Pakistan Security Brief – December 2, 2009
A suicide blast outside a Pakistan Navy complex in Islamabad kills one; India’s home minister announces India is prepared to withdraw significant forces from Kashmir; Pakistani foreign minister Qureshi says Pakistan is worried about where, not how many U.S. troops are deployed; Pakistani operations to kill and capture Taliban militants continue in South Waziristan and Khyber agencies and in Hangu district.
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A suicide bomb attack in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad killed one and injured two others on Wednesday. The target of the attack was the Islamabad headquarters of the Pakistan Navy. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack as of yet.[1]
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On Wednesday India’s home minister said that his government is ready to withdraw a “significant” number of security forces personnel from Indian-controlled Kashmir. P. Chidambaram cited improved domestic security as the impetus for the move but gave no details as to exactly how many forces would be leaving or how soon.[2]
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As President Obama announced the U.S.’s new troop surge to Afghanistan, Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Tuesday told reporters that his government’s concern was not the number of new U.S. troops that would be deployed to Afghanistan but “their positions of deployment.” The Pakistani government continues to voice fears that a U.S. surge may cause an influx of Taliban fighters into Pakistan that would complicate Pakistan’s domestic security situation and hinder its own operations against anti-state militants.[3]
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In continuing operations across the northwest frontier, Pakistani security forces killed ten militants and apprehended over one hundred suspects in Hangu district bordering Orakzai agency. Officials claimed those arrested were wanted in kidnapping for ransom, murder, and bomb attack cases. Elsewhere, in Khyber agency, Pakistani forces continued their offensive against Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants in the region. The same was the case in South Waziristan agency where forces continue to consolidate their control over the former TTP stronghold while facing sporadic attacks from remaining TTP fighters.[4]