Pakistan Security Brief

Gen. Petraeus and Lt. Gen. Allen meet with Pakistani military leaders; Pakistan qualifies request that U.S. vacate Shamshi air base; Pakistan speculates as to why U.S. cut aid; Evidence shows bin Laden planned attack on 9/11 anniversary; India-Pakistan talks to go ahead as planned; U.S. “threatened” immunization efforts with CIA operation: Médecins Sans Frontières;  IED kills two soldiers in South Waziristan; ISPR says Kunar and Nuristan are “terrorist havens”; Pakistan weighs custody options for Southeast Asian terrorist suspect; Pakistan releases LeJ leader; 17 killed in Karachi since Wednesday night.

U.S.-Pakistan Relations

• On Thursday, Gen. David Petraeus and Lt. Gen. John Allen, who will succeed Petraeus as commander-in-chief of ISAF, met with Pakistani military leaders in Islamabad. This comes in a series of high-level meetings between U.S. and Pakistani officials as the two countries try to keep their relationship afloat in light of recent incidents. Also on Thursday, Lt. Gen. Shuja Pasha, the head of Pakistan’s Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) met with acting CIA director Michael Morell in Washington to discuss continued U.S.-Pakistani cooperation on security. U.S. officials told Reuters the meeting went “very well,” while a Pakistani official said the “intelligence component” of U.S.-Pakistani security cooperation had been put “back on track completely.”[i]

• The Associated Press reports Pakistan has “back[ed] away from demands that U.S. military personnel vacate Shamsi Air Base,” elaborating that they were “restricting the use of Shamsi only for drones that need to land because of bad weather.” Pakistani officials also said they have come to an agreement with the U.S. regarding drones being launched into Pakistan from bases in Afghanistan.[ii]

• On Friday, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar told the Pakistani Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Relations the U.S. had cut several hundred million dollars in aid to Pakistan in response to the recent expulsion of U.S. military trainers from Pakistan. In June, Pakistan asked the U.S. to withdraw military personnel in the aftermath of the unilateral U.S. raid that killed Osama Bin Laden. In light of the military aid cut, the U.S. reportedly reached out to Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh “to assure Islamabad that recent developments would not affect its economic [civilian] support to the country.”[iii]

Bin Laden Plotted 9/11/2011 Attack

• The Wall Street Journal reports evidence seized from Osama bin Laden’s Abbottabad compound shows the terrorist leader was planning an attack on the U.S. for the tenth anniversary of 9/11. Communications between bin Laden and al Qaeda head of operations Attiyah Abd al Rahman show the two debating whom to send to execute the attacks, “with Bin Laden repeatedly rejecting names that Mr. Rahman suggested.” There is, however, no evidence that the plan developed much past these initial considerations. Communications between bin Laden and Rahman were saved on flash drives, which “trusted couriers” would deliver back and forth. Evidence retrieved from the compound reportedly reveals that Rahman holds a more central position in al Qaeda than originally suspected.[iv]

India-Pakistan Relations

• On Thursday, the Indian Foreign Ministry stated that talks with Pakistan scheduled for the end of July will go ahead as planned. The announcement comes amidst speculation that Pakistan-based or linked groups could be responsible for Wednesday’s bombings in Mumbai. According to the Christian Science Monitor, Wednesday’s attacks have brought increased pressure on Pakistan for not taking adequate measures to eliminate Pakistan-based militant groups involved in past attacks in India. Speculation has been rife that the Indian Mujahideen, an Indian group linked to the Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), responsible for the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166, could be behind Wednesday’s attacks.[v]

Médecins Sans Frontières Criticizes CIA Vaccination Ruse

• On Thursday, Médecins Sans Frontières accused the U.S. of “threaten[ing] life-saving immunization work around the world” with the fake vaccination program it used to try to identify Osama bin Laden and his family. The organization called the operation “a grave manipulation of the medical act." A U.S. official defended the operation, saying it was a real vaccination campaign “conducted by real medical professionals.”[vi]

FATA

• On Thursday, an improvised explosive device (IED) killed two soldiers and wounded three others Makeen, South Waziristan. The attack, which targeted a double-cabin pick-up truck transporting soldiers, renewed concerns “about the deteriorating security situation on the Razmak-Makeen road.”[vii]

• On Thursday, Director General Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said Afghanistan’s eastern Kunar and Nuristan provinces are being used as terrorist safe havens. Maj. Gen. Abbas suggested many significant militant leaders could be taking refuge in Afghanistan now, including Maulana Fazlullah, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader from Swat known for his inflammatory radio broadcasts, Faqir Muhammad, the deputy leader of the TTP for Bajaur, Abdul Wali alias Omar Khalid Khorasani, the deputy leader of the TTP for Mohmand, and Hakimullah Mehsud, the TTP leader, himself.[viii]

Pakistan Contemplates Terror Suspect Custody Change

• Pakistan is reportedly considering giving terror suspect Umar Patek to Indonesia or the Philippines. While Patek is a native of Indonesia, he has been linked to deadly attacks in both countries, including the 2002 Bali bombing, which left 202 people dead. According to Philippine officials, the ISI has said Pakistan would give Patek to either country.[ix]

LeJ Leader Released

• On Thursday, Pakistan released the leader of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Malik Ishaq on bail. Ishaq had been imprisoned at the Kot Lakh Pat prison since 1997 with “44 cases ranging from murder to terrorism lodged against him.” He has been acquitted in thirty-four of the cases and granted bail in the remaining ten. Ishaq’s release is particularly controversial given recent accusations that he masterminded the 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team.[x]

Karachi

• Seventeen people were killed in targeted killings in Karachi between Wednesday and Thursday night. Dawn reports, however, violence has since come to halt following appeals from political leaders to end the violence.[xi]