Pakistan Security Brief

Second round of peace talks, likely to be held in Spin Thall, postponed reportedly due to bad weather; Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry rejects Afghanistan’s National Security Council’s claims that Pakistan was involved in attack on Kabul’s Hotel Serena; Jaish al Adl executes one of five kidnapped Iranian border guards; Body of kidnapped polio worker discovered; Islamabad High Court summons DG ISI to appear before court over the missing persons case; Prime Minister wants Pakistan to admitted to Nuclear Suppliers Group.

Peace Talks

• According to a Tuesday article in The News, direct talks between the government-nominated negotiating committee and the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan’s (TTP) central shura will likely be held in Spin Thall, near the northern border of North Waziristan agency. Peace talks were initially expected to begin on Monday or Tuesday, but due to bad weather and unspecified logistical reasons, the dialogue has been delayed. TTP intermediary Professor Ibrahim Khan told the Express Tribune that the TTP committee was working to extend the month-long ceasefire, or convert it into a permanent peace agreement.[1]

Afghanistan-Pakistan Relations

• On Monday, the Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman, Tasneem Aslam, rejected claims made by Afghanistan’s National Security Council (NSC) alleging that Pakistan was involved in the attack on Kabul’s Serena Hotel on Thursday. The NSC, chaired by President Hamid Karzai, claimed that a Pakistani diplomat was “scoping out the corridors” of the hotel, adding that “foreign intelligence services” were responsible for the attack.[2]

Iran-Pakistan Relations

• On Monday, a deputy provincial governor for security affairs in Sistan-Balochistan stated that an al Qaeda-affiliated, Pakistan-based militant group, Jaish al Adl, executed one of the five Iranian border guards kidnapped by the group last month. Jaish al Adl has demanded the release of its members, who are jailed in Iran, as well as the release of al Qaeda-linked rebels arrested in Syria.[3]

Militancy

• On Monday, the body of a polio vaccinator who was kidnapped from her house in Gulozai, Peshawar district on Sunday was discovered.[4]

Domestic

• On Monday, the Islamabad High Court summoned the Director General of the Inter-Serivce Intelligence (ISI) to appear before the court in response to a petition filed by the wife of a “missing person” who alleges that the ISI kidnapped her husband in Khushab district, Punjab. Last week, the Lahore High Court also issued notices to the Directors General of the ISI and Military Intelligence in response to a petition seeking the recovery of another missing person.[5]

• On Monday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a disbursement of $555.6 million after Pakistan passed the second review of its ongoing $6.8 billion support program. [6]

• On Monday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said that Pakistan should be included in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) due to Pakistan’s history of running a secure civil nuclear program.[7]