Pakistan Security Brief

The Top U.S. and NATO commander General David Petraeus was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the next director of the CIA; U.S. Government asked to leave Shamsi air base; a meeting between U.S. and Pakistan law enforcement and the Counter Terrorism Group to be held in Islamabad; strategic talks between U.S. and Pakistan to be postponed indefinitely; U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron scheduled to meet with President Asif Ali Zardari; Pakistan’s Taliban (TTP) Chief Hakimullah Mehsud has made efforts to come to a truce with Taliban leader Fazal Saeed; security forces reported that the areas of Baizai and Safi tehsils along the Afghan border in Mohmand Agency have been cleared of militants;  a Jeep explosion in Peshawar killed two and injured 15; a man was killed when he stepped on a landmine in Yaro area of Dera Bugti; unidentified man in a vehicle with a government license plate was shot and killed by armed men in Nazimabad area; two groups clashed in Godhra area of New Karachi leaving four people dead and 12 injured; the Sarfaraz Shah case awaits decision by the court on whether to transfer it from the anti- terrorism court to a civil court; the brother of Pakistan’s Minister for Minorities’ Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti claims Ilyas Kashmiri and Asmatullah Mawaia are behind Bhatti’s death; a tribunal by the Balochistan government found police and Frontier Corps officials guilty of excessive force for the deaths of five foreigners.

 

U.S.-Pakistan Relations

  • The Top U.S. and NATO commander General David Petraeus was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the next director of the CIA. Petraeus’ responsibilities will include overseeing the covert operations of Obama’s new counterterrorism strategy, targeting terrorist groups like al Qaeda.[i]

  • Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Defense Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar reported that the U.S. Government was asked to vacate Shamsi air base in Balochistan, a location the CIA used to launch drone strikes against militants in Pakistan’s tribal areas. A Pakistani military official confirmed that American officials had vacated the base. “Shamsi base was for logistics purposes. They also used it for drones for some time but no drones have been flown from there,” he said. However, the status of the base remains unclear. According to Dawn, U.S. officials denied this report and maintained that the base has not been and will not be evacuated. Meanwhile, The News reported that U.S. Embassy Spokesman Alberto Rodriguez claimed there were no U.S. forces at Shamsi air base.[ii] 

  • Strategic talks between the U.S. and Pakistan have reportedly been postponed for an “indefinite” amount of time. The talks were originally set up to address Pakistan’s energy, health, and education needs among other concerns. The cause for delay is tied to recent disputes between the two countries over security related issues.[iii] 

  • A meeting between elements of American and Pakistani law enforcement personnel and the Counter Terrorism Group will be held at the beginning of this month in Islamabad. The conference will be led by the U.S. State Department’s Coordinator for Counter-Terrorism, Ambassador Daniel Benjamin, and Pakistan Interior Secretary Khawaja Siddique Akbar. Topics to be discussed include identifying and halting terrorist funding and financiers and increased information-sharing.[iv]

  U.K.-Pakistan Relations

  • British Prime Minister David Cameron is scheduled to meet with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari. The two are expected to discuss Pakistan’s response to the U.S. operation that killed Osama bin Laden and cooperation on counterterrorism.[v]

FATA

  • The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan’s (TTP) Chief Hakimullah Mehsud has made efforts to come to a truce with Taliban leader Fazal Saeed after he broke with the TTP. Saeed controls important roads to the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban in the tribal region of Kurram. A militant source reported that a delegation of Afghan commanders is meeting with Saeed to settle their differences.[vi]
  • Security forces reported that the areas of Baizai and Safi sub-districts along the Afghan border in Mohmand Agency have been cleared of militants in a security operation that began about three months ago. In the past three days, 40 militants and one security official were killed in the effort to secure the region. Wali Dad Top has also been secured from militants that had “made incursion from the Afghan side on June 20.” Residents in Alingar and Chamerkand have reportedly created peace committees to ensure the security of the area.[vii]

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

  • Two people died and 15 were injured in a Jeep explosion in Peshawar on June 30. A bomb disposal unit official reported that the cause of the explosion was a fault in the gas cylinder. Cartridge casings and a pistol were found in the Jeep.[viii]

Balochistan

Investigations

  • The defense lawyer in the Sarfaraz Shah murder case currently being tried in an anti-terrorism court claimed that the case did not fall under the category of terrorism. The lawyer stated that Shah and his accomplices were caught by rangers while robbing a family in Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Park. Shah’s accomplices fled and Shah was killed when security officials believed he was trying to seize a gun from them. The case is awaiting a decision by the court on whether to transfer it from the anti- terrorism court to a civil court.[x]
  • The brother of Shahbaz Bhatti Pakistan’s Minister for Minorities’ Affairs affirmed that the investigation into his brother’s death was on the “right track.” He claimed that Pakistan Taliban senior operative Ilyas Kashmiri had asked another operative, Asmatullah Mawaia, in Punjab to assassinate Bhatti.[xi]

  • A tribunal by the Balochistan government found police and Frontier Corps officials guilty of excessive force for the deaths of five foreigners in Kharotabad on May 17, 2011. The victims had entered the country illegally and were believed to be terrorists but upon further investigation it was determined that they had no intention of terrorist activity.[xii]


[i] Kimberly Dozier,“Senate confirms Petraeus as 20th CIA director,” Associated Press, July 1, 2011. Available: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g0a4ys4OmlA-jg-UM4uHbhay5WoQ?docId=331eed3f60cd42e18c540bb2e31dd7b9
[ii] “US Rejects Demand to Vacate Shamsi Base,” Dawn, July 1, 2011. Available: http://www.dawn.com/2011/07/01/us-rejects-demand-to-vacate-shamsi-base.html Ansar Abbassi, “Defence minister creates doubts; Army refrains from comments,” The International News, July 1, 2011. Available: http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=7124&Cat=13
[iii] Kamran Yousaf, “Pak, US Strategic Dialogue Postponed ‘indefinitely’,” The Express Tribune, July 1, 2011. Available: http://tribune.com.pk/story/200233/pak-us-strategic-dialogue-postponed-indefinitely/  
[iv] Muhammad Saleh Zaafir, “High-level Pak-US talks next week,” The International News, July 1, 2011. Available: http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=7127&Cat=13
[v] “UK's Cameron, Pakistan's Zardari discuss terrorism,” Yahoo News, July 1, 2011. Available: http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110701/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_pakistan
[vi] “Pakistan Taliban Try to Woo Back Ex-Comrade,” The Express Tribune, July 1, 2011. Available: http://tribune.com.pk/story/200398/pakistani-taliban-try-to-woo-back-ex-comrade/ 
[vii] “Mohmand area cleared of militants: official,” Dawn, July 1, 2011. Available: http://www.dawn.com/2011/07/01/mohmand-area-cleared-of-militants-official.html
[viii] “Two die in Peshawar jeep blast,” July 1, 2011. Available: http://www.dawn.com/2011/07/01/two-die-in-peshawar-jeep-blast.html
[ix] “One killed in landmine blast in Dera Bugti,” Dawn, July 1, 2011. Available: http://www.dawn.com/2011/07/01/one-killed-in-landmine-blast-in-dera-bugti.html
[x] “Defence lawyer says Sarfaraz’s killing not terrorism,” Geo Television Network, July 1, 2011. Available: http://www.geo.tv/7-1-2011/83176.htm “Defense Counsel Says Rangers Cannot be Called Terrorists,” The Express Tribune, July 1, 2011. Available: http://tribune.com.pk/story/200382/defence-counsel-says-rangers-cannot-be-called-terrorists/ 
[xi] “Inquiry into Bhatti’s death progressing,” The International News, July 1, 2011. Available: http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=55421&Cat=2
[xii] “Tribunal holds police, Frontier Corps officials responsible,” The International News, July 1, 2011. Available: http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=55433&Cat=2
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