Pakistan Security Brief

Senior al Qaeda leader allegedly killed in drone strike; Militants in North Waziristan disagree on objectives; Pakistani Taliban to target weddings and funerals; State Department designates Indian Mujahideen as FTO; U.S. and Pakistan energy dialogue ends with “zero progress”; Prime Minster Gilani cancels trip to U.S. amid flood crisis; Pakistan to ask Afghanistan to stop militants from crossing border; IED explosion kills two soldiers, four militants killed in response; Eight arrested for attack on ISI officers; Police charge JSQM chief sparking protests; Rangers arrest 100 in Karachi; Khan commends unity efforts of MQM and ANP; Awan praises efforts of Hussain; Abbottabad Commission expresses frustration with inability to gather public statements; Citizens stage protests in opposition to militants in Kashmir.

Top Al Qaeda Leader “Killed”

• The U.S. claimed that a top al Qaeda leader, Abu Hafs al Shahri, was killed earlier in the week by a CIA drone strike inside of Pakistan. Al Shahri was reportedly an al Qaeda chief of operations in Pakistan and also served as a coordinator between al Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban. The U.S. did not release any details regarding the location of the strike, and Pakistani officials told reporters that there had been no confirmation of Shahri’s death. The remoteness of the tribal area in which al Shahri likely was killed may prevent Pakistani officials from confirming his death, as may the tendency for militants to “quickly bury their dead after drone strikes, making it difficult to verify that U.S. or Pakistani operations [have] succeeded.”[1]

North Waziristan

• Ittehad Mujahideen Khorasan (IMK), a relatively unknown militant group in North Waziristan, publically declared Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a senior Taliban militant in North Waziristan, and his group as enemies. This statement from the IMK came days after Bahadur’s group formally severed ties with the IMK and denounced the militant group’s objectives in an attempt to maintain its 2006 peace deal with the government. The IMK vowed its commitment to “collect[ing] information about spies, government agents and people who were on the payroll of the Pakistan Army” and stated it would continue its efforts toward eliminating “enemies to Islam.”[2]

Pakistani Taliban

• The Pakistani Taliban released a statement on Friday warning that supporters of  “the U.S. and Pakistani military [would] face the same fate” as those killed during the funeral procession of a tribal elder yesterday in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Taliban spokesman Siraj-ud Din told CNN that the Pakistani Taliban would begin launching suicide attacks at the weddings and funerals of their pro-government “enemies.” Yesterday’s suicide attack in Lower Dir killed 40 people and injured nearly 70.[3]

Indian Mujahideen

• The U.S. State Department designated the Indian Mujahideen (IM) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) on Thursday. The group, which has “significant links to Pakistan,” has been responsible for multiple bombings within India since 2005 and has recently worked in concert with other Pakistan-based FTOs, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), and Harkat-ul-Jihad al Islami (HuJI). The IM notably worked with LeT in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.[4]

US-Pakistan Relations

• Two days of energy-focused meetings between U.S. and Pakistani officials ended in “zero progress,” as the U.S. failed to formally commit financing to Pakistan’s $11 billion Bhasha Dam project. “Despite reiterating its support for Pakistan’s efforts to overcome its energy crisis,” there has also been speculation that the U.S. may hold out on project funding due to Pakistan’s agreement to continue with the construction of the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, as the U.S. has “imposed economic sanctions against Iran” and is publically opposed to the pipeline. In addition, according to a Pakistani official quoted by The News, India has remained overwhelmingly opposed to the dam project, which may also hinder the project’s progress.[5]

• Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani cancelled a trip to the UN General Assembly in New York City following Pakistan’s devastating flooding. Gilani will reportedly be working to direct flood relief efforts in Pakistan and will send Pakistan’s foreign minister to the UN meeting in his absence.   Flooding during the past month has killed over 230 people and has affected nearly 1.2 million households in Pakistan.[6]

Afghanistan-Pakistan Relations

• Officials from Afghanistan and Pakistan are scheduled to meet to discuss issues concerning border crossings of Taliban militants.  Pakistani Taliban based in the Kunar and Nuristan provinces of Afghanistan have reportedly been carrying out attacks on “border check posts” and Pakistani villages and Pakistani-based militants have been similarly crossing into Afghanistan to wage attacks.  This meeting comes a day after the U.S. accused Pakistan of providing a safe haven to the Haqqani network which carried out an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Kabul.[7]

FATA

• Two soldiers were killed when a military convoy set off a roadside improvised explosive device (IED) in Khyber agency on Thursday. According to officials, security forces cordoned off area and killed four militants in retaliatory fighting. In a separate incident, militants destroyed a government school and nearby private clinic in a bombing attack in Bara late Wednesday night. An unidentified militant was killed in his attempt to plant the bomb in the school.[8]

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

• Police arrested eight men suspected of orchestrating Wednesday’s attack on Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officials in Bannu. On Wednesday, four ISI officers were en route to Miram Shah when their vehicle was attacked by gunmen. Three of them were killed in the assault.[9]

Karachi

• Police charged Bashir Qureshi, chairman of Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM), for possession of illegal weapons on Thursday. A Rangers spokesman announced that four sub-machine guns and two pistols, all of which were unlicensed, were found during a snap check of Qureshi’s vehicle. In response to Qureshi’s arrest, JSQM activists organized shut downs and protests throughout interior Sindh towns. The protesters blocked the National Highway for several hours and cautioned that if Queshi was not released within 24 hours, a protest campaign would be launched “until the end of the government”.[10]

• A joint Rangers and police operation rounded up 100 suspects in Karachi on Friday. The operation was conducted in Baldia Town, Mawacha Goth and Saeedabad and resulted in the seizure of drugs and ammunition.[11]

• On Thursday, Sindh Governor, Dr. Ishratul Ebad Khan, commended the attempts by leaders of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Awami National Party (ANP) to create harmony between the two parties. Ebad claimed that fostering unity amongst the political elite was an important step towards eliminating the violence in Karachi.[12]

• In a Thursday night announcement, senior Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader, Babar Awan praised the efforts of MQM chief Altaf Hussain to restore order in Karachi. Earlier in the day, Awan appeared before the Supreme Court to provide testimony on the targeted killings and extortion in Karachi.[13]

Abbottabad Commission

• Members of the Abbottabad Commission expressed frustration in their inability to receive public statements on the May 2 raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad. Justice Javed Iqbal lamented that the commission “assured them (the public) complete protection. We also guaranteed that their names would be kept secret if they so desired, but we did not get much response.” Local Abbottabad journalists have speculated that the compound’s distance from the city and tight security measures may have prevented locals from coming forward with statements.[14]

Protests in Kashmir

• Residents of the Neelum Valley region of Pakistani-administered Kashmir have been staging protests in opposition to the increasing number of militants “flocking to the area and crossing into Indian-administered Kashmir to launch attacks.” Locals told BBC that they believed the majority of militants were from Punjab province, judging by their “language and dress.” Residents remain fearful that militant activity may endanger a 2003 ceasefire between Pakistan and India and that they become victims of retaliatory attacks by Indian soldiers.[15]