Pakistan Security Brief - July 26, 2010

Pakistan Security Brief – July 26, 2010

Large scale leak of US military and diplomatic documents reveals ISI links to Taliban; Admiral Mullen speaks with Pakistani military leaders in Rawalpindi; first group of IDPs to begin resettling South Waziristan; drone strikes in North and South Waziristan kill at least 35 militants; Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Hussain’s son gunned down by Taliban, home targeted by suicide bombing; violence continues to grip Karachi.

US-Pakistan Relations

• On Sunday, it was revealed that more than 90,000 military and diplomatic documents pertaining to the war in Afghanistan between 2004 and 2009 had been leaked to three major new organizations by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks.org, making it the single largest leak of its kind in US history. Foremost among the various issues detailed in the documents is the allegation that Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) has been playing a “double game” in Afghanistan by secretly continuing to aid the Taliban insurgency. The reports indicate that ISI representatives directly met with the Taliban to hold secret “strategy sessions” to organize various militant groups which have actively attacked US and NATO forces. In addition, some of the documents even go so far as to suggest that ISI has collaborated with al-Qaeda in planning attacks. Pakistan has denied the accusations while both US and Pakistani officials have condemned the unauthorized release of information as “irresponsible.”[1]

• Admiral Mike Mullen spoke with several of Pakistan’s top military leaders in Rawalpindi on Saturday, asking them to consider American security interests while pursuing a peace deal between Kabul and the Haqqani network. Although Mullen expressed his view that “it is far too early to think that reconciliation is around the corner” he did acknowledge that reconciliation with the Haqqanis could be a future possibility. Mullen also warned the international community of Lashkar-e-Taiba’s potential to emerge as a “terror organization with global aspirations.” Mullen’s statements came from reports that Lashkar-e-Taiba had grown since the 2008 Mumbai attacks and was now collaborating with other terror groups, but did not make any statements regarding Pakistan’s involvement with the organization.[2]

• A newly released Pentagon report claims that Pakistan does not receive enough credit for the sacrifices made by the military and civilian government in the war against terror. The report states that since the beginning of last year’s operation in Swat the military has been engaged in 16 months of continuous combat in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and FATA and has more than 140,000 troops currently deployed to the region, making it the “longest military campaign in Pakistani history.” However, the report also took note of Pakistan’s challenges in providing basic services to civilians living in the affected areas and its efforts to improve the training for security forces, which has improved but is still hampered by a lack of resources.[3]

• Pakistan has officially acknowledged that Faisal Shahzad met with TTP commander Hakimullah Mehsud prior to carrying out the failed attack in New York’s Times Square. The statement comes several days after video footage emerged showing Mehsud shaking hands and hugging Shahzad after making a declaration to wage an attack against the US.[4]

FATA

• Pakistani authorities have indicated that they plan to begin repatriating the first group of 30,000 to 40,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their villages in South Waziristan by the second week of August. Syed Shahab Ali Shah, South Waziristan’s political agent, stated that 44,000 IDPs have been registered so far and have been issued cards which will ensure that they receive monetary compensation, food rations, and other essential goods. The government is also drawing upon Mehsud tribesmen to a raise a Levies force which will supplement local village defense committees in providing security throughout the region.[5]

• Several missiles fired from a US drone struck a Taliban compound in the village of Dwasarak in South Waziristan on Saturday, killing at least 16 militants. On Sunday, a total of at least nineteen more militants were reported killed between three separate drone strikes in the Shaktoi and Sararogha areas of South Waziristan and the Tabbi Tolkhel area of North Waziristan.[6]

• At least 24 militants were killed during bombings which targeted Taliban hideouts in various locations throughout Upper Orakzai on Sunday as ground forces were reported to have moved in to secure militant strongholds in Daburai. Separately, airstrikes in the Neka Ziarat and Gawaza areas of Kurram Agency left at least 10 militants dead and destroyed three suspected hideouts.[7]

• On Sunday, suspected militants in Bajaur Agency blew up a Bajaur Levies outpost in the Meena area of Mamund sub-district. Separately, a local commander of the Tehrike-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) surrendered to security forces along with seven of his associates during a Badaan tribal jirga in Mamund sub-district.[8]

• The beheaded body of a tribesman accused of spying on militants was discovered in a graveyard in Darra Adam Khel on Sunday. Local sources say that the victim had been kidnapped from the Zarghunkhel area on July 5.[9]

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

• Mian Rashid Husssain, the only son of Khyber-Pakhtukhwa Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain, was shot to death while walking home with a friend in the town of Pabbi in Nowshera district on Saturday, an attack for which the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) later claimed responsibility. On Monday, at least seven people were killed and more than 20 others wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside Mian Iftikhar Hussain’s home in Pabbi while senior officials were visiting the house to mourn his son’s death. A Taliban spokesman, Ahsanullah Ahsan, contacted reporters by phone to claim responsibility for the bombing, saying that attacks against the Awami National Party were “just beginning.”[10]

Af-Pak Relations

• On Sunday, US Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke called the recent dialogue between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani a “good thing, not a bad thing.” Holbrooke also acknowledged that although holding direct talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan is a “tough, difficult policy” it is “only one that meets our regional and international/national security interests.”[11]

Punjab

• Pakistan is scheduled to test-fire an experimental missile at the test range in northern Punjab tomorrow. The new Ghauri ballistic missile is a liquid fueled rocket capable of deploying nuclear and conventional warheads at distances of up to 1050 kilometers away. The test will be attended by Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, who is also chairman of the National Command and Control Authority, as well as by several top military officials.[12]

• Six policemen were injured when bombs placed under two security vehicles outside the Lytton road police station detonated on Friday evening. Separately, a constable was killed when unknown gunmen riding motorcycles later opened fire on the Gulshan Ravi police station.[13]

Chief of Army Staff

• On Saturday, the chief spokesman for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Ahsan Iqbal, told reporters that his party was not consulted on the decision to grant a three-year extension to Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. Iqbal refused to comment on the value of the decision, saying that party chief Nawaz Sharif would discuss the matter upon his return to the country. On Sunday, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani criticized the PML-N for trying to politicize the issue, saying that the decision to extend Kayani’s term was an administrative decision and therefore did not require the government to consult political parties.[14]

Karachi

• Violence continues to sweep across Karachi with at least 10 people killed in various shooting incidents across the city in addition to reports of a minibus and medical store being set ablaze. Three people were killed and dozens others wounded on Saturday in violence which followed the killing of a Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) activist at the party’s office in Gulistan-i-Jauhar on Friday evening.[15]

India-Pakistan Relations

• Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony stated that US military assistance to Pakistan is “disproportionate to the war on terror” and expressed the concern that “there is every possibility of diverting this sophisticated equipment against India.” Antony discussed these matters during US National Security Advisor James Jones and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen’s visit to New Dehli Last Week.[16]