Pakistan Security Brief

Pakistan Security Brief – March 31, 2010

Operations continue in Orakzai; militants attack checkpoint in Khyber; US drones kill six in North Waziristan; gunmen kill SSP activist in Karachi; MQM-H activist shot in Karachi; Pakistan will use its military aid without restrictions; National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to reopen President Zardari’s corruption case.

FATA

• Pakistani jets bombed targets throughout Orakzai on Tuesday, killing at least thirty-five militants and injuring twenty-two more (For detailed daily updates on Pakistani military operations in Orakzai, CLICK HERE). One strike destroyed three compounds and killed six militants in Anjani. Another bombing targeted militant hideouts in the Arghanjo area of Mamuzai sub-district, killing twenty militants and injuring ten more. Officials also reported additional aerial attacks in Anjani, Shah Dala, and Syed Khalil village. Helicopter gunships struck compounds belonging to TTP commander Maulvi Nazir in Khwa Stori Khel area, and during the attack nine militants were killed.  Mullah Toofan’s compound was also on the receiving end of aerial strikes, as jets pounded his stronghold in Mamuzai, killing another ten militants. Officials announced that troops had completely cleared militants from the areas of Anjani, Kharshah, Shiraz Garhi and Sultanzai.[1]

• Pakistan's Frontier Corps clashed with militants near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border on Wednesday. “Dozens” of militants attacked a checkpoint in the Bara area of Khyber, killing six soldiers. At least twenty militants died in retaliatory fighting. The militants detonated a suicide vehicle at the gate of Jhansi Fort after Pakistani troops opened fire on the group, and they also fired with small-arms and rockets.[2]

• Pakistani intelligence officials reported on Wednesday that US drone strikes killed six militants and injured two in the village of Tapi, North Waziristan. Two strikes were reported one hour apart and destroyed an abandoned school or compound, reportedly owned by local tribesman Zamir Khan. The area is a known stronghold for members of the Gul Bahadur’s Taliban militants and the Haqqani network.[3]

Karachi

• Two gunmen on motorcycles rode to the house of a Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) activist on Tuesday and shot and killed him. The incident occurred in the New Karachi Industrial Area police precincts.[4]

• Two other gunmen shot a Mohajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi (MQM-H) activist on Tuesday, but this time the incident occurred in Shah Faisal Colony, in Karachi. The activist, Asif Ali, was on a rickshaw in a bazaar when the gunmen opened fire.[5]

Pakistan-India Relations

• Pakistan made it clear that officials are under no obligation to restrict any military aid received from the US in the coming years. General Athar Abbas said “no, we do not have to give any guarantees to India regarding the US arms sales to Pakistan.”[6]

Corruption

• Pakistan's anti-corruption agency, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), will reopen a corruption case against Pakistani president Asif Zardari following orders from the Supreme Court. The bureau will ask Swiss authorities to lead the case. On Monday, the court ordered the government to reopen hundreds of corruption cases within 24 hours and threatened to jail the head of the NAB unless he does indeed reopen the cases.[7]