Pakistan Security Brief
U.S. drone strikes kill 32 suspected militants, injure 16 in Waziristan; Indian cross-border firing reportedly kills one person, injures 12 in Sialkot, Foreign Office lodges complaint; Second airplane shot at while landing in Peshawar; Two killed, three injured in attack on seminary, mosque in Quetta; Two people shot dead in Karachi; New Navy Chief assumes command.
Drone Strike
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Two separate drone strikes on October 7 killed several militants and were the fourth and fifth such strikes to take place in the Waziristan region over the last three days. In the first attack on October 7, a drone strike targeted the compound of a militant commander named Mustaqeem, killing seven suspected militants and injuring five others in the Kandghar area of the Shawal Valley, bordering North and South Waziristan. In the second attack that day, a drone strike killed three militants and injured five others in the Madakhel Kunal Sar area in of Datta Khel sub-district, North-Waziristan. Two strikes reportedly took place the day before, on October 6. In one strike, drones killed four militants at a militant center operated by “Uzbek rebels” in the Mangrotai area of the Shawal valley, in the North and South Waziristan border region. A separate strike on another “Uzbek facility” in the same area killed at least another five militants. Conflicting reports claim one of the strikes on October 6 targeted the compound of a “commander Habib,” killed eight militants and wounded six others and took place in the Bari Mail area of Shawal sub-district, North Waziristan. The first of the five separate attacks took place on October 5 and reportedly killed five people, also in the Kandghar area of the Shawal Valley.[1]
Indo-Pakistan Relations
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On October 7, one person was killed and 12 others injured amidst continued “unprovoked” firing by Indian and Pakistani forces in the Sialkot area along the Line of Control (LoC). On October 6, the Pakistani Foreign Office lodged a protest with the government of India through diplomatic channels, calling on India to restrain its forces from “constant violation of the ceasefire.” Officials of the Directorates General of Military Operations (DGMOs) from Pakistan and India reportedly discussed the ceasefire violations along the LoC on October 7 via hotline but failed to resolve the issue. In a briefing on October 6, a U.S. State Department spokesperson also expressed concerns over the exchanges of fire between Indian and Pakistani forces along the LoC.[2]
Militancy
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On October 7, four unidentified gunmen armed with machine guns reportedly fired on a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) passenger airplane from the Suleman Khel area while it was landing at Bacha Khan International Airport in Peshawar. No casualties were reported. PIA and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) spokespersons have denied any firing took place. Previously, another PIA aircraft was fired upon while landing in Peshawar on September 27.[3]
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On October 6, unknown gunmen killed at least two people and injured three others in an attack on a seminary and mosque in the Multani Mohalla area of Quetta.[4]
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On October 7, unidentified gunmen shot two people in separate attacks conducted within half an hour of each other in Karachi. Maulana Masood, an activist of the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ), was shot dead in North Nazimabad’s Hyderi area while Maulana Sajidullah, a member of the Jamiat Ulema Islam- Fazl, was shot and killed in Peerabad Muslim Colony.[5]
Military
