Pakistani government, military welcome signing of BSA; Grenade attack kills three and injures nine in Quetta; Teacher killed and two children injured in Peshawar; Two killed in Quetta; Policeman attacked in Karachi; IED blows up gas pipeline in Dera Bugti, Balochistan; Polio team attacked in Rahm Yar Khan, Punjab; 2,500 police to return to Punjab from Islamabad; Pakistan Air Force aircraft crashes; Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan advocates improvement in bilateral trade relations.
Bilateral Security Agreement
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According to a report in the Express Tribune on October 1, Advisor to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz, welcomed the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) signed between the U.S. and Afghanistan and said that the BSA would provide the new Afghan government with necessary economic and military resources. Separately on October 1, U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Richard Olsen briefed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on the BSA and assured him that Pakistani reservations about the agreement would be adequately addressed. Army chief Gen. Raheel Sharif also conducted a meeting of corps commanders in Rawalpindi on October 1 and reviewed the BSA, terming it as a “good move for durable peace in Afghanistan.”[1]
Militancy
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On October 1, unidentified attackers killed three people and injured at least nine others in a grenade attack near the Sirki Kalan area of Double Road, Quetta. Police believe that attack might have been targeting settlers in Quetta.[2]
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On October 1, unidentified attackers killed a public school teacher and injured two children in a grenade attack at Askari Public School in the Shabqadar area of Peshawar. The school had received letters in the month prior threatening attacks if students were not directed to wear shalwar kameez in lieu of pants and shirts.[3]
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On October 1, unidentified attackers injured two people in a grenade attack in the Sariab road area of Quetta. The attack was directed at a photographer’s shop.[4]
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On September 30, unidentified attackers opened fire on Crime Investigation Department (CID) Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Chaudhry Safdar near the Lyari expressway in the Garden area of Karachi. Safdar was not injured in the attack, while one of the attackers was critically injured in retaliatory firing and arrested.[5]
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On September 30, unknown assailants detonated an explosive device beside a gas pipeline, blowing up eight inches of the pipeline in the Dera Bugti area of Balochistan. Gas supply from the Loti Gas Field’s Well no. 10 was suspended as a result.[6]
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On October 1, a polio team was attacked in the Khanpur area of Rahim Yar Khan, Punjab. The team’s immunization activities were suspended following the attack.[7]
Politics
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On September 30, Dawn reported that the Pakistani federal government would allow 2,500 of the more than 11,000 Punjab Police officials to return from Islamabad to their home districts on October 1. The Punjab Police authorities have twice demanded the return of their police forces due to recent floods in the region and the need for security details at mosques and Eid gatherings.[8]
Military
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On October 1, a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) fighter aircraft crashed near Kuchlak around Quetta because of a technical fault. The pilot suffered minor injuries.[9]
Indo-Pakistan Relations
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Addressing the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) on September 29 in Islamabad, Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Dr. T.C.A. Raghavan said that enhancement of bilateral trade relations between India and Pakistan could boost the relationship between the two countries in all aspects. He also believes that political differences between neighbors should not hamper bilateral trade relations.[10]