Pakistan Security Brief - May 10, 2010

Pakistan Security Brief – May 10, 2010

US says it has definitive evidence of TTP connection in Times Square bomb plot; Pakistan says it will cooperate with US investigation; Gen. McChrystal meets with COAS Gen. Kayani to urge for North Waziristan operation; security forces secure Taliban stronghold of Dabori as part of continued operations in Orakzai; drone strike in North Waziristan kills ten militants; bomb found on security vehicle in Landi Kotal disarmed; Pakistan successfully tests ballistic missiles, calls for recognition of nuclear program; Defense Secretary gates praises Pakistan’s efforts to combat militancy; Secretary of State Clinton says members of Pakistani government know location of Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar; militant commander and aide killed, five militants surrender in Swat; man with electronic components in shoes arrested at Karachi airport.

NY attack

• Attorney General Eric Holder announced on Sunday that the US has uncovered definitive evidence that the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was behind the May 1 attempted car bombing in Times Square. In regard to the attack, Holder further added that the TTP had “probably helped finance it, and that [Faisal Shahzad] was working at their direction.” White House national security adviser John Brennan also indicated that Shahzad, who says has been highly cooperative during interrogations, had “extensive interaction with the TTP” and was heavily influenced by al-Qaeda’s “murderous rhetoric.” Brennan also said that although much more information about Shahzad’s connections were now coming to light, the precise details of his links were still unclear and US investigators were working closely with Pakistani authorities to determine these details.[1]

• On Saturday, Interior Minister Rehman Malik issued a statement that Pakistan will respond to US requests to investigate Faisal Shahzad’s links with militant groups in the tribal areas. However, Malik also described Shahzad’s link to Waziristan as “premature” and also denied reports that an FBI team had arrived in Pakistan on Friday to investigate Shahzad’s connections to militant groups in the FATA.[2]

• US officials are exerting increased pressure on Pakistan to launch operations against Islamic militants in North Waziristan. General Stanley McChrystal, the US commander in Afghanistan, met with Pakistani Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani in Islamabad on Friday to urge the Pakistani military to speed up its efforts for a military campaign in North Waziristan.[3]

FATA

• Military operations continue in Orakzai with at least 30 militants and ten soldiers reported killed today during a several hour long battle in the town of Dabori. The clash comes a day after security forces announced that they had secured the town, a key militant stronghold in the area where the Taliban had previously operated training camps and Islamic courts, and killed as many as 37 militants in combined arms operations throughout the agency. Five soldiers were also reported killed during the fighting on Sunday. On Saturday, clashes in the Dabori and Shahu Khel areas resulted in a total of 11 militants killed.[4]

• Two missiles fired from a US drone struck a militant compound in the town of Inzarkas, North Waziristan on Sunday, reportedly killing 10 militants. Although the nationalities of those killed has not yet been confirmed, officials say the compound came under suspicion because it was being used by foreigners.[5]

• On Friday, security forces disarmed an explosive device that was found attached to one of their vehicles at a fueling station in the Landi Kotal area of Khyber Agency. The vehicle was reportedly being used by both Frontier Corps and Khassadar forces for guarding NATO supply convoys as well as for patrolling the local army garrison.[6]

Pakistani nuclear program

• On Saturday, Pakistani military officials announced they had successfully tested two-ballistic missiles. Following the tests, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani called for the international community to recognize Pakistan as a “de jure nuclear power with equal rights and responsibilities”, adding that it had “laid to rest” concerns about the security of its nuclear arsenal.[7]

US-Pakistan relations

• On Saturday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates praised Pakistani efforts to combat militancy and indicated that the US would continue to extend as much help to the government of Pakistan as they were willing to accept.[8]

• Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated in a recent interview that she believes that there are those in the Pakistani government know the locations of Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar. Although she did not accuse high level officials of having this knowledge, Clinton did indicate that at least some government officials are “more informed about al-Qaeda and the Taliban than they let on.”[9]

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

• On Friday, security forces killed a militant commander and his aide during a search operation in the Hayatabad area of Swat district. Qari Abdullah and his aide, Anas, were wanted in connection with several suicide bombings. Also in Swat, five militants in the Bara Badai area surrendered to authorities.[10]

Karachi

• On Sunday, police arrested a man at the Karachi airport after they discovered a circuit and batteries planted in his shoes. The suspect, named Faiz Muhammad, was reportedly boarding a flight to Muscat, Oman when security personnel discovered the electrical components in his footwear, which Muhammad has said were part of a built-in massage system. Although investigators said the system could have easily been used to trigger a bomb, no explosives were found on the suspect and charges have not yet been filed against him.[11]