Pakistan Security Brief

ISI connection to Haqqani Network may be weakening; Three TTP and one Ranger killed in Karachi clash; Five, including head of TTP in Karachi, arrested; TTP makes threat against U.S. Embassy in Pakistan; TTP makes threat against former President Musharraf; Pakistan sees Iran gas pipeline deal as binding; Foreign Office spokesman wants dialogue with India and Kashmiri leadership; TAPI pipeline moving forward; Pakistan’s current account deficit $2 billion higher than projected; Alleged militant killed in Balochistan; Two injured in attack on NATO supply convoy in Khyber agency; Two injured in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa rocket attack.

Haqqani Network

• According to a Wednesday report in The News, the unsolved killing of prominent Haqqani Network leader Nasiruddin Haqqani in Islamabad on Sunday has led some, including the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), to suspect that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is responsible for carrying out the hit. The article posits that, if true, the killing would be a sign that ties between the Haqqani Network and the ISI are fraying.[1]

TTP

• On Wednesday, three members of the TTP and one Sindh Ranger died in a clash in Gulshan-i-Buner, Karachi. The TTP militants were the target of a raid carried out by the paramilitary Rangers and were allegedly planning Muharram attacks.[2]

• Five alleged members of the TTP, including the head of the Karachi branch of the organization, identified only as Shahabullah, were arrested in the Quaidabad area of Karachi on Wednesday. Four motorcycles, explosives and a stolen ambulance were also recovered during the raid.[3]

• According to the police in Faisalabad, Punjab, five TTP militants who were interrogated admitted that they had been tasked with kidnapping members of the Shia and Ahmadi communities for ransom in order to raise money.[4]

• According to a Wednesday report in The News, the TTP has issued a threat on the internet threatening an attack against the American Embassy in Pakistan.[5]

• On Tuesday, Islamabad police were alerted to a threat by the TTP against former President Pervez Musharraf. The TTP allegedly has plans to attack him in revenge for his role in the 2007 Lal Masjid incident.[6]

U.S.-Pakistan Relations

• On Tuesday, Pakistani and American officials met in Washington D.C. to discuss cooperation in the energy sector. The Pakistani representatives expressed that the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline is a contractual agreement that Pakistan cannot back out of. They also indicated that Pakistan expects the United States to pay fines incurred if Pakistan agrees not to honor the contract.[7]

India-Pakistan Relations

• On Wednesday, Foreign Office spokesman Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry said that the Kashmir dispute can be solved through dialogue, but that Kashmiri leaders should also be included in the dialogue process.[8]

Domestic

• According to a Wednesday report in The News, the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline is moving forward, with approval from the Economic Coordination Committee coming as soon as Wednesday.[9]

• According to a Wednesday report in The Express Tribune, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that Pakistan’s current account deficit, which had been projected to be about $1.3 billion, will in fact be $3.2 billion, meaning that Pakistan will be forced to borrow the difference from overseas.[10]

Militancy

• On Tuesday, security forces killed an alleged militant belonging to a “banned religious organization” and arrested seven in Banshore, Pishin district, Balochistan.[11]

• According to a Wednesday report in The News, the curfew imposed on North Waziristan after firing between militants and security forces in Sunday has created a food shortage in the agency because movement into and out of the agency has been restricted.[12]

• A roadside bomb in Landi Kotal, Khyber agency exploded on Tuesday, injuring two members of the Khassadar force. The target of the attack was a convoy of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) supply vehicles, which was not damaged.[13]

• On Wednesday, two members of the Khassadar force were injured in a bomb blast in Jamrud, Khyber agency near a check post.[14]

• On Wednesday, two policemen in Bannu district, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa were injured when militants attacked a check point with rockets.[15]

• After receiving a tip-off, police in Mangak, Kurram agency found and defused a roadside bomb on Tuesday.[16]

• On Wednesday, a roadside bomb in the Achini Bala area of Peshawar detonated. There were no casualties.[17]

• On Tuesday, unidentified attackers threw a grenade at a house in Kotla Mohsin Khan, Peshawar. There were no casualties. The motive for the attack may have been a property dispute.[18]