Pakistan Security Brief - July 16, 2009

Pakistan Security Brief – July 16, 2009

• Talks between the foreign secretaries of Pakistan and India concerning the resumption of normal dialogue between the countries failed to achieve concrete results on Tuesday night. Both sides agreed, however, on the need for a mutual effort to combat terrorism, and will resume discussion on Thursday.[1]
   
• Large numbers of infantry units, tanks, and other armored vehicles were deployed Thursday from Mirali to a base in Miramshah, North Waziristan. Separately, a checkpoint bombing resulted in one injury in South Waziristan. Elsewhere, in South Waziristan, airstrikes Wednesday on militant locations near Sararogha and Ladha left five dead and six wounded according to Pakistani security officials.[2]
   
• Security forces in Buner district say they destroyed seven hideouts and killed fourteen suspected militants Wednesday in their ongoing operation to cleanse Swat of Taliban insurgents. Wanted commander Abu Laith is reportedly among the casualties. Despite the ongoing violence, the government continued to transport IDPs back to the region.[3]
   
• U.N. official Zill-e-Usman was shot Thursday during an aborted kidnapping attempt at a Peshawar refugee camp. This is the third such attack on U.N. officials in Pakistan in the past five months, and sparked fears of rising violence along the Afghan border. The gunmen responsible—who fled the scene—have not been identified.[4]