Clashes between TTP and rival group AI escalate; PAF kills 23 militants in Tirah Valley and eight in Orakzai agency; Several dead in Karachi and Balochistan; Possible terrorist plot stopped in Quetta; Sectarian killings increased by 352 percent; Iran gas pipeline approved; Pakistan requires IMF bailout; Gwadar deep water port to be transferred to China; 800 police officers deployed to protect polio vaccination teams. Six witnesses to testify in defense of Hafiz Khan; Pakistan registers UN protest over Kashmir deaths, India denies.
Militancy
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On Wednesday, fighting between militant groups Ansarul Islam (AI) and the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Khyber agency continued into the fifth consecutive day as both groups sought control of the Tirah Valley. AI is an officially banned militant organization, but is currently defending the Tirah Valley from the TTP. However, critics of AI claim that it is motivated to control the profitable trade in Khyber agency. Pakistani security official stated that the TTP and Lashkar-e-Islam (LI), a militant group supporting the TTP, killed 20 AI militants in the last two days. Pakistani Air Force (PAF) jets reportedly killed at least 23 TTP and LI insurgents during multiple aerial assaults in the Tirah valley and in the Mamuzai area of neighboring Orakzai agency. Security forces targeted the TTP and LI in Dwatoi, Wacha Wona, Baragat and Takhtakai areas destroying caches of weapons, ammunition, and rations. Meanwhile, Pakistani soldiers were reportedly sent to fight alongside AI to prevent the fall of Bara, a strategically vital sub-district in Khyber agency. AI spokesman Saadat Afridi stated that the entire populations of Kala Voch, Dro Adda, Haider Kandaw and Qismat Sangar are in bunkers resisting the TTP. More than 121 fighters have died during the five days. The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) also bombed TTP hideouts in Orakzai agency on Wednesday killing eight militants and destroying four hideouts in the regions of Arghanjo, Mirqalamkhel and Jandary Killay. [1]
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Four people were injured by mortar fire in the Mishti area of the Orakzai Agency on Tuesday.[2]
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On Wednesday, the Frontier Constabulary (FC) seized a vehicle near the Baleli checkpoint in Quetta and recovered a hundred detonators, ball bearings, wires, and 25kg of explosive material thereby preventing a possible terrorist attack.[3]
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On Wedensday, The FC conducted a cordon and search in the Gulshan Bareech area of Quetta apprehending three suspects and recovering two rifles, a pistol, and ammunition.[4]
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Four people were killed when unidentified assailants opened fire on a vehicle in Dera Bugti, Balochistan on Wednesday.[5]
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A planted explosive in Achini Mera near Al-Hamra Township in Peshawar exploded killing one and injuring three on Tuesday.[6]
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In Quetta, three people were repeatedly shot in the head after being kidnapped by unknown assailants on Wednesday.[7]
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Four people were injured in an attack by hand grenade in Hangorabad area of Lyari on Wednesday.[8]
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The Human Rights Commission Pakistan (HRCP) announced Wednesday that sectarian killings in Karachi increased by 352 percent in 2012 from the year previous. The report stated that police explain the majority of the 23 killings in 2011 and the 104 killings in 2012 as militant violence, primarily against the Shia community. Sindh HRCP Assistant Coordinator Abdul Hai explained part of the cause, saying: “Our law-enforcement agencies are weak and corrupt, and this is what gives muscle to militants.”[9]
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One man was shot and killed in Karachi near Jinnah Square on Wednesday when unidentified assailants opened fire.[10]
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A man was injured in a shooting in the Ghas Mandi area of Karachi on Wednesday.[11]
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Police apprehended a suspect connected with a recent shooting in Haroonabad, Karachi. Police recovered a motorcycle and a 9mm pistol.[12]
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Unidentified assailants raided and opened fire on a house in Machar Colony, Karachi on Wednesday killing one person and injuring another.[13]
Iran Pipeline
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Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira announced on Wednesday that Pakistan’s Cabinet gave final approval for awarding the contract for the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline to an Iranian company. The pipeline is expected to be completed by January 2015. The Iranian government agreed to offer $500 million in support for both phases of the project. The Cabinet’s approval came just two days after U.S. Consul General Michael Dodman’s press release, where he reiterated that the U.S. will impose sanctions on Pakistan if they continue with the pipeline project.[14]
IMF Bailout
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On Wednesday, experts in Jang Economic Session on ‘IMF and Pakistan - Solution for Economic Problems’ announced that Pakistan has no choice but to approach the International Monetary Fund (IMF) about an additional bailout to cover the costs of imports. Dr Nadia Tahir said Pakistan’s debt had reached (Rs)13 trillion while foreign exchange reserves were depleted to just $8 billion, which would be grossly short of Pakistan’s needs for the next two months. A Dawn report on Tuesday explained the federal government had granted tax exemptions to various Pakistani People’s Party (PPP) elites and lobbies amounting to billions of rupees more than the country had received in IMF loans over the same period of time.[15]
Sino-Pakistani Relations
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On Wednesday, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira announced that Pakistan would transfer management of the Gwadar deep water port from Singapore to China’s Chinese Overseas Port Holdings Limited. China funded more than three quarters of the Gwadar development project initially. Kaira explained that the Cabinet expressed confidence that China would invest more to complete the project than Singapore had.[16]
Polio Vaccinations
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On Tuesday, District Coordination Officer for Gujranwala Syed Najam Ahmed Shah announced that the district government will deploy over 800 police officers to protect two person polio vaccination teams as they immunize children. Shah then stressed that local prayer leaders and administrators should work with vaccinators to ensure everyone gets the treatment they need. The increase in security comes a day after a police officer was killed in Peshwar in an attack on polio workers there.[17]
Indo-Pak Relations
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On Wednesday an Indian newspaper reported that Pakistan has registered multiple protests over the years with the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP), accusing India of killing and decapitating twelve Pakistani soldiers, and killing another 29 civilians in Kashmir since 1998. Responding to the article, Indian army spokesperson Col. Jagdeep Dahiya denied the allegations. Dahiya claimed that the Indian army is “very professional,” and went on to say that the mechanisms in place to ensure that India and Pakistan observe the ceasefire would have reported these incidents when they happened, instead of fifteen years later. [18]
Florida Terrorism Case
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Six witnesses will testify via live video beamed from Pakistan supporting Hafiz Khan, a Muslim Cleric on trial in Florida who stands accused of financially supporting the TTP. Hafiz Khan claims the money was transferred for innocent reasons which the witnesses will corroborate, the defense claims.[19]