Pakistan Security Brief
British Prime Minister, Afghan President, and Pakistani Prime Minister meet in London, discuss Afghan reconciliation; Pakistan will allow Afghan delegation to meet with Mullah Baradar; Indian Defense Minister says Pakistan Army behind recent Kashmir violence; Rangers and BSF agree to observe cease-fire on border; Meeting of senior Indian and Pakistani military officers delayed; Ministry of Defense says that only 67 civilians have died in U.S. drone strikes; NSA monitored 12.76 billion calls in Pakistan this year; Interior Minister says TTP talks to begin soon; PTI threatens to block NATO supply routes if TTP talks do not start by November 7; Four killed and 17 injured in Quetta bombing; Two soldiers killed and four wounded in South Waziristan bomb explosion; One dead and three injured in Sindh bombings; 70 arrested in Rawalpindi operations; Musharraf not being investigated as a perpetrator in Lal Masjid murder case.
Afghanistan Reconciliation Process
-
On Tuesday, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif met in London to discuss trilateral relations, including economic cooperation and their commitment to the Afghanistan reconciliation process. Sharif also assured Karzai that the approximately three million Afghan refugees in Pakistan will be given facilities to help them vote in the upcoming Afghan elections.[1]
-
Afghan President Hamid Karzai released a statement on Tuesday that he and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had reached an agreement to allow a delegation from the Afghan High Peace Council to travel to Pakistan to meet with former Afghan Taliban deputy Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.[2]
India-Pakistan Relations
-
On Wednesday, Indian Defense Minister AK Antony accused the Pakistan Army of initiating the recent spate of violations of the 2003 cease-fire at the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir, saying that “nothing can happen without the knowledge and tacit support of the Pakistan Army.”[3]
-
On Tuesday, representatives from the Pakistani Punjab Rangers and the Indian Border Security Forces met and agreed to respect the ceasefire along the working border between Sialkot district in Pakistani Punjab and Jammu district in Indian-administered Kashmir, which has been the site of a spike in firing incidents over the last several weeks.[4]
-
The planned meeting between Pakistan’s and India’s Directors General of Military Operations (DGMO) has been delayed indefinitely, according to a Wednesday report in The Express Tribune. The two sides reportedly cannot agree to a framework for the talks, with Pakistan demanding that Foreign Ministry officials be present at the meeting, and India refusing.[5]
-
On Tuesday, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Abbasi said that India has offered to export gas to Pakistan. He said that the prices were too high, and that his Ministry made a request for lower prices, to which India has not replied.[6]
-
On Tuesday, the Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan said that Pakistan should grant Most Favored Nation (MFN) status to India to improve trade between the two countries.[7]
U.S. Drone Strikes
-
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Defense released data showing the number of civilian casualties from drone strikes in Pakistan is much lower than reported by the United Nations and other organizations. The data showed that about 2,000 terrorists and 67 civilians have died in 317 drone strikes. Interestingly, the Ministry of Defense claimed that no civilians have died since January 2012. The number of drone strikes has also sharply declined, from 115 in 2010 to 14 so far this year.[8]
-
U.S. Congressman Alan Grayson said on Tuesday that, if Pakistan chooses, it could make drone strikes by the United States difficult if it withdraws the tacit support it currently gives for American drones. He said that the total number of militants in the country is low and that Pakistan’s military is capable of defeating them. He added that he feels the United States should compensate families of civilians who are killed by drones.[9]
U.S.-Pakistan Relations
-
According to a Wednesday report in The News, the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) monitored 12.76 billion phone calls in Pakistan this year.[10]
Talks with the TTP
-
On Tuesday, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said that talks with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) will begin soon. He also announced that the government will revive the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) and that a Rapid Response Force will be formed.[11]
-
On Tuesday, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) reiterated its threat to block North Atlantic Trade Organization (NATO) supply routes to Afghanistan that run through Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, this time because of delays in talks with the TTP. According to PTI Deputy Secretary General Imran Ismail, PTI chief Imran Khan will issue an ultimatum for the government to begin the TTP talks. If talks are not announced by November 7, the PTI will close the supply lines.[12]
Militancy
-
On Wednesday, a bomb blast in Quetta, near a National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) office, killed four people and injured 17.[13]
-
On Wednesday, two Pakistani soldiers died and four others were injured in a roadside bomb blast in South Waziristan agency.[14]
-
On Tuesday, a string of low intensity blasts in Sindh killed one and injured three. Several of the blasts, including the deadly one, occurred in Hyderabad. The man who died in the explosion may have been the bomber.[15]
-
On Tuesday, a bomb disposal unit defused two improvised explosive devices (IED) discovered on the roof of a house in Allabad, Kasur district, Punjab.[16]
-
On Tuesday, a bomb disposal unit defused an IED discovered near the house of a Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leader in Mamishkhel, Bannu district, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.[17]
-
During operations in Rawalpindi on Wednesday, police arrested approximately 70 people.[18]
Domestic
