Pakistan Security Brief

Pakistan Security Brief – May 6, 2010

US investigators still unclear on Shahzad’s connections to Pakistani militant groups; Pakistani officials weigh in on Shahzad’s links to extremist groups; TTP spokesman denies training and recruiting Shahzad; militants clash with FC, tribesmen in Lower Orakzai; Asian Tigers release Col. Imam and British journalist Asad Qureshi; police arrest two suspected suicide bombers in Peshawar; TNSM commander dies of heart attack; new report shows Punjab officials tolerating and even supporting Islamic extremist groups; Mumbai gunman sentenced to death.

NY bombing investigation

• Accounts differ on whether US investigators believe Times Square’s attempted bomber, Faisal Shahzad, was trained by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). In one statement, investigators said on Wednesday that after two days of interrogating Shahzad, “evidence was mounting” that the TTP had “helped inspire and train” him to carry out the attempted car bombing in Times Square. US and Pakistani authorities have also been cooperating in the questioning of four suspects belonging to the extremist group Jaish-e-Mohammad currently being held in Islamabad. However, another statement from US authorities on Wednesday indicated that they believe Faisal Shahzad acted alone in planning and conducting the attack, adding that they have not yet found a “wider link to extremist groups” and that the suspects recently arrested in Pakistan were not involved in the incident. Investigators also said that they have come across evidence that Shahzad conducted a “dry run” prior to the attack as well as surveillance tapes that show him purchasing fireworks at a Pennsylvania store.[1]

• Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said that he believes it is unlikely that Shahzad acted alone, adding that investigations in Pakistan potentially links Shahzad with the Pakistani Taliban as well as Jaish-e-Mohammad. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi also commented on Shahzad’s connection to extremist groups in Pakistan, stating his view that the attempted attack was probably in retaliation for US drone strikes in the tribal areas of Pakistan. However, the ISPR also issued a statement on Wednesday which said that the Pakistani Army does not believe that the TTP was behind the New York attack. Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas was quoted saying that “I don’t think they [the TTP] have the capacity to reach the next level.”[2]

• TTP spokesman Azam Tariq told media sources that Faisal Shahzad was not trained or recruited by his group. Although Tariq praised Shahzad’s actions, he indicated that the TTP didn’t know the Times Square bombing suspect and instead suggested the possibility that Shahzad may have been trained by another militant group.[3] 

FATA

• At least eleven militants have been killed and one Frontier Corps soldier wounded during clashes in Lower Orakzai. Five of the militants were killed when security forces retaliated against a rocket attack on an FC fort in Kalaya in which one soldier was injured. Six more militants were killed during clashes with local tribesmen in the Sangara area which took place later in the day.[4]

• The group calling itself the Asian Tigers, reportedly acting under pressure from the Afghan Taliban, has released ex-ISI officer Colonel Imam and British journalist Asad Qureshi into the custody of the Haqqani network. The two men, along with the recently executed Khalid Khawaja, were kidnapped from North Waziristan on March 26 while allegedly filming a documentary.[5]

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (formerly NWFP)

• Police in Peshawar have arrested two suspected suicide bombers from the city’s University Town area and also seized two suicide vests in their possession along with other explosive material.[6]

• Maulana Sami-ul Haq, a militant commander and head of the Tehrik-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) for Malakand Agency, died of cardiac arrest on Tuesday night while in the custody of security forces.[7]

Punjab

• An AP report reveals that provincial officials in Punjab are giving shelter to and in some cases outright supporting Islamist militant groups. Aida Hussain, a former ambassador to the US, said that Punjab has become “a de facto sanctuary for the militants and extremists” from groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammad and further said that the actions of some Punjab politicians in tolerating or providing aid to these groups is “undermining… the armed forces of Pakistan”.[8]

Mumbai gunman sentenced

• An Indian court has handed down a sentence of death by hanging for Mohammed Ajmal Amir Qasab, the lone surviving gunman of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.[9]