Pakistani ground troops destroy militant hideouts in Machis Camp, Kharwani, Mir Ali areas of North Waziristan; Operations kill four militants, injure three near Machis Camp on Friday; Security forces conduct targeted operations in Miram Shah, Machis Camp, Mir Ali Bazaar, Khurwani; Sukhail Wazir; Security forces kill five, injure seven in Defgan areaof Mir Ali; Hafiz Gul Bahadur begins talks to review 2007 peace agreement; Pakistani accounting of Saudi Arabian gift of $1.5 billion raises suspicion; Prime Minister consulting with military about visiting India for Nerendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony; Army may deploy in Islamabad to ensure safety of civilians; Reuters article highlights disagreement between army, civilian leadership; Three gunmen killed in attack on Indian consulate in Herat.
Military Operation in the Tribal Areas
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On Thursday, Pakistani ground troops, backed by artillery and helicopter gunships, destroyed militant hideouts previously dominated by foreign militants, mainly Uzbek and Chinese fighters, in the Machis Camp, Kharwani, and Mir Ali areas of North Waziristan. A local intelligence official stated that troops flattened hundreds of houses belonging to militants in Machis camp. Additionally, as part of a “sanitization” operation in response to retaliatory strikes by militants on security installations, helicopter gunships targeted nearby hideouts and ground troops began a door-to-door search operation for suspected militants. However, a spokesman for the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) clarified that no actual air strikes had been carried out in North Waziristan on Thursday. The News stated that the ground operation launched on Thursday also targeted the Land Mohammad Khel area of North Waziristan. Thousands of local residents have fled to neighboring Bannu in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in the wake of the attacks.[1]
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On Friday, continuing operations in Machis Camp near Miram Shah, North Waziristan killed four suspected militants and injured three more. Security forces also blew up militant bases and arrested five suspected militants while fighter jets targeted an insurgent base in Sokhel Wazir. According to a Friday article in the Express Tribune, security forces conducted targeted operations in Miram Shah, Machis Camp, and Mir Ali Bazaar. Additionally, forces fired mortar shells onto Machis Camp, Khurwani, and Sukhail Wazir, which was reportedly followed by helicopter gunship strikes.[2]
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According to a Friday article in Geo News, security forces killed at least five militants injured seven others in the Defgan area of Mir Ali.[3]
Hafiz Gul Bahadur Talks
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On Thursday, a spokesman for Hafiz Gul Bahadur, Ahmadullah Ahmadi, stated that a meeting of the higher council of the North Waziristan Mujahideen to review the 2007 peace agreement with the government was underway.[4]
Saudi-Pakistan Relations
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According to an article in the Express Tribune, Pakistan has listed Saudi Arabia’s recent “gift” of $1.5 billion as a “statistical discrepancy” in its budgetary books, rather than treating the amount as foreign aid. The declaration reportedly fuels speculation about the purpose of the aid, as items marked as statistical discrepancies are often the first step in a purchase process, though no actual goods have been publicly declared as being sold to Saudi Arabia.[5]
Indo-Pakistan Relations
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According to a Friday report in The Express Tribune, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is consulting with his advisers and the military to decide whether to accept the invitation to presumptive Indian Prime Minister Nerendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony. According to The Express Tribune, if Sharif attends, he will have a bilateral meeting with Modi. According to a Thursday report in Dawn, the Foreign Office supports Sharif travelling to India for the ceremony.[6]
Domestic
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According to a Friday article in Dawn, the government has placed both security forces and police on high alert to prevent a backlash from the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and maintain peace in Islamabad. Information Minister Pervez Rashid, when asked about whether the army would be deployed in Islamabad, stated that it was the government’s responsibility to protect citizens in Islamabad and across the country.[7]
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According to a Friday article in Reuters, a “government insider,” present at a tense meeting on Tuesday involving Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, claims that the army effectively announced it would “override a crucial plank of the government’s strategy and take matters into its own hands” by launching military strikes in North Waziristan. This comes despite the government’s continuing but faltering attempts to engage the TTP in peace talks. The source claimed that General Sharif’s message was that “The time for talk is over.” The government later announced that it would continue to hold talks with TTP factions interested in dialogue, while intractable factions would be targeted by the military. The article described the disagreement over the air strikes and targeted operations against the TTP as the latest “flare up between the government and the military,” adding that the relations between the two branches are at their lowest in years; a member of the prime minister’s cabinet describes the unilateral decision to start military operations as “the clearest signal yet that the army will dictate its terms now.”[8]
Militancy
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On Friday, unidentified gunmen attacked the Indian consulate in Herat, Afghanistan. Indian and Afghan security forces at the consulate successfully fought off the attackers, who were wearing suicide vests. The three attackers were killed, and five security personnel were injured. A Pakistani Foreign Office spokesperson condemned the attack, saying “no cause justified targeting of diplomatic missions.[9]