Pakistan Security Brief - September 11, 2009

Pakistan Security Brief - September 11, 2009

Militants resurfaced in Lower Dir in a failed attack on a police post Friday; continuing security forces operations in Swat netted forty-nine militants and killed twenty-two more; the Swat Taliban announced that spokesman Muslim Khan had been captured by the Pakistani army; fighting in Kurram and Orakzai Agencies and Tank District left six militants and two Frontier Corps soldiers dead.

• Police in the Kohiray area of Lower Dir district repulsed a militant attack on a temporary post on Friday. Combatants allegedly exchanged fire for approximately forty-five minutes, but no casualties have been reported. The attack marks a resurgence of militant activity in the Dir area, which the Pakistani army had previously claimed to be clear of Taliban.[1]
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• Security forces in Swat killed twenty-two suspected militants and arrested forty-nine more in operations Wednesday and Thursday following a tip-off from local sources. Among the dead were six Uzbeks and Afghans.[2]
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• The Swat Taliban announced Friday that five members of their organization who had been sent to Islamabad to conduct secret peace negotiations with the Pakistani military had been arrested. These include Muslim Khan, the organization's main spokesman, and Mahmud Khan, an important commander. The Swat Taliban had previously denied engaging in talks with the military.[3]
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• The latest round of conflict in the Federally Administered Tribal Agencies (FATA) saw six militants killed and three more injured after Pakistani military helicopters bombed Taliban hideouts in Orakzai and Kurram agencies on Friday. Meanwhile, two Frontier Corps soldiers died in a rocket attack on a fort near Jandola, Tank District.[4]