U.S. counterterrorism adviser compiling “playbook” for target killings; Senate committee to visit Waziristan; Two civilians killed in Khyber Agency; One girl killed and three others injured in Hangu blast; IED damages bridge and houses in Bacha Khan Markaz; Contractor left U.S. assets inadequately protected during 2011 strike; Pakistan seeks to send judicial commission to India in the Mumbai attacks case; Pakistan sends dossier on Mullah Fazlullah to Afghanistan and ISAF; Afghanistan claims only it determines status of Durand Line; Malala attacker was pursuing science degree in Swat; Security in Islamabad and Rawalpindi increased for holiday; Former Army Chief “dealt injustice” in election-rigging case; Thirteen people killed in Karachi between Wednesday and Thursday; KP governor says most Taliban support polio drive.
U.S. Counterterrorism
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According to a special report by the Washington Post, Presidential counterterrorism adviser and former CIA officer John Brennan is in the process of compiling a new “playbook” that contains “a set of standards” to refer to when carrying out targeted killings. These standards include who to target, who should do the actual killing, and what legal justification targeters have in doing so. These new approaches are designed to transform U.S. counterterror policy from “a conventional fight centered in Afghanistan to a high-tech global effort to track down and eliminate perceived enemies one by one” in the long term.[i]
Civil-Military Relations
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Per an invitation from Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the Senate Standing Committee on Defense will make a trip to the Waziristan region next month. This will be the first visit by an official political delegation to the region. The Committee will meet with troops on the frontlines, visit the Air Headquarters, and attend a security briefing at the army’s General Headquarters in Rawalpindi in December. General Kayani emphasized the importance of enhancing civil-military cooperation through this visit.[ii]
Militancy
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Two civilians were killed in Bara sub-district, Khyber agency on Wednesday. One man was injured when a mortar fell on a factory he was working in, and another was injured in an exchange of gunfire between security forces and militants. Unable to be transferred to a hospital due to the “precarious security situation in the area,” both men died of excessive bleeding on Wednesday. Local sources also believe that militant commander Abid Khan succumbed to his gunshot wounds after a shootout with security forces on Tuesday. Security forces destroyed two militant hideouts and a house belonging to a militant in the Charsiyano Chowk area of Akkakhel, Khyber agency on Wednesday. Forces in the area are also reported to have rounded up 1,600-2,500 local residents for questioning. Forces have claimed to have confiscated “40 kilograms of explosive powder, six bombs and a vehicle.”[iii]
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One girl was killed and three others were injured in an explosion in Hangu on Thursday. Two of the three injured were children. Sources said that explosives militants had fixed to the house caused the roof of the house to collapse.[iv]
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Militants targeting law-enforcers damaged a bridge and several houses with an improvised explosive device (IED) on Wednesday evening. The blast occurred near Bacha Khan Markaz in Peshawar, the “central office of Awami National Party (ANP). A police official said that the attack could be a reaction to the ongoing operation in Akkakhel, Khyber agency.[v]
Embassy Security
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According to a recently released State Department report, a contractor in charge of providing local security for the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad and U.S. Consulates General in Lahore, Peshawar, and Karachi “left U.S. assets poorly guarded” during a three-day labor strike last year. The contractor, G4S Secure Solutions International Inc., allegedly did not hire Department-approved security guards during the June 2011 strike when approved guards went on strike. The Department has reduced funding to G4S, and while it created a new contract in July 2011, there is currently no reserve guard force to protect U.S. assets in the event of another strike.[vi]
Indo-Pakistani Relations
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According to sources interviewed by Geo, Pakistan “has officially sought permission to send a judicial commission to India to probe the 2008 Mumbai attacks case.” The request to examine witnesses and record their statements in the Mumbai attacks case has reportedly come from the interior ministry. A commission that had previously visited India was not given permission to examine witnesses.[vii]
Afghanistan-Pakistan Relations
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According to a foreign office spokesman on Thursday, Pakistan has given a dossier to the Afghan government and International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) pertaining to Mullah Fazlullah and his escape to Afghanistan from Swat. The spokesman also told reporters that the Durand Line is an internationally accepted border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.[viii]
U.S.-Afghanistan Relations
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After the State Department reaffirmed on Wednesday its recognition of the Durand Line as the international border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry released a statement claiming that only Afghanistan had the right to “determine [the] status” of the Line. Afghanistan has been against the demarcation line for years, viewing it as a historical remnant of British imperialism and not an official border.[ix]
Malala Yousafzai Attack
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Police have discovered that Attaullah Khan, allegedly responsible for shooting Malala Yousafzai last month, had received his Bachelor of Science Degree in physics at Jahanzeb College in Swat and was pursuing a Master’s Degree in chemistry. The school’s principal expressed surprise that Khan was behind the attack upon learning of his involvement. Khan is still at large, though his mother, brother, and fiancée have been taken into custody.[x]
Holiday Security Preparations
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In preparation for the Eid-ul-Azha holiday on Saturday, Islamabad police are ramping up security and planning on deploying over 2,850 police officials to more than 700 mosques where prayers will be held. Thirty of these mosques are considered “highly sensitive” locations and will be monitored by over 400 policemen. Security forces are also requesting that people not gather anywhere but these 700 or so designated mosques. In Rawalpindi, 3000 policemen will be deployed to designated prayer locations. Some mosques may also hire private security guards, while cars will be required to park at a distance and ID checks will be mandatory. [xi]
Election-Rigging Case
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Former Army Chief General Aslam Baig protested on Thursday that he had been “dealt injustice” in the recent election-rigging case in which he and former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Chief Asad Durrani were accused of illegally funding opposition parties in the 1990 elections. He claimed the Supreme Court had not sought adequate evidence from the defense and had not allowed its witnesses to speak. He further added that a list of funding recipients submitted by Durrani is not real, and that no-one on the list accepted any money from them. He expressed suspicion that the case, which had remained untouched for 16 years, was a ploy to aid in the re-election of President Asif Ali Zardari in 2013.[xii]
Karachi Violence
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Thirteen people were killed in Karachi between Wednesday and Thursday. Two men were killed in shooting incidents in Lyari and Orangi Town. Two more men were shot and killed in Keamari. Separate incidents of firing killed two men in Golimar and Machar Colony, while another man succumbed to his gunshot wounds in North Nazimabad. A bank security guard succumbed to his injuries after being shot by fleeing bandits. Two bodies were found in Manghopir and Lea Market. A body was found in the Kalri area, and another body was found in Saddar area. Unknown gunmen shot and killed a man in Orangi Town. Two people suffered gunshot wounds from unknown gunmen in Malir, while two more people suffered gunshot wounds in North Nazimabad. Crime Investigation Department officials arrested three extortionists allegedly associated with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Manghopir. Rangers captured two gangsters in a raid, confiscating a variety of weapons. Police also arrested two people in a raid in Quaidabad.[xiii]
Polio Drive
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According to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Governor Barrister Masood Kausar, most Taliban militants support Pakistan’s polio drive and only a “handful” opposes it. He added that polio rates in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas are higher than in the rest of the country, but that the government was working to raise awareness in the region and that immunization teams are now able to travel in some previously inaccessible areas.[xiv]