Abbas announces deployment of army to border; U.S. positions troops along NWA border; Pakistan “capable” of working with U.S., says Toner; NATO Secretary General encourages U.S.-Pakistan relationship; Clinton to visit Pakistan with Petraeus and Dempsey; Pakistan and India to discuss trade agreement; Malik says Taliban must “give up arms” for negotiations; Karachi police arrest “target killer”; Militants kill 9 Pakistani soldiers in Khyber agency; Pakistan Army deploys to Kalash valley in KP; Police suspended over death of “militant”; Abbottabad Commission interviews al Kuwaiti widow; Details of attack on Bhutto convoy; Diamer-Bhasha Dam stone laying ceremony.
Troop Movements on Af-Pak Border
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Pakistan Army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told reporters on Tuesday that the Pakistan Army and Frontier Corps (FC) have been ordered to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in an attempt to prevent militant attacks on border check posts and villages. Abbas said that Pakistani troops have been positioned to focus on securing Dir, which has been the area hardest hit by militant attacks.[1]
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On Sunday, hundreds of U.S. troops were deployed to Khost province, Afghanistan, which borders North Waziristan. The U.S. enacted a curfew on the region and sealed the border for two days before reopening the border on Tuesday. The sudden troop movement raised concerns among tribesmen in North Waziristan, who feared that U.S. troops were preparing to launch a military operation in Pakistan’s tribal regions.[2]
U.S.-Pakistan Relations
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During a question and answer session on Tuesday, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said that the U.S. believed in “the current Pakistani government’s ability… to work with the [U.S.] on shared challenges.” Toner also noted that the U.S. was hopeful that it could “strengthen Pakistani democracy” by aiding the Pakistani government in its fight against extremism.[3]
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In an interview with The Financial Times, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Ramussen stated that the U.S. and Pakistan must continue joint efforts aimed at combating terrorism. Ramussen stressed the need for Pakistan to overcome U.S. allegations linking its Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) agency to the Haqqani Network, mentioning that “Pakistan’s leadership could be incentivized to take a more aggressive stance toward the Haqqanis.”[4]
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U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is scheduled to visit Pakistan later this week, accompanied by a “high-level delegation,” including CIA Director David Petraeus and U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Martin Dempsey. The U.S. delegation is set to meet with President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani in an effort to “set U.S.-Pakistan relations back on track.”[5]
Pakistan-India Relations
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In an interview with The Financial Times, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said that Pakistan would take steps toward granting India Most Favored Nation (MFN) status in “an effort to break a long-standing deadlock in trade and investment that has hurt both economies” since the two countries gained independence in 1947. Bilateral trade talks have been suspended for the past three years following the 2008 terrorist attacks on Mumbai.[6]
Pakistani Taliban
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On Tuesday, Interior Minister Rehman Malik indicated that the Pakistani Taliban must “lay down [its] arms” if the militant group were serious about conducting negotiations with the Pakistani government.[7]
Karachi Violence
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During a raid in the Clifton area of Karachi on Tuesday, police arrested a suspected “target killer” who was allegedly involved in the murder of 42 people.[8]
FATA
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Nine Frontier Corps (FC) soldiers were killed after being ambushed by militants during a search operation in Khyber agency on Monday. The soldiers retaliated with gunfire, killing 14 militants.[9]
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
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For the first time in history, the Pakistan Army has deployed troops to the Kalash valley in the Chitral district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The valley is home to the “unique, non-Muslim” Kalash tribe, which has recently come under attack by the Taliban, an attack that has threatened the tribe’s rich culture, according to an article in The Guardian.[10]
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Nine Peshawar police officers have been suspended over the killing of an innocent man the police alleged was a “militant.” The incident took place after militants belonging to the group Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) attacked a Peshawar police check post on Friday.[11]
Abbottabad Commission
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The Abbottabad Commission, which is investigating the May 2 raid by U.S. Special Operations Forces on the compound of deceased al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, announced that it had “conducted an exhaustive interview” with the widow of Abu Ahmed al Kuwaiti. Al Kuwaiti, who owned and lived in the Abbottabad compound with the bin Laden family and his wife, was shot and killed during the May 2 raid and his wife was later detained by Pakistani authorities.[12]
Bhutto Assassination Attempt Anniversary
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During an address on the fourth anniversary of the deadly October 18, 2008 attack on the “welcome convoy” of Benazir Bhutto, President Zardari pledged “to continue the fight against the militant mindset” while paying tribute to nearly 200 people who were killed in the attack. According to the Express Tribune, Abdul Wahab Mehsud, mastermind of the October 18 attack, visited Karachi twice without being detected by police before he and others involved in the attack reportedly “escaped to Waziristan.” Meanwhile, Punjab Governor Latif Khosa revealed that Bhutto was set to expose former President Pervez Musharraf’s plan to “rig the 2008 elections” the day she was assassinated.[13]
Dam Project
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During a ceremony on Tuesday, Prime Minister Gilani “laid the foundation stone” of Pakistan’s Diamer-Bhasha Dam. The dam, which is being built in Gilgit-Baltistan, is expected to boost Pakistan’s economy through job creation and will “help meet the country’s future agricultural and power requirements.” Pakistan’s Minister for Water and Power, Syed Naveed Qamar, commented that the dam project would also “usher in a new era of development” in Pakistan.[14]