Pakistan Security Brief - December 7, 2009

Pakistan Security Brief – December 7, 2009 

Bomb blasts in Lahore, Peshawar and Bajaur agency kill dozens while the TTP claims responsibility for Friday’s mosque bombing; military operations in Bajaur kill several militants; a retired Pakistani general claims Musharraf gave the U.S. use of airbases without consulting the corps commanders; U.S. prosecutors add complicity in the Mumbai attacks to the charges against suspected terrorist David Headly.

• Two coordinated bomb attacks in a crowded Lahore marketplace killed over thirty-five people on Monday night. The blasts, taking place less than thirty meters apart, also injured over one hundred and engulfed the busy market in flames. The attack is the latest in a series of blasts over the last few days. A bomb attack in Bajaur agency on Sunday killed an anti-Taliban tribal elder and his associate on their way home from a mosque. Additionally, a bomb blast in the northwestern city of Peshawar killed three people on Saturday, and the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for a gun-and-bomb attack on a mosque frequented by military officers on Friday.[1]

• Military operations in various parts of Bajaur agency killed eight militants on Monday. Ground and air operations were carried out in Charmung, Mamond and Inayat Kalle while a number of militants surrendered to tribal authorities in Salarzai.[2]

• A former Pakistani general appearing on a television talk show claimed that General Musharraf gave permission to the United States to use two airbases in Jacobabad and Pasni without informing the Army’s corps commanders. The retired general claimed that Musharraf made most of his decisions regarding post-9/11 cooperation with the U.S. unilaterally.[3]

• The U.S. government has officially charged David Headly, recently arrested on suspicions of planning terrorist attacks in Denmark, with complicity in the Mumbai attacks. Reports suggest Headly assisted in picking out targets in Mumbai for the terrorist attack. The U.S. has also charged a retired Pakistani Major with complicity in planning attacks in Denmark.[4]