Pakistan Security Brief

Mehsud faction of TTP announces its split from the umbrella organization; Clashes between rival TTP factions kill ten in North Waziristan agency; TTP intermediary committee blames failure of peace talks on government and army; Indian Prime Minister accepts invitation to visit Pakistan; Prime Minister criticized in Pakistan for not mentioning Kashmir in meeting with Indian Prime Minister; Indian Foreign Minister wants stronger ties with Pakistan; Gunmen injure three policemen protecting measles vaccination team in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa; Prime Minister says Pakistan should focus on economy, not defense and security; Geo News remains blocked despite Supreme Court order.

TTP Split

• On Wednesday, a spokesman from the Mehsud faction of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Azam Tariq, announced the group’s split from the umbrella organization, citing ideological differences as the cause. Tariq claimed that the decision to split was made after Mehsud members tried and failed to persuade the TTP’s current leaders to abandon their “un-Islamic” tactics. Tariq also announced that the Mehsud group selected Khalid Mehsud, alias Khan Said “Sajna,” as the new leader for the faction in South Waziristan agency, which has been renamed “Tehrik-e-Taliban South Waziristan.” Khalid Mehsud was a key ally of Waliur Rehman Mehsud, as well as a contender to become the leader of the TTP after Hakimullah Mehsud’s death. Recently, infighting between the Shehryar Mehsud faction (the followers of Hakimullah Mehsud) and Khalid Mehsud (the Mehsud faction of the TTP) has resulted in the deaths of over 50 militants.[1]

• On Tuesday, rival TTP factions led by Commander Shehryar Mehsud and Khan Said Sajna clashed, killing six and injuring another seven in Shawal, North Waziristan agency.[2]

• On Tuesday, the Shehryar Mehsud and Khan Said Sajna factions of the TTP clashed in the Shaktoi area of North Waziristan agency, killing four militants and injuring three others.[3]

TTP Peace Talks

• According to a Wednesday article in The News, the TTP intermediary committee blames the government and the army for the delay in peace talks, as its members believed that the government-nominated negotiating committee was supposed to provide the TTP’s intermediaries with the location and date of the next round of talks. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Ibrahim Khan, a member of the TTP intermediary committee, said that the government has not shown a serious desire to engage in another round of talks. He also expressed his surprise that the Chief of the Army Staff stated in South Waziristan agency that the army was fully behind the government’s decision to pursue talks.[4]

India-Pakistan Relations

• On Tuesday, Indian Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has accepted an invitation from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to visit Pakistan. He said that a date has not yet been set.[5]

• According to a Tuesday report in Dawn, Prime Minister Sharif has faced criticism from the Pakistani press since returning from India. He has been accused of failing to bring up the Kashmir issue even though Prime Minister Modi brought up Pakistan’s support of terrorist groups. According to Dawn, he was also criticized for not meeting with a delegation from the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, a Kashmiri political party.[6]

• On Wednesday, Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj said that India would like to improve relations with Pakistan, but that Pakistan needs to end its support for terrorist groups first.[7]

Militancy

• On Tuesday, unidentified gunmen injured three policemen who were guarding a measles vaccination team in Kulachi, Dera Ismail Khan district, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.[8]

Domestic

• On Tuesday, while meeting with Pakistani troops in South Waziristan agency army chief General Raheel Sharif stated that the “whole nation has rejected the misplaced ideology of terrorists.” General Sharif also commended the soldiers for their commitment and sacrifices.[9]

• On Wednesday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif stated at a gathering to mark Youm-e-Takbeer—the day Pakistan became a nuclear power—that Pakistan should focus more on economic progress and less on defense. Sharif noted that people in Pakistan “have illiteracy instead of education…more unemployed people than those with jobs, and more terrorism and less peace.”[10]

• On Tuesday, the Peshawar High Court ordered seven army officers to file explanations by July 1 in the case of 25 missing persons from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.[11]

• On Monday, the Supreme Court ordered the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) to stop blocking the broadcast of Geo News, but according to a Wednesday report in The News, transmissions remain blocked.[12]