Talks with TTP allegedly taking place in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa; TTP does not expect Sharif’s visit to U.S. to be productive; Several shelling incidents in Indian-administered Kashmir; Two killed and 13 injured by Indian shelling in Punjab; Prime Minister meets with U.S. Secretary of State to discuss economy, Afghanistan; Dr. Afridi asks for new trial; U.S. position of Kashmir is unchanged; Amnesty International alleges that American drone strikes kill more civilians than U.S. admits; Militants in Afghanistan fire across the border into Bajaur Agency, injure two; Two killed and another two injured in Hangu gunfire; Three inked to the October 10th bomb blast in Lahore arrested; ECP suspends 26 legislators; PPP to reshuffle internally.
Talks with the TTP
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Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Information Minister Shah Farman reportedly announced that negotiations with the Taliban are currently taking place. It is unclear whether the K-P government is negotiating on its own, or whether it has the backing of the federal government.[1]
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On Monday, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Information Secretary Shireen Mazari criticized the federal government for failing to implement the decisions reached by the September All-Parties Conference (APC). Mazari added that Pakistan’s appeasement of the U.S. has led to the recent surge in attacks.[2]
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Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Shahidullah Shahid told The News that the TTP does not expect Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to Washington D.C. to be productive and that the group does not think that talks with the government will ever happen. He also denied that the TTP refused to accept talks “under the constitution of Pakistan.”[3]
India-Pakistan Relations
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Pakistan allegedly violated the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir several times on Monday night and Tuesday morning. Indian Border Security Forces (BSF) reported heavy firing in Jammu district on Monday. An Indian military spokesman claimed that Pakistan had attacked Indian military positions in Poonch district with mortars and gunfire on Tuesday.[4]
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Two people were killed and thirteen injured on Monday by alleged Indian shelling in Sialkot district, Punjab. Two of the injured are Rangers personnel.[5]
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Foreign Office spokesman Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry replied on Monday to Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid’s dismissal of any third-party involvement in Kashmir negotiations by pointing to United Nations Security Council resolutions calling for a third-party interlocutor. Chaudhry said those resolutions should not be ignored in favor of bilateral agreements between the two countries..[6]
U.S.-Pakistan Relations
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Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif met with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington D.C. on Monday and discussed Pakistan’s role in Afghanistan’s elections and in the reconciliation process. A State Department statement issued on Monday emphasized the economic relationship between the two countries.[7]
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Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said at an event with Pakistanis living in Washington D.C. on Monday that his goal is to increase trade with the United States, not to receive more aid.[8]
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Dr. Shakil Afridi, the Pakistani doctor who cooperated with the United States in its search for Osama bin Laden, submitted a petition on Monday to the Khyber Agency political agent asking for a new trial over charges that he is linked to the terrorist organization Lashker-e-Islam.[9]
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American officials have indicated that the United States has not changed its position on Kashmir and would refuse Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s proposal to internationalize the dispute, according to a Tuesday report in Dawn.[10]
American Drone Strikes
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Amnesty International released a report on Tuesday claiming that American drone attacks in Pakistan and Yemen lead to numerous civilian casualties and that Americans who run the drone program should be prosecuted for war crimes.[11]
Militancy
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On Monday and Tuesday, militants in Afghanistan fired across the border into Bajaur Agency. The attack on Monday injured two people. Two Frontier Corps (FC) personnel were injured in the Tuesday attack.[12]
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Two people were killed and another two injured in Doaba, Hangu district, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Monday in an exchange of fire between two armed groups.[13]
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Three people allegedly linked to the October 10, 2013 bombing attack in Lahore, which killed one and injured 16, were arrested Monday. They are reportedly connected with the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a Baloch insurgent group.[14]
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Four unidentified gunmen fired on a school on Tuesday in the Orangi Gulshan-e-Bahar area of Karachi, allegedly due to the school administration’s refusal to pay extortion money. There were no casualties.[15]
Domestic
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The Elections Commission of Pakistan suspended 26 lawmakers on Tuesday due to their failure to declare their assets. Among those suspended were two senators and four members of the National Assembly, as well as a number of provincial legislators.[16]
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Authorities in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa are reportedly planning to create a Prisons Security Force to prevent jailbreaks after two high-profile jailbreaks in the province.[17]
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On Monday, an election tribunal in Sindh notified a Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) legislator that it will hear a petition on October 29 challenging his election. This is the third National Assembly seat to fall under suspicion of fraudulent voting in the last month.[18]
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New anti-terror laws will give law enforcement broad powers to deal with non-Pakistanis who are in the country to wage terror, including the ability to hold enemy aliens in custody for an unlimited time, according to The News.[19]
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The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is poised for an internal reorganization, according to a report in The Express Tribune. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will reportedly assume the position of chairman, but will probably not run for office. Former President Asif Ali Zardari has indicated that he will not hold any official position. Former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani may become party co-chairman.[20]
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On Tuesday, Rangers and police arrested over 100 people throughout Karachi as part of the ongoing operations in the city.[21]