Former minister names Pakistan IS chapter leader; Lawyer threatened by alleged IS militants to drop blasphemy case in Multan, Punjab; Foreign Ministry spokesperson states police have arrested suspects for IS graffiti in Karachi, Lahore, and Taxila; AQIS spokesman posts picture of slain AQIS members; U.S. intensifies drone strikes against TTP militants, claims report; Pakistani foreign office condemns drone strike; IED kills three in Bajaur; Security forces arrest 155 suspects in Bajaur; IED kills two anti-Taliban militia members in the Tirah Valley, Khyber; Rocket attack kills one in Orakzai; U.S. Congress extends military aid for Pakistan for another year with new preconditions; Nigerian Air Force to buy fighter aircrafts from Pakistan; Prime Minister Sharif addresses London Conference on Afghanistan, meets British, Afghan counterparts on the sidelines; Iran, Pakistan sign MoU for inter-parliamentary cooperation; Terror attacks kill 18 people in Indian-administered Kashmir; Government ready to resume talks with PTI, says Finance Minister; JuD holds two-day conference in Lahore.
Islamic State
-
On December 5, former Interior Minister Rehman Malik stated that the Pakistan chapter of Islamic State (IS) is active and led by a man named Yousuf Salfi. Malik did not specifically state where he acquired the information behind his statements but hinted at his position of being a former Interior Minister as the source of his information.[1]
-
On December 4, Multan-based lawyer Shahbaz Gurmani, who is defending a suspect in a blasphemy case, told The Express Tribune that he received a threatening letter printed on IS letterhead demanding he drop the case. Unidentified gunmen fired on his residence on December 3 before dropping the letter off at Gurmani’s house. Gurmani is representing Junaid Hafeez, a visiting lecturer at Bahauddin Zakariya University who is facing blasphemy charges. Hafeez’s prior lawyer was shot dead by unidentified attackers in May.[2]
-
On December 4, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tasnim Aslam stated that police have arrested suspects believed to be responsible for graffiti supporting IS found in Karachi, Lahore, and Taxila.[3]
Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent
-
On December 5, al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) spokesman Usama Mahmood posted a picture on Twitter showing two AQIS members who were killed in a U.S. raid on the Afghan-Pakistan border on November 9, 2014. AQIS had previously confirmed the death of Dr. Sarbaland Khan, his two sons and his brother-in-law Adil Abdul Qadus in a statement.[4]
Drone Strikes
-
According to a December 5 report in The News, the U.S. has reportedly intensified drone strikes against Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Mullah Fazlullah after the TTP chief was recently tagged as a “common enemy” of the U.S. and Pakistan. Fazlullah had escaped to Afghanistan in 2009 and has been carrying out operations against Pakistani forces from Afghanistan’s Nuristan province since then. A December 5 report in AP further claims that an increase in drone strikes targeting militant groups like the TTP is an indication of improving relations between the two countries which had suffered following the 2011 U.S. raid that killed al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden.[5]
-
On December 4, Pakistani foreign office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam condemned the U.S. drone that took place on December 3 in the Madda Khel area of North Waziristan. Aslam also reiterated Pakistan’s position that drone strikes are counterproductive and a violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan.[6]
Militancy
-
In an update on a story reported on December 4 by The News, a remote controlled IED killed three people in the Karkanri area of Nawagai sub-district in Bajaur Agency.[7] As reported by The News on December 5, security forces arrested 155 suspects along the Afghan border in the Ash Khel area of Bajaur Agency.[8]
-
On December 4, an IED exploded killing two members of Tauheed-ul-Islam (TI), an anti-Taliban militia, in the Narai Baba area of the Tirah Valley, Khyber Agency.[9]
-
On December 5, a militant rocket attack killed one soldier and injured six others in the Orakzai Agency headquarters of Kalaya.[10]
Military
-
According to December 5 report in the Dawn, the U.S. Congress has extended the Coalition Support Fund for Pakistan for another year until U.S. fiscal year 2015 with some new conditions on the disbursement of funds. According to the final budget proposal, Pakistan cannot receive more than a billion dollars in a year from this fund. The proposal also states that $300 million of the total amount of disbursements authorized for Pakistan cannot be disbursed until the U.S. Secretary of Defense certifies that Pakistan has undertaken military operations in North Waziristan to disrupt the Haqqani Network and deny safe havens to militant groups in the future.[11]
-
According to a December 5 report in The News, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) is close to finalizing a purchase order of 25-40 JF-17 Thunder fighter aircrafts co-produced by Pakistan and China. The deal was reportedly agreed upon when NAF chief Air Marshal Adesola Nunayon Amosu visited Pakistan in October.[12]
Foreign Affairs
-
Addressing the London Conference on Afghanistan on December 4, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif outlined a nine-point plan for Afghanistan’s development with emphasis on strengthening regional ties. Prime Minister Sharif also expressed hope for a comprehensive and enduring partnership between Afghanistan and Pakistan and the desire to fight the “common enemy” of terrorism. On December 5, Prime Minister Sharif met with British Prime Minister David Cameron and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani for a breakfast meeting in London and discussed the regional situation with particular reference to Afghanistan. Prime Minister Sharif also met U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on the sidelines of the conference. Secretary Kerry reportedly acknowledged Pakistan’s contributions in the war against terrorism and appreciated the recent improvement in relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan.[13]
-
On December 4, Iranian Parliament’s Speaker Ali Larijani and Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan Sardar Ayaz Sadiq signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) which aims at boosting inter-parliamentary relations between the two countries. The MoU also calls for expansion of security cooperation with the aim of establishing sustained stability in the region. Larjiani arrived in Islamabad on December 4 for a two-day visit.[14]
Indian-administered Kashmir
-
On December 5, a series of terrorist attacks in Indian-administered Kashmir killed at least 18 people amidst assembly elections being held this month in the region. In the first attack, militants attacked an Indian army camp at Mohra, Uri sector in Baramulla district killing seven soldiers and three police personnel. Five militants were also reportedly killed in retaliation by the security forces. One militant was killed in Ahmad Nagar in Soura, Srinagar district when militants opened fire on police personnel at a security check-point. Militants further hurled a hand grenade on a police station in Shopian near Srinagar. No casualties were reported. In the fourth attack, militants reportedly hurled a hand grenade at the Tral Bus stand in Pulwama district, killing two people and injuring nine others. Indian Prime Minister Modi condemned the terrorist attacks and declared them as “desperate attempts to derail the atmosphere of hope and goodwill as seen by increased voter turnout.” Meanwhile Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh blamed Pakistan for “sheltering” terrorists and said that Pakistan should ask for Indian help if it was unable to stop these attacks.[15]
Domestic Politics
-
On December 5, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar reiterated that the government was ready to resume talks with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) but that officials from Military Intelligence and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) could not be included in the judicial commission to investigate rigging allegations, as was demanded by PTI chief Imran Khan. Dar further demanded that Imran Khan announce the cancellation of his “Plan C” which includes mass rallies in various cities in Pakistan. Meanwhile, Punjab Law Minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rahman stated that the PTI’s call for a strike in Faisalabad on December 8 will remain a “dream” since the business community has refused to support the strike.[16]
-
On December 4, militant front Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) commenced its two-day congregation at the Minar-e-Pakistan monument in Lahore, which was attended by thousands of JuD workers from across Pakistan. The conference was chaired by JuD chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed. The speakers at the conference reportedly called for reviving the struggle for enforcement of Shariah, protecting and promoting the Islamic ideology of Pakistan, waging jihad against the enemies of Islam and liberating occupied Muslim territories across the world.[17]