Pakistan Security Brief

TTP commander arrested for MPA's murder; Pakistan Army commences ‘war games’;Nawaz Sharif to tackle electricity crisis immediately; Indian foreign secretary apologizes to Pakistan; Nawaz Sharif submits prime ministerial nomination paperwork; Musharraf’s bail petition falls through; Rangers officials shoot unarmed man; 7 killed throughout Karachi; Protests erupt due to energy crisis; BISP funding set to decline; ECP sets up tribunals; CM of Punjab meets with security officials; 2 killed after Fareed Khan protests; Leader of the upper house resigns; Balochistan speaker and deputy speaker to take oaths.

Militancy

• Security forces arrested Mufti Hamid, a Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander, on Tuesday in connection with the death of recently-elected Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provincial assembly member Fareed Khan, a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party member who had been gunned down the day before. Khan was also buried on Tuesday in Hangu, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. 1

• Two men were killed and two were wounded in a shooting in Hangu, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, on Tuesday. According to sources, protesters mourning the death of provincial assembly member Fareed Khan may have been connected to the shootings.2

• The Pakistan Army commenced two weeks of “war games” named Azm-e-Nau IV on Monday. In these games, the Pakistani military intends to test its newly developed “combined arms” approach, integrating the army, navy and air force in joint operations. 3

• Incoming Chief Minister of Punjab Shahbaz Sharif, of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, met with army officials at the Chaklala garrison, Lahore on Monday night to discuss security issues within the province. A conflicting report from a military source claims Shahbaz was visiting to condole with a senior officer at the garrison over the recent death of his mother. 4

• In an interview on Tuesday, Chief Minister of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Pervaiz Khattak announced that militancy and U.S. drone strikes within the province remain Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s most pressing issue, with corruption a close second. 5

• A Rangers official shot and killed a man in his car on Tuesday in Karachi after he refused to pull over when signaled; no weapons were found in his car or on his person. 6

• On Tuesday, several bodies were found on Karachi’s Mirza Adam Khan road and Mauripur Road, while two other men were gunned down in the center of the city. Four were injured in various firing incidents throughout Karachi. 7

• Two men were gunned down in separate shooting incidents in Quetta, Balochistan on Monday; both were killed by unknown assailants on Sirki and Airport Road. 8

• Two men were arrested on Tuesday in Batagram, Khyber--Pakhtunkhwa after being discovered with a large cache of dynamite—approximately 1000 sticks—in their car. The men claimed the dynamite was being used for construction purposes. 9

Elections

• Nawaz Sharif, prime minister-in-waiting, considers Pakistan’s current electrical crisis his first priority upon entering office, his aides said on Tuesday. Electricity shortages take a toll of $13.5 billion a year on Pakistan’s economy according to the Wall Street Journal. Sharif plans to lay out his plans for combating the crisis in a speech upon taking office. 10

• Prime minister-in-waiting Nawaz Sharif officially submitted his paperwork for nomination to the post of prime minister; Sharif will take office on June 5, beginning his third term as prime minister. 11

• The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) set up 14 tribunals across the nation on Tuesday to judge elections petitions—alleging vote rigging and foul play—in Karachi, Hyderbad, Rawalpindi and Bahawalpur among other cities.12

• Farooq Naek, former leader of the Upper House, resigned from his post on Tuesday; he had been appointed on April 24. 13

• The Balochistan Assembly speaker, Jan Muhammad Jamali, and deputy speaker, Abdul Qadus Bizenjo will take their oaths of office today. 14

Domestic

• Justice Shaukat Siddiqui refused to hear former head of state Pervez Musharraf’s bail petition on Tuesday; resulting in the disarray of the bench, and a referral of the case to the Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court.15

• Funding for the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) is expected to be cut by 30 percent, from about Rs70 billion ($710 million) to Rs50 billion ($510 million) according to sources in the finance ministry on Tuesday. Disbursements have been on hold since March 16 to prevent government officials from using disbursements to sway the May 11 elections. 16

• In response to the energy crisis and power outages which have plagued Pakistan, protests emerged in Mirpur, Jammu Kashmir on Monday. Protestors destroyed dozens of vehicles, and set fire to government property. 17

India-Pakistan Relations

• On Monday evening, Pakistan’s First Secretary at its mission in India Zargam Raza and his driver were assaulted by several Indian men, while traveling to his home in Delhi. Following the assault, in which Raza suffered severe injuries, Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai called his Pakistani counterpart Jalil Abbas Jilani on Tuesday to apologize for Raza’s mistreatment. Two suspects have already been apprehended in the attacks. 18