Pakistan Security Brief

U.S. drone strike in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa kills six and injures five, including senior Haqqani Network leader; Foreign Office condemns strike; PTI chief criticizes both U.S. and government for continued drone strikes; PTI, JI, and AJIP meet to plan November 23 protest in Peshawar against drone strikes; Afghan officials meet Taliban representatives in Islamabad; Four bombings in Quetta kill seven and injure 39; Two killed near Shia congregation hall in Karachi; Three killed and one injured in Balochistan bombing; Pakistan facing major power shortage in upcoming three months; Army chief and Prime Minister meet to discuss security, TTP talks.

U.S. Drone Strike

• On Thursday, a U.S. drone strike on a seminary in Tal, Hangu district, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa killed six people and injured five. The main target was reportedly senior Haqqani Network leader Maulvi Ahmed Jan, a major fundraiser for the group, who was reportedly killed in the attack. At least one other militant died in the attack. The other five people killed were identified as Kaleemullah, Abdul Rehman, Mufti Hamidullah Haqqani, Abdullah, and Gul Marjan. This was only the second drone strike ever carried out in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. The other one occurred in November 2008.[1]

• On Thursday, Foreign Office spokesman, Aizaz Chaudhry condemned the Thursday drone strike in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement calling the strike a “violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.[2]

• On Thursday, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Imran Khan condemned both the United States for its Thursday drone attack in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government for failing to stop drone attacks.[3]

• On Wednesday, representatives from the PTI, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), and Awami Jamhoori Ittehad Pakistan (AJIP) met to finalize plans for a November 23 protest against American drone strikes. The leaders said at the meeting that the U.S. drone strike which killed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Hakimullah Mehsud on November 1 was a “clear move of U.S. enmity towards Pakistan.” The protest is expected to take place near the Ring Road in Peshawar.[4]

Afghan Reconciliation Process

• On Wednesday, Afghan officials arrived in Islamabad to begin reconciliation talks with the Afghan Taliban. It is not clear whether former deputy commander Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar is to take part in the meetings.[5]

Militancy

• On Wednesday and Thursday, a string of bomb blasts hit Quetta, Balochistan. Three bombs went off on Wednesday night, killing a total of two people and injuring nine. One bomb was planted near government offices, another was planted near a mosque, and the third was concealed in a rickshaw. On Thursday, a bomb attached to a motorcycle killed five people and injured another 30 in the city.[6]

• On Thursday, a bomb attached to a motorcycle detonated, killing three people and injuring one in Eidgah Chowk, Chaman district, Balochistan.[7]

• On Wednesday, unidentified gunmen killed two people near a Shia congregation hall in Qasbah, Karachi. Police also recovered an improvised explosive device (IED) planted at the congregation hall.[8]

Domestic

• According to a Thursday report in The News, Pakistan is expected to face major power outages in December, January, and February due to a decrease in hydroelectric power from canal closures and lower water flow.[9]

• On Wednesday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and army chief General Ashfaq Kayani met to discuss security and the possibility of talks with the TTP.[10]