Taliban intermediary says government-TTP peace talks currently suspended; Prime Minister Sharif calls and congratulates Narendra Modi on Indian election victory; Hackers target, deface Rawalpindi police website; Bomb in Rawalpindi injures 16 people; Bomb targeting police in Bannu wounds seven people; Teenage boy murders blasphemy-accused man in Punjab village; Food shortage afflicts North Waziristan as curfew endures; U.S. repatriates 10 Pakistani prisoners held at Bagram Air Base.
TTP Peace Talks
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Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUI-S) leader and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)-appointed negotiating committee member Maulana Samiul Haq on Wednesday said that negotiations between the Pakistani government and the TTP had been “suspended for the time being,” though he said efforts to restore the process would continue.[1]
Indo-Pak Relations
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Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday telephoned Narendra Modi, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate, to congratulate him on his party’s victory in India’s elections. The call is Sharif’s first ever direct contact with Modi who will likely soon be selected as Prime Minister of India by the country’s incoming parliament.[2]
Militancy
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Hackers possibly linked to Pakistani militants on Thursday managed to compromise and deface the website of the Rawalpindi police; police officials deny any sensitive material was stolen, however. The hacked website displayed photographs of al Qaeda and Pakistani Taliban leaders and read “Hacked by Anti [email protected] site was hacked…a victory for the Taliban.”[3]
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An improvised explosive device (IED) attack in Rawalpindi on Thursday evening injured 16 people. The device was planted outside a food outlet that has previously been harangued by terrorist groups running extortion rackets; police suspect the outlet was targeted for refusing to pay extortion money.[4]
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At least seven people were injured in Bannu district on Friday when a bomb planted near a police vehicle detonated. Three policemen were among the injured.[5]
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A teenage boy on Friday walked into a police station in the village of Sharaqpur, Punjab and shot dead a 65-year old man from the minority Ahmadi community who had been accused of committing blasphemy, a capital crime in Pakistan. The boy was arrested following the incident.[6]
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A food shortage continues to afflict North Waziristan as a general curfew in the tribal agency entered into its seventh day on Thursday. The curfew was installed following an IED attack that killed nine Pakistani troops in North Waziristan last week.[7]
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The U.S. military in Afghanistan on Thursday repatriated 10 Pakistani prisoners for transfer to Pakistani custody. The men had been previously imprisoned at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.[8]