Pakistan Security Brief

Nawaz Sharif offers to address militant sanctuaries if drone attacks stop, government protests latest drone strike; Militant groups set to clash in Mohmand; 6 killed as militants attack NATO convoy, Zardari condemns attack; PTI introduces anti-drone resolution in Punjab; Violence in Karachi leaves 11 dead; ISAF, Pakistani and Afghan commanders meet; JUI-F chief meets Sharif regarding TTP peace talks; Security forces conduct major offensive in Tirah Valley; Sharif eyeing renewed talks with TTP; Zardari congratulates Sharif; Sharif and Karzai to meet; Pakistan takes part in military exercises; State businesses lose $4.1 billion a year; Iran-Pakistan pipeline will be completed; Arrest warrant issued for Musharraf;2013-2014 fiscal budget to be released soon; NSA collected 13.5 billion reports from Pakistan in March; Security forces under attack in North Waziristan; PIA flight receives bomb threat; 1,500 kg worth of explosives seized by Peshawar police; 5 dead bodies recovered in Balochistan; PTI wants to tax NATO shipments; Security crackdown in Hangu leads to 3 arrests; 3 men gunned down in Lasbela Chowk, Karachi; Kurram clashes kill two militants; Two wounded in Bannu blasts; Dead body of missing person recovered in Quetta; Car showroom attacked in Quetta. 

U.S. Pakistan Relations 

• Twelve hours after a U.S. drone strike killed 7 suspected militants, including a high value target Taliban commander Bahadur Khan, in North Waziristan on Friday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ordered a meeting between Tariq Fatemi, a senior foreign policy advisor to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission of Islamabad Richard E. Hoagland. In the meeting Fatemi condemned the strike, lodging an official protest with the U.S. government. [1]

• An anonymous Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior official announced that the new Sharif-led Pakistani government will address “terrorist sanctuaries” prevalent throughout the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, in return for an end to U.S. drone strikes. Rather than allowing American drones to strike unilaterally in the region, Sharif plans to formulate a clearer strategy regarding drone strikes in a meeting with his cabinet on Monday, a strategy which should be discussed further in a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry later this month. [2]

• On Sunday in Rawalpindi, Pakistani, Afghan and U.S. commanders met to discuss border controls between Pakistan and Afghanistan. International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) commander General Joseph Dunford, Afghan National Army Chief of General Staff Sher Mohammed Karimi and Pakistani Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani discussed coordination measures between their respective forces, as well as the current standard operating procedures with regards to security along the Durand line. [3]  

• According to the Guardian newspaper on Sunday, the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) and its data mining tool “Boundless Informant” collected over 13.5 billion reports in Pakistan over a one month period in March, second only to Iran’s 14 billion reports. [4] 

• The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party submitted an anti-drone resolution in the Punjab Assembly on Monday. The resolution was submitted by senior PTI leader Mian Aslam Iqbal, and echoed other Pakistani officials’ statements on drones over the past two weeks, calling them, “a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty and territorial integrity.”  PTI leader Shaukat Yousufzai also put forth a proposal to impose a special tax on foreign goods, including NATO shipments, moving from Pakistan to Afghanistan under the Pak-Afghan Transit Trade Agreement. Khyber- Pakhtunkhwa Chamber of Commerce President Yousuf Sarwar welcomed the proposal, saying it would raise government revenue significantly. [5]

• Joint military exercises including the U.S., Jordan, Pakistan and 17 other countries commenced on Sunday in Jordan. The U.S. contributed both Patriot missiles and F-16 fighters to the exercise, weapons which will remain in Jordan following the “Eager Lion” operation, as the civil war in Syria has escalated. [6]

Militancy

• On Saturday, members of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Ansarul Islam, and other militant groups reportedly began establishing positions in Afghanistan, just outside Pakistan’s Mohmand agency, in what appears to be preparations for assaults on Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) strongholds in the area. TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan confirmed reports of the upcoming attacks, stating, “We have [an] old enmity with Ansarul Islam and some other militant groups who want to avenge their own fights and losses now. They are planning a major attack on us in the bordering areas along Mohmand Agency.” The allied militant groups have reportedly referred to themselves as the “Afghan Taliban.” The TTP has appealed to the Mullah Omar-led Afghan Taliban to take note of the unfolding “conspiracy,” however; two Afghan Taliban officials commenting on the news said they wanted to stay out of disputes outside Afghanistan as they were concentrating on the fight against Western forces in the country. [7]

•  Fifteen militants attacked three NATO containers in the Shagai area of Jamrud sub-district, Khyber agency on Monday leaving six people dead.[8]

• Outgoing Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari urged the new government to continue the fight against militancy and highlighed the threat as one of the many problems that the country faces today. His comments came in the wake of a militant attack on a NATO convoy.[9]

• In the wake of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan’s (TTP) withdrawal of direct talks with the new government, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief, Maulana Fazlur Rehman met with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday and advocated that his government must strongly distance itself from the drone attacks if it wants to bring the Taliban back onto the negotiating table.[10]

• Pakistani media outlets reported that continuing violence in different parts of Karachi on Sunday left over 11 people dead, including three policemen and a child. Unidentified militants attacked a police van in the Patel Para neighborhood of Karachi leaving 3 policemen dead. Lyari witnessed a spate of violence over the weekend that left a man and child dead along with 8 others injured when a hand grenade was lobbed in the vicinity of Gabol Park. Hangoorabad neighborhood of Lyari also saw 3 people injured in a hand grenade attack. Police also recovered two dead bodies from Bihar Colony area in Lyari and another from the Dhobi Ghat area in Garden Town.[11]

• An operation by security forces in the Tirah Valley of Khyber and Kurram agencies left 35 militants dead and another 15 injured. The operation which began on June 6 continued till Saturday and also left one security official dead and another 5 injured. Security forces were able the completely capture the central Dastani Ridge overlooking the Maidan and Kuki Khel Valley and also cleared the Muhammadi Top in Kurram and Haider Kandao in Tirah Valley.[12]

• Security forces in North Waziristan agency on Sunday came under attack in separate incidents leaving three soldiers dead and another four injured. An improvised explosive device (IED) attack on a military convoy headed to Bannu from Ramzak killed three security personnel, while a bomb attack on another convoy 20 km east of Miranshahleft left two soldiers wounded. Two other soldiers were wounded in an explosion 70 km south of Miranshah.[13]   

• Skirmishes on Friday between militants and security officials in Kurram agency left two militants dead and five wounded, along with four wounded security forces. According to officials, at least 200 militants have been killed in central Kurram since security forces began an operation in the region on May 8.[14]

• On Friday, Lashkar-e-Islam militants beheaded a tribal elder in Bara sub-district, Khyber agency. The man was one of 60 members of a jirga who had been kidnapped in Bara on June 3. [15]

• A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight scheduled to land at Heathrow Airport, London received a bomb threat via email from unidentified individuals on Monday. According to British officials this was not a serious issue and the flight will at Heathrow Airport at its scheduled time.[16]

• A crackdown by security forces in Hangu district, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday resulted in the arrest of three suspected insurgents and the destruction of 10 militant hideouts. Security forces conducted searches Bagathu, Sarakdana, Lakhtai Bhanda, Speen Khawri, Kandhu Kallay and Bypass areas of Hangu district and recovered a large cache of arms including rocket launchers, Ak-47’s and ammunition.[17]

• On Saturday, 1,500 kg worth of explosives were seized by Peshawar police in a late night raid on a local storage house on Peshawar's Ring Road. Police officials also arrested two suspects during the raid.[18]

• Security forces on Sunday recovered five dead bodies from different parts of Balochistan. The three bodies recovered from the Kalat district were killed 10-15 days earlier according to medical reports. The bodies of two individuals were also recovered from a roadside in Khuzdar district. According to police sources no group had claimed responsibility for the killings as yet.[19] 

• The dead body of a missing resident from Wazirabad Kuchlak area in Quetta, Balochistan was recovered from the roadside by police officials on Saturday.[20]

• Two Awami National Party (ANP) supporters and one Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporter were gunned down on Saturday near Lasbela Chowk in Karachi by armed assailants on a motorbike.[21]   

• Two people were injured in an explosion at the Qasaban Gate in Bannu, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Friday. [22]

• On Saturday, Quetta’s Zargoon Road saw unidentified individuals attack a car showroom with hand grenades. The attack resulted in no casualties.[23]

 New Government 

• On Sunday, Minister for Information Pervaiz Rashid claimed that Nawaz Sharif’s new government has already begun creating a ripe environment for talks with the Taliban, despite the death of TTP leader Wali-ur-Rehman on May 29. [24]

• In his record sixth address to Parliament on Monday, President Asif Zardari congratulated Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on his election, and provided words of warning to those whom would follow the example of former President Pervez Musharraf. In particular, Zardari warned that “there is no place for dictators in today’s Pakistan” and that no court should validate violations of the constitution. Zardari also condemned the use of drones as a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty. [25]

• In his first cabinet meeting on Monday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif urged his cabinet to “serve the masses,” end corruption within the government, and work for national, rather than personal interests. [26]

Economy

• Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced in a statement on Saturday that Pakistan’s 2013-2014 fiscal year budget will be released on Wednesday, June 12. Dar’s announcement comes just days before International Monetary Fund (IMF) teams are scheduled to meet with Pakistani officials regarding a potential bailout. [27]

• According to a Sunday report by the Associated Press, Pakistan’s state-owned businesses lose approximately $4.1 billion a year, in various ventures from its national carrier, Pakistan International Airlines, to Pakistan Railways. Pakistan’s new government, under Nawaz Sharif, has pledged to, “stop every kind of political interference in the affairs of these enterprise.” [28]

• Pakistan’s newly reconstituted National Economic Council announced on Monday that it had approved several new development projects: a federal Public Sector Development Program of Rs. 540 billion ($5.48 billion) and a Rs. 615 billion ($6.24 billion) development project for the provinces. In a statement the same day, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif warned against corruption, “We will not tolerate any breach of national trust. Funds should be utilized for the purpose they are intended and honestly.”[29] 

Afghan-Pakistan Relations

• Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will likely visit Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul next week, according to PML-N Senator Tariq Azeem in a statement on Saturday. The two leaders will discuss negotiations with the Taliban in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as Afghan-Pakistani relations more generally. [30]

Iran-Pakistan Relations

• On Saturday, Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal declared that Pakistan’s gas pipeline with Iran will be completed, despite outside pressures and other obstacles. According to Iqbal, “Energy is our first, second and third top priority.” [31] 

Domestic

• While Pakistan has been mired by blackouts and electrical shortages, the CEO of Islamabad Electrical supply announced on Monday that the Presidency, Prime Minister’s House, Supreme Court and headquarters of the ISI, among other government buildings, have been exempt from the “load-shedding” requirement placed on the majority of Pakistanis, sparking anger among members of the Senate Standing Committee on Power. [32] 

• On Monday, an Anti-Terrorism Court issued an arrest warrant for Pervez Musharraf in the death of Akbar Khan Bugti, due to repeated absences from the court. Musharraf had applied for bail, which will be adjudicated on Tuesday, in the case. [33]