Two U.S. Consulate Employees Killed by IED; Suicide Bomb Strikes Near Indian Consulate in Jalalabad; Talks Depend on Pakistani Action Against Jaish-e-Muhammad: Jaishankar

Pakistan

Bonus Read: “An isolated Osama bin Laden struggled to keep his bodyguards,” by Peter Bergen (CNN)

Two U.S. Consulate employees killed by IED

On Tuesday, two Pakistani employees of the U.S. Consulate in Peshawar were killed when an IED exploded on a street in Pakistan’s FATA region (NYT, WSJ, VOA). The two employees, Faisal Khan, an anti-narcotics official, and Abid Shah, a driver for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, were out conducting a drug eradication mission in FATA’s Mohmand Agency, according to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. Four other people were wounded, including two Pakistani security officials. Laying claim to the attack, Ehsanullah Ehsan, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban’s Jamaat-e-Ahrar faction, said, “Our attacks will continue until the establishment of an Islamic system.”

Police hunt for man who killed sisters in honor killing

Pakistani officials said on Wednesday they are searching for a 29 year-old man who shot his two sisters – Fozia Bibi, 22, and Suriya Bibi, 24 – to death in an alleged honor killing in Punjab province (Reuters). The suspect, Muhammad Asif, has been a fugitive since Tuesday evening. Speaking to Reuters, police officer Tariq Mehmood said, “Muhammad Asif killed his two sisters last night over their character and lifestyle, which he didn’t like.” Asif believed his sisters were carrying on affairs. This is the second killing from Asif, who was jailed after killing his mother four or five years ago, but was ultimately released after being pardoned by his family.

–Albert Ford

Afghanistan

Suicide bomb strikes near Indian consulate in Jalalabad

On Wednesday, a car bomb detonated near the Indian consulate in the Afghan city of Jalalabad, capital of Nangarhar province. Afghan security forces killed five militants – after the suicide bomber was killed due to his own strike (Reuters, AP, RFE/RL, BBC, ToI). Two people were killed and 19 wounded as a result of the attacks. The two victims, according to Reuters, were a police officer and a civilian woman. Consular officials told the BBC that none of their staff were hurt. A spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar province, Attahullah Khugyani, said, “Their target was the Indian consulate, but our forces shot and killed them all before they reached their target.” The Islamic State, active in Nangarhar, reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack.

Afghan security forces cede two areas to the Taliban

On Tuesday, Dost Mohammad Nayab, the spokesman for the governor of Uruzgan province, reported that roughly 100 Afghan troops were moved from checkpoints in the Shahidi Hassas district of Uruzgan province to the neighboring district of Deh Rawud, also in Uruzgan (RFE/RL, Reuters). Commenting on the rationale for the move, Nayab said, “We want to create a reserve battalion in Deh Rawud and we may ask our soldiers and policemen from other districts also to leave their checkpoints.” A Taliban spokesman confirmed that the Afghan troops’ withdrawal from those two locations has left the entire area around the village of Yakhdan in the Taliban’s hands. This follows similar moves in Helmand province last month, where troops left the districts of Musa Qalah and Nawzad to the Taliban to regroup around a few towns in the vicinity of Helmand’s capital, Lashkar Gah.

General Nicholson officially takes command of U.S.-NATO forces

Today, Gen. John W. Nicholson officially takes over for Gen. John F. Campbell in command of U.S.-NATO forces in Afghanistan (ABC). Gen. Nicholson oversees around 13,000 international troops, including 9,800 Americans, in Afghanistan. Speaking to the “enemy”, he said, “I know you. You have brought only hardship and suffering to the Afghan people.”

–Albert Ford

India

Talks depend on Pakistani action against Jaish-e-Muhammad: Jaishankar

On Wednesday, Indian foreign secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said that the resumption of bilateral talks between India and Pakistan would depend on Islamabad taking action against the perpetrators of the Pathankot attack (Hindustan Times). Bilateral talks between India and Pakistan were to take place early this year but were postponed indefinitely when, on Jan. 2, seven Indian security personnel were killed at an Indian Air Force base near the border with Pakistan in the town of Pathankot. India blames a Pakistan-based organization, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), for the attack. In response to the attack, Pakistani authorities placed senior JeM leader Masood Azhar under house arrest and several members of the group were also detained. A Pakistani joint investigation team is expected to visit India this month to gather information aimed at furthering the investigation.

Jaitley hints at backing away from pensioners’ tax

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley hinted on Wednesday that he would remove a controversial budget proposal to tax pension withdrawals by private sector employees after a backlash from salaried workers (Reuters). The federal budget was presented to the parliament on Monday in which the government proposed taxing lump-sum withdrawals exceeding 40 percent of an individual’s retirement savings in the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF), unless the amount is reinvested in a pension product. Opposition parties strongly criticized the proposal and more than 100,000 people signed a petition against it in one day. The plan would have affected nearly 36 million workers.

Eight ex-servicemen spied for Pakistan in the past three years

The upper house of the Indian parliament, Rajhya Subha, was told on Wednesday that eight former military personnel have been charged with espionage in the past three years. (TOI). All eight servicemen were allegedly working for Pakistan. Minister of State for Interior Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary told the house that Pakistani intelligence services have been shifting their focus towards former military personnel in India who have access to their professional networks.

–Shuja Malik

Edited by Peter Bergen

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