Pakistan Security Brief

Lahore government blocks access to PAT chief’s residence and PAT Party Secretariat in Lahore, hundreds of PAT supporters in police custody; Nine thousand police personnel deployed in Islamabad; , Islamabad government bans public demonstrations; PAT and PTI August 14 marches in Islamabad to take place together but will not merge; Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif meets with PML-N leaders, says government will not arrest protest leaders during upcoming marches; JI chief continues efforts to mediate between PTI and government; PML-N supporters clash with PTI supporters; Sharif to address nation on August 12; Pakistani police register murder case against PAT chief Qadri for deaths of three policemen during protests in Lahore; Pakistan’s Foreign Office lodges protest after Indian cross-border firing incident; Report documents growing violence between TTP militants and police in Karachi; Police constable shot and killed in Karachi; Civil-military relations reportedly strained due to Musharraf trial.

PAT and PTI Marches

• On August 12, the provincial government in Lahore used shipping containers to cut off access to all roads in Faisal Town and Model Town that went toward Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Tahirul Qadri’s house and the PAT Secretariat. Police were also deployed across the city. Police confirmed that 304 PAT workers are in custody and 180 of those workers have been sent to Central Jail Mianwali. Additional reports say 150 protestors were arrested in Sargodha, 100 in Khushab, 76 in Mianwali, 60 in Multan, 50 in Muzaffargarh and 25 in Warhi and Ludhran. Dozens were also reported to be arrested in other Punjab cities like Rawalpindi and Faisalabad.[1]

• Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan called a meeting with the Islamabad police the night of August 12. Dawn reported that 5,000 Punjab Police officials, 1,000 Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) policemen and 3,000 Frontier Constabulary personnel will be deployed to Islamabad.[2]

• On August 11, the Islamabad district administration announced that it has banned the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s August 14 Azadi march under Section 144, which prohibits public protests.[3]

• According to a Wall Street Journal report on August 10, Imran Kahn claimed that the PTI will paralyze Islamabad until Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif resigns and new elections are underway.[4]

• On August 11, police and PAT lawyer Chaudhry Ashfaq said that police arrested and jailed some 50 PAT workers in Lahore. Chaudhry Ashfaq reported that this action was taken illegally. PTI MNA Rai Hasan Nawaz said the government intends to arrest 200 PTI protesters. Over the weekend in Gujranwala over 300 PAT and PTI protesters were arrested. Most of the arrests in Gujranwala were of PAT supporters who clashed on August 8 with police near Khori in GT Road.[5]

• On August 11, Qadri announced that though the PAT and PTI marches are both to occur on August 14, they will not be merging. Qadri said that both the PAT and PTI share the goal of “removing corruption and anti-people rulers.” Qadri, however, rejects Khan’s stance that change should come through an election.[6]

• On August 11, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said that the Pakistani government will not arrest PAT and PTI leaders during their planned August 14 marches in Islamabad.  Sharif met with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders in Raiwind and advised them to stay calm and attempt to resolve the political situation through political means rather than violence.  On the evening of August 11, however, PML-N supporters clashed with PTI supporters near the house of PTI chief Imran Khan in Islamabad. On August 10, Punjab Law Minister Rana Mashood said that the PML-N would resist the PTI’s demonstration and “lay siege” to Khan’s residence in Islamabad.  Meanwhile, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Sirajul Haq continued his efforts to mediate between the PTI and PML-N, calling PTI chief Imran Khan on the night of August 11.  A PTI official claimed that Haq offered to allow the PTI march to continue as long as it did not last for more than a day.[7]

• On August 11, AFP reported that an anonymous government official alleged that both Imran Khan and Qadri’s protests were coordinated by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in reaction to government attempts to prosecute former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf.[8]

• On August 10, Pakistani police registered a murder case against PAT chief and cleric Tahirul Qadri after clashes between PAT supporters and police in Lahore reportedly killed three policemen on August 8 and 9.  Supporters clashed with police on their way to a scheduled PAT march in Lahore on August 10.  AP cited lower police casualties, reporting that one policeman died as a result of the violence on August 8 and 9.[9]

• According to an August 9 press report, the U.S. State Department has issued a travel warning for Pakistan and has asked that U.S. citizens avoid all non-essential travel ahead of the PTI’s August 14 march in Islamabad.  The warning drew attention to militant groups who carry out kidnapping operations and look to target U.S. citizens in Pakistan. It specifically mentioned the danger of protests and large gatherings to U.S. citizens in Pakistan.[10]

Indo-Pak Relations

• During an August 12 visit to Indian-administered Kashmir’s Kargil area, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the Pakistani state of waging a “proxy war” against India. Modi said Pakistan targeted India through the use of state-sponsored militant groups because it lacked the military strength to fight India in conventionally.[11]

• On August 11, Pakistan’s Foreign Office registered a protest with India’s Foreign Office and summoned the Indian Deputy High Commissioner to the Foreign Office after Indian soldiers allegedly fired on and killed three civilians in Charwah sector, Sialkot on August 11.[12]

Militancy

• A New York Times report on August 11 highlighted the recent and growing threat posed by Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants to police forces in Karachi.  One hundred and two police officers have been killed by militants so far in 2014 and militant groups have reportedly shifted their focus from kidnapping operations and political assassinations to the targeting of police personnel and stations across the city.  Police forces, in response, have tightened security, increased their numbers, and conducted more robust operations with intelligence and paramilitary personnel in Karachi.  In the past year, however, security forces have faced numerous accusations of carrying out abuses such as extrajudicial killings and police brutality.  Police have had some success against the TTP, especially in operations in 2013 against the TTP’s Mohmand group.  Nevertheless, police in Karachi have just one active duty police officer per 1,524 inhabitants and more than one-third of the city’s 27,000 officers are tasked with permanently guarding V.I.P.s.[13]

• Armed men on motorcycles shot and killed a police constable, Mohammed Sajjad Abbasi, on August 7 in Karachi’s Pirabad area.  An August 11 New York Times report said that the incident represents the 102nd death so far in 2014 for police forces in Karachi.[14]

• On August 12, police forces killed two suspected militants on Karachi’s Super Highway.[15]

Musharraf’s Trial

• Reuters reported on August 11 that tension between the military and civilian government has increased because of the trial of former President and army chief Pervez Musharraf. According to the report, members of the Pakistan Army have privately criticized legal action the civilian government is taking against Musharraf.[16]