Pakistan Security Brief - June 14, 2011

Gates says U.S. “disappointed” by failed raids on IED factories; President Zardari met with military leaders to discuss “security situation”; Seven NATO oil tankers destroyed in explosion; IDPs to return to South Waziristan; Report on shooting in Kharotabad shows foreigners did not fire during the incident; Regional rangers chief and police chief “ousted” over killing of unarmed man; Pakistani government forms commission to investigate journalist Shahzad’s death; Anti-terrorism court records statements against TNSM; Pakistan and India to discuss Kashmir issues; ANP criticizes army involvement in business; Sufis continue to visit shrine amidst threat of terror attack.

U.S.-Pakistani Relations

• On Monday, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told the Associated Press “there was clear disappointment” within the administration regarding failed raids on bomb factories in Waziristan following the U.S. sharing intelligence with their Pakistani counterparts. According to the Associated Press, information regarding the location of the facilities where militant groups were making improvised explosive devices (IEDs) was shared with Pakistan as “an act of faith to restore relations with Pakistan.” When the Pakistani military arrived to raid the facilities, they were empty. During his recent visit to Islamabad, CIA director, and Secretary of Defense nominee, Leon Panetta confronted Pakistani leadership with evidence that elements of Pakistan’s security establishment may have leaked the information to the militants.[i]

• According to the Express Tribune, the U.S. “has established contact with elusive Taliban leader Mullah Omar to negotiate an end to the conflict in Afghanistan.” Reportedly, Taliban spokesman Abdul Haqiq, alias Dr. Mohammed Hanif, was instrumental in connecting the U.S. to Mullah Omar. The Express Tribune reports a U.S. offer of Taliban control in Southern Afghanistan with a U.S.-supported element ruling the North has been rejected.[ii]

• The Associated Press of Pakistan reports that on Monday “during talks between Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar and the US Deputy Secretary of State Thomas Nides in Islamabad,” the U.S. and Pakistan “reaffirmed” their commitment to continued cooperation. Deputy Secretary Nides also told his Pakistani counterparts that the U.S. “respects [Pakistani] sacrifices” in the struggle against terrorism.[iii]

• On Monday, Awami Muslim League Chief Sheikh Rashid claimed “both the government and opposition were engaged in furthering a U.S. agenda.” According to Rashid, “[t]he Government is advancing the [U.S.] agenda through its policies while the opposition is pursuing it by maligning the intelligence agencies.”[iv]

President Zardari Meets with Military Leaders

• The Express Tribune reports President Asif Ali Zardari met with military leadership in Islamabad on Monday. According to the Express Tribune, the military “sought the government’s support on a number of issues.” Sources have told the Express Tribune that the prospective North Waziristan operation was discussed. The office of the President released no other statement than “the security situation was discussed.” [v]

NATO Oil Tankers Destroyed

• The AFP reports seven NATO oil tankers were destroyed on Monday “when a bomb planted in one of the vehicles exploded at a terminal in Torkham border area” in Khyber. Reportedly, ten of the thirty oil tankers in the area are still in danger of catching fire. No responsibility for the initial blast has been claimed.[vi]

FATA

• According to The News, the Assistant Political Agent of Ladha, South Waziristan, Nawab Khan Safi held a jirga in Tank district on Tuesday to discuss the repatriation of internally displaced people with tribal elders. The News reports “the third phase of the return of the people who were displaced from South Waziristan” during the military operation there last year will begin June 16. Those internally displaced persons (IDPs) returning to South Waziristan will “be provided free transportation to their respective areas, Rs50,000 [$583] cash and ration for six months.”[vii]

• A Pakistani political official told the Associated Press that “Pakistan is trying to persuade tribesmen in [North Waziristan] . . . to take up arms against al-Qaida and Taliban fighters in their midst.” Rumors of an operation in North Waziristan relying on local militias to expel militants could be “an attempt to deflect U.S. pressure” to target militants in the region more directly. Tariq Hayat, “the top political official for Pakistan's entire semiautonomous tribal region,” told the Associated Press that “the government has promised ‘moral and material support,’ but not weapons.”[viii]

• The Nation reports “[a] security man was killed and four others sustained injuries, when a roadside landmine device exploded in Ibrahimzai area of Orakzai Agency on Monday.” The explosive was detonated “when a vehicle of Levies forces was passing through the area.”[ix]

Balochistan

• According to the Express Tribune, a report “presented by Inspector General of the Frontier Corps Obaidullah Khattak to the National Assembly’s Parliamentary Committee on the [May 17] Kharotabad killings” shows the foreigners did not fire any shots prior to or during the incident. Of the five killed when Frontier Corps and police fired on the group, “a Tajik man and his Russian wife,” who was pregnant, have been identified by family members. Adding to the controversy surrounding the incident, Geo reports, “[a] police surgeon who conducted post-mortem of the victims of Kharotabad shooting incident has been tortured . . . by police personnel.” Additionally, a journalist who had testified in the case and submitted camera footage of the incident as evidence, had been arrested, “detained for two hours,” and released. Geo reports the journalist had been tortured. The two police officers who arrested him have been suspended.[x]

• On Tuesday “three doctors received gunshot wounds and five others were injured due to shelling” during a protest in Quetta. The Young Doctors Association has been “on strike for the past two months” asking for salary increases. Also on Tuesday, according to the AFP, “Police foiled a plan to blow up a railway track with explosive material in the Mangoli area of Jaffarabad district [of Balochistan] on Tuesday.”[xi]

Karachi

• The Associated Press reports both that Sindh province police chief Fayyaz Leghari and Maj. Gen. Ijaz Chaudhary, the director general of the paramilitary Rangers force, have been removed from their posts in the aftermath of the Rangers’ killing of unarmed 22-year old Sarfaraz Shah last Wednesday. Last Friday, the Supreme Court ordered the removal of both officials “within three days.” A widely replayed video of the shooting has incited public outrage and created pressure for authorities to punish the responsible.[xii]

• Dawn reports that at least 12 people have been killed in “target killings” in Karachi since Monday evening. Among those killed was an MQM activist and a local lawyer and member of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).” According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, “748 people — 447 political activists and the rest innocent citizens — were killed in targeted shootings last year.”[xiii]

Saleem Shahzad Commission

• On Monday, the government formed a commission to investigate the death of journalist Saleem Shahzad. The Express Tribune reports Shahzad’s body “was found on May 31 in a canal in Mandi Bahauddin, about 150 kilometres southeast of Islamabad, two days after he went missing on his way from his home to a television interview in another part of the capital.” Chief Justice of the Federal Shariat Court Justice Agha Rafiq has been selected to head the commission investigating Shahzad’s death.[xiv]

Statements against TNSM

• The News reports an “anti-terrorism court (ATC) [in Peshawar] on Monday recorded statements of three more prosecution witnesses against the banned [Tehrik-e-]Nifaz[-e-]Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) Chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad and his activists in the murder case of a police constable.” According to The News, “Maulana Sufi Muhammad and other TNSM activists are facing charges of sedition, conspiracy against the state and encouraging terrorism.” The TNSM was allied with the Taliban during the Taliban rule of the Swat valley.[xv]

Kashmir Talks

• The Associated Press reports “the Indian foreign secretary is to visit Pakistan this month to discuss the disputed area of Kashmir.” If the talks occur, they will be “the first formal talks between the two countries on Kashmir since India broke off peace negotiations in 2008 after terrorist attacks in Mumbai that killed 166 people.”[xvi]

• The Wall Street Journal reports that talks between India and Pakistan regarding Kashmir later this month could get “caught up in a back-and-forth over fresh allegations from a Chicago court case that Pakistan’s intelligence agency was involved in planning the Mumbai attacks.” David Coleman Headley, who pled guilty to helping Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) scout targets for the attacks, indicated in his testimony that “the ISI had been involved in planning the strike.”[xvii]

ANP Criticizes Army

• Dawn reports, “the Awami National Party [ANP] on Monday lashed out at the army for what it called its involvement in ‘commercial ventures’, asking the government to present details of the defence budget to parliament.” The ANP’s Parliamentary Leader in Senate Haji Muhammad Adeel claimed on Tuesday that “the armed forces were involved in construction of plazas, cement and pharmaceutical businesses and even running petrol pumps, CNG stations and marriage halls.” Adeel also advocated a “no-war pact” with India to enable both nations to focus on the war on terror.[xviii]

Sufis Continue Worship amidst Threat

• The LA Times reports that Sufi Muslims in Pakistan continue to worship even though they have increasingly been targeted by extremist violence. One Sufi interviewed by the LA Times claims he feels a “divine attraction” to Sufi places of worship that cannot be deterred by terrorist threat. According to the LA Times, “since last summer, militants have attacked Sufi shrines in four cities, killing at least 102 people and injuring 348.”[xix]

• The Ahmedi community has also come under terrorist threat recently. The Daily Times reports, “[t]errorists have chalked out a plan regarding target killings of prominent members of the Ahmedi community in the country, starting from Faisalabad.” The extremist group All Pakistan Students Khatam-e-Nabuwat Federation has reportedly distributed materials encouraging people to become “fearless holy warriors and start killing Ahmedis.”[xx]