Pakistan Security Brief

Airstrikes kill 21 militants in Tirah Valley, Khyber; Two senior Haqqani Network leaders arrested in Afghanistan; Mastermind behind Karachi jailbreak attempt arrested in Karachi; Karachi security forces arrest key suspect in June 2013 bombing; Retired air force official shot dead in sectarian attack in Attock; Prime Minister Sharif chairs civil-military leaders’ meeting; PAT workers remove 500 tents from Islamabad; U.S. concerned over LoC skirmishes, urges dialogue; 300,000 minority members emigrate from Balochistan. 

Militancy

• On October 15, Pakistani military airstrikes killed at least 21 militants and destroyed five hideouts in the Akakhel and Sipah areas of the Tirah Valley in Khyber Agency. Security forces also reportedly sealed all roads leading up to the Bara area of Khyber where a military operation is expected to begin soon. A search operation is already underway in Khyber’s Shakas area.[1] 

• On October 14, Afghan security forces arrested two senior leaders of the Haqqani Network in Afghanistan. Anas Haqqani, son of the network’s founder Jalaluddin Haqqani, was arrested along with commander Hafiz Rashid. According to the Afghan National Directorate for Security (NDS), Anas Haqqani played an important role in forming the network’s strategy and fund-raising. Hafiz Rashid allegedly trained and equipped suicide bombers. The Haqqani Network has been held responsible for many sophisticated attacks on U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.[2]

• On October 16, intelligence agencies claimed that they arrested the mastermind behind the recent jailbreak attempt at Karachi Central Prison from the Mehmoodabad area of Karachi. Intelligence officials also recovered two government-issued sub-machine guns from the arrested man and confirmed that he was the owner of the house from which a tunnel was being dug to the jail. The suspect is reportedly a trusted aide of renowned terrorist Attaur Rehman alias Naeem Bokhari.[3]

• On October 15, Karachi security forces arrested a key suspect responsible for the June 2013 bombing targeting Sindh High Court judge Justice Maqbool Baqar which killed nine people. The suspect is believed to have masterminded the attack.[4]

• On October 16, unidentified gunmen shot dead a retired air force official Latif Aalam Butt, a well-known member of the Ahmadi community in Kamra, Attock district. Seven people from the Ahmadi community have been killed this year in targeted violence.[5]

Security

• On October 16, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif convened a meeting of Pakistani’s civil and military leadership to discuss national and regional security matters at the Prime Minister’s house in Islamabad. The meeting’s agenda reportedly included a discussion on the ongoing military offensive, Operation Zarb-e-Azb, in North Waziristan, as well as the recent border clashes between India and Pakistan.[6] 

Politics

• On October 16, Pakistani Awami Tehreek (PAT) party workers removed 500 tents occupied by party workers during the protest sit-ins in Islamabad. According to the PAT Labour Wing President, these workers would return home and be responsible for PAT rallies in their home cities.[7]

U.S.-Pakistan Relations

• According to a Dawn report on October 16, U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Dan Feldman said that the U.S. was extremely concerned over the escalation of violence along the Line of Control (LoC) between India and Pakistan and that the U.S. had raised the issue with both countries, urging them to engage in dialogue to reduce tensions.[8]

Human Rights

• On October 15, the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan claimed that more than 300,000 people including minority Shias and Hindus have migrated out of Pakistan’s Balochistan province over the past ten years due to growing unrest. An official from the commission also declared that the Hazara ethnic group was the worst hit by the unrest.[9]