Bharat Rakshak

Quetta: At least four political workers were killed and 13 others injured in a bomb blast in Pakistan's restive southwestern province of Balochistan, officials said late Thursday. The explosion occurred as the workers from an Islamist party were leaving a venue following a conference in the provincial capital of Quetta, which is home to several separatist and Islamist insurgencies.

"At least four political workers were killed and 13 others injured," Fida Hassan Shah, a senior police official, told AFP. "It was an improvised explosive device and some 1.5 KG of explosive was used," he added.

QUETTA: A bomb blast at a railway track near Sibi on Tuesday derailed four bogies of Jaffar Express, leaving six passengers injured.

The train was going to Rawalpindi from Quetta.

The blast destroyed a large portion of the railway track, snapping Balochistan’s rail link with other parts of the country.

The banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the bombing in a statement issued here.

The attack was claimed on Twitter by a spokesman for the Baloch Nationalist Army, one of several ethnic separatist groups that have been waging an insurgency for years in southwest Pakistan.

"Initial investigations show that it was a time-controlled device on a motorbike which was the cause of the blast," Rana Arif, spokesman for Lahore police, told AFP.

Thursday's blast happened in old Lahore's busy Anarkali shopping district, damaging several motorbikes and upturning market stalls.

Dilbu wrote:Formation of Balochistan Nationalist Army .

KARACHI: Ten soldiers were martyred when terrorists attacked a check-post of security forces in Kech district of Balochistan, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement issued on Thursday.

According to the military’s media affairs wing, the terrorists fired at the check-post late on Tuesday night.

“During the intense exchange of fire, one terrorist was killed and several injured. While repulsing terrorists ‘fire raid’, 10 soldiers embraced Shahadat. Three terrorists have been apprehended in a follow-up clearance operation, which is still in progress to hunt down perpetrators of the incident,” it said.

This is the second such incident in Kech in the span of a month. Two soldiers were martyred when terrorists attacked a check-post in the district on Dec 24, 2021.

An explosion in Sui and gunfire in Quetta left eight people dead and several others wounded on Friday.

The bombing in Sui targetted Levies personnel and members of a local peace militia, Dera Bugti deputy commissioner said.

He said an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded near the militia and levies men.

Four people were killed and eight wounded, who were moved to Sui hospital.

Sui is a sub-district of Dera Bugti district and is located about 400km southeast of Quetta, the provincial capital.

The explosion occurred in the Mat Mondrani area of Sui.

Senator Sarfaraz Bugti told TV channels that his cousin was among the four dead.

He said the bombing was carried out by the banned Baloch Republican Army.

Dilbu wrote:Explosion, gunfire leave eight dead in Balochistan

An explosion in Sui and gunfire in Quetta left eight people dead and several others wounded on Friday.

anupmisra wrote:

Dilbu wrote:Explosion, gunfire leave eight dead in Balochistan

Dilbuddin, bhy are joo creating misformashion? Hain? It waj a see-linder beelast with sui gas followed by celebacy aerial phiring.

In a shocking revelation, a Pakistan Army General has admitted China’s role in “crushing” the Baloch freedom movement in Pakistan, saying Beijing has given him a six-month task to end the freedom struggle by Baloch people.

Calling Iran the biggest enemy of Pakistan, Ayman Bilal, Major general of the Pakistani Army, said Pakistan Army will go inside Iran and take action against them.

“China has paid me a salary and a large sum of money and officially posted me here for their regional interests and to thwart Iran’s conspiracies against CPEC (China Pakistan Economic Corridor), as it is a kind of investment in regional interests,” he said.

madhu wrote:Why LoC should be silent?

srikandan wrote:Making the LOC hot will just provide the paki army with an excuse not to act in Balochistan, while China is pressuring the army -- Paki army in Balochistan is going to be Lal Masjid redux, so no need to interrupt the paki army while they assist us in Blockistan.

If they dont act in Balochistan i.e. BLA gets a free run, isnt that the better option?

If this is true; Baloch has greatly developed there skills, tactics, weapons etc; its day 2 of attach and PAF has deployed gunships and using it on there own buildings to repel the attack

Shaktimaan wrote:If you see Twitter, there is a lot of helicopter activity over the attack sites. I strongly believe the helos not there to attack but are evacuating Pak Army dead, to avoid any photographs or media scrutiny.

This is a dishonourable Army which disowns their own men like they did in Kargil.

These casualties will be buried under cover of night and high security and they will publicly claim only 12 soldiers died.

The Baloch Liberation Army targeted two camps of the Pakistani security forces in two separate attacks in Balochistan’s Noshki and Panjgur on Wednesday, leaving more than 100 soldiers dead and several others wounded.

Pakistani officials argue that the attacks have been “thwarted” and that the assailants have been “repulsed.” The Baloch Liberation Army on the other hand argues that its “operation” in Noshki has successfully come to an end whereas the operation in Panjgur is in full swing – the attackers are still inside the FC camp and battling the oncoming cadre of the security forces.

The two separate attacks on the camps of the Pakistani security forces in Noshki and Panjgur began simultaneously on Wednesday evening. The attackers rushed to the main entrance of the gate, blew it apart and entered the camp. The Pakistani forces were caught off guard before they could understand what was happening, they were gunned down by the oncoming attackers.

Military aid was summoned from the nearby areas and within a few hours of the clash, gunship helicopters and backup forces arrived at the scene. The attackers reportedly shot down two helicopters, one in Noshki and one in Panjgur.

In another media statement, the group said that its fighters still had the upper hand in the camps. It said that the attackers had killed 100 Pakistani soldiers and the backup troops that had come to the rescue of their companions had failed to weaken the position of the attackers.

The cellular services and internet were shut down in the area.

In the voice notes posted on social media, the attackers can be heard informing their leader that they had shot down military choppers, armoured vehicles and a large cadre of the Pakistani forces.

srikandan wrote:Making the LOC hot will just provide the paki army with an excuse not to act in Balochistan, while China is pressuring the army -- Paki army in Balochistan is going to be Lal Masjid redux, so no need to interrupt the paki army while they assist us in Blockistan.

kit ji: Why not let the Baluchis do the job for India .. the more the paki goes ahead there , the more the backlash.. just keep the baluchis well equipped and funded.. the Eye ran ians might as well do that

Two Frontier Corps (FC) personnel were injured in an explosion on Quetta's Sariab Road on Monday, an FC spokesperson said.

The personnel were on routine patrol in a village when the bomb — fitted in a motorcycle on the side of the road — was detonated remotely as they approached the site, the spokesperson said.

QUETTA: At least one person was killed and five others severely injured on Tuesday in a grenade blast in Balochistan’s Dera Murad Jamali town.

According to the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) spokesperson, a hand grenade was hurled at a bus stand by unidentified attackers in the evening.

Police teams and the bomb disposal squad reached the blast site after being informed about the incident, cordoned off the area to collect evidence.

Further investigation into the incident is currently underway.

THE latest surge in terrorist attacks in the country is ominous. Last week’s coordinated assaults on security posts in Balochistan marked a shift in the strategy of Baloch insurgent groups — from hit-and-run operations to frontal attacks. There have been at least three such incidents targeting security installations in different parts of the province in the past week.

While details of the simultaneous attacks in Panjgur and Naushki remain hazy, they nevertheless demonstrate the growing capacity of the Baloch militants to launch high-profile attacks. They seemed better trained and better armed now, with highly sophisticated weapons in their armoury. But it is unlikely that such daring actions could have been possible without a strong internal and external support network. The intensification in violence has accompanied reports of various Baloch militant groups coming together.

Intriguingly, the surge in militant activities in Balochistan has coincided with the escalation in terrorist attacks by the TTP that is targeting Pakistani security forces in the former tribal areas. There may not be a direct connection between the two. Yet the increasing violence in two different areas involving groups with completely different agendas has complicated our security predicament.

While the TTP connection with the Afghan Taliban is not a secret, the Baloch militants operating from Afghan soil is intriguing. Pakistani security officials said the attackers were in contact with their handlers in Afghanistan and in India during the assaults.

India’s role in the terror attacks in Pakistan is evident. But the continuing use of Afghan soil in planning and execution of cross-border attacks is alarming. The weapons used by the Baloch militants in the recent attacks reinforce suspicions about foreign linkages. Regional geopolitics and rivalries too play a huge role in fuelling the Baloch insurgency. This area has long been a hotspot of regional power games. CPEC and the development of the Gwadar port has further intensified the conflict.

For the past many years, Balochistan has been in the grip of a low-intensity conflict, and has experienced four insurgencies since independence. The latest phase of the conflict began around two decades ago, after a period of relative calm from 1980 to 1988 when civilian rule was restored bringing Baloch nationalists back into the political mainstream.

It is true that the major demands of the Baloch for political autonomy and a fair share of federal resources were not fulfilled but democracy did provide some sense of political participation to the people. Military rule returned in 1999 after the Musharraf coup, and ended that period of calm. As the new regime started tightening its federal control, tensions grew, coming to a head with the killing of Akbar Bugti in 2006 in an army operation. Once again unrest, which had always been simmering under the surface, spilled over leading to a fresh uprising.

For long, the Baloch people have had very genuine grievances, but, instead of these being addressed, force has been deployed to suppress their protests. It is in these circumstances that many among the Baloch, who had lost hope in the political struggle, made the decision to join armed groups. No longer is the insurgency confined to the tribal areas; its centre of gravity lies in a region free of feudal and tribal hold.

Even the nationalists who sought political and economic rights within the framework of the federation were sidelined. Extrajudicial killings and the illegal detention of political activists by the intelligence agencies have further fuelled alienation.

The situation had improved after democracy returned in 2008 and most nationalist parties had joined the mainstream; they took part in the 2013 polls defying the militant threat. But political engineering that brought to power a pliant leadership in the province eroded the people’s confidence in the political process. With little investment in the economic uplift of the population, the province remains the most underdeveloped region in the country despite being rich in natural wealth. That has provided militant groups with an enabling environment to attract disgruntled youth, giving a fresh impetus to militancy in the province.

Most Baloch nationalists had rejected the idea of secession and struggled for autonomy within the constitutional framework of the federation. But state repression had the effect of pushing many moderates towards radical elements, as a result of which the province now stands dangerously polarised. These divisions can even be seen among the ranks of the influential Baloch tribal elite. The state’s authority has clearly eroded in large parts of the province.

The use of kinetic power may contain the insurgency but will do little to win the trust of an alienated population or effectively establish the state’s authority, making it a conducive ground for external forces. Winning the confidence of the people is the only way to defeat the militancy and shut the door to meddling from outside. Militancy must be dealt with firmly but it is equally important to redress the Baloch people’s grievances.

The frequent episodes of violence in Balochistan, is the outcome of exploitation of festering human rights, socio-economic and political issues, requiring a long sustained strategic policy to stop the prevalent sense of alienation, rather than the present-day singular focus of employing kinetic actions to put them down.

The deeply upsetting, week-long attacks on the security forces in Balochistan and the tragic life loss of security forces personnel and the civilians caught up in the crosshairs, are the outcome of a lack of distinction between terrorism and violence emerging from public distrust, denying employment of strategic policy options.

The recent wave violent attacks starting from Lahore, followed by attacks on security forces camp near the Iran border around a week ago, and leading to those on Frontier Constabulary in Panjgur and Naushki were not an unexpected surge.

These trends were visible ever since 2020. Terrorism in Balochistan was effectively over and buried by 2019 amid huge financial and physical costs, but the next year saw a new transformation, a more radical one.

The emergence of independent, hardcore, educated, middle class militant leaders threw up entirely new challenges, replacing the Bugti, Marri, and Marri tribal chieftains operating from Europe.

With external help, they created modern militant organisations like BNA, BRAS, and Majid Brigade bringing disparate groups together, to conduct a series of more brazen attacks on the Chinese bus, PC Gwadar, naval bus in Ormara, Karachi Stock Exchange, and multiple attacks against Frontier Constabulary. Quetta that had become peaceful also witnesses ever more turbulence.

The problem lies in employing kinetic retaliation as the only tool against these attacks which only provided more gasoline to the raging fire of alienation.

The government replicated the TTP-Daesh counter-terrorism from Punjab to Balochistan theatre, which manifests a serious lack of understanding of the dynamics of terrorism in that province directly linked with public distrust, ad alienation. The misguided religious-inspired terrorism which horrified the larger society was deterred by the decapitating operations of security forces with public support and larger ownership across the country.

But the situation in Balochistan is quite the opposite, here it is sustained violence against the state ie LEAs, and not the public who remain largely insulated. Illiteracy, abject poverty, malnutrition, and poor development are the real nagging problems of Balochistan which fueled a sense of deprivation among the locals, and the state by not allowing timely succour has certainly not helped.

Discrimination continues as a misguided policy. Reko Dik gold mines and the Saindak copper project remain simply beyond the control of the provincial government, run solely by the federal government. Similarly, the construction of highways, motorways, Gwadar port, and other infrastructure projects are not helping employ the locals.

This lack of trust between the larger public and the government provided fertile grounds for violent exploitation in the age of hybrid wars. The PPP’s Aghaz-Huqqoq-e Balochistan package in 2009 and the Pur Aman Balochistan in 2015 were attempts to allow the militants to surrender and encourage them to join the mainstream with a promised financial package. Both saw only a momentary drop in terrorism as the promised rehabilitation and resettlement fell halfway except to benefit some of those with dubious credentials. And at the end of the day, many of those who surrendered were abandoned, left high and dry with neither the gun nor the promised package, driving further desperation.

It is against this backdrop, that every couple of months, there is a new attack of stronger and deadly magnitude. While the masterminds and militant leadership would escape only to regroup, the common folk would bear the brunt in the combing and mop-up actions by the security forces. Caught between the devil and the deep blue sea, the public is sadly left to fend for themselves, instead of being protected.

The tactical approach of addressing the complex issue from the prism of a law and order problem led to the explosive missing person issue which continues to remain a serious human rights concern and all this collectively fuels violence.

Some ‘missing persons’ have been found involved in terror attacks giving some credence to the assertion that the issue is more of propaganda. But there are superior courts’ directions regarding many of those that clear the ambiguity.

True this is a hybrid war, where exploitation of internal fault lines including human and political sectarian, ethnic sensitivities, and economic disparities is the rule, calls for sagacious handling. We require a more humane and people-centric approach without undermining or compromising on the writ of the state.

We also miserably failed to build a counter-narrative to convince the civil society, its intelligentsia that the CPEC is the gateway to a prosperous future, at a time when some regional and international friends are bent upon sabotaging the game-changing project. We are hostage to hostile countries that continue to exploit the situation and provide sanctuaries to terrorists bent upon bleeding the country and its economy. This brings us to another reality that in the last 15 years, the politicians, barring some, have not provided ownership against insurgency. Without ownership by the political-intellectual spectrum, the security approach cannot on its own lay it to rest.

We can defeat this by ridding ourselves of ad hocism and indecisiveness, adopt a long strategic policy for Balochistan with a political-civilian face at heart to address the root causes of violent turbulence with compassion that the people of one’s own country deserve.

RAWALPINDI: A Pakistan Army captain was martyred during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) carried out by security forces in Balochistan’s Kohlu district on February 20, said Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in a statement.

According to the army’s media wing, on 20 February 2022, security forces conducted a clearance operation on information about presence of terrorists near District Kohlu, Balochistan.

As soon as troops started cordoning the area, terrorists while fleeing the hideout, opened indiscriminate fire. During heavy exchange of fire, Captain Haider Abbas embraced martyrdom in pursuit of the terrorists, the ISPR said.