Pakistan Security Brief

Pakistan Security Brief – September 3, 2010

Deadly Blast Kills Dozens in Quetta; TTP’s Qari Hussain Mehsud claims responsibility for Lahore bombings; Admiral Mullen tours flood damage; OIC calls on Muslims to aid flood victims; IMF Pledges $450 million in relief.

Balochistan:

• A suicide blast in Quetta targeting a Shiite procession killed dozens and wounded at least 40 others on Friday.  The attack came as the student-organized Al-Quds march expressing solidarity with Palestinians made its way through the Meezan Chowk area of the city.  According to police reports, some of the survivors fired guns into the air after the attack occurred.  This is the second major suicide attack this week aimed at Pakistan’s Shiite community, coming only two days after militants killed at least 31 people during a Youm-e-Ali procession in Lahore.  Prominent Shiite ulema across the country have publically called on their followers to remain calm despite the mounting sectarian violence.  A spokesmen for Qari Hussain Mehsud—the leading trainer of suicide bombers for the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)—claimed responsibility for the Lahore bombing.   [1]

Flooding:

• In Jeddah on Thursday, The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) along with the International Islamic Fiqh Academy released a joint-statement calling on Muslims around the world to direct their annual zakat tithes (usually amounting to 2.5% of annual income) to those impacted by the recent flooding in Pakistan.  Scholars at the International Islamic Fiqh Academy ruled that the damage and scope of disaster in Pakistan made it acceptable for Muslims to “direct one's tithes to other communities and countries than one's own”.   The OIC statement comes the same day that the IMF announced it would provide $450 million in immediate emergency aid to Pakistan. [2]

• From its headquarters in Geneva, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) released a statement on Thursday warning that recent “unrest” is hampering relief efforts in some of the areas worst hit by flooding.  Jacques de Maio, the head of operations for South Asia for the ICRC said that on at least two occasions in the last 8 days, relief efforts were halted because flood victims had grown “aggressive” toward those distributing aid.  De Maio went on to report that while such aggression was “understandabl[e]” given the devastating scope of recent flooding it “doesn't help in our efforts”.  [3]

• On Friday, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the U.N. Abdullah Hussain Haroon joined a growing chorus of officials demanding an investigation into allegations that some “powerful Pakistanis” deliberately manipulated the flow of flood waters to protect favored parts of the country.  So far, allegations of such behavior have been report in Baluchistan, Sindh, and Punjab.  Ambassador Haroon’s comments come the same day that members of the PML-N opposition party alleged that the relief effort is being politicized by Islamabad.  The PML-N spokesmen referred to a recent plan by President Zardari to rename newly constructed towns “Benazirabad,” after his late wife Benazir Bhutto.[4]

•  In the Sindh province, flooding caused a breach in the Dhamra Canal near Dadu and forced the evacuations of thousands of residents.  Reports indicate that as many as 70% of the area had to be evacuated. [5]

US-Pakistan Relations:

• On Thursday, Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen met with Pakistani Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Kayani to talk about recent flooding and the relief efforts currently underway in Pakistan.  At Multan, the two men discussed recent progress made by the Pakistani army in driving rescue and relief efforts.  Tthey later embarked on an aerial survey of flood damage, flying over southern Punjab, Sindh and Baluchistan.  [6]