP talks; Information Minister hints at government plan to target groups opposed to peace talks, rejects rumor of a “Super Committee”; Meeting between TTP-nominated committee and Pakistan’s Interior Minister discusses possible dates and venues for direct peace talks; Defence Minister says failure of peace talks could threaten Pakistan’s survival; Afghan President accuses Pakistan of sheltering Afghan Taliban leadership and killing or arresting pro-talks leaders; Afghan High Peace Council has not met with 46 Afghan Taliban prisoners released by Pakistan; U.S. may give some of its equipment from Afghan war to Pakistan; Adviser to Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs says U.S. drone strikes have not stopped as part of deal; Aviation official dismisses claims that missing Malaysian airliner is in Pakistan; Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs states that Saudi Arabia’s gift of $1.5 billion will not be used to send weapons to Syria; Mob protesting alleged Quran desecration destroys Hindu temple and community center in Larkana; Clash between police and demonstrators injures 12 in Balochistan; Lashkar-e-Islam militants reportedly kidnap 18 in Peshawar; Five rockets from Afghanistan land in North Waziristan agency; Militants destroy NATO container in Khyber agency; Baloch Liberation Army claims responsibility for three pipeline attacks in Balochistan and Sindh; Indian security forces kill one and injure three in Kashmir; IMF likely to approve third tranche of $550.

Military Operations against the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan

• On Sunday, Jamaat-e-Islami leader and member of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) negotiating committee Ibrahim Khan said that the TTP would not object if the government decided to take action against the TTP splinter group, Ahrar-ul-Hind. Khan accused certain groups of trying to sabotage the peace process, and added that the TTP would not oppose government action against those responsible for the recent attacks. Another TTP intermediary, Maulana Yousaf Shah added that if Pakistan’s security forces are unable to stop such attacks, then it would be unfair to expect the TTP to stop them.[1]

Peace Talks

• On Saturday, TTP intermediary Ibrahim Khan hinted that the TTP might release Ajmal Khan, the kidnapped vice-chancellor of Islamia College University, as part of the peace talks between the TTP and government-nominated negotiating committee, adding that the government should release all non-combatants, including all women, children, and elderly people.[2]

• On Monday, TTP intermediary Ibrahim Khan said that the TTP has provided Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan with a list of 300 women and children that the TTP claims are in the custody of Pakistan’s law enforcement agencies. On Sunday, the Defense Minister, Khawaja Asif, rejected the TTP’s demand for the release of non-combatants, stating that there were no women or children in the custody of security forces.[3]

• According to a Saturday article in The News, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Affairs Irfan Siddiqui, are members of an informal, high-powered super committee that will hold the decision-making power in talks with the TTP, instead of the government-nominated negotiating committee.[4]

• On Sunday, Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid hinted that the government plans to target factions of the TTP that are opposed to peace talks. Rashid also disputed reports that the Prime Minister, the Interior Minister, and the Advisor to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs were part of a “super committee” supervising peace talks with the TTP.[5]

• On Sunday, TTP intermediary Ibrahim Khan stated that the committee was in touch with the TTP leadership to finalize a location for peace negotiations. Khan added that the TTP suggested that negotiations occur in South Waziristan if the Pakistan Army would agree to vacate the area.[6]

• On Saturday, members of the TTP-nominated committee and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan discussed possible dates and venues for talks between the government-nominated negotiating committee and the central Shura of the TTP. The government reportedly proposed the Bannu airport and TTP negotiators suggested Miram Shah, North Waziristan. The leader of the TTP-nominated committee, Maulana Samiul Haq, said that the schedule and venue of the talks would be announced in a few days. Ibrahim Khan, noted that the TTP Shura is reluctant to meet the government team in North Waziristan, given the agreement between the Hafiz Gul Bahadur and the government. Additionally, the two sides also discussed an extension of the ceasefire‘s end date by the TTP.[7]

• On Saturday, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that if the negotiations with the TTP fail, and the economy does not improve, Pakistan’s survival could be threatened.[8]

Afghan Reconciliation Process

• On Saturday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said that the Afghan Taliban leadership is being sheltered by Pakistan and that Pakistan is trying to kill or arrest any Taliban leader who is in favor of peace talks with the Afghan government.[9]

• On Friday, an official said that the Afghan High Peace Council has not been able to meet with any of the 46 Afghan Taliban prisoners released by Pakistan since 2012. Most of them are believed to be in Pakistan. The Afghans have been able to contact 15 of the released prisoners, but have not held any meetings.[10]

U.S.-Pakistan Relations

• According to a Monday report in The News, Pakistani and American officials are in negotiations for some American equipment from Afghanistan to be transferred to Pakistan once the U.S. withdraws. The U.S. has $7 billion worth of military equipment that it does not see as strategically useful once the war in Afghanistan ends. Pakistan has expressed particular interest in mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicles, which could be deployed to fight TTP militants.[11]

• According to a Sunday report in The News, Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said in an interview that the recent halt of American drone strikes in Pakistan is not the result of a deal between Pakistan and the U.S. to allow Pakistan to negotiate with the TTP. Instead, he claimed that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif convinced President Barack Obama of the validity of Pakistan’s concerns about the strikes’ effectiveness. Aziz also said that if talks with the TTP fail, the government may approve a military operation against the TTP that would include the entire country, and not just the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).[12]

Missing Malaysian Jet

• On Saturday, a top aviation official and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Aviation, Shujaat Azeem, dismissed claims that the missing Malaysian airliner was somewhere in Pakistan, adding that Pakistan’s civil aviation radars never detected the plane.[13]

Syria-Pakistan Relations

• On Monday, Advisor to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, stated that the $1.5 billion gifted to Pakistan from Saudi Arabia will not be used to send weapons to Syria, or any other country experiencing civil war. Aziz also confirmed that Saudi Arabia had purchased weapons from Pakistan, but said that the weapons would not be used against any other state. On Saturday, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said that the $1.5 billion from Saudi Arabia was a not a loan, but a “gift to the people” from a friendly nation.[14]

Militancy

• On Sunday, in response to reports that a Hindu had desecrated a Quran, a mob in Larkana, Sindh destroyed a Hindu community center and damaged a temple. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari both condemned the attacks.[15]

• On Sunday, a clash between police and demonstrators who were protesting the alleged desecration of a Quran in Larkana injured at least 12 people in Dera Allahyar and other towns of Nasirabad and Jaffarabad districts in Balochistan. Many of the protesters, led by local religious leaders, tried to attack Hindu and Sikh temples. Protesters also set on fire shops belonging to Hindus.[16]

• On Saturday, 60 to 70 unidentified gunmen kidnapped 18 people from Badhber, Peshawar. The 18 abductees originally came from the Shinwari tribe Khyber agency. One of the kidnapped men escaped and informed authorities that the kidnappers belonged to Khyber-based militant group  Lashkar-e-Islam (LeI).[17]

• On Monday, an improvised explosive device (IED) blast destroyed a van and damaged a nearby police vehicle in Nowshera district, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. No casualties were reported[18]

• On Sunday, five rockets launched from Afghanistan landed in Bangidar, North Waziristan agency. There were no casualties, as the rockets hit an unpopulated area.[19]

• On Saturday, a clash between two gunmen from rival groups killed one civilian and injured three others in Miram Shah, North Waziristan agency.[20]

• On Monday, unknown militants fired rockets at a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) container in the Shagai area of Khyber agency. No casualties were reported, but the attack destroyed the container.[21]

• On Friday, unknown militants bombed a 300-foot section of an 18-inch diameter gas pipeline in Kandhkot, Kashmor district, Sindh.[22]

• On Saturday, militants bombed a pipeline in Goth Shah Nawaz Bhangwar and another one in Balaj Bhangwar, both in Kashmor district, Sindh. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attacks.[23]

• On Friday, an IED blast destroyed part of a 16-inch diameter pipeline in the Pirkoh gas field area of Dera Bugti district, Balochistan. The BLA claimed responsibility for the attack.[24]

• On Saturday, two Lyari gangs, the Baba Ladla gang and Uzair Baloch gang agreed to a ceasefire. This came after gang warfare in Lyari killed 19 people and injured 50 on March 12.[25]

• On Saturday, Rangers personnel conducted a raid in Lyari, Karachi and confiscated 50 kilograms of explosives.[26]

• On Friday, Indian security forces killed one person and injured two others in Naidkhai, Bandipora district, Indian-administered Kashmir. The security forces were attempting to break up a protest.[27]

Domestic

• According to a Saturday article in The News, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will likely approve the third tranche of $550 million after an examination by the IMF executive board on Pakistan’s economic progress from October to December 2013. The meeting is scheduled for March 24, 2014.[28]

• On Saturday, army chief General Raheel Sharif released a statement telling his troops to be “prepared to face potential challenges.”[29]

• On Saturday, the Commissioner of Frontier Crimes Regulation upheld the conviction of Dr. Shakil Afridi, but reduced his prison sentence from 33 years to 23 and his fine from $3200 to $2200.[30]