Pakistan Security Brief

TTP to partner with LI in Khyber Agency; Security forces kill 5 militants, injure 10 in Bara sub-district, Khyber Agency; TTP appoints new spokesperson; Orakzai Agency 90 percent cleared of militants; Police officer and militant killed in Peshawar; New ISI chief formally takes charge; PTI chief demands rigging probe be completed in a month; Special police team to investigate Wagah border suicide attack; Prime Minister Sharif’s visit to China aimed at rebuilding investor confidence; Army chief offers to train Afghan security forces; American expert on Pakistan under federal investigation.

Militancy

• On November 7, a statement issued by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leadership council formally sacked former spokesperson Shahidullah Shahid and announced that Muhammad Khurasani would be replacing him as spokesperson for the TTP.[1]

• On November 7, new TTP spokesman Muhammad Khurasani stated that the TTP will work together with Khyber Agency-based militant group Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) against Pakistani security forces conducting operations in the area. In the statement, the TTP committed to sending fighters to fight alongside LI militants in the Khyber Agency.[2]

• On November 7, Security forces targeted militant hideouts with artillery and mortar fire killing five militants and injuring 10 in the Aka Khel and Sipah areas of Bara sub-district, Khyber Agency.[3] 

• On November 6, Orakzai Agency Political Agent Zubair Khan stated that 90 percent of Orakzai Agency has been cleared of militants. Khan stated that the rest of Orakzai Agency cannot be cleared yet due to the ongoing military offensive in Khyber Agency.[4]

• On November 6, a police official with the Special Police Force and a militant were killed in a shootout in the Mashogagar area of Peshawar.[5]

Military

• On November 7, Lt. Gen. Rizwan Akhtar formerly assumed the post of Director-General for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Lt. Gen. Akhtar previously served as the Director-General of the Sindh Rangers.[6]

Political Crisis

• On November 6, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan demanded that a committee to probe investigating rigging allegations in the 2013 general elections be established. He said the committee should complete its inquiry in one month, and work under the supervision of retired Supreme Court judge Justice Nasir Aslam Zahi. He declared that the PTI would not accept investigations supervised by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and that his party would continue the sit-in during the period of investigations.[7]

Indo-Pak Border Suicide Attack

• According to a November 7 Dawn report, a team from the High Crime Unit of the Islamabad police was sent to Lahore at the request of the Inspector General of the Punjab Police to investigate the Wagah border suicide bombing that killed over 60 people on November 2. The team is reportedly helping the Punjab Police’s investigators in conducting “geo fencing” of the bombing site.[8]  

Sino-Pak Relations

• On November 6, a spokesperson for the Prime Minister, Dr. Mussadiq Malik, told the media that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to China was aimed at rebuilding investor confidence which has suffered due to the ongoing political crisis in Islamabad. The Prime Minister is expected to sign projects worth $35 to $40 billion during his visit to China, mainly related to energy generation in Pakistan.[9]

Pak-Afghan Relations

• On November 6, Army chief Gen. Raheel Sharif declared that Pakistan and Afghanistan must jointly cope with terrorism and that terrorism is a common enemy of both countries. During his one-day visit to Afghanistan on November 6, Gen. Sharif also offered the “full range” of training courses and facilities to Afghan security forces in Pakistan’s training institutions. The chief further offered to enhance capacity of an Afghan infantry brigade including with the provision of equipment.[10]

Foreign Affairs

• According to a November 6 Washington Post report, senior adviser on Pakistan for the office of the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Robin L. Raphel, is reportedly under federal investigation related to a counterintelligence matter. Whether the investigation is related to Raphel’s work in Pakistan is unknown.[11]