Pakistan Security Brief - June 23, 2014

Air strikes kill 15 on June 23 near Mir Ali; 3 suspected terrorists killed in Karachi and 20 apprehended; June 21 strikes killed more than 30 terrorists in Khyber and North Waziristan; Up to 30 terrorists killed in strikes on June 19 and 20, 24 arrested attempting to flee; General Mahmood visits Washington DC to discuss security concerns; Explosion injures 61 at shrine in Peshawar; Number of IDPs reaches 400,000; Tribal leaders in North Waziristan promise not to harbor militants; TTP leader Bahadur proposes new ceasefire; Musharraf denied exit from Pakistan by Supreme Court; PAT leader Qadri calls for revolution against Sharif.

North Waziristan Operation

• Airstrikes early on the morning of Monday, June 23 reportedly destroyed eight plus militant hideouts near Mir Ali, North Waziristan, and killed around 15 suspected militants.  The Pakistani Military’s Inter Service Public Relations (ISPR) reported that tunnels used by militants had been spotted around Mir Ali. The Pakistani military claims its forces thwarted several attempts by militants to flee the area, including by killing an estimated ten fighters attempting to flee Spinwam and Mir Ali. Aerial surveillance and patrolling have continued around reportedly militant- occupied areas.  On June 22, 100 religious clerics of different schools of thought met as part of the Sunni Ulema Board and declared that Operation Zarb-e-Azb being carried out in North Waziristan qualifies as a jihad because, they ruled, the Quran says stopping those attempting to disrupt the peace in a Muslim state is considered a jihad.”[1]

• The Hafiz Gul Bahadur-led shura of local North Waziristan Taliban proposed to the government implementing a ceasefire until the 10th day of Ramadan.[2]

• The ISPR reported that targeted strikes by jet aircraft killed 30 terrorists in Khyber and North Waziristan Agencies early morning on June 21.  According to the reports airstrikes destroyed two militant hideouts and killed 10 militants about 75 miles away from the Torkham border crossing with Afghanistan in Khyber Agency.  Later that morning, airstrikes reportedly destroyed three hideouts and killed 20 militants in the town of Hassu Khel in North Waziristan Agency.[3]

• According to Dawn, airstrikes in the Koshali Torikhel, and Zakar Khel villages of Mir Ali sub-district in North Waziristan Agency destroyed two militant hideouts and killed 8 suspected militants early on the morning of June 21.  Airstrikes early on June 21 killed three militants and injured six others in the Malakdin Khel area of Bara, Khyber Agency.  Official sources said that militants “had occupied a government school in Malakdin Khel” and gunship helicopters fired upon and destroyed it. [4]

• The ISPR reported that coordinated attacks by helicopter gunships, artillery and snipers in the early morning of June 20 killed 12 militants and destroyed a “huge cache of arms and ammunition.” The army continued to reportedly foil attempts by militants to flee the area cordoned off as part of Operation Zarb-e-Azb.  The army apprehended 3 suspects and stopped six escape attempts on the night of June 20, the ISPR reported.  The army also apprehended an additional 24 suspects attempting to flee checkpoints in the towns of Miram Shah and Mir Ali on the night of June 19.[5]

• Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, in a meeting at the Peshawar Corps Headquarters on Friday, June 20, said that “the pace of success of armed forces in the [NWA] operation was very encouraging.”[6]

• According to security officials, Operation Zarb-e-Azb has killed nearly 280 terrorists since it started. Arshad Khan, Director General of the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA) Disaster Management Agency reported that more than 200,000 civilians are still trapped in North Waziristan due to a shoot-on-sight curfew that security officials extended to June 21.[7]

U.S.-Pakistan Relations

• General Rashad Mahmood, Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff Committee (CJCSC) met with General Martin Dempsey, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff of USA, General Lloyd J. Austin, Commander US Central Command, Admiral Jonathan Greenert, Chief of Naval Operations USA, General Ray Odierno, Chief of Staff USA Army, Admiral William McRaven, Commander US Special Operations Command while in Washington, DC for an official visit to discuss regional security and defense cooperation. He also met with Senator Bob Menendez, Chairman Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Ambassador James F. Dobbins, Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan and Ms. Rose E. Gottemoeller, Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security.[8]

• Despite the June 20th discussion in the U.S. House of Representatives regarding an amendment to the U.S. Defense Appropriations Bill that would stop all financial assistance to Pakistan, the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations approved a bill to allocate $960 million to Pakistan. The money is intended to aid women’s development, education and unemployment efforts.[9]

Domestic Unrest

• A “powerful explosion” at a shrine in Islamabad injured at least 61 people on the night of June 20.  The blast occurred in the Pandorian area on the outskirts of Islamabad, on the second day of a three-day festival commemorating the anniversary of the death of “local Sufi saint Baba Nangay Shah.”  According to Chief Commissioner Paul, an initial probe determined that the bomb likely carried a time device and was planted in a tree in the shrine.  Police cordoned off the site, placed security on all entry and exit routes of Islamabad on red alert, and “launched a search operation” with Rangers commandos to find the perpetrators.[10]

• Two Lashkar-e-Islam militants were killed in the area of Milward Akkakhel in Bara Tehsil, Khyber Agency by security forces on June 22.[11]

• Peshawar Police conducted a massive eight part operation Sunday, June 22, which resulted in the arrest of more than 118 illegal residents in the posh Hayatabad Township near Khyber Agency.[12]

• Three suspected members of a “banned” militant group were killed by police on Sunday, June 22 in the Afghan Basti area of Karachi’s Sohrab Goth area close to the Superhighway. Police also arrested 20 suspected militants, though six others were able to elude capture.[13]

• Al Qaeda-affiliated bomb maker and Abu Sayyaf operative Abdul Sasit Usman, who was believed to have been killed in a U.S. drone strike on June 18 2010 in North Waziristan, was reportedly sighted alive in the Philippines on June 23.[14]

Musharraf

• On Monday, the Supreme Court suspended the Sindh High Court’s ruling to remove Former President Pervez Musharraf’s name from the country’s no-fly list. The Supreme Court decided it was unlikely that Musharraf would return for his court hearings if he was taken off the list. Musharraf is accused in a treason case and has additional charges for which he is awaiting trial. [15]

Tahirul Qadri Protests

• On Monday, Canada-based Pakistani cleric and political activist, Tahirul Qadri called for a peaceful revolution against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to bring greater transparency and an end to corruption and terrorism in Pakistan.  A Reuters report suggests that Qadri’s sympathies toward the army could have fed into his prominence and popular support. The Interior Minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, criticized Qadri’s choice to fly into Islamabad on his recent return to the country, despite the fact that his residency is in Lahore, and warned his supports against any attempt to disturb the peace by marching on parliament or holding protests. Nearly 3,000 police were deployed and roads were blocked in order to stop Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) workers from marching on Islamabad. The police ultimately fired tear gas at 2,000 Qadri supporters who were awaiting his arrival at Benazir Bhutto International Airport.[16] 

IDPs and Refugees

• The majority of Internally Displaced People (IDPs) fleeing the ongoing military operation in North Waziristan are  from Mir Ali, Miram Shah and Boya areas of the agency, said The News. An estimated 3,000 families, mostly from Dattakhel sub-district, have left Pakistan and to find refuge in Khost province, Afghanistan.[17]

• The News reported on Monday, June 23 that three tribal jirgas, held in Razmak, Garyaum and Dos Ali sub-districts of North Waziristan, have promised the civilian and military authorities they will not hide foreign militants in exchange for the right to stay on their land. Similar agreements were negotiated by elders in Eidak village in Mir Ali and in Spinwam and Shawa sub-districts.[18]

• On June 22, the armed forces relaxed the curfew in the North Waziristan Agency between 6 am and 4 pm to enable the evacuation of the region. ISPR reported that over 414,429 IDPs have been registered at Saidgai check point.[19]

• The News reported on a lack of facilities, including drinking water, food and medicine at the Bakkakhel area IDP camp in the Frontier Region Bannu.  As of June 22, only 20 families had registered at the Bannu camp.[20]

• The man whom the Prime Minister has put in charge of IDPs has said that though the evacuation deadline has passed the military operation will not resume until civilians are cleared from the area.[21]

• The ISPR reported that the army’s Engineer Division will assist the civilian administrations in Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan to “better manage IDPs at Bannu.”[22]

•  The ISPR reported that, “All ranks of [the] Pakistan Army” pledged to donate one day’s pay and rations to the IDPs of the North Waziristan Agency.[23]

• The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said on June 20 that Afghan authorities had registered over 6,500 IDPs from North Waziristan in Khost province, Afghanistan.[24]