Pakistan Security Brief

                                         Pakistan Security Brief – November 3, 2010

Pakistan airports on high alert in response to air cargo bomb plot aimed at U.S.; drone strike kills four militants in North Waziristan; TTP commander arrested in Karachi.

Air Cargo Bomb Plot

• Pakistan has issued a high terror alert for all of the country’s international airports in response to the recent discovery of packages containing bombs on cargo flights bound for the U.S. A senior federal aviation official told reporters that the alert is specifically aimed at monitoring out-bound air cargo flights heading to foreign destinations. Due to the sensitive nature of the situation, the official did not state the precise security measures which have been put in place in response to the alert.[1]

FATA

• At least four militants were killed in a suspected U.S. drone strike in North Waziristan on Wednesday. Two missiles reportedly struck a vehicle carrying weapons in Qutub Khel, a suburb of Miram Shah.[2] (For daily updates on key issues and events in North Waziristan CLICK HERE)

• Security sources revealed on Tuesday that at least 17 militants were killed in clashes in Mohmand Agency on October 31 when helicopter gunships targeted militant hideouts in the remote areas of Pindiali sub-district.[3]

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

• Two militants were killed during clashes with security forces in Swat on Tuesday. The incident occurred when militants opened fire after being ordered to stop by government troops in Matta sub-district. One soldier was also wounded in the fighting. Separately, three main tribes in Matta have reportedly announced their support for security forces in the fight against militancy in the region.[4]

Sindh

• Explosions were reported in Nawabshah on Wednesday along a stretch of railway track linking Sindh and Punjab. Bomb disposal teams disarmed a second explosive device near the blast site. No casualties were reported. This latest bombing is the third railway attack in Sindh this week.[5]

• Police claim to have arrested ten suspects in connection with a series of blasts on railway tracks in the Hyderabad area over the last several days. Although police indicated that some of the suspects are affiliated with Sindh nationalist parties the motive behind the bombings is still unclear.[6]

Karachi

• The Crime Investigation Department (CID) claims to have arrested a Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander in Karachi on Wednesday. The commander, named Qari Yousuf, was arrested in the Mominabad area of Orangi Town and is suspected of having been behind the suicide bombing of a police training center in Mingora, Swat in 2009.[7]

• The Rangers claim to have arrested approximately 114 suspected criminals over the past few days while conducting search operations in various areas of Karachi. Weapons were recovered from some of the arrested individuals, a Rangers spokesman said, and the suspects have been turned over to the Karachi police for further investigation.[8]

Flooding

• On Wednesday, U.N. authorities warned that more resources are urgently needed to aid flood victims before the onset of winter. Speaking in Islamabad, U.N. spokesman Stacey Winston expressed concern that “funding is slowing down,” citing U.N. statistics which indicate that only 39-percent of the $2 billion aid appeal for Pakistan flood relief has been pledged so far. Winston further said that Pakistan is facing “another emergency in the north with winter coming” if aid agencies are unable to provide flood victims with sufficient food and shelter, adding that “people are still very much suffering” throughout the country.[9]