Pakistan Security Brief - February 9, 2010

Pakistan Security Brief – February 9, 2010

TTP confirms Hakimullah Mehsud’s death; police foil TTP terror plot in Lahore; AML chief attacked in Rawalpindi; Pakistani military secures key militant stronghold in Bajaur; security forces arrest militant commander, militants launch rocket attack in Khyber; explosion in Quetta injures four; militants arrested in Nowshera and Mohmand; clash at polling station in Islamabad leaves one dead; TTP threatens local leaders in Lakki Marwat; Rangers continue crackdown, fleeing militants take refuge in Karachi.

• The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have confirmed that their leader, Hakimullah Mehsud, has died of wounds sustained in a US drone attack in North Waziristan last month. Sources say Mehsud died outside the city of Multan in Punjab while on the way to a medical treatment center in Karachi. No comment has yet been made by the TTP’s official spokesman. Maulvi Noor Jamal, a TTP commander in Kurram and Orakzai agencies with a brutal reputation, is reportedly the interim commander of the group and a potential successor.[1]

• On Monday, police in Lahore arrested six suspects believed to belong to the TTP and also seized several suicide vests and hand grenades in their possession. Interrogation later revealed that they were intending to target Lahore’s Pearl Continental Hotel.[2]

• National assembly candidate and Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed narrowly escaped an attempt on his life in Rawalpindi on Monday. The attack occurred outside his party’s election headquarters when two unidentified gunmen opened fire on Ahmed while he was getting into his vehicle, resulting in the death of two bodyguards and one other individual. Ahmed suffered minor injuries but was not shot and was later discharged from a nearby hospital.[3]

• The Pakistani military on Saturday secured a key militant stronghold as part of its continuing operation in Bajaur Agency. The town of Damadola in Mamond Tehsil was being used to train and finance Taliban fighters and Maulana Faqir Mohammad had previously commanded militants from this location.[4]

• A tip-off to security forces in the Bara sub-district of Khyber Agency resulted in the arrest of a militant commander. The suspect, who has been moved to an undisclosed location for interrogation, is believed to be the nephew of Mangal Bagh, leader of Lashkar-e-Islam. Also in Khyber, militants fired rockets at army troops garrisoned in Landi Kotal, killing one girl and seriously injuring four other people.[5]

• Four people have been injured after unidentified militants threw a hand-held explosive device at shop in Quetta. An investigation into the attack is currently underway.[6]

• Police in Nowshera district reported the arrest of seven militants on Sunday. A key militant commander identified as Tahir, alias Ibne Qasim, and Maulana Rashid Ahmed, who is believed to have connections with the Taliban in Swat, were among those arrested. On Monday, security forces in the Safi area of Mohmand Agency arrested three more militants and demolished the home of another.[7]

• On Sunday, a clash between members of the Muslim Conference and the Pakistani People’s Party (PPP) erupted at a polling station in Islamabad. One man, a leader of the PPP –Azad Jammu and Kashmir, was shot and killed in the confrontation.[8]

• The TTP in Lakki Marwat distributed leaflets throughout the area on Monday threatening the lives of local politicians. The leaflets criticized the politicians’ support of military operations as well as their support of local militias.[9]

• The Rangers continue their crackdown in Karachi, claiming to have arrested 95 suspects so far in addition to seizing sizable quantities of weapons and ammunition throughout the city. Interior Minister Rehman Malik also made a statement today that militants attempting to escape the military’s ongoing operations in the northwestern part of the country are fleeing to Karachi.[10]