Pakistan Security Brief - June 10, 2009

Pakistan Security Brief – June 10, 2009

The death toll from yesterday’s Peshawar hotel bomb rose to sixteen as Pakistani security officials indicated that Pakistani Taliban leader Beitullah Mehsud may have been behind the attack; Pakistani military forces allegedly killed nearly two dozen militants in retaliatory operations in Bannu district near North Waziristan; “anti-Taliban” local militias continued to clash with militants in Upper Dir; reports continue to surface regarding Pakistani military preparations for an offensive against militants in South Waziristan.

• Officials raised the death toll from yesterday’s Peshawar hotel bombing to sixteen people. Pakistani security officials have said that Pakistani Taliban leader Beitullah Mehsud may be behind the attack, although no one has claimed responsibility thus far.[1] 
   
• Pakistani military forces allegedly killed twenty militants in areas of Bannu district adjacent to North Waziristan. The military undertook the operation following the revelation that tribes in these areas sheltered militants responsible for the kidnapping of Pakistani military cadets and staff from a military school in Razmak.[2]   
   
• A senior Pakistani military official indicated that the military would carry out operations against Taliban militants in South Waziristan “within a couple of weeks.” The military allegedly undertook recent operations in Bannu district as part of a shaping operation to provide basing and logistical support for any future incursions.[3]
   
• A local anti-Taliban militia in Upper Dir secured four villages and killed thirteen militants as villagers continued to take up arms in response to last week’s mosque bombing and attack militant strongholds.[4]   
   
• Waliullah Kabalgrami, one of the “founding leaders” of TNSM, reportedly surrendered to security forces today in Kohistan district. [5]