Pakistan Security Brief

IS to launch Pakistan wing; Concerns of support for IS in Kashmir, India; Four civilians injured in continued firing along LoC; UNMOGIP visits villages hit by Indian firing; Suicide attack kills seven, injures 12 in Khyber; IED injures two in South Waziristan; NATO helicopters enter Pakistani airspace; “Tacit acceptance” of U.S. drone strikes by Pakistan Army, claims report; Interior Minister mandates removal of all containers; MQM leaders request UK provide extra security to Altaf Hussain; Indian hackers deface Lahore High Court website; New Frontier Constabulary Chief appointed; Indian voters vote in regional elections.

IS in South Asia

• An October 14 report in The Frontier Post claims that Islamic State (IS) is preparing to launch itself in Pakistan. According to The News, a letter by the Home Department of Sindh claims that an Uzbek IS leader, Waleed al Ama, offered the position of Emir of IS in Pakistan to local militant Abid Kahut of Kahuta, Rawalpindi district. Recruits for this new Pakistan wing of IS are reportedly being sought among disgruntled militants of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ). Al Ama allegedly met recently with Pakistan-based militants and Kahut in order to find a place around Raiwind, near Lahore, to establish the headquarters for the Pakistan branch of IS.[1]

• On October 15, Indian Lt. Gen. Shubrata Shaha expressed concern that some protesters had been recently seen waving IS flags in Kashmir, stating that it “deserves the highest attention of the security agencies.” On October 14, the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah, denied the presence of IS in Jammu and Kashmir and dismissed the flag waving as the act of “some idiots.” Lt. Gen. Shaha emphasized the importance of preventing IS from recruiting Kashmiri youth.[2]

Indo-Pakistan Relations

• On October 14, four Pakistani civilians were injured amidst continued firing by Indian and Pakistani forces in the Dabsi Narr village of the Nakyal sector on the Pakistani side of the Line of Control (LoC). According to Pakistani military sources, Indian troops also resorted to cross-border firing in the Kailer sector near Bagh and in the Nezapir sector near Rawalakot on October 15. Indian army officials claimed that Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked mortar shelling along the LoC in Kerni and Saujjian sectors of Poonch district late on October 14 which continued the next day. No casualties were reported.[3]

• On October 13-14, a team from the United Nations Military Observers Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) visited Pakistani villages hit by Indian firing in Charwah, Chaprar and Pukhlian sectors on the working border near Sialkot in order to assess the damage caused by ceasefire violations. While Pakistan continues to lodge complaints of ceasefire violations with the UNMOGIP, India has refused to recognize UNMOGIP’s jurisdiction in the Kashmir dispute.[4]

Militancy

• On October 15, a suicide bomber killed seven people, including five anti-Taliban militia members, and injured more than a dozen others in an attack on a militia meeting in the Pir Mela area of the Tirah Valley, Khyber Agency.[5]

• On October 15, an improvised explosive device (IED) injured two soldiers in the Azam Warsak area of South Waziristan.[6]

U.S.-Pakistan Relations

• On October 15, two NATO gunship helicopters reportedly violated Pakistani airspace over Torkham and Pasidkhel while crossing over the Shamshad mountains on the Afghan-Pakistan border. The helicopters remained in Pakistani territory for about 10 minutes and returned without incident.[7]

• A report published in Stars and Stripes on October 14 claims that recent U.S. drone attacks in Pakistan’s northwest tribal areas suggest cooperation between the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Pakistani security forces in order to defeat Taliban insurgents. The report claims the recent drone strikes have mainly targeted militants fighting the Pakistani military and not high-value targets on U.S. kill lists.[8]

Politics

• On October 14, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan directed the Islamabad administration to remove containers from all roads in the city except the ones on Constitution Avenue that prevent protestors from approaching the Prime Minister’s house. The containers had been placed for security purposes due to protest sit-ins by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami League (PAT) parties in Islamabad.[9]

• On October 14, members of the central coordination committee of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Sindh Assembly lawmakers wrote a letter to British Prime Minister David Cameron requesting the British government to provide maximum security to MQM party chief Altaf Hussain in light of recent threats made by the TTP against MQM party members.[10]

Cyber Attacks

• On October 14, an Indian hacker group called ‘Sahoo’ hacked the website of the Lahore High Court in response to Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s recent tweets about Kashmir. The hackers’ message on the website declared that Kashmir belonged to India and that no one could separate it from the country.[11]

Police Appointments

• On October 14, senior police officer Liaqat Ali Khan was appointed as the new chief of the Frontier Constabulary. Meanwhile, his predecessor Abdul Majeet Marwat was transferred to the Intelligence Bureau for further posting.[12]

Indian Domestic Politics

• On October 15, nearly 100 million Indian voters were expected to vote in regional elections in the states of Haryana in the north and Maharashtra in the west. These elections are expected to be the first major test of Prime Minister Modi’s popularity since his party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a landslide victory in national elections of May 2014. A victory for the BJP in these regional elections is considered crucial for Mr. Modi’s economic reform agenda.[13]