Pakistan Security Brief - July 10, 2009

Pakistan Security Brief – July 10, 2009 

• Pakistani army spokesman Gen. Athar Abbas has said in an interview that Pakistan’s intelligence services have maintained contact with Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar and are willing to mediate between the Taliban and the U.S. government in exchange for “concessions from Washington over Islamabad’s concerns with longtime rival India.” Senior U.S. officials reportedly told CNN that “the Obama administration is willing both to talk to top Taliban leaders and to raise some of Pakistan’s concerns with India.”[1]
   
• The BBC, echoing statements made recently by Pakistan military spokesmen, reports that Mullah Fazlullah is critically wounded in Imam Dehri “without access to medical assistance and is close to death,” according to a resident of Mingora with “close contacts” to militants in the area.[2]
   
• The UN’s top relief coordinator, John Holmes, stated on Friday that the repatriation and reconstruction effort following Pakistan’s operation in Malakand could cost “…billions of dollars for a year or so.” Holmes also stated that the security situation would not normalize overnight and that “…the returns (of internally displaced persons) are voluntary and conditions are right.”[3]
   
• According to military spokespeople, Pakistani security forces have killed and captured several militants, and destroyed militant hideouts, in Swat on Thursday.[4]
   
• Four policemen were killed in Bajaur in a militant attack on a check post on Friday. Officials say about two dozen militants attacked a post near Khar, the main town in Bajaur.[5]