Pakistan Security Brief

U.S. drone strike kills five, injures three suspected militants in Waziristan; TTP praises IS, denies it issued message of allegiance to IS, clarifies its allegiance is to Mullah Omar; TTP Jamatul Ahrar advises IS, JN to reconcile differences; IMU declares support to IS; Airstrikes kill 15 militants in Dargay, Khyber Agency; Taliban spokesman’s tweet suggests presence in Pakistan; Pakistan frees brothers of top Afghan Taliban negotiator; India, Pakistan accuse each other of “unprovoked firing” across LoC that kills nine civilians; U.S. seeks strong relationship with India, Pakistan, and other countries on counterterrorism; India targeting Pakistan-based “D-Company;” Activists stopped from sending relief goods across LoC; Police kill nine TTP militants in Karachi; Blast injures 14 people including police in Karachi; IED kills six and injures 18 in Kohat, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa; Anti-Taliban militia member and policeman killed in Swat; Suicide bomber kills five and injures over 20 others in Hazara Town, Quetta; VBIED injures seven in Quetta; Attack kills three and injures two in Khuzdar, Balochistan; Two rockets fired at Kalaya, Orakzai; Army announces increased military recruitment from FATA.

Drone Strike

• A U.S. drone strike on October 5 killed five suspected militants and injured three in the Kandghar area of the Shawal Valley in the border areas of North and South Waziristan. According to sources, foreigners were among those killed including a high level unidentified target.[1]

Pakistani Militant

• According to a Reuters report on October 4, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Shahidullah Shahid released a statement in Urdu, Pashto and Arabic on the eve of Eid al Adha, declaring full support for the goals of Islamic State (IS). The statement sparked rumors in the international media that the TTP had declared its “allegiance” to the IS.  However, on October 5, Shahid issued another statement clarifying the TTP’s loyalty and allegiance only to the Afghan Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar. He also clarified his earlier statement, claiming that the TTP had only commended the efforts of IS and had advised it to set aside its differences with rival groups and show unity in its struggle against a common enemy.[2]
• According to a report in the Long War Journal on October 5, TTP Jamatul Ahrar spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan claimed that one of the leaders of the group, Omar Khalid Khorasani, released a videotape advising “the Islamic State, Jabhat al Nusrah (JN) and other mujahideen groups of the region to reconcile among each other” and fight together against the U.S. and its allies. Khorasani also reportedly offered his services to mediate between IS, al Qaeda and JN.[3]
• In a statement released on September 26 but publicized on October 6, Usman Ghazi, the leader of the Pakistan-based Uzbek terrorist group, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), declared that the IMU supports IS in its continued war against non-Muslims. He also commended IS for refusing to recognize state borders in the region.[4]

Indo-Pakistan Relations

• On October 6, the Indian and Pakistani armies accused each other of carrying out “unprovoked firing” across the Line of Control (LoC). Indian officials claim Pakistani forces shelled Arnia village, killing five people and injuring at least two dozen civilians.  Pakistani officials say Indian firing killed four people and injured five civilians in the Sialkot area near the working boundary.  Meanwhile, an Indian army officer claimed that the Indian army shot dead three alleged militants trying to infiltrate into India through the Tangdhar sector along the LoC and that two militants managed to escape into Pakistan.[5]
• According to a Dawn report on October 4, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Desai Biswal briefed some journalists about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama. Biswal declared that the U.S. seeks a strong relationship on counterterrorism with India, Pakistan and all countries in the region. Biswal also added that the Kashmir issue was not discussed by the two leaders during the meeting and that the leaders expressed a strong desire to support and strengthen democratic institutions in Pakistan.[6]
• According to a Dawn report on October 6, after committing to taking “joint and concerted efforts” with the U.S. to dismantle regional terrorist groups, Indian officials are particularly keen on targeting the “D-Company” group. D-Company allegedly generates billions of dollars from legitimate businesses as well as through illegal criminal enterprises around the world including in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Pakistan. Several members of the group are reportedly on terror or wanted lists declared by Interpol.[7]
• On October 5, Pakistani authorities stopped activists in the town of Chakothi from sending relief goods across the border into India for flood victims of Indian-administered Kashmir. A senior Pakistani administration official said that the activists were stopped because of a lack of instructions from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the government.[8]

Militancy

• On October 3, Pakistan Air Force airstrikes killed 15 militants in the Dargay locality of the Chappari area in Jamrud sub-district, Khyber Agency.[9]
• A tweet on October 3 by the Afghan Taliban’s spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, apparently inadvertently included geolocation information which suggested that the message was sent from Sindh, Pakistan. Mujahid later tweeted that the location leak was an “enemy plot” and insisted that he was in Afghanistan, not Pakistan; he offered up his Afghan telephone number as proof of his location.[10] 
• On October 3, Taliban leaders declared that the Pakistani authorities had released from custody two brothers of Tayyeb Agha, the Afghan Taliban’s top negotiator in Quetta. The brothers were arrested in Karachi and Quetta respectively on May 1, 2014 for allegedly being in contact with an Afghan government official. There are no official reports of their release.[11]
• On October 5, police killed seven TTP militants in the Ayub Goth area, near Saudabad, Karachi, including the alleged mastermind behind the attack on Crime Investigation Department (CID) Superintendent of Police (SP) Chaudhry Aslam.[12]
• On October 4, an improvised explosive device (IED) attack killed six people and injured 18 others in the Peshawar Chowk area of Kohat, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.[13]
• On October 4, suicide bomber killed at least five people and injured over 20 others in the Aliabad area of Hazara Town, Quetta. Hazara Town contains a predominantly Shia population.[14]
• On October 5, policemen with the Sectarian Cell of the CID of the Sindh Police killed two TTP militants on the Northern Bypass on the outskirts of Karachi. One of the militants killed was an aide to the supposed leader of the TTP in Karachi.[15]
• On October 5, at least 14 people including 6 policemen were injured in a VBIED attack near a police vehicle in Frontier Colony, Karachi.[16]
• On October 3, police arrested TTP commander Muhammad Nasir in Naurang Town, Lakki Marwat, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.[17] 
• On October 4, unidentified attackers killed an anti-Taliban militia member and a policeman in the Bama Khela area of Matta sub-district, Swat, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The militia member killed was also identified as a local leader of the Awami National Party (ANP).[18] 
• On October 4, unidentified militants detonated a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), injuring seven people along Spini road, Quetta. The attack appears to have been targeting the vehicle of deputy superintendent of police of Pashtoonabad station.[19]
• On October 6, unidentified attackers killed three people and injured two others in the Khuzdar area of Balochistan. Levies officials believe that the attack was either a targeted killing or a tribal dispute.[20]
• On October 5, unidentified attackers killed a man and injured another in the Guldar Baghicha area of Killa Abdullah district, Balochistan.[21]
• On October 4, unknown attackers fired two rockets at Kalaya, the headquarters town of lower Orakzai Agency. No one was injured and no building was damaged in the attack.[22]

Military

• On October 6, Pakistan army chief General Raheel Sharif announced the FATA Youth Package which aims to recruit 14,000 soldiers from among residents of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) over the next five years. In addition, General Sharif promised education and employment opportunities for FATA recruits.[23]