Pakistan Security Brief

Obama to withdraw 30,000 troops from Afghanistan by next summer; India-Pakistan talks in progress; Anti-Taliban militias receive insufficient support from Pakistani government; Brigadier with extremist ties “highly critical” of Pakistani cooperation with U.S.;  Pakistan contemplating border fortifications to prevent incursions; Five militants killed in attack on Sarband checkpost; Two killed in checkpost blast in Balochistan; Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa chief minister seeks talks with militants; Rangers indictment delayed to allow time to engage lawyers; Jamaat-e-Islami to strengthen ties to Muslim Brotherhood.

U.S.-Pakistan Relations

• On Wednesday, President Barack Obama announced his plan to withdraw all 33,000 surge troops from Afghanistan by next summer, beginning with a withdrawal of 5,000 this summer and another 5,000 by the end of the year. Pressure to withdraw troops from Afghanistan has increased since the May 2 raid that killed Osama Bin Laden. Obama also said that evidence retrieved from Bin Laden’s Abbottabad compound shows al Qaeda is vulnerable, partially as a result of successful U.S. counterterrorism efforts. The New York Times reports that keeping troops in Afghanistan provides a base from which the U.S. can monitor the situation in Pakistan and if necessary, launch drone strikes. In the withdrawal announcement, President Obama “vowed the United States will ‘insist’ Pakistan fulfill its promises to counter militant sanctuaries on its soil.”[i]

• Presidents Barack Obama and Asif Ali Zardari agreed to work to improve relations on a phone-call Wednesday. They pledged to continue building a relationship based on “mutual respect and mutual benefit.”[ii]

• The Express Tribune reports that Pakistan has pledged to issue “more than three dozen visas to CIA officers,” while Dawn suggests as many as sixty-seven have been promised. The U.S. has complained recently that Pakistan has been unhelpful in securing visas for CIA staff despite recent agreements made in light on the Bin Laden raid to improve intelligence cooperation. The CIA officers in the country would join a joint U.S.-Pakistani force targeting terrorist group targeting high value terrorists.[iii]

India-Pakistan Relations

• Pakistan and India’s foreign secretaries are holding talks Thursday focusing on terrorism and Kashmir. Both nations played down the talks, stressing that only modest progress was likely. Indian foreign secretary Nirupama Rao said she hoped the talks would build “‘trust and confidence’ that would eventually lead to a normalization of relations.”[iv]

Anti-Taliban Militias

• Reuters reports that tribal militias combating the Taliban feel they are not receiving enough support from the Pakistani government. Reuters recounts the story of an Adezai lashkar leader named Khan who is frustrated with the lack of government support and security , after multiple assassination attempts. The Pakistani government is contemplating increasing the use of tribal militias against militants.[v]

Brigadier Khan and HuT

• Colleagues of arrested Brigadier Ali Khan told the BBC that Brig. Khan had become increasingly critical of Pakistani cooperation with the U.S. recently. Brig. Khan pressed military higher-ups to “stop co-operating with American forces in the fight against Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgents.” According to the report, it is Brig. Khan’s continued criticism of senior officers, including Army Chief General Ashfaq Kayani, that prompted his arrest on May 6.[vi]

• According to the Express Tribune, the Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT,) the banned extremist group with which Brig. Khan is allegedly affiliated, has continued distributing materials relatively freely despite their banned status. The HuT claims to be a nonviolent group but has “often been accused of aiding and abetting acts of terrorism.”[vii]

Border Fortifications

• Dawn reports Pakistan may “fence and mine” particularly active parts of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, in light of recent cross-border attacks. Pakistan has proposed similar projects in the past, but they face opposition from the Afghan government.[viii]

FATA

• On Wednesday, five militants were killed when security personnel repulsed an attack on a checkpost in Sarband, Khyber Agency.[ix]

Balochistan

• On Wednesday, a remote-controlled explosive device killed two Khassadar personnel at a “temporary checkpost close to the Pak-Afghan Highway on Jamrud Bypass Road.” Six suspects have been arrested in an investigation of the attack. Also on Wednesday, gunmen fired on a bus of pilgrims going from Taftan to Quetta, killing four and injuring nine. In a separate incident on Thursday, “unknown motorcyclists attacked a drug den . . . with hand grenades” in Mastung district, killing three people and wounding four.[x]

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

• On Wednesday, Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti asked “Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl and other opposition parties” to hold talks with militants who do not oppose the government and “wage a jihad” against those who do. Hoti said those who downplayed the threat of terrorism in the region were “living in a fool’s paradise.”[xi]

Karachi

• An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Karachi has given the six rangers and one civilian accused of killing an unarmed 22-year-old man, Sarfaraz Shah, an extra day to seek legal counsel, delaying the indictment. A video of Shah’s June 8 death surfaced inspiring widespread outrage.[xii]

JI and Muslim Brotherhood

• During a Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) leadership visit to Egypt, the JI and the Muslim Brotherhood have vowed to strengthen their relationship. They also plan to strengthen ties between other Islamist groups throughout the world and “to counter propaganda against Islam.”[xiii]