Pakistan to review U.S. ties after drone strike kills TTP leader Mehsud

Strike and fallout

Hakimullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, and four other militants were killed in North Waziristan on Friday in a U.S. drone strike that dealt a major blow to the militant group (AJAM, AP, Dawn, NYT, Post, RFE/RL).  While previous reports of Mehsud’s death had proven false, multiple reports from American, Pakistan, and Taliban officials confirmed that Mehsud had died in the village of Danda Darpa Khel when missiles fired from the drone struck the vehicle he was traveling in.  Though the Taliban has been responsible for the deaths of thousands of Pakistanis, the New York Times’ Declan Walsh noted that "after [Mehsud’s] death, it seems, Pakistani hearts have grown fonder," and condemnations of the strike came fast and furious, including from Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the Taliban’s Afghan counterpart (NYT, Dawn, ET).

The Pakistani government, which said a delegation had been on its way to speak with Mehsud when the missiles struck on Friday, accused the United States of scuttling the nascent peace process and summoned Richard G. Olson, the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, to formally protest the attack (AJAM, AJE, AP, Post, Reuters, VOA).  Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said the strike had undercut the government’s efforts to negotiate a peaceful end to the insurgency, a claim the United States has rejected (AFP, RFE/RL).  He added that the Pakistani government has taken a number of retaliatory steps, but did not specify what those were (VOA).  Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s office released a statement on Sunday saying that the country’s ties with the United States would be reviewed following the strike and on Monday, he addressed the strike calling the drone attacks "counterproductive" to Pakistan’s peace efforts (AFP, BBC, Dawn, ET, Reuters).  

Meanwhile, Mehsud was secretly buried early Saturday morning out of fears that his funeral would be attacked by additional drone strikes (NYT, Reuters).  A day later, the Taliban appointed Asmatullah Shaheen Bhittani as their interim chief (NPR, RFE/RL, VOA).  According to Shahidullah Shahid, the group’s chief spokesman, a permanent replacement for Mehsud has not yet been chosen, and "Time will tell whether we take revenge of his martyrdom or not" (ET). 

Out on bail

A Pakistani court granted former president Pervez Musharraf bail on Monday, bringing him one step closer to a possible release after more than six months under house arrest (AP, BBC, Dawn, ET, Reuters, RFE/RL, VOA).  Musharraf, who was ordered to pay a $2,000 bail, was being held in connection to a deadly 2007 raid on a radical mosque in Islamabad.  While Musharraf’s name remains on the country’s "exit control list," meaning he cannot leave Pakistan without government approval, he is out on bail in all of the cases that have been brought against him since he returned from a self-imposed exile in April. 

A separate crisis

After more than a decade of war, the New York Times reported on Saturday that Afghanistan is facing another, less apparent crisis: widespread, devastating drug addiction (NYT). According to the report, the number of drug users in Afghanistan is estimated to be as high as 1.6 million people, or 5.3 percent of the population. This translates into one in 10 urban households having at least one drug user. Even children are becoming addicted through exposure to second-hand smoke.

But while the focus of the international community has always been on reducing opium production — the United States has spent more than $7 billion on fighting Afghanistan’s production industry through eradication and alternative crop subsidies — the results have been disappointing and in the last two years, opium crops have increased to their highest levels since 2008 (Post). Meanwhile, domestic opium consumption rates have increased with almost no international attention and little Afghan government effort to address addiction rates. 

Fighting season assessment 

As the Afghan fighting season comes to a close, assessments of Afghan security forces offer mixed views of the country’s future security. The Afghan Interior Ministry revealed last Tuesday that 2,052 members of the Afghan National Police and Afghan Local Police were killed and more than 5,000 were wounded during the April 2013 to October 2013 fighting season (RFE/RL).  According to the ministry, the Taliban launched 50 suicide attacks and 1,704 direct attacks on police during that time. In September, U.S. General Mark Milley, the commander of NATO ground forces in Afghanistan, said that the 50 to 100 Afghan soldiers being killed every month was comparable to fatality rates for U.S. forces during the Vietnam War (RT).  But while a larger number of Afghan security forces were killed, the Taliban failed to capture any ground from them as they fought without foreign firepower for the first time (AP). 

NATO reported on Sunday that a coalition soldier had been killed in an attack in eastern Afghanistan, but did not provide the nationality of the soldier or location of the attack (AP, Pajhwok).  A police checkpoint in southern Uruzgan province was also attacked Sunday, and one officer and four insurgents were killed, while four other people were injured.  

Members of a small insurgent group and its commander turned in their arms in Herat province on Sunday and joined the province’s reconciliation program (Pajhwok). The group of 15 was led by Mullah Basir, who said he had never been against the government, but had picked up arms because of personal grievances with some officials.  The group surrendered two rocket launchers, a machine gun, and other explosives to police in exchange for monthly stipends and places in a six-month vocational training program.

Shoulder to shoulder

Organized by Youth FM, an Afghan radio station, the Peace Music Festival brought young men and women together for a night of celebration and unity in Kabul this past weekend, making clear that Afghans want peace (Cambridge Now!).  The slogan of the festival, shana ba shana, or "shoulder to shoulder," was a message of peace and solidarity for Afghan youth and it was presented in a modern, inclusive, and multicultural event that included performers from Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, and Tajikistan.  Although the first day of the concert was for females only, the gates were open to everyone on the second day and many across the region watched on television. 

— Emily Schneider and Bailey Cahall