Pakistan Security Brief

Pakistan Security Brief - July 28, 2009�

Operations in Swat and Dir conducted by local militias and Pakistani security forces reportedly killed nearly a dozen on Tuesday; a suicide bomber killed two policemen at a checkpoint in Miram Shah, North Waziristan; Pakistani helicopters shelled Lashkar-e Islam positions in Khyber agency on Tuesday; the United Nations refugee organization suspended operations in NWFP and Baluchistan following threats from a Baluch nationalist group.�

  • A suicide bomber killed two policemen in an attack on a checkpoint close to Miram Shah in North Waziristan agency on Tuesday. Elsewhere in the FATA, Pakistani gunships shelled the positions of Lashkar-e-Islam militants in Khyber agency.[1]
  • The decapitated body of a policeman was found near Mingora, Swat on Tuesday morning; this is the first incident of its kind since the Swat Taliban lost control of the district capital to military forces. Elsewhere, in Swat and Upper Dir districts, close to a dozen militants were killed and several captured in operations being conducted by a local militia and Pakistani security forces. Also, a senior Pakistani security officer says forces have rescued dozens of boys in Swat who had been brainwashed into becoming suicide bombers.[2]
  • Ambassador Richard Holbrooke on Monday called for the creation of a secure environment for IDPs returning to Swat before the Pakistan military launches a new offensive in Waziristan. He said the U.S. "did not expect Pakistan to launch another major military offensive while it was still struggling with the refugee problem."[3]
  • Pakistani police admitted on Monday that Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad was in custody and that, contrary to earlier expectations, he was being held in jail, not in a hospital as on previous occasions. Furthermore, reports emerged that he was arrested right before attempting to make a public appearance in Peshawar; the government says it will put Sufi Muhammad on trial pending preparation of evidence.[4]
  • The United Nations High Commission for Refugees has suspended its operations in the NWFP and Balochistan after receiving threats from a Baloch nationalist group, Balochistan Liberation United Front (BLUF). The group accused the UN of going back on a deal made in April over the release of a kidnapped UN official in Balochistan.[5]


[1] "Suicide attack kills two in Waziristan", Dawn News Online, July 28, 2009. Available at http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/provinces/12-suicide+attack+kills+two+in+waziristan--bi-01 Ibrahim Shinwari, "20 militants killed in Khyber air strike" Dawn News Online, July 28, 2009. Available at http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/20-militants-killed-in-khyber-air-strike-879
[2] Pir Zubair Shah, "Police Officer Is Found Beheaded in Pakistan's Swat Valley", New York Times, July 28, 2009. Available at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/29/world/asia/29pakistan.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print "11 militants die in Dir, Swat", The News Online, July 28, 2009. Available at http://thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=23538 Augustine Anthony, "Pakistan rescues boys trained as suicide bombers", Reuters, July 28, 2009. Available at http://www.reuters.com/article/asiaCrisis/idUSISL90520
[3] "US will want IDPs settled before action in Waziristan'", Dawn News Online, July 28, 2009. Available at http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/us-will-want-idps-settled-before-action-in-waziristan-879
[4] Javed Aziz Khan, "Sufi Muhammad shifted to prison", The News Online, July 28, 2009. Available at http://thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=23519 Mazhar Tufail, "TNSM eliminated in Malakand", The News Online, July 28, 2009. Available at http://thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=23520
[5] "UN body quits Pakistani provinces", BBC, July 28, 2009. Available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8173505.stm

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