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Pakistan Conflict Tracker Weekly Report (Mar.1-8, 2012)
Against the backdrop of ongoing military operations in different parts of Pakistan, persistent state of violence has become a routine in the country. Thus, current week was no exception and violence continued to undermine the security landscape. The data collected through different sources suggests that 182 people lost their lives across the country in different kinds of violence resulting out of, most of the times, frequent clashes between militants and security forces. During these clashes 139 people also got injured. (See data sheet) In total 80 violent attacks were reported during the week in different areas of the country and most of these attacks happened in the militancy stricken Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). During these incidents 87 civilians and 75 militants lost their lives. Meanwhile, 20 security personnel also fell prey to different attacks perpetrated by the militants, mostly during the ongoing military operations in FATA. The militants fighting against state and security forces in KP and tribal region blew up five girls– primary schools in different areas as part of their sabotage campaign to dismantle state infrastructure and deny education facilities to the women. Furthermore, ongoing military operations against militants in KP, Balochistan and FATA resulted in the majority of causalities during the week. Figures in the above chart suggest that 82 persons including 72 militants and 10 security personnel were dead in five violent clashes. While second major cause behind the deaths was the ongoing spree of suicide bombings, especially in KP and FATA regions and it was the civilians who bore the dreadful brunt of this form of violence. Figures in the chart shows that 30 people died as a result of four incidents of suicide bombing, and 26 out of these were civilians. Twelve dead bodies were recovered from different parts of the country and five of these were of security forces men. Looking at the tactics of...
Pakistan Conflict Tracker Weekly Report (Feb. 26-Mar. 3)
Whooping violence across Pakistan marked the current week. As data collected through different sources suggest that 199 people lost their lives across the country in different kinds of violence mostly resulting from frequent clashes between militants and security forces. During these clashes 128 people also got injured. (See chart 1) In total, 64 incidents of conflict and violence were reported during the week in different areas of the country and most of these attacks occurred in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). During these incidents, almost equal number of civilians (88) and militants (87) were killed. Meanwhile, 24 security personnel also fell prey to different militant attacks, mostly in ongoing military operations in FATA. The militants fighting against state and security forces in KP and tribal region blew up four girls– primary schools in different areas as part of their sabotage campaign to dismantle state infrastructure. Moreover, following the footsteps of militants in Balochistan and KP/FATA, some unknown miscreants carried out subversive attacks against Pakistan Railway infrastructure and destroyed railway tracks on different locations in Sindh during the week, which left the rail network suspended for a while in the country. Weekly Data Sheet (February 26-January 3, 2012) Nature of Attacks Number of Attacks Civilians Security Forces Militants Total Dead Injured Dead Injured Dead Injured Dead Injured Bomb blasts 5 10 26 2 13 12 39 Suicide attacks 3 29 33 29 33 Drone attacks Target killings 19 35 5 3 5 3 41 10 Landmine explosions 1 1 1 Sabotage attacks 11 Dead bodies found 4 4 5 9 Military operations 7 14 84 12 98 12 Schools blown up 4 Mortar/grenade/firing 20 10 33 10 33 Total 199 128 Furthermore, the ongoing military operations against militants in KP, Balochistan and FATA resulted in the majority of causalities during the week. Figures in the above chart suggest that 98 persons, including 84 militants and 14...
Weekly Data Sheet (February 26-January 3, 2012)
Weekly Data Sheet (February 26-January 3, 2012) Nature of Attacks Number of Attacks Civilians Security Forces Militants Total Dead Injured Dead Injured Dead Injured Dead Injured Bomb blasts 5 10 26 2 13 12 39 Suicide attacks 3 29 33 29 33 Drone attacks Target killings 19 35 5 3 5 3 41 10 Landmine explosions 1 1 1 Sabotage attacks 11 Dead bodies found 4 4 5 9 Military operations 7 14 84 12 98 12 Schools blown up 4 Mortar/grenade/firing 20 10 33 10 33 Total 199 128
Weekly Timeline of Violent Incidents (Feb. 26-Mar.3, 2012)
Date Incidents 26th February A two feet long piece of rail track, linking Quetta with the rest of the country, was blown up by unidentified persons in Sariab area of the provincial capital. Unidentified men armed with sophisticated weapons attacked and injured two security personnel in Tuba Nokhani area of Dera Bugti district of Balochistan. All the cases filed against the Baloch leaders, Barahamdagh Bugti, Harbiyar Marri and Akhtar Mengal, have been quashed. Mahazullah, another Baloch missing person, reached home in Nushki, Balochistan. Five activists of banned militant organization Lashkar-i-Islam (LI) were killed and their several hideouts were demolished, when gun ship helicopter shelled the area in Tirrah Valley in Khyber Agency (Federally Administered Tribal Areas). The chief of kidnapping squad, Meen Asghar was killed when a mortar shell hit a hideout of militants in Speen Drand area of Tirrah Valley in Khyber Agency. Two children and two women were killed when the house of Saifoor Khan was hit by a mortar shell in Tirrah Valley in Khyber Agency. Political administration under the territorial responsibility clause of Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) held 21 members of Mangal tribe in Kurram Agency, after militants fired rockets on Piwar area near the Afghan border. According to the officials, the tribesmen would remain in custody till the culprits were not handed over to the local authorities. Another person, Saleem Khan, was added to the list of `missing persons` after he was abducted from Gulshanabad area in Rawalpindi, by what his family alleged personnel of law enforcement agencies, and an FIR was registered. After the multiple blasts on the Pakistan Railways (PR) track in Sindh, allegedly carried out by terrorists, security at stations and inside trains has been beefed up. FIRs have been registered at different railway police stations against unidentified persons in eight districts of Sindh, under the anti terror law, in the wake of more than a dozen...
CRSS-IRC Training Workshop
Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), in collaboration withInformation, Research and Communication (IRC), Embassy of the United States of America , Islamabadarranged a training workshop on online databases at CRSS office onThursday, March 8, 2012 from 3 pm to 5 pm. A large number of researchers, academicians and students participated in the workshop. In her opening remarks, Ms Afshan Amir, Director IRC, US Embassy introduced the participants with the IRC and its objectives. She underlined that it is a unique initiative on the part of US State Department that it is providing free access to costly online databases. Later on, Mr. Umar Farooq, assistant at IRC conducted the training session and thoroughly acquainted the participants with the online databases and real time search techniques. He narrated that this particular initiative on the part of IRC will provide online access to the subscribers into 32 databases and hundreds of books and documentaries. At the end, IRC provided free logins to the participants to access the databases.
CRSS – Pakistan Conflict Tracker (PCT)
Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS),in collaboration with the Embassy of Switzerland, Islamabad is going to launch a conflict monitor by the title ofPakistan Conflict Tracker (PCT) from March 9, 2012. The Tracker will map the territory of the ongoing conflicts, pinpoint the drivers behind the conflicts, and offer, wherever necessary, background information that is critical to understand the nature and emerging conflict trends across Pakistan. On the basis of the complied data, weekly and monthly conflict analysis reports will be produced. The reports will be shared on the CRSS website and disseminated in the media.
Talks with Taliban and the Future of NATO in Afghanistan
The Lisbon Summit of 2010 had set 2014 as the deadline for the withdrawal of foreign security forces from Afghanistan. But US defence secretary, Leon Panetta stated on February 1, 2012 that US would end its combat role in Afghanistan by the mid of 2013 and '---switch to an advice and assist role with the Afghan army.'[1] Though later on, he tried to rephrase his message through spin of words, yet, the jest of the matter remains unchanged; the financial crisis at home is dictating the US administration to work out cheaper engagement options beyond 2013. Moreover, the latest National Intelligence Estimate, a compilation based on the input from 16 US intelligence agencies including the CIA, suggests that '--- war in Afghanistan is mired in a stalemate---.'[2] The report also warns that security gains, achieved as a result of US troops– surge are severely jeopardized by the lack of progress at socio-economic fronts and blessing of safe havens in Pakistan tribal region for the Taliban.[3] Against this backdrop, the US has opened up its arms to embrace Taliban. In an interview with Newsweek on December 19, 2011, US vice president, Joe Biden astoundingly underlined that '--- the Taliban per se is not our enemy. That critical. There is not a single statement that the president has ever made in any of our policy assertions that the Taliban is our enemy because it threatens U.S. interests.'[4] This was clearly indicative of what Washington was upto. And it was most probably to the context of already existing contacts between US and Taliban representatives, which eventually culminated in the establishment of a Taliban representative office in Qatar in January 2012. Biden statement was in fact the precursor to initial confidence-building talks between the US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Marc Grossman and the Taliban representatives led by Tayyab Agha, stationed in the tiny Gulf state of Qatar.. It is important to note here that US kept the Afghan President Hamid...
Conflict Drivers
Geo-strategic location Drone attacks Foreign Involvement Military operations Policy on Kashmir and Afghanistan Poverty Unemployment Illiteracy Distribution of resources among provinces Deficient rule of Law Governance issues Role of Frontier Corps in Balochistan Geo-strategic location Pakistan crucial geo-strategic positioning ´ protracted tensions with India over Kashmir, long history of strained relations with Afghanistan, and its proximity to Iran, which has tensions with the United States, and the increasing US focus on the region ´ can be termed as a major conflict driver. In the wake of the strategic location of Afghanistan, having proximity to China, Russia and the Central Asian states, the United States wants to keep foot in Afghanistan, in order to have an eye on the activities of China and Russia. Being a neighbor, Pakistan has the highest stakes in Afghanistan, and thus finds itself at the center of a complex geo-strategic scuffle going on in the region. As many actors are busy in the game in this part of the world, it becomes difficult for Pakistan to safeguard its regional interests in addition to maintaining peace and stability within its boundaries. Drone attacks Drone attacks, carried out by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), also serve as a driving factor behind the militant upsurge. Right-wing religio-political parties and sympathizers of al Qaeda and Taliban condemn the drone attacks as a 'violation of Pakistani sovereignty', and therefore also use them to justify their opposition to the military's counter-insurgency efforts. It increases anger and feeling of revenge even in the local population of the drone hit areas, resulting in an increase in terrorist acts against the government and the military forces of the country. According to the data compiled by The Long War Journal, US carried out 64 drone strikes in Pak-Afghan bordering region (South and North Waziristan) during 2011, which resulted in the killing of 405 suspected terrorists...
Pakistan Conflict Tracker
Conflict Analysis ReportTimelineData SheetConflict Drivers Pakistan is currently embroiled in several political, ethnic, tribal and ideological conflicts. From northern to central to southern Pakistan, these conflicts manifest themselves in the form of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) , Punjabi Taliban, Lashkar-e-Islam, Swat Taliban and Baloch Nationalists ´ all of them involved in conflict ´ one way or the other ´ with the security apparatus and the civil society at large. Many of the actors involved in these conflicts have apparently links with regional and global actors, especially in case of religious terrorists and criminal mafias, complicating thereby Pakistan security landscape. The Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), with a strong base of human resources (reporters involved in the counter-radicalization radio programme) in conflict-affected areas, in collaboration with the Embassy of Switzerland, Islamabad launched a conflict monitor, Pakistan Conflict Tracker (PCT) in March 2012. The Tracker will map the territory of the ongoing conflicts, pinpoint the drivers behind the conflicts, and offer, wherever necessary, background information that is critical to understand the nature and emerging conflict trends across Pakistan. On the basis of the complied data, monthly conflict analysis reports will be produced. The reports will be shared on the Website and also shared with the media. The reports would be based on: a) Field reports (by CRSS radio reporters/researchers), and b) Ten major newspapers We at the centre feel that Pakistani and foreign policy-makers, diplomats and researchers do need a web-based monthly Security Tracking service ´ a resource that will chronicle conflict-related developments across Pakistan, and be helpful in monitoring trends of violence and conflict. In 2011, the Centre already undertook monitoring of violence in Balochistan titled Balochistan Security Monitor.
Balochistan Weekly Monitor (February 13-19, 2012)
Executive Summary The security situation in Balochistan continues to aggravate with the passage of time. As dead bodies of political workers, frequent episodes of target and sectarian killings, bomb blasts and abductions relentlessly infect the province. The hallmark of the week was the target killing of laborers who were engaged in construction work near Kech in the district of Turbat, by the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF), which killed 7 laborers. In sum, 17 people lost their lives in different incidents of violence across the province. ANP leader and Senator Afrasiab Khattak, who is also chairman functional committee of senate on human rights, condemned the worst law and order in Balochistan and said if grievances of Balochis were not taken seriously, they will definitely look up to others for help. Pakistan top leadership strongly condemned US Congress resolution on Balochistan and termed it as direct intervention in Pakistan internal affairs. Balochistan is a part of Pakistan and it has its own independent provincial assembly and has due representation in the Parliament of Pakistan. Nature of Incidents Dead FC Army Civilian Injured Target killings 0 0 8 2 Natural incidents 0 0 2 0 Bomb blasts+ landmine explosion 2 0 2 21 Militants 2 0 0 2 Dead bodies found 0 0 1 0 Total 17 25 Week in Review a) Acts of Terrorism/Subversion and Abduction ├╠According to security officials, some unidentified persons had planted explosives on a motorcycle and parked it at the road near Bakra Mandi in Dera Murad Jamali on February 13. The device was detonated as a police van passed by the area, killing two children at the spot while twelve others, including two policemen, sustained injuries. No group has taken responsibility for the incident.[1] ├╠The dead body of missing Baloch Republican Party (BRP) leader Sangat Sana was found dumped near Turbat on February 13. According to Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP), an organization working for the recovery of Baloch...
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I am also a member of National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting. Recently, we held a meeting with the Director General of Radio Pakistan and we told them to initiate such local programs (like Constituency Hour) in regional languages to educate and inform people. Even Indian Radio can be heard in FATA which is being used for propaganda purposes and must be closed. Therefore, we should launch some standard and quality programs like CRSS that will change the taste of the listeners.