Pakistan Security Brief

TTP Jamatul Ahrar claims attacks, condemns democracy; Two al Qaeda operatives killed earlier this year; TTP threat neutralized, says army spokesman; Militant attack from Afghanistan kills three FC soldiers in Spinwam, North Waziristan; 20 militants killed in Khyber Agency; Anti-Taliban militiaman killed in Swat; IED explodes in Quetta; Shia doctor killed in New Karachi; Head of local Shia organization killed in Hyderabad; PTI protestors and police clash briefly; PTI chief Imran Khan appeals to Supreme Court to intervene; Indian Ministry of External Affairs angry over Pakistan High Commissioner’s remark on JuD chief Hafiz Saeed; Foreign Affairs Ministry spokeswoman rejects allegations of Pakistani involvement in attack on Afghanistan; Pakistan to possibly import LNG from Iran. 

Militancy

• On September 15, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Jamatul Ahrar spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan posted a message on his Twitter account claiming responsibility for the attack on a police station in Hangu, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on the same day. Ansarul Mujahdeen had reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack earlier. On the topic of celebrating the International Day of Democracy, Ehsan advised all Muslims to shun democracy and support TTP Jamatul Ahrar in its efforts to replace democracy with Sharia in Pakistan. He also declared that the ongoing floods in the Punjab province were a result of Allah’s punishment for adopting democracy.[1]

• According to a Long War Journal report published on September 16, jihadists on twitter confirmed that two al Qaeda operatives, Sufyan al Maghribi and Umar al Talib, were killed in airstrikes earlier this year. Maghribi was a Moroccan who served as the group’s military chief in Afghanistan and Pakistan. According to the journal report, he was likely killed in a drone strike in Afghanistan in March. Umer Talib alias Adil Salih Ahmad al Qumayshi, a propagandist who narrated videos for al Qaeda’s as Sahab Media Foundation, was reportedly killed in a U.S. airstrike in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region two months ago.[2] 

• In an interview with the BBC on September 15, Director General of the Pakistani military’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major Gen. Asim Bajwa said that the ongoing Operation Zarb-e-Azb in North Waziristan had significantly curtailed the TTP’s capacity to carry out coordinated terrorist attacks in Pakistan. However, he admitted that the TTP leadership, including its chief Mullah Fazlullah and Shura members, had managed to flee before the Operation and is now hiding in Kunar province of Afghanistan. In the interview, Major Gen. Bajwa also clarified that the army is not involved in politics and that it is a neutral actor in the current political standoff.[3]

• According to the ISPR, militants from the Afghan side of the border attacked Dandi Kuch check-post in the Spinwam area of North Waziristan Agency on September 16, killing three Frontier Corps (FC) soldiers. Repulsing the attack, Pakistani troops killed 11 insurgents and arrested one.[4]  

• On September 16, Pakistani fighter jets killed at least 20 militants and destroyed five hideouts in Tor Dara, Tirah, Jatoi, and Rajgal areas of Khyber Agency.[5]

• On September 15, unidentified gunmen killed Zahir Shah, a schoolteacher and member of an anti-Taliban militia, in Kabal sub-district of Swat. The police arrested 30 suspected persons in connection with the killing.[6]

• On September 16, an explosion caused by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) planted beside a flyover on Joint Road in Quetta partially destroyed a Frontier Corps (FC) vehicle. No casualties were reported.[7]

• On September 14, unknown gunmen shot to death a health practitioner in an apparent sectarian attack in New Karachi.[8] 

• On September 14, unidentified gunmen killed  the head of a local Shia organization called Anjuman Guldasta Ali Akbar, in Latifabad No 5 locality of Hyderabad.[9] 

Political Crisis

• On September 16, brief clashes erupted between the police and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) protestors in the Red Zone area of Islamabad after policemen detained five PTI protestors. The police later released the detained PTI activists.[10]

• On September 16, PTI chief Imran Khan appealed to the Supreme Court to fulfil its constitutional role of safeguarding democracy and stopping police brutality against the sit-in protestors in Islamabad. He declared that a “sea of protestors” would gather on September 19 to remove obstacles and containers placed illegally by the police, and alluded to the possibility of civil war in the country.[11]  

Indo-Pak Relations

• On September 15, Abdul Basit, the Pakistani High Commissioner to India, declared that Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed is a Pakistani national and therefore free to roam the country since he has no pending legal cases against him. The statement came in response to a question asked by Indian reporters about Saeed’s presence alongside the Pakistani army near the Line of Control. Basit’s remark drew sharp criticism from the Indian Ministry of External Affairs which has maintained that Saeed, designated a terrorist by the U.S., is the mastermind behind the Mumbai terror attack in 2008 which killed 166 people.[12]  

Afghanistan-Pakistan Relations

• In a press release by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on September 16, spokesperson Tasnim Aslam rejected allegations made by Afghanistan’s National Security Council and Ministry of Foreign Affairs accusing Pakistan’s intelligence agencies of involvement in terrorist attacks in Afghanistan. She also reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to combatting terrorism and urged Afghanistan to cooperate with its counter-terrorism efforts.[13] 

Iran-Pakistan Relations

• According to an article in the Express Tribune on September 16, 2014, Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi confirmed the existence of a proposal made by Pakistan to import gas in the form of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from Iran, amidst U.S. threat of sanctions for proceeding with the controversial Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline project. The plan is expected to be discussed with Iranian authorities in an upcoming meeting in Tehran. Under this plan, Iran will convert natural gas into Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and then export it to Pakistan via an LNG terminal facility in Oman.[14]