Pakistan Security Brief - August 11, 2009

Pakistan Security Brief - August 11, 2009�

Militants within Hakimullah Mehsud's Pakistani Taliban group clashed internally on Tuesday resulting in the death of nineteen militants in Orakzai agency; a suspected drone strike struck militant hideouts in South Waziristan on Tuesday killing at least ten according to security officials; twenty-nine suspected militants were arrested in Swat and Malakand districts on Tuesday according to Pakistani security officials; a rocket attack on a Frontier Corps base in Peshawar left three civilians dead and was followed by retaliatory strikes against militants in the region

• Infighting amongst members of the Hakimullah subgroup of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), formerly led by Beitullah Mehsud, has reportedly killed at least nineteen militants in the Orakzai area Tuesday. The dispute was still ongoing as of latest news reports.[1]
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• A suspected U.S. drone strike on militant hideouts in the village of Kanniguram, near Ladha, South Waziristan, killed at least ten, security officials report. The area falls within territory held by TTP chief Beitullah Mehsud, whose death in an earlier drone strike last Wednesday is strongly suspected but not yet confirmed.[2]
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• Search and clearance operations in Swat and Malakand Tuesday led to the apprehension of twenty-nine 'suspects', including fifteen believed to be terrorists by Pakistani security officials.[3]
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• A pre-dawn rocket attack Tuesday on a Frontier Corps base in Peshawar that killed three civilians and wounded two others prompted an intense retaliation by Pakistani security forces against Taliban in the region. Paramilitary officials report that seventeen suspected Taliban were killed in the ensuing military strikes.[4] �