Pakistan Security Brief
Pakistan Security Brief –April 16, 2010
UN reports on the 2007 assassination of Benazir Bhutto; US drone strike kills at least four militants in North Waziristan; suicide bomber kills ten in Quetta; police in Karachi detain a TTP commander; SSP and LeJ have formed splinter groups in Karachi.
UN report on Bhutto
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A United Nations investigation into the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto concluded that Pakistani authorities deliberately failed to investigate the killing thoroughly and Pakistan’s intelligence agencies “severely hampered” the investigation. The report ultimately concluded that the 2007 attack on Bhutto “could have been prevented if adequate security measures had been taken.”[1]
FATA
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A suspected US drone attack killed at least four militants in the village of Tol Khel, near Miram Shah, in North Waziristan. Those near the area reported that a second drone strike followed the first, resulting in more casualties. Officials have not announced the names of the dead, but they say two vehicles and a house were destroyed.[2]
Balochistan
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A suicide attack at the entrance to a hospital’s emergency ward killed at least ten people on Friday. The blast, at a hospital in Quetta, occurred after people had gathered near the ward following the fatal shooting of a Shia businessman. Officials suspect sectarian tension between the majority Sunni and minority Shia communities to be the motivation behind the attack.[3]
Karachi
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Police in Karachi arrested a Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander, Mian Gul Saeed, on Thursday. The commander escaped capture in Swat during Pakistan’s military offensive in the district and is affiliated with militant leader Mullah Fazalullah’s group in Matta.[4]
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Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ) have reportedly formed splinter groups to avenge the recent target killings of clerics and party leaders in Karachi. ‘Lashkar-e-Islam’ and ‘Ghazi Force’ are reportedly the names of these newly formed groups.[5]
