Pakistan Security Brief - October 9, 2012

PTI Peace March

• Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan along with his “Peace March” followers were prevented from entering South Waziristan by government security forces on Saturday. Imran Khan and the 500-vehicle convoy of protestors came “within 15 miles of the border of South Waziristan.” Among those that followed Imran Khan were the 32 American activists from Codepink. The government said marchers were turned away due to security concerns and threats of suicide attacks. Instead of rallying at Kotkai, Khan and his followers stopped in Tank, though Khan said the rally was still a victory. Many speculators found it surprising that the march was allowed to progress through Tank however. The civilian administration in Tank granted the march permission to “transit through the town, removing steel containers that had blocked the road.” Had Khan been successful in leading the peace march to South Waziristan, it would have been the first visit “since the mid 1970s by a mainstream political leader.”[i]

Swat

• Malala Yousufzai, a young 14-year-old schoolgirl famous for speaking out against the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan’s (TTP) atrocities in the Swat valley was shot and seriously wounded by TTP gunmen in her school bus in Mingora on Tuesday. Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said that the TTP attacked Yousufzai because, “she was pro-West, she was speaking against Taliban and she was calling President Obama her idol...She was young but she was promoting Western culture in Pashtun areas.” The young girl is being attended to by doctors at a hospital in Mingora.[ii]

U.S.-Pakistani Relations

• On Sunday, Interior Minister Rehman Malik confirmed that if Pakistan was given drones, it would “use them responsibly.” In last week’s visit to the U.S., Malik said he had once again conveyed Pakistan’s concern over U.S. drone strikes to U.S. officials, and commented that they had assured him they would review the drone policy.[iii]

Afghan-Pakistani Relations

• Last week Afghan President Hamid Karzai said he would attach certain conditions to a potential “strategic pact” with Pakistan, and on Monday Pakistan rejected the conditions. Karzai had stipulated in his conditions that Pakistan cease “the export of terrorism, suicide bombers, interference and all the other things which result in killing and disturbing the Afghan people’s tranquility and destabilising Afghanistan.” He said Afghanistan would be ready to negotiate if Pakistan met these terms as Afghanistan wanted a “friendly relationship” with its neighbor. Pakistan’s Foreign Office vehemently rejected Karzai’s accusations, however, calling them “misplaced and without any basis.”[iv]

Pak-Afghan-Saudi Trilateral Relations

• An anonymous Afghan diplomat confirmed on Tuesday that Saudi Arabia has agreed to engage in trilateral discussions with Pakistan and Afghanistan regarding the Afghan reconciliation process after a joint request from the U.S., Pakistan, and Afghanistan earlier this year. Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and her Afghan counterpart Dr. Zalmai Rasoul will travel to Saudi Arabia later this year, where Saudi diplomats will brief them on talks with the Taliban and Hizb-e-Islami. While some Afghan analysts are skeptical that Saudi Arabia’s engagement will help, former senior Taliban leader Agha Jan Mutasim is optimistic that Saudi Arabia could fulfill an important role.[v]

Japan-Pakistan Relations

• For the first time in ten years, a Japanese business delegation came to Pakistan on Sunday for a two-day trip to discuss potential business relations between the two countries. Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) Vice President Daisuke Hiratsuka was highly optimistic about engaging in business with Pakistan, explaining that “there is this perception among Japanese people that Pakistan is a dangerous and high-risk country and yet I think that this situation can be purposeful for business operations. I have good expectation[s] from the business sector of the country…[Pakistanis’] working style is comprehensive and systematic. I think that Pakistan is very capable of business investments and it is a potential business hub for foreign investors.”[vi]

MQM Peace Rally

• On Sunday, residents of Karachi joined the Defence Clifton Residence Committee and the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) to stage a peace rally in Karachi. MQM leader Dr. Farooq Sattar expressed concern over the Talibanization of Karachi as well as rampant violence in the city, demanding that the government take decisive action against extremists. Sattar also said that by participating in the rally, the people of Karachi have rejected criminality and extortion and showed their dedication to achieving sustainable peace.[vii]

Swiss Letter Case

• Today the government lodged a complaint in the Supreme Court challenging the four steps the Court had outlined in September regarding the drafting and sending of the Swiss letter re-opening a graft case against President Asif Ali Zardari. These steps included requesting the law minister to write the letter, clearing it through the Supreme Court, deciding how to send the letter, and obliging authorities in Switzerland to send a confirmation receipt when the letter arrives. The government says the Supreme Court is “stepping out of its jurisdiction” with these four steps.[viii]

FATA

• According to sources interviewed by Geo, the bodies of six volunteers of an anti-Taliban militia were found in the Tirah Valley on Tuesday. In a separate incident in Khazana Morcha area of the Tirah valley, explosives detonated in a militant hideout killed four militants on Tuesday.[ix]

• Four people were killed when a mortar fell on a house in Orakzai tribal region’s Mamuzai area on Tuesday. Two people were injured in the mortar attack as well. The perpetrators of the attack are yet to be identified.[x]

• A bus headed from Parachinar towards Peshawar was attacked with rockets and automatic weapons on Tuesday, injuring three of the 20 passengers in Kurram. The attackers have yet to be identified.

Balochistan

• A roadside bomb planted on a motorcycle exploded on Monday, killing one child and injuring 14, including four policemen. A senior police official said the bomb was “detonated through a remote control device.” No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.[xi]

• Four people were killed by gunfire throughout Balochistan province on Sunday. Gunmen on a motorcycle shot and killed a man in Quetta. A man was shot and killed in Musa colony. Armed motorcyclists opened fire on three people in Khuzdar, killing two and injuring one.[xii]

Sindh

• An attack on a public meeting in Sadoro Janwari village by armed gunmen killed seven and injured ten on Sunday night. The attack that happened just outside of Khairpur killed six activists of the Pakistan People’s Party, and a reporter of a TV channel. Sources interviewed by Dawn said that the “attackers who came on motorbikes escaped.” Police said that “Sukkur and Khairpur police would conduct joint operations for arresting the culprits.”[xiii]

Karachi

• Three people were killed in separate firing incidents in Karachi on Monday. A woman was shot and killed by a stray bullet in Disco Morr. A man was killed by gunfire from unidentified men in Nazimabad.  A dead body bearing torture marks was found in Aram Bagh area.[xiv]

• Two workers for the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and seven others were killed by gunfire throughout Karachi on Sunday. Police said motorcycle gunmen intercepted the two MQM workers, killing them in a drive-by shooting in Orangi Town. A young man was killed by another motorcycle gunman, while the driver of minibus was killed in Orangi Town as well. A gravedigger was shot and killed by gunmen in the Nazimabad area. Gunmen on a motorcycle shot and killed a young man in Gulbahar. A yet to be identified man was killed in Suranji town in a drive-by shooting. An unidentified body was found decomposed in a garbage dump in Jamshed Quarters.[xv]

• Violence claimed 15 lives throughout Saturday in Karachi. A clash between rival gangs in Lyari killed five people, including the notorious gangsters Rashid Bengali and Israr Baloch. Bengali had a Rs 500,000  ($5,200) bounty on his head before he died. One person was killed by an unidentified person in the Quaidabad area. A stray bullet killed a man in Liaqatabad’s Baloch Para C-1 area. A body was found in Jamshed Quarters. Unknown gunmen shot and killed two people, one in Korangi No. 2-1/2 and one in Korangi No. 5. Three more people were killed in separate incidents of firing in Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Gulshan-e-Hadeed, and Orangi Town. A firing incident killed one and injured one in Bilal Colony area. One more person died of gunshot wounds in Faqir Colony.[xvi]