Pakistan Security Brief - July 15, 2010

Pakistan Security Brief – July 15, 2010

Suicide bomber kills 5 people in Swat; U.S. drone strike kills 5 militants in NWA; militants destroy shrine in Kyber Agency; 15 militants killed in Orakzai Agency; soldier injured by roadside bomb in Mohmand Agency; pro-government tribal leaders found beheaded in Kohat; 91 suspects arrested in Peshawar; Pakistani army admits killing 13 detainees in Lower Dir; Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers begin talks; Pakistan’s Minister of Information and Broadcasting wants more cooperation with U.S.; violent protests continue in Balochistan following killing of BNP leader; kidnapped Mercy Corps officials released; bomb-sniffing bombs from Germany go to Sindh police.

Swat

• A suicide bombing on Thursday killed five people and injured more than 40 in northwestern Swat, a local government official said. The attack occurred outside a bus terminal in Mingora, where crowds were gathering to celebrate the end of military operations in the region. According to a military spokesperson, the bomber targeted a security forces convoy passing through the area. According to sources, two security forces personnel were wounded.[1]

FATA

• A U.S. drone strike killed at least five suspected militants in North Waziristan on Thursday. According to intelligence officials, three missiles struck targets in Madda Khel in the western part of the agency.[2]

• Unidentified attackers used explosives to destroy a shrine and a mosque in Khyber Agency on Thursday. According to sources, explosives were planted inside the shrine of Sahibzada Muhammad Siddique in Landi Kotal. No casualties were reported and no group has claimed responsibility for the attack. This is the third shrine to be destroyed in the area this year.[3]

• Security forces killed 15 suspected militants in different parts of Orakzai Agency on Thursday, Dawn News reported. Fighter jets bombed areas in Upper Orakzai’s Ghundakai, Mashtikundai, Chapri Alikhel, Daradar and Mamunzai regions, destroying five militant hideouts. According to sources, clashes between security forces and militants are ongoing in Upper Orakzai.[4] (For detailed daily updates on Pakistani military operations in Orakzai, CLICK HERE)

• A soldier was injured when a remote-controlled roadside bomb exploded in the Askarabad region of Mohmand Agency on Wednesday. According to tribal sources, security forces were patrolling the area when the device exploded. Another bomb spotted in the same area was later defused. Security forces arrested several persons in connection with the blast.[5]

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

• Beheaded bodies of two pro-government tribal leaders were discovered in Kohat on Wednesday. According to local sources, three men were kidnapped by Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants in the Sheraki region of Darra Adam Khel four days ago. Sources said that the men ignored a TTP warning not to allow supplies to reach security forces manning checkpoints in their area. The whereabouts of the third kidnapped person remains unclear. At least 60 tribal leaders have been killed in Darra Adam Khel since March 2008.[6]

• The number of suspected militants detained in the past three days has risen to 671, as more than 91 people were arrested on Wednesday from different parts of Peshawar, the provincial capital.  At least 200 Frontier Police officers took part in the operation.[7]

• Colonel Nadeem Mirza on Wednesday admitted that security forces killed 13 detainees trying to escape after suicide bombers struck the Scouts Fort in Balambat, Lower Dir on July 5. While briefing reporters, Col. Mirza said that 13 detainees were gunned down while fleeing from their damaged detention rooms. Col. Mirza asked village councils to continue to hand over wanted militants, saying that rehabilitation centers had been set up for them.[8]

India-Pak Relations

• The foreign ministers of India and Pakistan on Thursday held their first official talks in Islamabad since the 2008 Mumbai attacks. This is the third high-level meeting between the two countries in the past six months. Discussions are expected to be dominated by Indian concerns about terrorism, violence in India-administered Kashmir, and allegations that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence was behind the 2008 attacks.[9]

U.S.-Pak Relations

• Pakistan’s Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Omar Zaman Kaira, said on Wednesday while meeting with the U.S. Ambassador that Pakistan and the U.S. should continue to work together to combat extremist ideologies in order to achieve stability and increase development in the region. Minister Kaira also stressed the need for U.S. financial and technical support, especially in the field of information and media, in changing extremist mindsets.[10]

Balochistan

• Violent protests following the killing on Wednesday of a prominent leader of the Balochistan National Party (BNP), Habib Jalib, continued on Thursday. According to eyewitnesses, protesters blocked key roads as they marched towards the governor’s house and chief minister’s secretariat on Wednesday. Tensions rose in towns and cities throughout the province, including Mastung, Sibi, Khuzdar, Turbat, Mand, Kalat, Lasbela, and Hub, where political activists staged similar protests. According to provincial authorities, all educational institutions, including Balochistan University, will remain closed for three days. Some political leaders warned that the killing could trigger a civil war in the province.[11]

• Three kidnapped officials from Mercy Corps, an international NGO, were released on Wednesday. Gunmen kidnapped the officials on Frebruary 12 in Qila Saifullah, an area along the Afghanistan border. “A group of tribal elders held a jirga with the kidnappers,” an official told The Express Tribune. Mercy Corps had previously closed all its offices in Pakistan over the killing of a driver for the organization. According to sources, the kidnappers received a $100 (Rs) million ransom for the release of the three officials.

Sindh

• Twelve bomb-sniffing dogs from Germany were delivered to Sindh police on Thursday at a cost of $5 (Rs) million. The Pakistani army will train the dogs in a special branch of police headquarters.[12]