Pakistan Security Brief

Pakistan Security Brief-October 15, 2010

Drone strike kills four militants in North Waziristan; NATO personnel killed in attack on NATO resupply vehicles; Intelligence officials worried about suspected TTP operative the United States; Islamabad to ask for civilian nuclear deal at upcoming summit meeting; New wave of political violence in Karachi; WHO reports that 300,000 flood victims have malaria

North Waziristan

• Four militants were killed on Friday in U.S. drone operations in North Waziristan.  The strike occurred in the Machi Khel village near the town of the Mir Ali.  Security officials report that a vehicle and a militant compound were targeted in the strike.  Officials are working to confirm the identity of those killed in Friday’s operation.  Mir Ali is home to both foreign and native militant groups and the area is considered by many to be one the most active militant areas in North Waziristan. [1]

NATO Supply Chain

• Militants killed two NATO resupply personnel on Friday near the Khyber tribal agency.  Militants ambushed the pair as their vehicle passed through the town of Jamrud near the Torkham checkpoint which lies on the road to Afghanistan. The assailants shot the driver and his assistant before throwing petrol bombs that ignited, consuming the vehicle.  Security officials told reporters that the vehicle was part of a two-truck convoy and that the second vehicle was not damaged in the attack.  As many as 120 NATO trucks have been destroyed this month as Pakistani officials prevented NATO from using Northern supply routes in Afghanistan.  Friday’s incident is the first major attack on NATO vehicles since the Torkham checkpoint was reopened last weekend.[2] 

Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan

• US intelligence indicates that the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan may have a second operative working within the United States. Authorities believe that the operative is linked to the Times Square Bomber Faisal Shahzad. US officials have admitted that they know very few details about the potential operative or any possible plots and are describing the latest threat as ‘credible but not specific’.  Security officials report that the TTP is looking to make up for last year’s unsuccessful Times Square attack and that any second strike would likely use "a similar mechanism" and the "same modus operandi" employed Shahzad in May. [3]

• The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan has released a video showing Ajmal Khan, a prominent Pakistani academic and vice-chancellor of the Islamia College University (ICU). Khan has been held captive by the group since early September.  In the video released on Thursday, Ajmal Khan pleads with the Pakistani government to accept the demands of the TTP, saying “The government should solve their problems (with the Taliban), if they have any.” Intelligence officials believe that Khan is being held by the group in the country’s tribal areas. [4]   

US-Pakistan Relations

• The Wall Street Journal reports that Pakistani officials will again raise demands for a civilian nuclear deal with the United States.  According to the report, Pakistan plans to broach the subject during a major upcoming summit meeting in Washington on October 22nd.  U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is slated to meet with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and other senior members of the Pakistani military and government establishment. Pakistani officials are reportedly going to ask the United States for a civilian nuclear deal similar to the one Washington has extended to India.  Islamabad’s renewed push is expected to further exacerbate US-Pakistani relations at a summit that was originally intended to ease already strained relationship between the two countries. [5] 

Karachi

• As many as six party members were killed in Karachi over the last two days in a new wave of politically motivated target killings.  Five workers of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and one member of the Awami National Party (ANP) were killed in the latest round of violence.  Senior MQM and ANP members traded accusations over who was responsible for the bloodshed, while the MQM Coordination Committee offered new allegations that the Sindh provincial government is backing elements of the Lyari gang and is therefore to blame.  This week’s violence comes days before a special election that is scheduled for Sunday. The election is being held to fill the seat vacated by Muttahida Qaumi Movement MPA Raza Haider, who was killed in a targeted assassination on August 3rd. [6]

Floods

• The World Health Organization has reported that around 300,000 Pakistani flood victims have contracted malaria since July 2010. The number of cases is dramatically higher than the “official” number of cases reported by the Pakistani government.  The WHO is said to be coordinating efforts across Pakistan to control the further spread of this disease. Meanwhile, the US Agency for International Development has already donated $5 million specifically for malaria awareness and prevention. [7]