Pakistan Security Brief

Pakistan most spied-on country by NSA; British International Development Secretary says aid to Pakistan may be cut if taxes are not collected; Former President Musharraf to be tried for high treason; Army reportedly on board with Musharraf trial; TAPI pipeline deal to be signed soon; FIA to investigate 1990 election rigging charges; IMF may link power outages to $6.7 loan; NATO tanker torched in Balochistan, driver killed; Five injured in Balochistan grenade attack; Six Customs officials kidnapped in Balochistan by BLA; Army imposes curfew in Kohat and Hangu.

U.S.-Pakistan Relations

• Based on documents leaked by National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden, Pakistan is the most spied-on country by the United States. Over 13.5 billion Pakistani emails, phone calls and faxes have been intercepted by the NSA.[1]

U.K.-Pakistan Relations

• On Sunday, British International Development Secretary Justine Greening said that the United Kingdom may consider withholding its annual $800 million aid package to Pakistan if the government does not make a more concerted effort to collect taxes.[2]

Domestic

• The News reported on Tuesday that the government has discussed the upcoming trial of former President Pervez Musharraf for high treason with the army to ensure that there are no misunderstandings. According to the report, the army has not tried to interfere, and the government has promised that only the 2007 state of emergency will be investigated in the trial, not Musharraf’s 1999 coup.[3]

• According to a Tuesday report in The News, the four countries involved in the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline will sign an agreement at a conference in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan on November 20-21. The agreement will allow the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to begin searching for a company to lead the project.[4]

• According to a Tuesday report in Reuters, Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry will retire from his position on December 12, and be replaced by Tassaduq Hassain Jillani, who is reportedly more conciliatory than the often confrontational Chaudhry.[5]

• On Monday, the federal government created a committee at the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to investigate whether the 1990 elections, in which Nawaz Sharif defeated Benazir Bhutto, were rigged by intelligence agencies. According to a Tuesday report in The Express Tribune, former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief General Asad Durrani and former Army chief General Aslam Beg will be investigated. [6]

• On Tuesday, The Express Tribune reported that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has indicated to Pakistani officials that it would like power outages to be targeted at areas that do not pay bills or steal electricity. This new benchmark will be linked to the $6.7 billion IMF loan to Pakistan.[7]

• According to a Tuesday report in The Frontier Post, Pakistan’s central bank has announced that Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves fell to $9.077 billion from $9.509 billion between the week ending November 1 and the week ending November 8.[8]

Militancy

• On Tuesday, unidentified attackers torched a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) tanker in Nasirabad district, Balochistan. The driver was killed in the attack.[9]

• On Monday, police found three bodies in Turbat, Kech district, Balochistan. The victims had bullet wounds and have not been identified.[10]

• On Tuesday, five people in Gwadar district, Balochistan were injured in a grenade attack.[11]

• On Monday, the Army assumed control of the cities of Kohat and Hangu in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa after a clash near a Shia congregation hall in Kohat killed four, including two policemen. Nine people were arrested on Monday in relation to the violence. The army lifted its curfew on Hangu after two hours.[12]

• On Tuesday, police in Kohat district, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa arrested five people who were accused of committing acts of violence on Monday.[13]

• On Monday, the provincial government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa established an anti-terrorism force that will be both a police and intelligence gathering agency. The new force will serve under the Counter-Terrorism Department.[14]

• On Monday, police found and defused a bomb in Bannu district, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The bomb was planted at a college for girls.[15]

• On Monday, Bholo Qureshi, a Karachi drug dealer was killed by police in the Northern Bypass area of the city. He had been arrested previously, and died in what was termed an “encounter” with police.[16]