Pakistan Security Brief - August 29, 2014

Army chief asked to mediate political crisis, controversy over who made the request; Army chief reportedly assures PTI of unbiased judicial; Army chief expected to meet Prime Minister Sharif; PAT chief Tahirul Qadri rejects criminal case filed by government on its behalf, demands re-registration; Government-led joint talks with PAT and PTI end in deadlock again; Police intercept truck carrying nonlethal weapons to PAT protestors; Two-thirds of respondents polled do not support demand for Prime Minister Sharif’s resignation; Army chief attends joint Sino-Pak military exercise; Militants kill three civilians in Quetta, Balochistan; Security forces recover kidnapped academic from North Waziristan; Jamatul Ahrar IED attack injures four security officials in Baizai, Mohmand Agency; Indian Foreign Ministry signals willingness to reopen bilateral dialogue regarding Kashmir; Afghan border police detains 27 Pakistanis in Paktika; State Bank of Pakistan confirms receipt of $371.4 million from U.S. under CSF program.

Politics

• On August 28, Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr. Tahirul Qadri and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan announced that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had requested army chief Gen. Raheel Sharif serve as a mediator and guarantor to resolve the political deadlock. On August 29, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif claimed in the National Assembly that Qadri and Khan had requested the mediation of the army chief and that he had simply given him permission to facilitate talks. Qadri and Imran Khan denied the allegations made by Nawaz Sharif, accusing the Prime Minister of lying about who had asked the army to mediate.[1]
• Following talks with the army chief on August 28, PTI chief Imran Khan stated on August 29 that the army chief had assured him of an unbiased judicial probe in the election rigging allegations. Khan told his supporters that he had reiterated his demand to Gen. Sharif that Prime Minister Sharif resign before an investigation take place.[2]
• On August 29, army chief Gen. Raheel Sharif is expected to meet Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to discuss his meetings with Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri held on August 28.[3] 
• On August 28, PAT chief Tahirul Qadri rejected the criminal case filed by the government on the Model Town incident on August 27, citing clauses included in the case’s draft that could exculpate Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his brother and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and their associates. He also demanded the cancellation and re-registration of the case as well as the resignation of the Sharif brothers by Friday August 29.[4] 
• On August 29, the government-led joint talks with the delegates from the PTI and PAT ended with no new developments, continuing the political impasse.[5]  
• On August 27, police intercepted a truck carrying marbles, batons and slingshots before it entered Constitution Avenue. The truck was carrying supplies to PAT protestors. The cargo was confiscated by the police.[6]
• According to a Gallup Pakistan survey conducted in August, two-thirds of Pakistani citizens do not support the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s and 61 percent of respondents think that the Parliament should not be dissolved.[7]

Militancy

• On August 28, militants detonated an, Improvised Explosive Device (IED) injuring four security officials along the Pak-Afghan border in Baizai, Mohmand Agency. Jamatul Ahrar, a Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) splinter group, claimed responsibility for the attack via twitter.[8]
• On August 29, Chief of Army Staff Gen. Raheel Sharif attended the joint military exercise, Warrior-2014, between China and Pakistan in Cherat, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The Inter-Services Public Relations stated that the joint exercise was focused on the counterterror training of Pakistani and Chinese special operations forces.[9]
• On August 28, militants killed three civilians including two journalists from the Online News Agency in an attack in Quetta, Balochistan.[10]
• On August 28, security forces recovered kidnapped Vice Chancellor of Islamia College University Peshawar Ajmal Khan in North Waziristan. Ajmal Khan was kidnapped on September 8, 2010.[11]

Indo-Pak Relations

• On August 28, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin signaled that India was willing to discuss the Kashmir dispute with Pakistan in a bilateral dialogue under the Simla agreement and Lahore declaration.[12]

Afghanistan-Pakistan Relations

• On August 27, Afghan border police detained 27 alleged Pakistani nationals in a four-vehicle convoy including one military vehicle in Paktika province. According to Sadiq Siddiqi—spokesman for the Interior Ministry of Afghanistan—the police recovered an AK-47 assault rifle, hand-guns, and a Motorola transmission radio from the group. He added that this was one of the biggest arrests of Pakistani militants and that the men were carrying military and militant group ID cards.[13]

U.S.-Pakistan Relations

• On August 28, a spokesperson for the State Bank of Pakistan confirmed receiving $371.4 million of the $1.2 billion of U.S. Coalition Support Funds (CSF) scheduled to be delivered to Pakistan this fiscal year. This reimbursement has been the first from the CSF to Pakistan this fiscal year.[14]