Pakistan Security Brief - January 21, 2011

Truce ends Pakistan blood feud; TTP rejects British ban; Mehsud sanctioned by U.S. government; 2,000 protest against drone strikes; Explosion in Kurram; TTP commander killed by militants; Two gunned down in Khyber; FATA receives domestic aid; Wall Street Journal: host of problems with U.S. aid; Qadri denied release; Five killings in Karachi; Supreme Court petitioned over security in Karachi; Gabol withdraws resignation; Six dead in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa; NATO vehicles attacked in Balochistan.

“Truce” in Kurram

• After four years of fighting that have resulted in over 3,000 deaths, Shia and Sunni tribesmen in Kurram concluded a peace deal on Monday, according to a report in The National. The truce came amid reports that the Haqqani Network had facilitated the agreement in return for a safe haven from drone strikes in North Waziristan and the ability to extend its operations closer to Kabul. Pakistani politicians have denied that the Haqqani Network has been allowed any access to shelter in Kurram. Sajid Hussain Turi, who represents Kurram in Pakistan's parliament, declared that, “There is nothing like that. More than 1,200 of our [Shia] people have been martyred. It is out of the question that we would allow a single Talib any access." He continued by saying that the success of the peace deal would depend on the support of the government and the reopening of the Thall-Parachinar road, a key condition lobbied for by Shia tribes.[i]

Tehrik-i-Taliban Targeted

• The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Thursday warned the British government of consequences for the recent law banning the militant group and declaring it as a “terrorist organization.” TTP spokesman Azam Tariq responded that “We would continue jihad against the enemies of Islam and rid the world of the two main powers, the US and UK that wanted to seize resources of the Muslim world.”[ii]
• Pakistani Taliban leader Qari Hussain Mehsud has been sanctioned by the U.S. State Department and added to the government’s list of global terrorists. With this designation, the U.S. government can freeze Mehsud’s assets under U.S. jurisdiction, and ban him from engaging in business with U.S. citizens. The Pakistani government has additionally announced a reward of $600,000 (Rs 50 million) for his arrest.[iii]

FATA

• Under the watchful eye of 150 Taliban militants, over 2,000 people demonstrated in the town of Miram Shah on Friday, protesting American drone strikes in North Waziristan. The protesters called for the end of American attacks and for Defense Secretary Robert Gates to be brought to justice for authorizing the strikes.[iv]
• Three men were killed in a landmine explosion in Kurram Agency, while a security officer from the Levies force was assassinated in Orakzai on Thursday when gunmen opened fire on him from their vehicle.[v]
• A commander of the TTP, Qari Abdullah, was allegedly killed by militants associated with Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) in Khyber Agency on Thursday. According to sources, Abdullah was a close adviser to Hakimullah Mahsud and gathered funds for the TTP by kidnapping important individuals in the region. Reports say that Abdullah had a falling out with LI after declining to give the organization more money in ransom deals.[vi]
• Two people were shot dead elsewhere in Khyber Agency on Thursday after being kidnapped in Bara sub-district. Sources allege that the two men had hostile relationships with the commander of the militant organization Ansarul Islam, though no charges have been brought forth.[vii]

Aid to Pakistan

• Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has allocated $350,000 (Rs 30 million) to eleven different lawmakers from the FATA. The money is accompanied with the announcement that the funds be used for various development projects in the region. Gilani ordered that the resources be utilized for projects that “directly benefit the common man,” despite previous incidences of corruption in the execution of such projects. Further funds were issued on Thursday by the World Bank for use in the FATA and elsewhere in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The loan was approved with the aim of strengthening Pakistan’s recovery efforts in the FATA and Khyber –Pukhtunkhwa after years of conflict.[viii]
• A new Wall Street Journal report highlights a host of problems that are hindering U.S. aid packages in Pakistan. The report draws attention to a variety of problems which have resulted in the U.S. spending only two-thirds of what it appropriated for Pakistan last year. The story specifically points out concerns about the ability of local groups to absorb the funds, international groups' reluctance to exhibit U.S. logos on their aid projects, and anti-American sentiment enflamed by drone strikes in North Waziristan.[ix]

Blasphemy Law and Fallout

• A petition demanding the discharge of Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, Governor Salman Taseer’s killer, has been turned down after the preliminary hearing. The judge declared that, “No one can be allowed to take law into his own hands,” though the lawyer who filed the petition, Malik Zafar Awan, said he has plans to overturn the ruling.[x]
• Two clerics, said to have been the inspiration behind Qadri’s killing, Mufti Hanif Qureshi and Qari Imtiaz Shah, have each been granted pre-arrest bail by an Anti-Terrorism Court in Rawalpindi. The two men will be unable to be questioned by police until January 25.[xi]

‘Target Killings’ in Karachi

• Following five more shootings around Karachi on Friday, a petition has been filed in the Supreme Court to hand over the responsibility of security in Karachi to the Pakistani Army. The petitioner has also requested that the court conduct an inquiry into those responsible for the ‘target killings’ of recent weeks.[xii]
• Following Nabeel Gabol’s resignation as State Minister for Ports and Shipping, Gabol has withdrawn his resignation after meeting with Prime Minister Gilani. He reportedly had resigned due to his inability to dissuade the government from conducting search operations in areas of Karachi.[xiii]

Killings in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

• Two employees of a Hungarian oil and gas company were killed and two kidnapped on Thursday after gunmen attacked their vehicles in Kohat. In the attack, four Frontier Constabulary soldiers protecting the convoy were also killed. No group has claimed responsibility.[xiv]

Violence in Balochistan

• Days after sixteen NATO tankers were set afire in Dera Murad Jamali town, Insurgents in Balochistan attacked three NATO vehicles transporting supplies to Afghanistan. The tankers were set on fire in Qalat town after three militants seized the vehicles. A second attack on Friday took place in Mastung district, when an additional oil tanker was set ablaze. No injuries were reported in either of the two incidents. However, two casualties were reported when a third attack on Friday occurred in Wadh town, after gunmen attacked a NATO supply truck.[xv]