Pakistan Security Brief
Attacks in Indian Kashmir kill 12; Indian Prime Minister says attacks will not disrupt peace talks; Pakistani Prime Minister looking forward to meeting with Indian Prime Minister; U.S. President to meet Prime Minister on October 23rd; American Secretary of State meets with Prime Minister in New York; Mullah Baradar in North Waziristan to talk with Taliban groups there; JUI-F chief against TTP office in Pakistan; TTP allegedly divided over new deputy; National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman survives rocket fire at his helicopter; Army Chief announces formation of Rapid Deployment Force; Opposition walks out of National Assembly to protest Balochistan earthquake response; 17 new check posts on Karakorum Highway announced; Death toll in Balochistan earthquake rises to 355; Japan to loan Pakistan $2.5 billion; TTP member killed in Karachi; College professor wounded by gunmen in Karachi; Government of Sindh to stop issuing new weapons licenses.
India-Pakistan Relations
-
Two attacks in the Jammu region of Indian-controlled Kashmir killed 12 people on Thursday. Three militants attacked a police station in the Hira Nagar area of Kathua district with grenades and guns, killing four policemen. Eight people were killed in an attack on an Indian Army base in Samba district, including three army personnel.[1]
-
On Thursday, Manmohan Singh denounced the deadly attacks on a police station and army base in Kashmir as “barbaric” but said that they would not derail potential peace talks with Pakistan.[2]
-
Pakistan’s Minister of State for Commerce and Privatization Khurram Dastagir Khan said on Thursday that India and Pakistan should have a composite dialogue to resolve all of their outstanding issues. He stated that peace with India would dramatically improve trade between the two countries.[3]
-
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Wednesday that he is looking forward to his meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.[4]
U.S.-Pakistan Relations
-
The United States announced on Thursday that President Obama will meet with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Washington D.C. on October 23rd. According to the statement issued by the White House, the two will discuss security issues and the economy, among other topics.[5]
-
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday in New York to discuss Afghanistan, trade, and the desire on both sides to deepen cooperation between the two nations.[6]
Afghan-Pakistan Relations
-
According to a Wednesday report in The Frontier Post, recently released Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar has reportedly arrived in North Waziristan Agency and begun talking with Taliban groups in the region, including the Haqqani Network and the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban, about facilitating talks between the Taliban and the government. A statement by Pakistan’s foreign office on Friday suggested he was released in order to facilitate the Afghan peace process.[7]
-
The head of an Afghan parliamentary delegation visiting Islamabad said at a press conference on Wednesday that, while Afghanistan supports Pakistan’s release of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Afghanistan does not consider it constructive unless Pakistan allows him to participate in the peace process.[8]
Talks with the TTP
-
On Thursday, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) chief Fazlur Rehman expressed his disagreement with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Imran Khan’s call to open a Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) office in Pakistan. He called Khan’s suggestion “childish” and stated that opening a TTP office would do nothing to advance dialogue with them.[9]
-
According to a Thursday report in The News, TTP leader, Hakimullah Mehsud has reportedly decided to make his bodyguard and driver Latif Mehsud his chief deputy. This has reportedly caused friction because Said Khan, the chief Taliban commander in South Waziristan who succeeded slain TTP deputy leader Wali-ur-Rehman, has refused to step aside and may be building his own autonomous group in South Waziristan.[10]
Militancy
-
National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman Muhammad Saeed Aleem’s helicopter was attacked with rockets in Balochistan. He was travelling to Mashkey, Balochistan for earthquake relief work. The rockets missed the helicopter and no one was injured.[11]
-
Unidentified attackers set on fire the post office in Battagram, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Wednesday, causing about $5,700 of damage before the fire was extinguished.[12]
-
In Iqbal Town, Lahore police arrested three suspected kidnappers on Wednesday. Police also found weapons, several bikes, and laptops in their possession.[13]
-
On Tuesday, a bomb planted under a car detonated in Jacobabad, Sindh. No one was injured. Another unexploded bomb was found nearby and defused.[14]
Domestic
-
On Thursday, army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani announced at a meeting in Lahore with Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar that the Army is working on creating a Rapid Deployment Force (RDF) to combat terrorism. He also pledged his support to the government in all counter-terrorism activities.[15]
-
Representatives of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the PTI walked out of the National Assembly on Wednesday to protest the government’s response to the earthquake in Balochistan. They feel that the government has not responded promptly criticized and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for not drawing attention to the situation at the U.N. General Assembly.[16]
-
The government of Gilgit-Baltistan announced on Wednesday that it will set up 17 new check posts on the Karakoram Highway, which connects Pakistan and China, in order to reduce terrorist activity along the strategically important road.[17]
-
On Thursday, an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) press release announced that the Pakistan Army has moved ten helicopters and 1,200 troops to Balochistan to help in the relief effort there in the aftermath of the earthquake on Tuesday that killed at least 355 people and injured 619.[18]
-
In addition to calling for increased government security for churches, Rawalpindi Commissioner Khalid Masud recommended on Wednesday that Christians hire their own security to protect places of worship.[19]
-
The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, complimented Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for the “tough but essential” reforms undertaken by his government at meeting on Tuesday. At the meeting, Sharif highlighted his focus on increasing the number of Pakistanis paying taxes, privatization, and deficit reduction.[20]
Karachi Unrest
-
On Wednesday the paramilitary Rangers arrested 111 people as part of the ongoing operations in Karachi.[21]
-
Unidentified gunmen shot to death an alleged member of the TTP in the Sohrab Goth area of Karachi on Wednesday.[22]
-
An Islamia College professor was seriously wounded on Thursday when unidentified gunmen shot him in his car in Karachi.[23]
-
In response to the violence in Karachi, the government of Sindh has stopped issuing weapon licenses on Thursday. Previously issued licenses will have to be re-approved.[24]
Japan-Pakistan Relations
