Pakistan Security Brief – March 3, 2010
Pakistani military and Taliban trade blows, harsh words in North Waziristan; US to send laser-guided bomb kits to Pakistani Air Force; 38 militants killed in “Spring Cleaning” operation; two TTP commanders killed in Peshawar; two militant groups clash in Kurram; Pakistani Agency releases wanted list that does not include TTP leadership; Frontier Corps will not hold talks with militants until they surrender; a school destroyed and a concert attacked.
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Tensions run high in North Waziristan agency as the Pakistani military and the local Taliban have both released pamphlets accusing the other of following a “foreign agenda” and not having the people’s best interests in mind. The pamphlet war follows the killing of two Frontier Corps (FC) soldiers by local militants and retaliatory action by the FC. According to reports, the tensions brought on an influx of heavily armed troops into Miram Shah, the main town in North Waziristan. Among other things, the military’s pamphlet accused the Taliban of receiving funds from India, Israel and al-Qaeda to purchase weapons and brainwash youth. The leaflet distributed by the Taliban accused Pakistan of killing innocent Pakistanis for profit and blocking the implementation of Islamic Sharia.[1]
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The United States will send 1,000 laser-guided bomb kits to Pakistan this month in response to a request made by the air chief of the Pakistani Air Force. Pakistan is also expected to receive 18 F-16s from the US later this year. The US is “considering additional arms sales to help the Pakistani Air Force crack down on insurgents in the Afghan border region.”[2]
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The Pakistani military claims to have killed 38 militants and arrested eighteen in a week-long operation against the TTP, codenamed “Spring Cleaning.” Troops reportedly captured the TTP stronghold Pastawana near Kohat. Speaking to reporters the head of the FC said, "The first phase of the operation is over. Security forces are in complete control of the area." He went on to say that troops would begin conducting house to house searches.[3]
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According to the Pakistani military, two important TTP commanders were killed in an exchange of fire with security forces. One of the deceased, Mohammad Iqbal, was reportedly a member of a TTP faction operating in Khyber and a “key supplier of suicide jackets.” He is accused of supplying “21 suicide vehicles” with explosives. The other dead militant, Mohammad Tufail (alias Abdullah), was a commander in the district of Nowshera and was thought to be involved in several attacks.[4]
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On Tuesday, two militant groups led by Mulla Toofan and Mulla Rafique clashed in the Dogar area of the Kurram Agency in the FATA. Sources stated that seven militants died in the clash. Mulla Toofan’s group claimed to have taken 48 rival militants hostage, including Mulla Rafique, the alleged interim leader of the TTP following Hakimullah Mehsud’s death.[5]
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Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency released a list, also known as a ‘red book,’ of 119 wanted individuals. The list includes persons involved in various militant attacks including those on former premier Benazir Bhutto and Pervez Musharraf, as well as, the Marriott Hotel attack in Islamabad and the Mumbai attacks. However, the list excludes mention of many senior militant leaders from the FATA and contains only sixteen names from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), the province worst-hit by militancy.[6]
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A top Frontier Corps official told reporters that there would be not talks with militants until they laid down their arms and surrendered to the government. He went on to say that “security forces had restored the writ of the government in Bara tehsil” of the Khyber Agency and that a curfew had been imposed.[7]
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In separate incidents, a government boys school was destroyed in Khyber and a music event at a university was attacked in Khuzdar, Balochistan. One student was killed and thirteen were wounded according to police.[8]