MILITANTS TARGET KARACHI AIRPORT, FIRST DRONE STRIKE IN MONTHS
Pakistan’s rough week began when 23 people were killed in a bomb attack on Shia pilgrims in the south-western town of Taftan. Then, a devastating assault carried out by the Taliban at Karachi’s International Airport, the largest in Pakistan, left at least 29 people dead (including all 10 of the attackers) after security forces battled the militants for six hours. The Pakistani Taliban claimed the attack, which was aided by militants from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), was a response to the killing of Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud a year ago. A day after the Karachi assault, Pakistan fighter jets killed 15 militants in an air strike targeting nine Taliban hideouts near the Af-Pak border. Later, a CIA-operated drone strike -- the first of 2014 -- targeted two minivans full of Taliban insurgents, killing 10. Pakistani officials told Reuters privately that Islamabad had approved the drone strikes, which it frequently condemns in public. (Reuters, June 12 2014; BBC, June 8, 2014)
INDIA-CHINA FMs MEET
Foreign ministers from India and China met last week in New Delhi and reportedly held productive talks. However, it later emerged that Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj indicated to her Chinese counterpart that India would respect China's "One China" policy only if China respected India's "One India" policy. The statements suggests India is seeking greater reciprocity from Beijing: if Delhi is to recognize Chinese sovereignty over Tibet and Taiwan, it expects Beijing to recognize Indian sovereignty over Kashmir (China is currently operating several infrastructure projects in Pakistan-administrated Kashmir). Such demands on China began in 2010 under the previous Congress-led government. In addition, Delhi recently announced plans to construct 54 new border posts along the Indo-China border in Arunachal Pradesh, and China reaffirmed that it will continue to issue "stapled visas" to citizens from Arunachal Pradesh, of which China claims some 70,000 square kilometers. China called the stapled visa policy a "goodwill gesture." (Indian Express, June 12, 2014; Times of India, June 10, 2014; Times of India, June 10, 2014)
FIVE NATO MEMBERS KILLED IN FRIENDLY FIRE INCIDENT
The U.S.-led coalition said five service members were killed in a friendly fire incident in Kabul. The incident was the worst of its kind since the Afghan war began nearly 14 years ago. A statement released has yet to disclose further details on the event or the nationalities of the soldiers. However, they did announce: “the causalities occurred during a security operation when their unit came into contact with enemy forces...there is the possibility that fratricide may have been involved” and the incident is under investigation. Provincial police Chief Gen. Ghulam Sakhi Rooghlawanay said that a joint operation by Afghan and NATO troops came under attack from the Taliban after completing a joint operation, and five NATO soldiers and one Afghan army officer were killed mistakenly by a NATO airstrike after forces called for air support. (The Christian Science Monitor, June 10, 2014)
AFGHAN FLOODS LEAVE 80 DEAD, THOUSANDS HOMELESS
Severe floods have been pounding the northern regions of Afghanistan during harsher-than-normal spring rains. At least 80 people have been killed, over 100 are missing and thousands have been left homeless. The governor of Beghlan province says the remote location has complicated relief efforts with only two ground routes into the district effectively closed and no machinery to clear the roads. Officials are pleading for help from international donors but have thus far received scant support. Just one month ago, a devastating mudslide in the north left over 2,000 people buried when a mountain collapsed. So far about 5,000 families have been left homeless but because of the lack of support and accessibility, only about 100 tents and limited food, water, and medicine has made it to the region. (The LA Times, June 8, 2014)
INDIAN OIL LOOKING TO JOIN IN TAPI PIPELINE
Indian Oil Corporation, the nation’s largest oil firm, is looking to join gas utility GAIL India Ltd as an equal partner to help implement a Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) natural gas pipeline. The U.S. is backing the project, calling it a “Peace Pipeline." If completed, it would have the capacity to carry 90 million cubic meters of gas per day for a 30-year period and could be operational by 2018. Bangladesh has also shown an interest in joining TAPI, but a preliminary study by the four nations involved has shown that it would not be economically beneficial to add Dhaka as the terminus because of the great distance. The pipeline, touted as an alternative to the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, has suffered repeated setbacks and thus far, no international pipeline company has been willing to invest without gaining a share in Turkmenistan's gas fields -- something Ashgabat has thus far refused. (The Economic Times; June 9, 2014)