Pakistan Conflict Monitor

WIkiLeaks Exacerbate Strains in US-Pak Relations: Analysts

WikiLeaks' Fallout for U.S.-Pakistan Ties [audio], Council on Foreign Relations, 30 July 2010

EXCERPT: "The classified U.S. military documents related to the war in Afghanistan leaked by WikiLeaks.org paint a grim picture of collusion between Pakistan's intelligence service, the Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and members of the Afghan Taliban. While the allegations laid out in the documents--that the ISI supports Taliban insurgents fighting U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan--may not be new, they exacerbated strains in U.S.-Pakistan relations. In Pakistan, the allegations feed a growing paranoia that the leaks are part of a 'conspiracy aimed at damaging the Pakistan-Afghanistan relationship, which is in a nascent stage, as well as the U.S.-Pakistan relationship,' says Shuja Nawaz, director of the South Asia Center at the Washington-based Atlantic Council. In the United States, the allegations will raise 'new question marks in the American public, the American media, and the American Congress about the reliability of our Pakistani partner,' says Bruce Riedel, a senior fellow at Brookings Institution. However, the Obama administration understands 'this relationship is absolutely vital not just to the stability of Afghanistan and Pakistan but to the stability of all of South and Central Asia,' says Riedel, who also chaired the review of U.S. policy on Pakistan and Afghanistan for the administration in 2009."

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Related articles:
Despite vast US aid, Pakistan likes Al Qaeda more than America, The Christian Science Monitor, 30 July 2010
Leaks highlight Pakistan’s Afghan quest, The Financial Times, 30 July 2010
Get tough on Pakistan, Newsweek, 30 July 2010
The AfPak War via WikiLeaks, OpenDemocracy, 29 July 2010

Related posts:
Pakistan Aids Insurgency in Afghanistan: Leaked Reports, 26 July 2010
Pakistan in the danger zone: A tenuous US-Pakistan relationship, 29 June 2010
Negotiating with the Taliban: Issues and prospects, 28 June 2010
ISI trains, funds, and supplies Taliban: Report, 14 June 2010
US praises Pakistan's "excellent cooperation"; Security pledge made, 19 May 2010

Afghanistan Questions US Silence over Pakistan's Role in the Insurgency

Afghanistan Questions U.S. Silence over Pakistan's Role, Reuters, 27 July 2010

EXCERPT: "The United States has pursued a contradictory policy with regard to the Afghan war by ignoring Pakistan's role in the insurgency, the Afghan government said on Tuesday, following the leak of U.S. military documents. The classified documents released by the organization, WikiLeaks, show current and former members of Pakistan's spy agency were actively collaborating with the Taliban in plotting attacks in Afghanistan. On Tuesday, in its first reaction to the leak, Afghanistan's National Security Council said the United States had failed to attack the patrons and supporters of the Taliban hiding in Pakistan throughout the nine-year conflict. 'With regret ... our allies did not show necessary attention about the external support for the international terrorists ... for the regional stability and global security,' the council said in a statement. Afghanistan has long blamed Pakistan for meddling in its affairs, accusing the neighbor of plotting attacks to destabilize it. Islamabad, which has had longstanding ties to the Taliban, denies involvement in the insurgency and says it is a victim of militancy itself. The National Security Council did not name Pakistan, but said use of terrorism as an instrument of state policy was a dangerous gamble and had to be stopped."

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Related articles:
Pakistan has its own battle to fight, Asia Times Online, 28 July 2010
Pakistan and Afghanistan: Interdependent, distrustful neighbours, The Guardian, 27 July 2010
Pakistani spies trace Fazlullah to Kunar province, The Express Tribune, 27 July 2010
Malik says terrorists coming from Afghanistan, DAWN, 27 July 2010
No change to war strategy, Pakistan ties after leak: US, DAWN, 27 July 2010
Afghanistan war logs: Clandestine aid for Taliban bears Pakistan's fingerprints, The Guardian, 25 July 2010

Related posts:
Afghanistan builds up strategic partnership with Pakistan, 21 July 2010
Pakistan, Afghanistan to boost anti-terror cooperation, 25 June 2010
Pakistan efforts to broker Afghan-Haqqani peace "undermine US interests", 25 June 2010
Afghan spy agency accuses Pakistani counterpart in suicide bombing, 25 May 2010
US praises Pakistan's "excellent cooperation"; security pledge made, 19 May 2010

US Lawmakers Want Troops Out of Pakistan

Two US Lawmakers Want American Troops Out of Pakistan, AFP, 26 July 2010

EXCERPT: "Two US lawmakers -- a Republican and a Democrat -- proposed a bill this week demanding the withdrawal of all US troops in Pakistan, where they are conducting covert operations against militants. 'We have known that US forces have been operating in secret inside the territories of Pakistan without congressional approval,' Democratic Representative Dennis Kucinich said Friday, pointing to reports the United States was stepping up its presence there. He said the House of Representatives was expected to take up the resolution next week. The measure was introduced late Thursday. Kucinich said the covert operations were a 'violation of the 1973 War Powers Resolution introduced after the Vietnam War that only allows the president to send US armed forces into military operations abroad if Congress approves the decision or if the United States is under a serious threat or attack.' [...] Joining Kucinich on the bill was Ron Paul, a Texas Republican who espoused libertarian views during his failed 2008 bid for the presidency. Paul said the US military has 'significantly increased' its operations in Pakistan, without providing figures. He also noted the increased use of unmanned drone attacks in Pakistan since President Barack Obama came to office a year and a half ago."

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Related articles:
Sacrifices made by Pakistan not fully realised: Pentagon, DAWN, 26 July 2010
Rules Committee to vote on measure urging removal of troops from Pakistan [blog], The Hill, 26 July 2010

Related posts:
US troops in Pakistan to oversee development projects, 21 July 2010
US special ops aiding Pakistan's "hold and build" operations, 13 April 2010
US to expand Pakistan training program, 12 February 2010
Response to US troop presence surprisingly muted, 4 February 2010
US forces conducted secret raids into Pakistan, 22 December 2009

US Troops in Pakistan to Oversee Development Projects

U.S. Forces Step Up Pakistan Presence, The Wall Street Journal, 20 July 2010

EXCERPT: "U.S. Special Operations Forces have begun venturing out with Pakistani forces on aid projects, deepening the American role in the effort to defeat Islamist militants in Pakistani territory that has been off limits to U.S. ground troops. The expansion of U.S. cooperation is significant given Pakistan's deep aversion to allowing foreign military forces on its territory. The Special Operations teams join the aid missions only when commanders determine there is relatively little security risk, a senior U.S. military official said, in an effort to avoid direct engagement that would call attention to U.S. participation. The U.S. troops are allowed to defend themselves and return fire if attacked. But the official emphasized the joint missions aren't supposed to be combat operations, and the Americans often participate in civilian garb. Pakistan has told the U.S. that troops need to keep a low profile. 'Going out in the open, that has negative optics, that is something we have to work out,' said a Pakistani official. 'This whole exercise could be counterproductive if people see U.S. boots on the ground.' Because of Pakistan's sensitivities, the U.S. role has developed slowly. [...] Today, the U.S. has about 120 trainers in the country, and the program is set to expand again with new joint missions to oversee small-scale development projects aimed at winning over tribal leaders, according to officials familiar with the plan."

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Related articles:
Building trust in Pakistan through carrots and sticks won't work, The Brookings Institution, 21 July 2010
US leverage on Pakistan to get Osama, says Clinton, DAWN, 21 July 2010
US sees Pakistan PR triumph, Al Jazeera, 20 July 2010
Building not buying trust in Pakistan, Foreign Policy // The AfPak Channel, 19 July 2010

Related primary documents:
Clinton's remarks with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi following the US-Pakistan strategic dialogue, Council on Foreign Relations, July 2010

Related posts:
Distrust slows US training of Pakistanis, 12 July 2010
US special ops aiding Pakistan's "hold and build" operations, 13 April 2010
US to expand Pakistan training program, 12 February 2010
Response to US troop presence surprisingly muted, 4 February 2010
US forces conducted secret raids into Pakistan, 22 December 2009

Pakistan to Play Key Role in Talks with Taliban

Pakistan to Play Key Role in Talks with Taliban, Reuters, 20 July 2010

EXCERPT: "Afghan President Hamid Karzai needs Pakistan's help to convince some Taliban factions to end their insurgency, a central plank of his peace strategy, but doubts remain about Islamabad's motives and ability to deliver. Pakistan and Afghanistan are both seeking to encourage some elements of the Taliban to reconcile with the Afghan government by renouncing al Qaeda, laying down their arms and taking part in the Afghan political process. 'Pakistan wants to help Afghanistan,' Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said at a dinner at the Pakistani Ambassador's house in Kabul on Monday night. 'It is for them to decide what they want to do. We want to help them as good neighbours because we feel that a stable, peaceful, prosperous Afghanistan is in Pakistan's interest.' Crucial to Islamabad's efforts will be the attitude of the Haqqani network, which operates on the Afghan-Pakistan border and has longstanding links to Pakistani military intelligence. But the United States is doubtful one of the most brutal and effective factions of the Taliban insurgency can be persuaded to lay down its weapons and take part in Afghan politics."

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Related articles:
Talking with the Taliban [OpEd], The Guardian, 20 July 2010
Factbox: Some facts about Afghanistan's reintegration plan, Reuters, 20 July 2010
White House shifts Afghanistan strategy towards talks with Taliban, The Guardian, 19 July 2010
Clinton heads to Pakistan to discuss its crucial Afghan role, AFP, 15 July 2010

Related reports:
Pakistan and Afghanistan: Understanding Islamabad's objectives and strategies, Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, July 2010

Related posts:
Afghanistan urges Pakistan to target terror groups, 6 July 2010
Govt efforts at Taliban reconciliation complicated by Haqqani's ties to Al-Qaeda, 30 June 2010
Pakistan efforts to broker Afghan-Haqqani peace "undermine US interests", 25 June 2010
Pakistan seeks to broker Afghan deal, 16 June 2010
Haqqani network key to Afghan peace talks, Pakistan's interests: Analysts, 31 May 2010

Punjab's Crackdown on Terrorists "Unconvincing"

In Pakistan's Punjab, an Unconvincing Terror Crackdown, TIME, 14 July 2010

EXCERPT: "Bowing to intense public pressure, Pakistan's largest province has finally moved against some local militant groups. The Punjab government, which had until now preferred to look away, last week ordered a crackdown after a series of vicious terrorist attacks on religious groups branded by the militants as heretics, apostates or infidels. Over 40 people were killed on July 1 in an attack at Lahore's most famous Sufi shrine, sparking outrage across the country as even moderate Muslims staged armed demonstrations and vowed to tackle the militants themselves if the Punjab government declined to act. [...] Punjabi authorities are now trying ease fears of militancy run amok with a crackdown that police say has already seen over 150 arrests. But analysts and critics of the Punjab government are skeptical. 'The feedback I'm getting is that it's just an eyewash,' Salmaan Taseer, the governor of Punjab and a loyalist of President Asif Ali Zardari, tells TIME. [...] The problem, says security analyst Muhammad Amir Rana, is that the police have only arrested relatively low-level activists already known to them."

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Related articles:
India seeks Hafiz Saeed, others' custody, Daily Times, 16 July 2010
Crack down on terrorists launched in Raiwind, The News International, 16 July 2010

Related reports:
Little-known Ghazi Brigade now a major player in the Punjabi jihad?, The Jamestown Foundation // Terrorism Monitor, 16 July 2010

Related posts:
Weak governance aids radicalization in Punjab: Experts, 13 July 2010
Pakistan bans 23 militant outfits, 6 July 2010
Punjabi Taliban split from established militant groups, 17 June 2010
Punjab extremists more numerous, more entrenched than NW Taliban, 7 June 2010
Despite govt's denials, police report suggests Talibanization of Punjab, 17 May 2010

Kurram Agency Faces a "Humanitarian Crisis": Officials

Officials: Isolated Pakistani Region Faces Humanitarian Crisis, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 13 July 2010

EXCERPT: "I.A. Rehman, the chairman of Pakistan's Human Rights Commission, says that people in Kurram Agency are facing a humanitarian crisis. Jawad Hussain, a member of the National Assembly from Kurram, says the region has been cut off from the rest of the country for the last three years. He says various Taliban groups dominate the main route between Thal and Parachinar, which in turn connects Kurram with Pakistan's main urban centers. 'Our people are forced to travel through the hard and mountainous regions of Afghanistan to reach the cities of Peshawar and Islamabad of Pakistan,' Hussain says. [...] Last week, unidentified gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying passengers from Parachinar to the provincial capital of Peshawar. [...] The humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders said in a recent report that it has become extremely difficult to provide relief to the sick in Kurram. It noted that medical supplies are becoming increasingly scarce and even hospitals have been attacked."

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Related articles:
Congressional gridlock reaches to Pakistan's tribes [OpEd], The Washington Post, 15 July 2010
Fight against militancy: Still a long way to go, The Express Tribune, 12 July 2010
Pakistani tribesmen killed on "safe" Afghan diversion, BBC News, 10 July 2010

Related posts:
The missing dimension of Pakistan’s counterinsurgency policy, 13 July 2010
Border areas show signs of insecurity despite claims of progress, 9 July 2010
Army, tribal leaders offer conflicting views on reconstruction progress, 8 July 2010
Taliban regroup in areas thought secure, 24 June 2010
Govt to invest in border areas to tackle militancy, 31 May 2010

US Drone Attack Kills 10 in North Waziristan

US Drone Attack Kills 10 in North Waziristan, DAWN, 15 July 2010

EXCERPT: "US  missiles destroyed a compound used by militants in Pakistan’s tribal belt on Thursday, killing at least 10 militants in the first such attack for two weeks, officials said. A US drone fired at least two missiles into the compound in the village of Sheerani Mada Khel in the district of North Waziristan, a Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked stronghold heavily targeted in a covert US drone war this year. 'At least 10 militants were killed,' a senior security official told AFP on condition of anonymity. 'Most of the dead militants are said to be foreigners,' he added, but said that their nationalities were not yet known. [...] Another security official said up to 14 militants were killed when three missiles slammed into the compound. The area, 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, is a stronghold of Pakistani warlord Hafiz Gul Bahadur. He is reputed to control up to 2,000 fighters in the region who stage attacks over the border against foreign forces stationed in Afghanistan."

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Related articles:
Times Square bomber vows revenge in Al-Arabiya video, The Washington Post, 15 July 2010
US drone strike kills six militants in Pakistan, AFP, 27 June 2010

Related brief:
The military utility of drones [pdf], Center for Security Studies, ETH Zurich, July 2010

Related posts:
Al-Qaeda commander killed in S. Waziristan drone strike, 30 June 2010
Al-Qaeda at its weakest, Bin Laden in Pakistan, drones legal: CIA Chief, 28 June 2010
Drones kill 14 militants in North Waziristan, 11 June 2010
UN report strongly criticizes US drone attacks, 2 June 2010
Drones strike N. Waziristan, kill at least 24, 11 May 2010

Petraeus Wants to Blacklist the Haqqani Network

US May Label Pakistan Militants as Terrorists, The New York Times, 14 July 2010

EXCERPT: "The new American military commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David H. Petraeus, is pushing to have top leaders of a feared insurgent group designated as terrorists, a move that could complicate an eventual Afghan political settlement with the Taliban and aggravate political tensions in the region. General Petraeus introduced the idea of blacklisting the group, known as the Haqqani network, late last week in discussions with President Obama’s senior advisers on Pakistan and Afghanistan, according to several administration officials, who said it was being seriously considered. Such a move could risk antagonizing Pakistan, a critical partner in the war effort, but one that is closely tied to the Haqqani network. It could also frustrate the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, who is pressing to reconcile with all the insurgent groups as a way to end the nine-year-old war and consolidate his own grip on power."

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Related articles:
Sen. Levin urges State Department to put Afghan Taliban on list of terror groups, The Washington Post, 14 July 2010
Viewpoint: The US must choose to talk or fight the Taliban, BBC News, 14 July 2010

Related posts:
Pakistan bans 23 militant outfits, 6 July 2010
Govt efforts at Taliban reconciliation complicated by Haqqani's ties to Al-Qaeda, 30 June 2010
Pakistan efforts to broker Afghan-Haqqani peace "undermine US interests", 25 June 2010
Haqqani network key to Afghan peace talks, Pakistan's interests: Analysts, 31 May 2010
US mulls adding Pakistan Taliban to terror list, 11 May 2010

Terrorists Launch Attacks as Govt Arrests Hundreds of Suspected Militants

Terrorists Retaliate as Many of Them Arrested, Killed in Pakistan Following Friday's Suicide Attack, China View, 13 July 2010

EXCERPT: "Counter-attacks have been launched by militants in Pakistan on Monday as a large number of suspected terrorists have been arrested or killed following last Friday's suicide attack in the country's northwest tribal area of Mohmand Agency which has so far claimed 107 lives and injured more than 120 others. [...] All the incidents happened in Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan and notorious for heavy presence of Taliban and al-Qaeda militants. [...] It is reported that over 600 suspected terrorists have been nabbed during a large-scale search operation in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa following Friday's incident in addition to a seizure of arms and ammunitions in large quantity. In Peshawar alone, about 178 suspected terrorists were reportedly apprehended since last Friday."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Pakistan arrests hundreds of suspected militants, AFP, 13 July 2010
Pakistan cracks down on al Qaeda-linked groups, The Wall Street Journal, 13 July 2010
410 arrested in Peshawar operation, Daily Times, 13 July 2010
Key militant commander killed in Lower Dir operation, The Express Tribune, 12 July 2010
Taliban claims brutal double suicide blast, ABC News, 11 July 2010

Related posts:
Govt blames Afghan militants for bombings, 12 July 2010
Suicide bombers strike govt office, kill dozens in NW, 9 July 2010
Afghanistan urges Pakistan to target terror groups, 6 July 2010
Peshawar braces for possible Taliban fight, 29 June 2010
Pakistani police underfunded, overwhelmed, 30 November 2009