Pakistan Security Brief - October 3, 2011

Obama committed to improving U.S.-Pakistan relations; Mullen stresses importance of U.S.-Pakistan partnership; Clinton acknowledges former U.S. support of Haqqanis; Zardari calls for end of “verbal arrows”; Khar interview aired on CNN; Gilani applauds unity at APC, anti-U.S. protests erupt; Afghanistan accuses ISI of involvement in Rabbani assassination; Haqqani leader denies Rabbani assassination involvement; Pakistan voices support for Palestinian statehood; Zardari applauds Pakistan-China relations; Pakistani Taliban and Haqqani Network form unit of ruthless killers; Clash in Orakzai agency kills 12 militants; Salman Taseer’s murderer sentenced to death; 80 percent of Karachi back to normal, says Wasan; Gunmen open fire on police during search operation in Karachi; NATO containers torched in Mach; Police killed, weapons seized in KP; Two security officials killed in KP over the weekend; Pakistan reviews ICA decision on India’s Kishenganga Dam project; Militants killed in Indian-administered Kashmir; Musharraf calls for next election to be supervised by Army; TTP unsure of support for Pakistan in event of U.S. attack; Washington Post reports on “enforced disappearances”; Gilani to negotiate with “decommissioned” terrorists.

U.S.-Pakistan Relations

• During a radio interview on Friday, President Obama commented that U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen’s testimony last week to the Senate Armed Services Committee “expressed frustration” and that the U.S. would remain firm with Pakistan when dealing with Haqqani Network safe havens within Pakistani borders.  Obama applauded Pakistan for its efforts at “going after al Qaeda” and said the U.S. remained committed to improving U.S.-Pakistan relations.  An unnamed senior U.S. official also made a move toward improving current U.S.-Pakistan relations, stating that “there will be no boots on the ground” in Pakistan.  This statement came a day before U.S. Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Mark Grossman, was to embark on a multi-national trip in which he will visit Islamabad and Kabul to conduct “tripartite dialogue” between the U.S., Pakistan, and Afghanistan.[1] 

• In his retirement speech on Friday, Mullen reminded the new U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Martin Dempsey about the importance of a U.S.-Pakistan partnership when it came to the stabilization of Afghanistan.  Mullen went on to say that “there is no solution in the region without Pakistan and no stable future in the region without a [U.S.-Pakistan] partnership.”[2]

• U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton acknowledged on Sunday the fact that the U.S. had, at one point, supported the Haqqani Network in its fight against the Soviet Union.  Clinton also said that the U.S. has made it clear to Pakistan that it is not “in [Pakistan’s] interest to permit terrorists to take over their territory” and that the U.S. will “help stabilize Pakistan” against the internal threat of terrorism.[3]

• In an opinion piece in the Washington Post on Saturday, President Asif Ali Zardari expressed his view that it was “time for rhetoric [between the U.S. and Pakistan] to cool and for serious dialogue between [the] allies to resume.”  Zardari affirmed Pakistan’s commitment to the “war against extremism and terrorism” and said that the sooner the U.S. and Pakistan “stop shooting verbal arrows,” the sooner stability can be restored to the region.[4]

• In an interview aired on CNN on Sunday, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar reiterated that Pakistan had been doing more than its share when it came to fighting terrorism.  Khar warned the U.S. to tone down its accusations against Pakistan because the statements were alienating Pakistani citizens.  Khar also called on the U.S. to acknowledge Pakistani sacrifices in the war on terror.[5]

Pakistani Politics

• Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani applauded the unity displayed at the All Parties Conference (APC), mentioning that the APC exhibited to the world that the “whole nation and political forces [of Pakistan] were united.” Meanwhile, anti-American protests broke out in Karachi on Friday in response to the APC declaration which rejected U.S. accusations that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was supporting the Haqqani Network.  Religious parties staged the protests in which protestors burned an effigy of President Obama and chanted “America is a murderer.”[6]

Afghanistan-Pakistan Relations

• During a Saturday press conference, Afghanistan’s Interior Minister Bismullah Khan Mohammadi stated that the ISI had undoubtedly been involved in the assassination of former Afghan President and peace envoy Burhanuddin Rabbani.  Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS) had previously told reporters that Rabbani’s murder had been plotted in Quetta, and NDS spokesman Lutfullah Mashal told Pakistan that, given recent revelations, it must take action. Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry denied the claims, referring to them as “baseless and irresponsible,” and Gilani called on Afghan President Hamid Karzai to “end misconceptions about Pakistan,” saying that Pakistan should not be a suspect in the assassination.  Meanwhile, Karzai stressed the importance of Pakistan’s role in peace talks with Afghanistan’s insurgency, dismissing calls for negotiations with the Taliban while hundreds of Afghans rallied in Kabul in light of the recent “shelling of border towns” by the Pakistan Army and accusations of ISI involvement in the Rabbani assassination.[7]

• In an audio message to the BBC, Haqqani Network leader Sirajuddin Haqqani denied all allegations of the Haqqani Network’s involvement in the Rabbani assassination as well as possible links to the ISI.  Haqqani noted that recent accusations which have pointed to ISI and Haqqani Network links have been an attempt by the U.S. and Afghanistan “hide failure and confuse people’s minds.”[8]

Pakistan-Palestine Relations

• On a Sunday address to the 5th International Conference on Palestinian Intifada in Tehran, Iran, Pakistan’s Senate Chairman Farooq H. Naek said that Pakistan was in full support of the Palestinian cause and Palestinian statehood. Naek called on all members of the “Muslim Ummah” to support their Palestinian brethren’s “deliverance from fear, atrocity, and persecution.”[9]

Pakistan-China Relations

• During the weekend, Zardari celebrated Pakistan’s “special relationship” with China, labeling it a “multifaceted friendship that [had] stood the test of time.”  China and Pakistan commemorated the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries and Zardari told the Chinese that Pakistan remained committed to working with China for a “more peaceful and prosperous world.”[10]

FATA

• The Pakistani Taliban and the Haqqani Network have reportedly formed an elite unit of ruthless fighters, called the Khurasan unit, to launch attacks against those suspected of “helping the Americans of their Pakistani government and military allies.”  The Khurasan unit, which is comprised of hundreds of militants operating in North Waziristan, has repeatedly targeted, tortured, and killed those suspected of being spies for the U.S. and Pakistan; however, recently, the unit has become so brutal that it has “alienated some of the militant leaders who created [it].”  Hafiz Gul Bahadur, the top Taliban leader in North Waziristan, allegedly attempted to correct the Khurasan unit and failed. Just this week, an Afghan couple was shot and killed on suspicion of spying.[11] 

• A firefight between militants and security forces on Saturday morning resulted in the death of 12 militants and one soldier.  The clash broke out when militants attacked a convoy of security forces in upper Orakzai agency.[12]

Taseer Murder

• An elite guard of Punjab Province Governor, Salman Taseer, has been sentenced to death following a trial in an antiterrorism court.  Malik Mumtaz Qadri murdered Taseer on grounds of Taseer’s public opposition to Pakistan’s blasphemy law, which mandates death for anyone “convicted of insulting Islam.” Protestors who supported Qadri’s killing of Taseer took to the streets following Qadri’s sentencing.[13]

Karachi Violence

• Sindh Interior Minister Manzoor Hussain Wasan told reporters on Sunday that 80 percent of Karachi had returned to normalcy following months of violence.  Wasan noted that over 1,600 suspects of violence had been arrested to-date, in addition to 72 target killers.[14]

• During a search operation in Orangi Town on Monday, armed gunmen opened fire on Rangers and police from vantage points within the area. When the security officials returned fire, they were stampeded by a mob of angry locals and were held hostage until “higher authorities” intervened to broker a truce. Later, the Crime Investigation Department (CID) arrested 5 more alleged target killers and recovered a small cache of weapons.[15]

Balochistan

• Two NATO containers were set ablaze in the Gorgot area of Mach on Saturday by unidentified gunmen, killing one of the container’s drivers.  Unidentified militants also opened fire on a Quetta-bound train on Saturday night, injuring four civilians and 2 security personnel.[16]

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

• Three new police recruits  were killed and 10 were injured in Torghar district on Saturday when their van was blown up by a remote-controlled roadside bomb reportedly planted by militants, who are known to “frequently attack government officials and troops.”  On Monday, police in Peshawar recovered a vehicle filled with “18 rifles, 19 pistols, and 20,000 bullets” en route to Punjab.[17]

• An Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer was shot and killed in Chota Lahor sub-district in Swabi on Saturday when his vehicle was reportedly ambushed by two motorcyclists.  In a separate incident, one police officer was killed and three were injured when militants opened fire on their vehicles in Kabal sub-district of Swat.  The officers were reportedly standing near a checkpoint when they were fired upon.  Security forces immediately launched a search operation for the perpetrators and imposed a curfew after the attack. One of the injured officers was reported as the “chief of an anti-militant body, or lashkar.[18]

Pakistan-India Relations

• Experts in Pakistan’s Ministry of Law have concluded that last week’s International Court of Arbitration (ICA) decision ordering India to halt further construction of its Kishenganga Dam project makes it economically unfeasible for India to continue construction. The ICA also cautioned India that the construction of other water projects could proceed at India’s own risk but must be compliant with the Indus Water Treaty (IWT).[19]

• Indian troops killed four suspected militants on Saturday night when they refused to surrender after crossing into Indian-administered Kashmir.[20]

Musharraf

• Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has called for the Pakistan Army to supervise the country’s next general election, saying that politicians cannot be trusted to conduct fair elections.  Musharraf again told supporters that he planned to return to Pakistan on March 23, 2012 and could not be deterred from returning by threat of arrest.  Musharraf further voiced his opinion that Pakistan’s current government has been incompetent in fighting extremism.[21]

Terrorism

• Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader Maulvi Faqir Ahmed spoke to the BBC on Sunday and reportedly voiced his concern over blindly supporting Pakistan in the event of a U.S. attack against the country.  He said that the TTP would not provide support to Pakistan by default, stating that the Taliban Shura would need to deliberate before deciding to support Pakistan against the U.S.[22]

• The Washington Post reported on the “enforced” disappearance of thousands of Pakistanis who have “been kidnapped and detained incommunicado in secret prisons” over the past 10 years.  Most of the abducted have been suspected of ties to Islamist militancy or separatist movements, according to the Post.[23]

• Prime Minister Gilani told reporters on Sunday that the government was ready to talk to militants who had “decommissioned” themselves.  Gilani reportedly avoided using the term “surrender” as the term “is against tribal culture and tradition.”[24]