RBroz Consultancy Corner: February 2015

Wednesday, February 04, 2015

Four security personnel, five lashkar men killed in Kurram, Khyber

GHALANAI/BARA: At least four security men were killed in an explosion targeting a convoy of security forces in Warmagai area of Kurram tribal region on Tuesday.

Security and rescue teams reached the blast site and shifted the victims to a nearby hospital. The security forces’ vehicle was destroyed in the blast. Security forces cordoned off the blast site as a probe into the incident went underway. Kurram is one of the most sensitive tribal areas as it borders three Afghan provinces and at one point in time was one of the key routes for militants’ movement across the border.

The region was claimed by the military to have been cleared of insurgents during an operation a couple of years ago, however, militants still carry out sectarian attacks and also target security forces occasionally. Kurram tribal agency is adjacent to North Waziristan region where the operation Zarb-e-Azb is in progress against Taliban and other insurgent groups. Meanwhile, in Khyber Agency, three volunteers of local peace committee were killed and another sustained injuries in a bomb blast at Tirah valley. They were patrolling the area when the explosion took place.

Meanwhile, five activists of the peace committee Tauheedul Islam have died in bomb blast in Tirah valley of Khyber Agency on Tuesday. Administration officials say an improvised explosive device (IED) planted near a bunker of the committee in Naray Baba area went off last night, killing five volunteers. The banned Lashkar-e-Islam, a tribal militia led by Mangal Bagh, later claimed responsibility for the bomb attack. Clashes between the Lashkar-e-Islam and Tauheedul Islam have claimed several lives in Tirah valley so far. Bagh gone into hiding since the authorities launched military action in Khyber tribal region, which is the most important region among the tribal agencies.

Army vows blanket crackdown against terrorists, extremists

ISLAMABAD: Taking stock of the fresh spate of sectarian killings, Pakistan Army’s top brass has reiterated the vow of an all-out crackdown against terrorism, extremism and sectarianism ‘without any discrimination.’

The military command on Tuesday reviewed its ongoing counterterrorism drive in the north-western tribal region in addition to taking decisions on a host of related operational and legal issues concerning the army’s enhanced role in line with the National Action Plan (NAP) as well as the military’s role in the United Nations missions. The 179th Corps Commanders Conference with Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif in chair saw reported discussions on the Pakistan Army’s ongoing military operations as well as the deployment of peacekeeping troops in different parts of the world.

“Focus of the exhaustive review remained on the most effective implementation of National Action Plan in concert with federal and provincial governments, in order to eliminate terrorism, extremism and sectarianism without any discrimination,” a statement from Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said. The meeting participants comprehensively reviewed internal and external security situation of the country, it said.

Regarded as one of the most prolific events, the monthly Corps Commanders Conferences held in the month of February or March each year have significant importance as operational and administrative issues are taken up in these meetings—to deal with security issues and for filling-in the slots of major generals with new promotions.

This commanders’ moot, a security official claimed, has even more importance due to the unfolding multi-faceted counterterrorism strategy Pakistan Army follows as envisaged in the NAP. The working of the newly established military courts, the continued military operations Zarb-e-Azb and Khyber One respectively in North Waziristan Agency (NWA) and Khyber Agency, and the troops allocation for the UN peacekeeping operations in the wake of military’s increasing security engagements on internal fronts were discussed in detail in the commanders meeting, the source shared.

It merits a recall here that a top-level delegation of the UN High Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations led by Jose Ramos-Horta, the panel’s Chair, landed here on Monday to discuss with the civilian leadership and military command the allocation of Pakistan’s peacekeeping troops in the backdrop of growing number of humanitarian emergencies in different parts of the world. Pakistan has one of the highest numbers of over 7,900 security personnel including military and police troops assigned to the UN peacekeeping missions across the world. Moreover, the sources said, the proposed expansion of military courts from Pakistan to Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.