Afghan Reconciliation talks reportedly making progress; U.S. Defense Secretary meets with Pakistan’s Prime Minister, army chief; Pakistani officials turn back American trucks at border in Khyber agency; Pakistan Army internal document indicates some generals believe ties with U.S. are fraying; Iranian and Pakistani representatives meet to discuss gas pipeline; Rocket fired across Iranian border into Balochistan; Imran Khan refuses to stop anti-drone protest despite appeal from NATO; PTI General Secretary says PTI-led protests will continue; Special court will charge former President Musharraf with treason; IMF releases new details regarding reform measures for Pakistan’s bailout; Accountability Court judge summons former President Zardari over corruption; Defense ministry produces some o Dir district;inn and Iranian consulate warned of terrorist threats; e 6 of Pakistan' Monday.om Kabul was not reopened to coalmissing persons in compliance with Supreme Court directive; Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat spokesperson calls off protests in Lahore after several ASWJ activists are killed; curfew imposed in North Waziristan; Sindh Rangers arrest 20 alleged criminals throughout Karachi; TTP leader moves from North Waziristan to Dir district.
Afghan Reconciliation Process
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According to a Monday report in The Express Tribune, negotiations between the United States, the Afghan government, Pakistan, and the Afghan Taliban have made progress on reaching a deal on the political situation in Afghanistan after the American withdrawal next year. The Express Tribune reports that former Afghan Taliban deputy Mullah Abdul Ghani Barader has met with Afghan negotiators and is expected to do so again in the future. According to the article, Taliban leader Mullah Omar approved of Baradar’s involvement.[1]
U.S-Pakistan Relations
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On Monday, U.S. defense secretary Chuck Hagel met with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Islamabad to defuse tensions over U.S. drone strikes and Islamabad’s role in Afghanistan. The defense secretary pressed Prime Minister Sharif to reopen supply routes from Afghanistan through Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, saying a key element of American aid could be cut off if the main route from Kabul was not reopened to coalition convoys. According to a Monday report in Dawn, Secretary Hagel affirmed that the United States would continue military assistance to Pakistan and admitted that although there is some friction in the relationship between the two countries, the U.S. wants to deepen its defense partnership with Pakistan. During the meeting, Prime Minister Sharif called for an end to drone strikes to ensure a peaceful Pakistan and improved relations between Pakistan and the U.S. Hagel also met with Pakistan’s new army chief, General Raheel Sharif, at the army’s General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, where the two discussed issues concerning U.S.-Pakistan bilateral ties, regional stability, and the defense relationship.[2]
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On Saturday, Pakistani officials turned back six American trucks attempting to cross from Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province to Khyber agency through the Torkham border crossing in response to fears that the vehicles could be attacked. The trucks had been stuck in Torkham for fourteen days due to the PTI protests in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.[3]
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On Friday, The News reported that some in the Pakistani military establishment believe ties between the American and Pakistani militaries are deteriorating. The source for this information was the “Green Book” a confidential report issued internally every two years by the army. Various military leaders reportedly expressed concern that the United States has allowed India to become involved in Afghanistan and that an “Indo-U.S.” nexus is forming in South Asia at the expense of Pakistan’s ties with the U.S.[4]
Iran-Pakistan Relations
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On Monday, Iranian and Pakistani representatives are expected to meet in Tehran to discuss the possible revival of the Iran-Pakistan pipeline. Pakistan wants Iran to lower the price of gas and extend the deadline for the construction of the pipeline.[5]
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On Monday, Iranian border forces fired a rocket across the Pakistan border into Panjgoor, Balochistan. There were no casualties.[6]
PTI Protests
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On Friday, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan said that, while his party strongly opposes American drone strikes, he is not trying to incite a war with the United States or the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance (NATO) by trying to block supplies to troops in Afghanistan.[7]
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On Monday, NATO countries reportedly requested that the PTI stop its blockade of NATO supplies through Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, due to the inconvenience that is being caused. PTI chairman Imran Khan refused to stop the protests until American drone strikes in Pakistan stop.[8]
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According to a Sunday article in the Express Tribune, the General Secretary of the PTI in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Khalid Masood, stated that PTI protests against U.S. drone strikes will continue, despite rumors that the sit-ins were ending. Masood said members of PTI’s core committee would convene soon to formulate a more effective strategy that would force the U.S. to end its drone strikes completely.[9]
Domestic
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On Monday, a three-judge special court set up to try former president retired General Pervez Musharraf will file a formal complaint under Article 6 (1) of the Constitution that will charge him with attempting to conspire against the 1973 Constitution by declaring emergency and overthrowing the superior judiciary in November 2007. Although clause 2 of Article 6 holds that “any person aiding or abetting or collaborating the acts mentioned in clause 1 shall likewise be guilty of high treason,” the government has not nominated any co-accused.[10]
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On Monday, the IMF released details regarding new reform measures and structural benchmarks for Pakistan’s $6.7 billion bailout program.[11]
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On Monday, an Accountability Court judge summoned former President Asif Ali Zardari for a hearing of the five corruption references against the former president. The court reopened references against Zardari after his presidential immunity ended. It is expected that Zardai will be indicted at the next hearing, which has been adjourned until December 23.[12]
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On Monday, the Supreme Court issued a summons to the acting Inspector General of the Frontier Corps (Balochistan) to appear before the Court on December 10 in regards to the missing persons case.[13]
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On Saturday, the defense ministry brought seven of the missing persons before Justice Amir Hani Muslim in compliance with the Supreme Court’s directives. The three-judge bench had ordered the Ministry on Friday to produce 14 of the 35 missing persons. According to a Saturday BBC report, the military released fourteen prisoners from a detention center to appear before the Supreme Court, but only six of the fourteen had been identified by their relatives. Another Sunday article in Reuters stated that some of the prisoners being held without charge had links to radical mosques. Major General Arif Nazir, acting Secretary of Defense, said the military would try to comply with orders to produce the remaining prisoners on Monday. [14]
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According to political administration sources cited in a Saturday report in Geo News, a curfew has been imposed in North Waziristan Agency for an indefinite period, during which all entry and exit routes would remain closed.[15]
Militancy
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On Sunday, unknown militants fired on and burned two tankers carrying fuel for U.S. and NATO troops in the Haji Shehar area of Bolan district, Balochistan. The attack occurred one day after the Chief Minister Balochistan, Dr. Malik Baloch, announced that his government was committed to providing security to NATO and U.S. supplies passing through the province. The route through Balochistan has become critical to NATO operations as Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) activists have blocked NATO supply routes through the Torkham pass in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.[16]
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On Saturday, a spokesperson for the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ), Aurangzeb Farooqi, told reporters that, following successful negotiations with the government, the ASWJ agreed to call off protests in Lahore over the killing of the chief of the group’s Punjab chapter, Maulana Shamsur Rehman Muavi.[17]
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On Friday, unidentified gunmen killed three members of the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) in the Gulshan-e-Iqbal neighborhood in Karachi. Following the murders, ASWJ leaders staged a protest in the area.[18]
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On Friday, unidentified gunmen killed a man who was reportedly a police informer in Orangi Town, Karachi.[19]
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On Saturday, militants fired rockets at a cement factory in Darra Pezu, Lakki Marwat, Khyber-Pakhutnkhwa. There were no casualties.[20]
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On Saturday, Sindh Rangers arrested 20 alleged criminals throughout Karachi. The Karachi targeted operation has resulted in the arrest of nearly 10,000 people since September.[21]
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A Sunday article in the Express Tribune reported that as many as 9,944 alleged criminals have been arrested and 15,653 kilograms of explosive materials recovered over the past three months in raids throughout Karachi.[22]
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According to a Sunday report in Geo News, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Mullah Fazlullah has moved from North Waziristan to Dir district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Although initial reports stated that Fazlullah had arrived at an “undisclosed location” in Pakistan, the Geo News article reported that Fazlullah arrived in North Waziristan last week but had decided to use Dir district of K-P as the headquarters of the TTP due to the growing intensity of drone strikes in North Waziristan.[23]
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On Sunday, the Crisis Management Cell (CMC) of the Ministry of Interior warned that the Information Minister, Pervaiz Rashid, and the Iranian consulate in Karachi were facing threats from terrorists, most notably the TTP.[24]
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On Saturday, militants killed Ajmal Khan, a prominent activist of the Awami National Party (ANP) and member of the pro-government peace committee in Daggar, Buner district.[25]
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On Friday, unknown militants attacked a police van with a remote-controlled improvised explosive device (IED), which injured two policemen in Sardheri, Charsadda district. According to the report in The News, militants also attacked a state-run school in Sardheri.[26]
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On Friday, unknown militants attacked a school with an IED in Dargai, Malakand Agency.[27]