Pakistan Security Brief

Pakistan Security Brief – March 22, 2010

Five militants killed in North Waziristan drone strike; Taliban kills four ‘US spies’; key Taliban commander arrested in Peshawar; foil bomb plot in Islamabad; three militants arrested, bomb-factory seized in Karachi; military strikes militant hideouts in Orakzai and Kurram; anti-Taliban lashkars clash with Mullah Toofan’s group, announce ceasefire; Chief of Staff Gen. Kayani visits CENTCOM ahead of strategic dialogue; tribal meeting in Peshawar calls on army to crush Taliban in the frontier regions; two militants killed in Mohmand search operation; boys’ school blown up in Bajaur; Quetta violence continues.

North Waziristan

• At least five militants were killed on Sunday when two missiles fired from a US drone struck a militant compound and vehicle in the Khaddar Khel area of Datta Khel sub-district in North Waziristan. The location of the strike has alternatively been reported as being Inzar village in the Lowara Mandi area, near the border with Afghanistan. The targets were said to be a compound and a vehicle belonging to Taliban militants led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur.[1]

• The bodies of four men accused by the Taliban of being US spies were discovered in different parts of North Waziristan on Sunday. Sources say the men were captured more than a week ago and were reportedly tried by Taliban courts before being shot to death. A note left near one of the bodies warned that others who spy for the US would suffer the same fate.[2]

Taliban arrests

• A key Taliban commander has been arrested by security forces during a raid in the Bakhsho Pul area of Peshawar. Iliyas, also known as Usman, is accused of operating a Taliban court in the Pandyali sub-district of Mohmand Agency.[3]

• On Saturday, security forces in Karachi arrested three militants belonging to Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) who were supposedly planning to carry out “big terror attacks” in the city. Interrogation of the suspects led to the discovery and seizure of a bomb-making factory in Qaim Khan Colony that held a large quantity of explosives and detonators.[4]

Islamabad bombing foiled

• Police in Islamabad have foiled a plot to bomb Western targets and government buildings. Two militants linked to Qari Hussain, the TTP’s lead trainer of suicide bombers, were arrested before they could carry out the attacks on a hotel and a restaurant frequented by foreigners as well as government courts and a telecommunications building. The militants said they had planned the bombings for tomorrow, Pakistan Day.[5]

Orakzai/Kurram

• Air strikes and helicopter gunships pounded Taliban hideouts in Orakzai and Kurram Agencies over the weekend, killing a total of at least 28 militants. The attacks in Central Kurram on Sunday killed at least 19 militants and destroyed eight hideouts. An uncorroborated report by security officials claims that a South Waziristan commander was also among the dead. On Saturday, jet fighter attacks in Orakzai killed at least nine militants and wounded three others.[6]

• Clashes in Central Kurram have killed more militants belonging to Mullah Toofan’s group after a several hour long gun battle with a pro-government lashkar on Saturday. The fighting, which took place in the Baroozina area, killed 14 of Toofan’s men and three members of the lashkar. Additionally, on Sunday the Taliban handed 22 hostages over to the Masozai lashkar, leading to the lashkar’s announcement of a ceasefire between the two groups.[7]

Kayani visits CENTCOM

• Pakistan’s army chief of staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani visited US Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Florida this weekend ahead of the US-Pakistan strategic dialogue in Washington set to begin this Wednesday. Kayani’s visit marks the first time an army chief of staff has played such an active role in meeting with high ranking US officials.[8]

Tribal meeting

• A tribal jirga held in Peshawar on Saturday demanded the Pakistani army do more to crush the Taliban in the frontier regions. Several hundred tribesmen attended the meeting, which was organized by the Amn Tehrik, or Peace Movement, and stated they would make formal demands to the UN if the army did not step up its efforts.[9]

Mohmand/Bajaur

• Security forces killed two suspected militants during a search operation conducted in the Haleemzai sub-district of Mohmand Agency on Saturday. The operation came one day after militants attacked a security checkpoint in Safi sub-district that wounded three security personnel. [10]

• On Sunday, militants blew up a boys’ primary school in the Nawagai sub-district of Bajaur Agency, raising the total number of schools destroyed in the region to 76. In a separate incident in the same area, the Bajaur Levies arrested 17 suspected militants who were later transferred to the Agency headquarters in Khar.[11]

Balochistan

• A bomb blast near a Frontier Corps checkpoint has killed one person and injured three others as violence continues to grip the city. Gunmen also killed the principal of private boys’ college, resulting in a student protest at the Balochistan governor’s house that authorities eventually dispersed with tear gas. An explosion targeting a police vehicle on Sunday killed two policemen and a local shopkeeper and injured 19 others. On Friday, three Shi’a men were killed in a drive-by shooting in what police have labeled as a targeted killing.[12]