Pakistan Security Brief - July 1, 2009

Pakistan Security Brief – July 1, 2009

Tribesman continued to clash with militants in Kurram agency who reportedly fled to the area from Swat; a pro-Pakistani government tribal elder was targeted and killed by gunmen in Khyber agency; a U.N. inquire into the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has officially begun.

• Tribesmen in Kurram Agency called on the Pakistani government today to send troops to the region “as quickly as possible” as they continue a two-week long fight against Taliban militants. Over one hundred people have reportedly been killed in that fighting. According to one tribesman, "Kurram is an important place because the Taliban can cross the Afghan border from here easily.” Additionally, the tribes allege that Taliban militants who fled Swat are now in Kurram.[1]
   
• A ‘key pro-government tribal elder’ was targeted and killed in Khyber Agency today. Malik Gali Khan, an outspoken supporter of the government, was attacked by militant gunmen in Jamrud.[2] 
   
• A UN inquiry into the assassination of former PM Benazir Bhutto, requested by the PPP-led government, has officially begun. It is led by Chilean ambassador to the UN, Heraldo Munoz. The inquiry is slated to last for six months and is tasked with investigating the “facts and circumstances” behind Bhutto’s murder.[3]
   
• On Tuesday, the military launched several airstrikes in the Lattaka and Doga villages of Maddakhel, North Waziristan in retaliation for an ambush by Hafiz Gul Bahdur-led militants that killed over twenty soldiers this past Sunday. As a result of the airstrikes, many locals have reportedly fled to safer parts of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and, in some cases, to Afghanistan.[4]