Pakistan Security Brief

JUI-S Chief urges government to pursue peace talks with the TTP; Pakistan’s Ambassador to the U.S. arrives in Washington; India and Pakistan renew their commitment to border security and peace; Iran and Pakistan will sign an MOU for import of electricity from Iran; Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif reiterates that attacks on civilians or army will not be tolerated; Former President Musharraf declares he has the backing of Pakistan’s current army chief; Pakistan repays 26th installment of $109 million to the IMF; Afghan and Pakistani officials will soon meet to discuss improved border security; Armed groups in Balochistan to be disarmed; PPP, PTI clash outside Bilawal house; IDPs set to return home to Kurram agency; Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves fall to $8.090 billion; Explosives found near Musharraf’s home in Islamabad; Militants kill polio vaccination workers in Balochistan and Peshawar; Bomb blast kills three in Charsadda district; militants kill two in Rawalpindi; Detained TTP member may be spokesman for TTP in Mohmand agency; Militants in Afghanistan fire rockets into Bajaur agency; two IED blasts kill two in Mohmand agency; Militants kill three MWM workers in Karachi.

U.S.-Pakistan Relations

• On Sunday, Pakistan’s new ambassador to the U.S., Jalil Abbas Jilani, arrived in Washington, where he will lead diplomatic efforts to improve relations between the U.S. and Pakistan.[1]

Iran-Pakistan Relations

• On Sunday, Pakistan’s Ministry of Water and Power announced that Pakistan will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Iran for electricity imports. According to the agreement, Pakistan will pay Iran 8-11 cents per unit of electricity. Additionally, Iranian officials conveyed Iran’s willingness to provide $800-$900 million to help finance the project that will build a powerhouse near the Iran-Pakistan border for electricity export.[2]

India-Pakistan Relations

• On Saturday, following a five-day bi-annual meeting between senior officials of the Pakistan Rangers and Indian Border Security Force, India and Pakistan renewed their commitment to ensure peace and tranquility on the border between the two countries.[3]

Domestic

• On Monday, at a high-level security meeting, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif stated that neither attacks on the public nor on the army would be tolerated. Sharif convened the meeting, that was attended by army chief General Raheel Sharif, Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, and the Director General of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Lieutenant General Zahirul Islam, to instruct security forces to take action against those behind incidents of terror, and reported that an anti-terror bill would be finalized soon.[4]

• On Monday, former President Pervez Musharraf stated that he plans to leave his treason trial issue to army chief General Raheel Sharif. Musharraf claims that the army supports him and will not allow him to be prosecuted. According to a Monday article in Dawn, Musharraf denounced the treason charges as a “vendetta” against him.[5]

• On Monday, a spokesperson for the State Bank of Pakistan stated that Pakistan has repaid the 26th installment of $109 million to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the Standby Agreement (SBA). On Friday, the State Bank of Pakistan (SPB) reported that Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves fell to $8.090 billion during the previous week. The drop in foreign reserves is due to Pakistan’s debt repayment programs to the IMF.[6]

• On Monday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Special Adviser on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz stated that top Afghan and Pakistani security officials would soon meet to discuss plans for greater control over the shared border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.[7]

• On Monday, Pakistan’s Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan stated that the groups in Balochistan armed and used by the government for national security purposes will be disarmed.[8]

• On Sunday, supporters of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) clashed outside Bilawal House, the Bhutto family residence in Karachi, after the PPP’s young chairman derided Imran Khan, the leader of the PTI, for siding with the Taliban. The PTI is also demanding the PPP unblock roads and public spaces around Bilawal House blockaded by the government during the tenure of the last government. Police detained 18 activists in total.[9]

• On Sunday, the political administration of Kurram agency reported that arrangements had been finalized to repatriate internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their homes in Kurram starting on January 15, 2014. In total, about 5,000 families will return home. [10]

• On Saturday, the chief of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Samiul Haq (JUI-S) and Chairman of the Pakistan Defence Council, Maulana Samiul Haq, stated that neither drone strikes nor retaliatory suicide attacks were justified. Maulana Samiul Haq also stated that the Pakistani government should pursue peace talks with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and warned that military operations against the TTP could have serious consequences for Pakistan.[11]

Militancy

• On Monday, police discovered five packets of explosive materials near former President Pervez Musharraf’s farmhouse in Islamabad. Each packet reportedly contained around 400-500 grams of explosive material.[12]

• On Sunday, militants attacked a polio vaccination team in Pashtunabad, Quetta, Balochistan, injuring four.[13]

• On Saturday, militants killed the person in charge of an anti-polio drive and injured another official in Peshawar. [14]

• On Monday, a bomb blast killed three people in Charsadda district, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP).[15]

• On Monday, militants shot and killed two police officers who were providing security at a Shia congregation hall and injured another in Rawalpindi.[16]

• A Monday article in The News reported that a Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) member detained by the International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) in Afghanistan on Saturday might be the spokesperson for the TTP in Mohmand agency, Pakistan.[17]

• On Saturday, militants based in Kunar province, Afghanistan, fired several rockets into Bajaur agency, killing one tribesman.[18]

• On Friday, two separate improvised explosive device (IED) blasts injured two soldiers and five Lashkar members in Mohmand agency.[19]

• On Sunday, unknown militants killed three workers of the Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Musilmeen (MWM) and injured one woman in the Gulistan-e-Jauhar neighborhood of Karachi. According to a statement issued by the MWM, the three workers were MWM candidates for the local body election from Hussain Hazara Goth. According to a Sunday article in Dawn reported that militants killed a total of twelve people, including three MWM members, in separate incidents in Karachi.[20]

• On Sunday, a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif approved the third phase of operations targeting terrorists and criminals in Karachi. Participants at the meeting also agreed to broaden the scope of the Rangers’ powers, which will help eliminate crime and improve law and order in the city.[21]