The surprise Pakistani change in military doctrine, which now recognizes internal Islamic terrorist groups as the main threat, has caused many Islamic conservatives in Pakistan to call for “true Moslems” in the military to rise up and oppose this disturbing policy change. For over thirty years the Pakistani military leadership has supported Islamic radicalism and many Pakistanis are not willing to let go. The two border attacks against India by Pakistani troops this year may be a reaction to the new doctrine. Pakistani army units on the Kashmir frontier have, for years, made attacks on Indian troops that were denied by the Pakistani government but tolerated by the Pakistani military high command because they were part of a two decade old terrorism campaign in Indian Kashmir. The Pakistani army still tolerates this kind of terrorism from Pakistan based terrorists but officially opposes Islamic terrorists who attack Pakistani targets. Allowing more attacks on Indian troops in Kashmir is one way to placate the many pro-terrorism officers and troops in the army.

The growing Islamic terrorist violence against vaccination efforts (especially for measles and polio) in Pakistan led to a sharp increase (306) in measle deaths in Pakistan last year compared to 2011 (when only 64 died). The Islamic terrorists consider these deaths to be God’s Will and have nothing to do with Islamic terror attacks on vaccination teams.

Pakistani truckers, who carry NATO cargo containers to Afghanistan, have gone on strike to protest new anti-theft measures.

In the Pakistani tribal territories (North Waziristan) American UAVs fired missiles in two attacks that killed six Islamic terrorists. There have been five UAV attacks in Pakistan so far this year, leaving at least 36 Islamic terrorists dead.

January 9, 2013: In Kashmir Pakistani troops crossed the border and killed two Indian soldiers, allegedly beheading one of them before retreating back across the border. Pakistan denied that this happened. India is pretty angry, as this is the second cross border attack in a week. Another version of the incident has a group of Pakistani troops crossing the border in a thick fog and ambushing four Indian soldiers who were moving from one border post to another. Two of the Indian soldiers were killed and their throats were slit.

Pakistani troops on the Line of Control (which separates Indian and Pakistani held Kashmir) violate the ceasefire frequently but had been quiet since last October (when they fired machine-guns and mortar shells at border guard posts several times). Usually the Pakistanis avoid firing at civilians but last October one was killed and India believed that was an accident. The Pakistanis never admit to being the aggressor and continue to insist they have justification for firing across the border. They don’t but continue to do it anyway. This is all in violation of a 2003 peace agreement. Before that Pakistan even more frequently fired across the border, often to assist Islamic terrorists trying to sneak into India.

Outside the Pakistani city of Quetta (Baluchistan) police found a large weapons and explosives cache. Acting on a tip the police dug up rifles, pistols, and explosives that were recently hidden. Some of the assault rifles belonged to recently killed policemen.

January 8, 2013: In the Pakistani tribal territories (North Waziristan) American UAVs fired missiles in two attacks that killed eight Islamic terrorists.

January 7, 2013: In eastern India (Jharkhand) six policemen were killed and over a dozen wounded by a Maoist ambush and a five hour gun battle. The Maoists also suffered casualties but carried off their dead and wounded as they retreated into the bush.

January 6, 2013: In Kashmir Pakistani troops fired machine-guns and mortars across the border at Indian troops, who fired back and killed a Pakistani soldier and wounded another. Pakistan denied that it had fired first and insisted that Indian troops had crossed the border and attacked them.

In Pakistan’s tribal territories a three day polio vaccination effort was cancelled because of security concerns (terrorists trying to kill the female health workers).

In the Pakistani tribal territories American UAVs fired missiles at three targets, killing nine Islamic terrorists.

In eastern India (Chhattisgarh) three policemen were wounded by a Maoist roadside bomb.

January 5, 2013: In Pakistan the head of an educational charity and his driver were murdered by gunmen. The attackers were believed to be Islamic terrorists opposed to female education.

January 3, 2013: In the Pakistani tribal territories (Waziristan) American UAVs made two missile attacks that killed Maulvi Nazir, a senior Pakistani Taliban terrorist leader, along with 13 other Taliban. Nazir led a Taliban faction that had a deal with Pakistan whereby Nazir was free to carry out attacks in Afghanistan as long as he did not do so in Pakistan. Because of such deals the Pakistani Army has refused American demands that Waziristan be occupied by Pakistani troops and terrorist operations shut down. Pakistan has long supported Islamic terror groups who launch attacks on foreigners (India, Afghanistan, and elsewhere) and were safe in Pakistan as long as they did not carry out attacks inside Pakistan. Nazir was responsible for dozens of terror attacks against Afghan and NATO troops.

In Pakistan the government shut down cell phone service for most of the day in over fifty towns and cities. This was to prevent the use of cell phones to trigger terrorist bombs directed at Shia Moslem religious events.

January 2, 2013: The Pakistani military announced a major policy shift. The generals now believe that Islamic terrorists, especially in the tribal territories, are the main military threat. This has been the reality for over a decade but the generals insisted it wasn’t. Two years ago India declared that China, not Pakistan, was the main military threat. This recognized something that had become increasingly true since the 1990s.

In the Pakistani tribal territories, American UAVs fired missiles killed Islamic terrorists.

In Pakistan Islamic terrorists murdered seven health workers (six of them female) involved in a polio vaccination program. The attackers were believed to be Islamic terrorists opposed to the vaccinations, which are seen as a Western attempt to poison Moslem children.

January 1, 2013: For the last week the Pakistani military has carried out a major campaign in Baluchistan (the southwest tribal territories) against villages that are accused of sheltering anti-government terrorists. The offensive has killed over 50 people and destroyed more than 200 buildings. Hundreds of civilians were arrested and interrogated. The Baluchis have been rebelling against the government for over a decade, demanding more autonomy and a larger share of the revenue from natural gas wells in their territory. The government has turned down both demands and responded with a terror campaign of its own.

December 31, 2012: The Pakistani Taliban who are at war with the government have expressed a willingness to discuss a peace deal but refuse to disarm first. To emphasize that point several hundred Taliban attacked a major checkpoint last week, captured 22 frontier guards (troops recruited from local tribes), and later murdered 21 of them. This sort of thing, which was captured on video, was meant to discourage other tribesmen from cooperating with the government.

Pakistan released another eight Afghan Taliban leaders from prison, at the request of the Afghan government. These releases are part of the peace talks the Afghan government is holding with factions of the Afghan Taliban.

The Indian Navy has put another Russian built Talwar class “stealth frigates” into service. The ship is assigned to the Western Fleet (facing Pakistan and Somali pirates) and is based near Mumbai. This ship is the second of three new Talwars on order. It was accepted by the Indian Navy last June. The third Talwar arrives later this year. India has been receiving a lot of new equipment from Russia lately, including Mi-17 helicopters and MiG-29K carrier capable jet fighters.