Terroristan - March 31, 2022

[bala]

Why the biggest Baloch attack in decades is a wake-up call for US, China

A series of coordinated attacks by BLA rebels across Pakistan's province of Balochistan is a wake-up call to both the US and China. Both countries have high stakes in Balochistan centred around resource extraction and access to alternative trade routes. These moves are fuelling the wave of BLA attacks that have struck Pakistan in the past few years.

Pakistan saw one of its largest attacks by Baloch rebels in decades on Saturday, when across Balochistan, rebels from the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) carried out coordinated suicide bombings and attacks targeting civilians, police, military, and paramilitary installations, marking one of the deadliest days in the province.The scale of the assault serves as a warning for the US and China, both with significant stakes in the region. Despite being underdeveloped, Balochistan holds vast reserves of natural gas and rare minerals, attracting heavy investment from Pakistan, China (via CPEC infrastructure), and growing US interest in critical minerals.

Today's attacks in Balochistan should serve as a wake-up call to those, including in the White House, keen to invest in Pakistan's critical mineral reserves. One of the BLA's core grievances is external exploitation of local resources. The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) on Saturday launched coordinated bombings and attacks, dubbing it "Herof 2". Herof is a Balochi literary term meaning "black storm", commonly used in Baloch poetry, including by veteran poet Karim Dashti, according to the news outlet, The Native Voices.

While Herof 1, launched in 2024, largely restricted BLA activity to attacks on security personnel, the scale and scope of Herof 2 were wider. According to the South Asia Terrorism Portal, citing The Express Tribune and Pakistani military statements, synchronised gun and bombing attacks struck Quetta, Noshki, Mastung, Dalbandin, Kalat, Kharan, Panjgur, Gwadar, Pasni, Turbat, Tump, Buleda, Mangochar, Lasbela, Kech, and Awaran, targeting government buildings, security installations and civilians.

An officer from Pakistan's Intelligence Bureau in Quetta told The Native Voices that between 800 and 1,000 fighters, including a few women, might have been involved in the coordinated attacks. The BLA has not confirmed anything about these figures.

In Quetta, heavily armed rebels attacked multiple police stations and mobile units, detonated explosives in Hockey Chowk and also struck multiple key arterial roads in the city .In Mastung, rebels struck the Central Prison with gun and bomb attacks, managing to free at least 30 prisoners. In Gwadar, rebels targeted a camp housing migrant workers, killing 11 people, including women and children, a senior police officer told Reuters. Clashes were reported near the Deputy Commissioner's headquarters and Police Lines in Kalat, while in Nushki, rebels abducted Deputy Commissioner Hussain Hazara and his family.

A Coast Guard post in Pasni was attacked, highways were shut in Bolan, Lak Pass and Qila Saifullah-Rakhni, and explosives planted on a railway line in Nasirabad were defused. Media reports put the death toll as reaching 200. The figure includes at least 31 civilians and 17 security service personnel, the region's Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti said, while the military claimed it killed at least 145 BLA rebels.BLA spokesperson Jeeyand Baloch rejected these claims, saying 84 personnel of the Pakistani army, police, intelligence agencies and CTD were killed and 18 captured alive, while seven BLA fighters died, including four who carried out fidayeen attacks inside military facilities, according to a report from The Balochistan Times.

WHY IS BALOCHISTAN IMPORTANT TO PAKISTAN?

Balochistan, Pakistan's largest province by area, holds major strategic importance because of its location, bordering Iran and Afghanistan and providing access to the Arabian Sea. According to Risk Intelligence, this geography makes the province a key gateway for regional trade and connectivity. The deep-sea port at Gwadar, developed under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), is positioned as a hub linking China, Central Asia and the Middle East, strengthening Pakistan's role in global trade and energy routes.The province is also rich in natural resources. According to EBSCO Research Starters, Balochistan holds significant reserves of natural gas, coal, copper, gold and rare earth minerals, including the Sui gas field, a major contributor to Pakistan's energy supply.

The Baloch Liberation Movement is a crisis which has been decades in the making. Since 1948, Pakistani security forces have repeatedly clashed with Baloch rebels in their bid to suppress sentiments of independence rife in Balochistan. Despite this, the Baloch Liberation movement is at its strongest ever, as evidenced by multiple attacks by BLA rebels since 2020. The BLA have given many reasons to justify their desire to liberate Balochistan from Pakistan. And one of them particularly stands out. One of the BLA's core grievances is external exploitation of local resources. The BLA opposes Pakistan largely because it views the central government as exploiting the province's vast natural resources, including natural gas from the Sui fields, copper, gold, and other minerals — while delivering minimal benefits to the local Baloch population.

Balochistan is Pakistan's poorest province, with low royalties for Balochi resources reaching the local population (around 12.5% for gas) often reduced further, fuelling perceptions of colonial-style extraction by the Punjab-dominated Islamabad. The primary motivation driving their interests in the region is the extraction of resources to fuel their industries, something the BLA is opposed to. This was made clear, for instance, when in 2023, BLA rebels ambushed a convoy of Chinese engineers in Balochistan, killing at least four Chinese nationals. Similarly, another convoy was ambushed by BLA rebels in 2024, killing at least two Chinese nationals.The scale of the BLA's attacks show that economic ambitions in Balochistan cannot be separated from the region's grievances.