Pakistan Security Brief - August 12, 2013

Al Qaeda Recruitment

• Yemeni government officials claimed on Friday that al Qaeda is recruiting Pakistani bomb-makers, such as Pakistani explosives expert Ragaa bin Ali, to travel to Yemen.  Ali died in a recent drone strike in Yemen.  The officials alleged Al Qaeda is recruiting skilled Saudi militants as well.[1]

Line of Control Dispute

• On Monday, an unnamed Pakistani military official said that “unprovoked Indian shelling” killed one civilian in the Battal sector of Rawalakot, Azad Kashmir, that same day.  An Indian Defense Ministry spokesman contradicted this claim, saying that Indian troops had merely “responded effectively” to a mortar and automatic weapons attack that injured one Border Security Force (BSF) official.  Indian and Pakistani troops have exchanged fire on several occasions since last Tuesday, when approximately 20 attackers clothed in Pakistan Army uniforms launched an operation across the Line of Control (LoC) that killed five Indian soldiers.[2]

• Indian Defense Minister A. K. Antony told reporters on Monday that Indian troops had the authority to “respond to the developing situations [in the vicinity of the LoC] appropriately.”  On Sunday, Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said the government of Pakistan was responsible for last week’s attack if the attack originated in Pakistani territory.  Khursheed acknowledged that the attacks may have been an attempt to disrupt forthcoming peace talks between India and Pakistan.[3]

• The Pakistani Foreign Office summoned India’s Deputy High Commissioner to Pakistan on Monday in order to chastise the Indian government for repeated ceasefire violations across the LoC within the last week.  Indian Border Security Forces allegedly opened fire on Pakistani Rangers in Sialkot and in the vicinity of Kotli on Sunday.  Foreign Office spokesman Aizaz Chaudhry advised on Sunday that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif desired the use of pre-existing bilateral “political and diplomatic channels” to ease tensions in the wake of the recent LoC dispute.  Chaudhry added that Pakistani military personnel had retaliated responsibly to unprovoked attacks by Indian security forces in Sialkot.[4]

• According to a report in The News, Indian Army Chief General Bikram Singh reprimanded senior military officials in Jammu and Kashmir last week, following Tuesday’s LoC attack that killed five Indian soldiers.  Singh allegedly criticized his commanders’ decision not to conduct an artillery and mortar counterattack against Pakistani checkpoints.[5]

• On Saturday, members of India’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demanded that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA)-led government should postpone peace talks with the government of Pakistan until it is willing to provide two wanted suspects – Dawood Ibrahim and Hafiz Muhammad Saeed – to India.  Ibrahim is the boss of Mumbai-based crime syndicate D-Company; India has accused him of providing logistics for the 2008 Mumbai attacks.  Saeed, the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba, is widely suspected of involvement in orchestrating the 2008 Mumbai attacks.  The Prime Minister’s Special Envoy to India, Shahryar Khan, told reporters on Friday that Dawood had been “chased out of Pakistan,” but made no comment about Saeed.[6]

• In the midst of flaring tensions along the LoC, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced on Monday that Pakistan will not grant India “most favored nation trading status” in the near future, despite initial advances towards improved relations between the Sharif-led government and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.[7] 

• According  to a Monday Express Tribune report, the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi has asked India to increase security at its Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) offices in Mumbai and New Delhi, after several terrorist groups in India threatened the airlines. [8]

Taliban Peace Talks

• According to a Saturday Express Tribune article, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is prepared to hold peace talks with the Pakistani government, according to TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid. As a prerequisite to the talks, Shahid noted that religious leaders, such as Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, must be present for the talks. Shahid also demanded unspecified persons provide a fatwa against the killing of Muslims in Syria and Myanmar. Rehman welcomed the TTP talks, calling them a “step in the right direction.”  Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Munawar Hasan, who the TTP also noted as a possible mediator, also praised the proposed talks and noted that he would serve as an intermediary as long as both sides “define their agenda and priorities.”[9]

• In a press conference on Sunday, Awami National Party (ANP) leader Asfandyar Wali Khan encouraged peace talks with the TTP. Khan noted that the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has “no writ” in a province controlled by militants, evident in the Dera Ismail Khan July 29 prison break. Khan also noted that if peace talks were unsuccessful, he would support another military operation similar to Swat in 2009 to root out extremists.[10] 

Consulate Closure in Lahore

• According to U.S. State Department Spokeswoman Jen Psaki, the U.S. consulate in Lahore will remain closed indefinitely, noting that the U.S. will “continue to evaluate the threats to Sana’a and Lahore and make subsequent decisions.” 18 of the 19 embassies closed over the last week re-opened on Sunday.[11]

Afghan-Pakistan Relations

• Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Monday that he intends to visit Pakistan on August 26.  According to a statement today by Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Janan Musazai, the agenda for Karzai’s visit has not yet been finalized.  However, it will likely include discussions about peace negotiations with the Taliban, economic cooperation, and the status of Afghan refugees. In a separate statement to Nawaz Sharif, President Karzai also condemned last Thursday’s bombing in Quetta, and noted that the neighboring countries face a common enemy. According to Karzai, “cooperation and efforts by the two countries and their people is the only way to defeat and eliminate the enemy.” [12]

Domestic

• On Sunday, despite Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s August 13 deadline for a comprehensive national security policy, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan claimed on Sunday that “13 years of mistakes can’t be rectified in one day,” and that a new counter-terrorism policy will take time.[13]

• Minister for Defense Production Rana Tanveer Hussain revealed in a Chamber of Commerce meeting on Monday that Pakistan possesses the technology to both manufacture drones and shoot them down.[14]

• Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan claimed on Sunday that although he supported the U.S. in the “War on Terror,” the PTI was developing a policy for anti-drone attack protests and to extract Pakistan from the war.  Khan said countrywide protests would begin after the by-polls.[15]

• As of Monday, Major General Amir Riaz has replaced Major General Ashfaq Nadeem as the new Pakistan Army Director General of Military Operations.  Nadeem was promoted last week to the rank of Lieutenant General.[16]

Dera Ismail Khan Jailbreak

• According to an initial inquiry report obtained by Express News, the Pakistan Army was never notified of the DI Khan jailbreak by security or jail authorities, and learned of the attack on its own. Furthermore, when jail authorities communicated with the army regarding the attack, they claimed the militants were inside the jail, when the militants had already left. In seemingly contradictory evidence, the report also indicates the army had some knowledge of a possible attack on the jail on July 28, the day before the attack. The report obtained by the Express News is likely the same report authored by the Inspector General of Prisons and passed to Khyber-Pkahtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak on July 30.[17]   

• On Saturday, ANP leader Asfandyar Wali Khan called for the resignation of PTI Chief Imran Khan because the PTI-led Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government failed to thwart the TTP-led attack on Dera Ismail Khan’s Central Prison.[18]

• Police forces raided a home in Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday, recovering a suicide jacket, small arms and a hand grenade. According to the Express Tribune, the weapons were reportedly used in the Dera Ismail Khan prison break on July 29.[19] 

Militancy

• On Saturday, the Pakistan Army conducted a search operation in Chilas, Diamer district of Gilgit-Baltistan.  An unnamed official said troops are searching for suspects connected to the June 23 attack on foreign tourists Nanga Parbat base camp.  Additional troops conducted a search operation in Burgi village, approximately 80 kilometers west of Chilas.  It is unclear whether this is connected to operations in Chilas.[20]

• The TTP claimed responsibility on Sunday for the assassination of the Deputy Superintendent of Hyderabad’s  Nara Jail, Agha Naeem Ghauri.  TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid claimed the TTP shot Ghauri on Saturday in the Tando Agha of Hyderabad, Sindh province, due to his anti-Taliban policies.[21]

• Security forces engaged militants of the Baloch Liberation Army on Saturday in Mach, Bolan district, Balochistan, killing six insurgents. According to officials, the militants were responsible for an attack on August 6 in the region that killed 14 people, after BLA militants kidnapped and executed passengers riding on a bus in Bolan. In a separate incident, police also killed two other militants after they attacked a checkpoint in Mastung district on Saturday.[22]

• At a press conference in Quetta on Sunday, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan claimed the “War on Terror” has become a “battle for [the] survival of Pakistan.” Khan said the government would continue to combat terrorists, but indicated additional details would be forthcoming in the upcoming national security policy.  Khan also stated that the Pakistan Army would distribute 5,000 submachine guns to security forces within Balochistan province and initiate a police-training program.  Separately, Army Chief General Ashfaq Kayani has pledged 15,000 military-trained personnel will deploy to the region.  No additional details are currently available.[23] 

• On Sunday in Quetta, an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated, destroying a Frontier Corps vehicle and injuring two FC members. Security forces initiated raids in the immediate area to detain suspects.[24]   

• On Saturday in Dera Bugti, Balochistan, a roadside IED exploded, killing two people and wounding three. A local tribal leader was reportedly among the dead. In a separate incident, unknown gunmen shot and killed one person in Dera Bugti, and wounded another.[25]

• A landmine exploded on Sunday morning in Dera Murad Jamali, Jafferabad, Balochistan, killing one person and injuring three others.[26]

• A man was shot and killed by police in Peshawar on Saturday when he refused to stop his vehicle at a checkpoint. Police claim the man fired upon them and then attempted to escape from the car, when he was gunned down.[27]  

• On Sunday in Kohat, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, unknown perpetrators beheaded a policeman and torched his motorcycle.[28]

• On Monday in Peshawar, Bomb Disposal Squads located and defused an IED planted in Carkhano market.[29]

• On Monday in Hayatabad, Peshawar, police discovered a bomb planted near the police station and defused the device. In a separate incident in Charsaddah, police located and defused a bomb near a police checkpoint.[30]

• Six people were killed in Karachi on Sunday in firing incidents throughout the city. One person was killed in Lasbela, another was killed in Garden, while two were gunned down in Orangi town. Two people were also killed in Baldia.[31]  

• Unknown militants threw a grenade into Saddar Police Station, Karachi on Sunday, wounding two policemen. The militants discarded their weapons and motorcycle before escaping, and police are reportedly tracing the motorcycle back to the perpetrators.[32] 

• An explosion targeting Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Raja Umar Khattab occurred on Sunday in Karachi near Shahrah-e-Faisal. Police indicate the device was remote controlled; no casualties have been reported in the attack. The attack was the second attempts on Khattab’s life, following an August 2008 attempted assassination by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.[33] 

• According to an Express Tribune article on Sunday, at least 22 people were killed in Karachi over Eid-ul-Fitr. However, the Karachi Police Chief has labeled the killings primarily of “a personal nature and not sectarian or of a terrorist nature.”[34]

• In Parachinar, Kurram agency, three separate landmines exploded in various areas of the city, killing two people and injuring three others. One man and a boy were killed when he drove over a roadside landmine, while another was wounded in blast. A shepherd stepped on another mine near Pewar, while a tribesman was injured in Baghdi.[35] 

• In Faisalabad, Punjab on Monday, police reportedly arrested the mastermind of Friday’s attempted suicide attack in Islamabad, in which a bomber entered the premises of a mosque, but failed to properly detonate his vest and was gunned down. The bomber in the attack has also been identified.[36]