A day of deadly bombings and firefights in Pakistan claimed at least 65 lives, turning Monday( June 09, 2014) in to one of the deadliest days in terrorist violence from the north (Waziristan) to the south (Karachi) and the west (Balochistan). It also underlined the gravity of the massive security challenges that the country faces today. Thirty-six people, including ten terrorists, were killed and over two dozen injured in a terrorist attack on the country’s largest international Karachi Airport (twenty-nine[1] bodies were recovered on Monday while another seven[2] were recovered on Tuesday). The same day, five[3] soldiers were killed in a North Waziristan suicide attack on a security forces’ convoy’s  firing while twenty-four[4]  shia Muslim pilgrims were brutally executed  in Taftan near the Pakistan-Iran border, presumably by radical anti-Shia Sunni terrorists. The outlawed terrorist outfit Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed responsibility for the airport attack. The assault turned out to be the biggest strike in terms of human casualties in over four years and reminded of the massive security challenge that comes from affiliates of Al-Qaeda holed up in the mountainous Pakistan-Afghanistan border terrain. In recent months, the TTP sleeper cells in Karachi have been under attack by the police and the paramilitary Rangers, provoking the terrorist group into focused attacks on security forces and strategic installations across the country. The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) resumed its flight operation after 17 hours Monday afternoon as the security forces swept the airport and eventually declared it safe for resuming flight operations. Military officials said seven terrorists were put down while three blew themselves up when cornered. All of them were reportedly wearing suicide vests, a device that terrorists on termination missions usually wear. By putting down the attackers, the security forces presumably preempted a big hostage-taking too as...

Peter Bergen – a US security expert on drones, militancy and Af-Pak relations – recently revealed that the United States may have finally ended its drone programme in FATA, Pakistan. At least, this is how the media in Pakistan showed its surprise. But Bergen was careful in his words and thus indicated towards a hold in these strikes and how it could, eventually, lead towards a total halt. Bergen, an author and a journalist who also heads the International Security Programme at the New America Foundation, has for long been tracking and reporting on the US drone strikes. Thus, with his experience and background, his revelation could not be taken lightly. But did the US finally cease its strikes in Pakistan for good? Indications and signs surely point towards a drastic decline, if not a complete halt. Professor Brian Glynn Williams, author of Predators: The CIA’s Drone War on Al Qaeda, also believes that the CIA may have ended its drone programme in Pakistan, especially due to fewer HVTs (High Value Targets) left to be killed. Williams also believes that drones are precision tools that targeted and annihilated al Qaeda and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) members, who not only killed on average 3000 Pakistanis per year but also killed a number of innocent Afghans in cross border attacks. The last drone strike in Pakistan took place on December 26, 2013, soon after which the United States shifted its drone focus to Yemen and Somalia. You could argue that lack of HVT’s in Fata could have triggered this move but strikes on a number of unknown TTP and al Qaeda operatives in the past may weigh against this assumption. According to New America Foundation’s drone database, a total of 58 high profile targets have been killed in drone strikes – making up only 2% of the total casualties in 370 drone strikes. This creates a very ambiguous and weak correlation between drones and HVTs. Moreover, on May 14, 2014, a drone strike targeted Taliban fighters near the Pak-Afghan...

Second Program: Saturday June 07, 2014 on Express News TV Channel at 7:05 PM Topic: “Justice and Separation of Powers in FATA: Extensive Power of Political Agent, Democracy vs. Draconian System” Hosts: Mr Imitiaz Gul and Ms Feryal Ali Gauhar Guests: •        Mr. Zahir Shah Safi, FATA Lawyer’s Forum •        Mr. Ayaz Wazir, Ex Ambassador •        Mr. Ajmal Wazeer, PML Q •        Ms. Ayesha Hasan,  Social Activist Theme: The theme is “Justice and Separation of Powers in FATA: Extensive Power of Political Agent, Democracy vs. Draconian System”. This show discusses as to why not the extensive powers of the executive (Political Agent) given under the FCR be amended? With the help of case studies, the show aims to elaborate on how the powers vested in the Political Agent under the FCR promotes corruption, cronyism, and poor governance without any accountability mechanism and how these powers have impacted adversely on the lives of the people of FATA in many different ways? The show also focuses on implications of the FCR on the Rule of Law in adjacent settled areas, the role of FATA judicial tribunal, and citizen’s access to the appeals process. Extending court jurisdiction to the victims of FCR who are denied justice would also be discussed in the show. Please watch the program Hum Bhi and share your feedback on 

On June 4, two Pakistan army soldiers were killed in what officials claimed was an early morning cross-border attack on checkpoints in the troubled tribal region Bajaur Agency  near the frontier with Afghanistan. Officials claimed terrorists from across the border fired on Pakistani border posts at Manozangal and Mukha Tops, according to  Pakistan army officials, the third such incident in less than two weeks. On the same day, a suicide bomber crashed into a double-cabin vehicle of security forces near Rawalpindi killing two military officers and three civilians. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) department identified the two senior officers as Lieutenant Colonel Zahir Shah and Lieutenant Colonel Arshad Shaheed. Previously, on May 31, at least 14 militants were killed when Pakistani border guards had repelled a cross-border attack on a military post in the Warra Mamond tehsil of Bajaur Agency.[1] On May 25, five paramilitary Frontier Corps soldiers were wounded in an attack on a border check post. Security forces had claimed to have killed five militants in the retaliatory action. The paramilitary troops had chased the fleeing militants into Kaga Pass area where a check post was also set up. Most of the attacks have been attributed to the Tehreeke Taliban Pakistan – the banned terrorist outfit – which has recently suffered a major split resulting in the isolation of a faction considered by the state security apparatus as “irreconcilably against the interests of Pakistan.” The recent terrorist strikes (on army and para-military) thus can be as reprisals by the isolated TTP which seems to be gradually turning the heat on Pakistan because of  Context At a traditional tribal Jirga in Miranshah, the administrative headquarters of the embattled North Waziristan,  on May 25th , presumably on the instance of Gul Bahadur, the Haqqanis,  and a scion of the fabled Faqir  of Ippi  of Waziristan namely  Sher Mohammad also attended the unusual gathering. (Faqir of...

A series of ten landmark TV shows “Hum Bhi Pakistan” on the status of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) – Past, Present, and Future – produced by the Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) goes on air from Friday. The national EXPRESS TV will air the shows every Friday and Saturday at 7.p.m every week. These shows mark a big step forward in the Center’s drive for inclusive democracy and fundamental rights as enshrined in the federal Constitution. As many as 40 parliamentarians, rights’ activists, analysts and academia participated in the shows  with some 60 male and female students from different regions in the audience. They had specially traveled to Islamabad for participating in the shows and each of them had a chance to put at least one question to the panelists. Never before did FATA come under such focused and s structured debate involving leading stakeholders from within FATA as well as those representing Pakistan’s mainstream political parties – a first in FATA’s political rights’ advocacy in history to debate FATA problems, concerns and future prospects. The TV shows supplement CRSS’s  radio advocacy for FATA which has been airing from Peshawar and several other stations in a syndicated show that reaches all nook and corners of KP province and FATA. The TV shows gave an opportunity to the people from FATA to share their problems and seek solutions that can best help mainstream FATA with Pakistan. At the same time it provided the panelists a chance to speak in a focused way on the way the draconian Frontier Crimes Regulations –FCR-impacts their lives. During the discussions, almost all guests and audience demanded repeal of or drastic amendments to the Article 247 of the constitution, which empowers the President to rule these areas through political agents. Most participants demanded to be mainstreamed and treated as equal citizens ( as promised under the Article 25 of the constitution) and asked the president  as well as mainstream...

Note: This CRSS compilation on sectarian and target killings as well as general incidents of violence is based on open-source information and is being released for the information of the public at large as part of the organization’s endeavor to map and analyze public interest issues. The report below comprises two sections; one relates to sectarian killings and lawlessness. The other depicts instances of growing intolerance and violence vis a vis religious minorities. The charts detailing incidents highlight a growing incidence of intolerance and a propensity among perpetrators to take law into their own hands to settle personal, group or ideological scores. The sectarian indiscriminate and target killing spree continued all over the country in May 2014, claiming 25 lives. Those falling to terrorists include an Ahmadi, 14 Shia Muslims, and 10 Sunni Muslims. These  target killings took place In Charsadda, Karachi, Bannu, Rawalpindi and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – underlining the fact that the phenomenon is spread from the north to the south and the government in general appears either helpless or lacks the capacity to prevent such assassinations. In almost all the cases the perpetrators have not been apprehended. Desecration of places of worship also continued with attacks on Hindu temples in Mirpurkhas in Sindh. The miscreants vandalized the temples and also damaged or destroyed the Hindu deities in the temples of Shiv, Khaitpar and Khushhal Puri in Kot Ghulam Muhammad Taluka. In Peshawar, a 22-year-old suicide bomber posing as an internally displaced person (IDP) blew himself up after entering the football stadium. The ensuing blast killed four persons on the spot, injured 11 besides damaging the mosque and several adjoining buildings. In Bannu, a rocket was fired at a mosque damaging it partially. While a Shia mosque was bombed in Manshera, completely destroying it. Below is the breakdown of incidents Target Killings in May-2014 Date Source Killed City Religion Method...