Pakistan Security Brief - August 29, 2012

NATO may temporarily add more troops to Afghanistan; Bin Laden dead before SEALs reached his room; TTP kills eight Pakistani soldiers; 11 militants and three security personnel killed in Bajaur agency; bomb attack on a railway track kills two and injures ten; ISAF General Allen to meet with Army Chief General Kayani; General Allen says Mullah Omar is hiding in Pakistan; U.S. envoy meets with PML-N leadership; progress made between U.S. and Pakistan on bilateral investment treaty; ICRC to halt most of its aid programs in Pakistan; Indian Supreme Court upholds death sentence on 2008 Mumbai attacker Qasab; KP Assembly unanimously condemns U.S. drone attacks; Punjab Assembly unanimously rejects the commission for a new province in Punjab

NATO mission in Afghanistan

• A military planner said on Tuesday that NATO countries may temporarily send more troops into Afghanistan to retrieve the large amount of war materials currently in the country as they prepare to pull out. Referencing the supply routes through Pakistan, Lieutenant-Colonel Colin Richardson said that if there was too much trouble in Pakistan, coalition members could use other transit routes. NATO has signed transit deals with Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia as well. NATO needs to “send home or dispose of 200,000 containers and vehicles,” worth an estimated $60 billion. [1]

Bin Laden Revelations

• According to media sources who obtained an advance copy of a book written by one of the Navy SEALs involved in the the bin Laden raid, the book claims that Osama bin Laden was already dead with a bullet in his brain before the SEALs got to his room. The commandos reportedly heard “suppressed gunshots” five steps from the top of the hallway leading to bin Laden’s room. Another media report on revelations in the book says SEALs shot bin Laden when he poked his head out of his room as they were coming up the stairway. Also, the Pentagon says they have now obtained a copy of the book and are reviewing it to make sure there are no confidentiality leaks present in the book. [2]

Militancy

• Taliban militants armed with rifles and rocket launchers attacked a Pakistan Army post in the Serwakai sub-district of South Waziristan agency early on Wednesday. According to a military official, eight Pakistani soldiers were killed and six were wounded, while 18 militants were killed. Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman, Ehsanullah Ehsan presented a conflicting account, however, saying the group killed 12 soldiers and kidnapped another five. He further stated the purpose of the ambush was to, “demonstrate that South Waziristan is not under army control.” [3]

• Eleven militants and three security personnel were reportedly killed during the between Pakistani forces and militants along the Pak-Afghan border in Bajaur agency. According to a local government official in the Salarzai area of Bajaur “where fighting has been most fierce,” two anti-Taliban militiamen and two civilians were also killed. [4]

• A bomb attack on a railway track in the town of Thul, in the Jacobabad district of Sindh, killed two people and injured ten.  According to a police official, the explosion, which occurred 300 miles north of Karachi, caused two train cars to derail. The police official also confirmed that, “so far no terrorist groups had claimed responsibility for the attack.” [5]

U.S.-Pakistan Relations

• According to a press release by the Pakistan Army’s Inter-Services Public Relations on Wednesday, the commander of ISAF General John Allen will visit Pakistan to meet with Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. The meeting will reportedly focus on progress between the two countries in their cross border coordination. [6]

• ISAF commander General John Allen wrote an article in the Washington Post in which he claims that Taliban leader Mullah Omar is hiding in Pakistan. He says, “his forces have largely been ejected from most of the relevant population areas, and from among the most relevant terrain in Afghanistan.”[7]

• The U.S. State Department has issued a fresh travel advisory warning American citizens from traveling to Pakistan due to the threat of terrorism in the country. [8]

• According to a statement issued by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Wednesday, PML-N leaders Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif, and Ishaq Dar all met with U.S. acting envoy to Pakistan Richard Hoagland. The meeting was reportedly used to discuss the enhancement of the U.S.-Pakistan relationship, investment between the two countries, and Pakistan’s political situation.[9]

• Pakistani officials claim to have made progress in the bilateral investment treaty between Pakistan and the U.S. Both countries have signed clauses relating to financial and insurance services. Pakistan officials also reportedly did their best to ensure investment protection for the U.S. even with growing criticism within Pakistan. There is clause in the treaty that requires Pakistan to warn the U.S. in advance of any new laws or regulations relating to investment. [10]

International Relations

• After the suspension of operations in Pakistan due to the beheading of one of its staff, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) issued a statement on Tuesday that it was to cut most of its aid work inside of Pakistan. The ICRC blamed the cut in operations on deteriorating security in the country and the lack of safety for its staff. The ICRC claims its main focus will now be helping people that have been hurt in fighting, and that its main operating center will be a hospital in Peshawar. [11]

• India’s Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the death sentence of Mohammad Ajmal Amir Qasab, the only gunman to survive the 2008 Mumbai attacks. The judges claim that it was a fair trial, and that Qasab still has the opportunity to appeal his case a few more times. India has blamed the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) for the Mumbai attacks.[12]

Domestic Politics

• The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Tuesday unanimously condemned U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal areas. The assembly claimed that the attacks were against the sovereignty of Pakistan, and urged the federal government to do whatever they could to stop the drones from killing innocent people.[13]

• The Punjab provincial Assembly on Wednesday unanimously passed a resolution rejecting the formation of a commission for partitioning Punjab into two new provinces. They voiced anger over the commission being created by the National Assembly speaker and President Zardari’s federal government. Instead, Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said that the Punjab Assembly demanded “that a new ‘national’ commission be formed taking the provincial and national leadership into confidence.”[14]