Pakistan Security Brief

U.S. drone fires on boat in Kabul River on the border; Pakistani National Security Advisor says Afghan Taliban not participating in reconciliation talks, urges India, Iran to resist supporting a ‘particular group’ in Afghanistan; Internal army publication calls on Pakistan to counter Indian media influence;  Prime Minister asks for meeting between Indian and Pakistani national security advisors to restart dialogue; Minister for Petroleum says American sanctions hampering construction of Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline;  Iran’s Deputy Oil Minister says Iran won’t finance Pakistan’s section of pipeline; Police arrest key TTP commander in Karachi; Militants kill senior Shia cleric; Militants kill three bomb disposal personnel in Peshawar; Attack on border post kills one, injures three; Rockets fired from Afghanistan; Interior Minister says draft of new national security strategy ready; Finance minister promises to bring down U.S. dollar prices; Pakistan’s debt increases over last three months; Former President Musharraf to remain on Exit Control List.

U.S. Drone Strikes

• On Saturday, a suspected U.S. drone fired on a boat on the Afghan side of the border in the Kabul river, near Landi Kotal in Khyber agency, killing five suspected militants. According to an article in The Express Tribune, the strike injured four people and did not comment on the deaths of any suspected militants. Political authorities in Afghanistan and Pakistan have not officially confirmed the strike.[1]

Afghan Reconciliation Process

• On Saturday, Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said that the Afghan Taliban has refused as a matter of principle to participate in reconciliation talks or recognize the Afghan government. He denied that Pakistan has any control over the Afghan Taliban, said that Pakistan would like the Taliban to join talks, and mentioned Saudi Arabia or Turkey as possible locations for a Taliban office. Aziz also confirmed that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar has spoken to the Afghan High Peace Council, but said that he does not think that Baradar speaks for the Afghan Taliban.[2]

India-Pakistan Relations

• On Saturday, Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz stated that both Iran and India should “refrain from supporting a particular group” in Afghanistan. Aziz acknowledged the importance of economic development in Afghanistan’s reconstruction and claimed to have no objection to other countries offering financial or military training assistance to Afghanistan.[3]

• According to a Monday report in The News, the “Green Book,” an internal army publication, criticized the Pakistani media for not effectively countering Indian media propaganda. The Green Book recommends that the Pakistan Army acquire a TV channel and radio station to fight the Indian media presence in Pakistan.[4]

• On Thursday, the Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatmei handed a dossier to Indian officials on behalf of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The letter included an invitation for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to visit Pakistan, as well as a proposal for a meeting between the National Security Advisors of both countries to help restart the composite dialogue.[5]

Iran-Pakistan Relations

• On Sunday, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said that the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline is unlikely to be completed due to the American sanctions against Iran. Abbasi said that the sanctions had made it difficult for Pakistan to raise the funds necessary to build its section of the pipeline. Abbasi said that a feasibility study of the project has been completed.[6]

• On Saturday, Iran’s Deputy Oil Minister, Ali Majedi, dismissed the notion that sanctions against Iran are impeding the construction of Pakistan’s section of the pipeline and said that Pakistan must finance its portion of the Iran-Pakistan pipeline. According to the contract, Pakistan must complete construction of the Pakistani section of the pipeline by the end of 2014; if Pakistan is unable to fulfill its obligations, Majedi stated that Iran will seek compensation from Islamabad.[7]

Militancy

• On Saturday, the Crime Investigation Department (CID) arrested Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander Abu Hamza in the West Wharf area of Karachi. According to the Mazhar Mashwani, the chief of the CID’s investigation unit, Abu Hamza (also known as Muhammad Adnan), was listed 36th in Pakistan’s Red Book, its most-wanted list. A different article in Geo News listed Hamza at number 26. Members of his group in Karachi include Misba-ul-Haq, associated with the TTP and al Qaeda, and Azeem Shaikh of the Punjabi Taliban. According to an investigative officer, Hamza previously worked for al Qaeda’s Takfiri group and has been involved in the murders of two policemen in Sohrab Goth and two soldiers at a Rangers’ mobile station near Safura Chowrangi, Karachi. Hamza had previously been arrested in 2007 and 2009 for possession of illegal weapons.[8]

• On Sunday, unknown gunmen killed Allama Nasir Abbas, a Shia cleric of the Tehrik-i-Nifaz-i-Fiqh Jafaria (TNFJ), in Lahore. In response, a large group of Abbas’ followers chanted anti-government slogans and damaged the hospital where Abbas was pronounced dead. According to a Monday article in Reuters, TTP militants took responsibility for what they claimed was a “reprisal attack” for the killing of eight Sunni Muslims in Rawalpindi months before. A spokesman for the Majlis-i-Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM) condemned Abbas’ killing and announced three days of mourning.[9]

• On Monday, unknown militants detonated a roadside remote-controlled bomb in Peshawar, killing three bomb disposal unit (BDU) personnel and injuring two. Police and security forces also defused another bomb found during a search operation in the Sheikh Mohammadi area of Peshawar.[10]

• On Sunday, a suicide attack on the Afghan side of the Torkham border crossing killed one policeman and injured three intelligence officials. The attacker first opened fire near an Afghan intelligence office before detonating a suicide vest. Afghan border police have denied reports that the attack involved three attackers, and resulted in a higher casualty number.[11]

• On Thursday, rockets fired from Afghanistan landed in Nawagai, Bajaur agency. There were no reported casualties.[12]

• On Sunday, a militant died from an alleged heart attack while in the custody of security forces in Fizzagat, Swat district, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.[13]

• On Friday, a bomb blast in Mama Khel, Bannu district, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa damaged a house but caused no causualties.[14]

• On Friday, police arrested three people in Mansehra, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa who were carrying about one kilogram of explosives and 200 detonators.[15]

• On Saturday, Rangers arrested 19 people in targeted operations throughout the city. On Monday, 62 more people were arrested. Four people were killed in several incidents of violence.[16]

Domestic

• On Sunday, at a press conference in Islamabad, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan said that the government has completed its first three-pronged national security strategy to address domestic terrorism and maintain law and order. The minister also commented that U.S. drone strikes have impeded the implementation of peace talks with militants.[17]

• On Saturday, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Finance, Ishaq Dar, stated that U.S. dollar prices would be brought down and dismissed predictions of the devaluation of the rupee.[18]

• On Friday, the Ministry of Finance announced that Pakistan’s debt has risen since June from approximately $130 billion to $140 billion. Much of this increase is due to the depreciation of the Pakistani rupee.[19]

• According to a Saturday report in The Express Tribune, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and army chief General Raheel Sharif met to plan a way to restart the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) shipments through Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. According to the report, Prime Minister Sharif is concerned that a continuation of the blockade will jeopardize American aid to Pakistan, and he directed Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan to ask Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan to stop the blockade. Khan did not respond to the request. The Prime Minister and army chief also discussed the missing persons case and border security.[20]

• On Monday, the Sindh High Court ruled that former President Pervez Musharraf will remain on the Exit Control List until all of the cases against him are concluded. This will prevent Musharraf from leaving the country.[21]