Pakistan's 'secret' war in Baluchistan

[53fd]

150 crime cells busted in Balochistan, says secretary:

QUETTA: Law-enforcement agencies have busted about 150 cells of criminals involved in target killing and incidents of robbery and kidnapping for ransom in Balochistan, a meeting of the provincial cabinet on the law and order has been informed.The two-day meeting, presided over by Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani, concluded on Saturday evening.

Home Secretary Nasibullah Bazai informed the cabinet that elements opposed to peace were taking advantage of porous border with Iran and Afghanistan to carry out their subversive activities.

“We have enough proof of foreign involvement in anti-state activities in Balochistan,” he said.

Giving details of the cells of criminals which have been smashed, the home secretary said that 44 of them were involved in target killings and 48 in robberies.

He said that 47 gangs of car thieves and 11 involved in kidnapping for ransom had been eliminated.

The meeting was informed that 985 criminals involved in terrorism and other heinous crimes had been tried in courts and sentenced. Of them, 875 were in jail facing trial in courts.

He conceded that many people involved in crimes had been acquitted because of lack of evidence.

He said that steps were being taken to monitor the movement and the influx of Afghan refugees with the help of a bio-metric system set up along the Pakistan-Afghan border and scrutiny of property of Afghan refugees.

Referring to the issue of missing persons, the home secretary said it was a big problem for the provincial government.

He said that 52 people were missing in the province and many others had been recovered.

At present, he said, the provincial government was facing several challenges, including law and order, target killings, sectarian killings, terrorism and tribal feuds.

“The government is taking steps to resolve these issues,” he said, adding that registration of the Afghan refugees in the province had already been started.

The meeting was informed that task forces under the supervision of deputy commissioners had been formed in all districts and Chief Minister Aslam Raisani had directed that a task force should be formed at the provincial level.

The meeting decided that car and property dealers would also be registered, recruitment on vacant posts of investigation officers in Levies Force would be made immediately and funds would be provided to various departments for maintaining law and order.

The cabinet discussed recent attacks on buses and decided that steps should be taken to protect pilgrims going to Iran and to make it mandatory for such visits to be organised by tour operators.

Nawab Raisani directed the officials concerned to form a committee to contact the people recovered from kidnappers to give evidence against kidnappers.

“The government will provide them full security,” the chief minister said.

The meeting decided to set up a forensic lab in the provincial capital and to encourage the district administration and police personnel who had performed well.

The chief minister said that all available resources would be used for training police and Levies personnel on modern lines and cooperation from stakeholders would be sought in this regard.

He said that lists of missing people had been sent to the president and the prime minister and the Balochistan government was in contact with the federal government in this connection.

 

[evldth]

all these target killings are infact supported by foreign agencies to spread fear and destroy peace of the nation.

 

[IndoCarib]

Baluchistan may be Pakistan's largest province, covering nearly half the country's land area, but the raging separatist violence in the region -- sometimes called Pakistan's secret war -- gets only a fraction of the attention that the country's other crises receive. Separatist groups, the largest of which is the Baluchistan Liberation Army, have been waging an insurgency since 2007 in the resource-rich province, which borders Iran and Afghanistan. It's the fifth Baluchi uprising since Pakistan's independence in 1947, and even by the country's standards, the province appears increasingly out of control.

Baluchistan saw the highest number of militant attacks of any Pakistani province in 2010, and the trend has continued in 2011, with multiple bombings of key gas pipelines, the murder of Punjab settlers who have moved to the region, and the assassinations of several prominent politicians and oil-company employees.

The Pakistani state's response has also been brutal. A Human Rights Watch report documented the killings of 150 people between January and June -- mostly young men active in Baluchi separatist politics -- in "kill and dump" operations that were likely carried out by Pakistani security forces. Brad Adams, Human Rights Watch's Asia director, described the crackdown as an "abusive free-for-all" that calls into question the Pakistani government's "willingness or ability to control the military and intelligence agencies."

Baluchistan's instability has international consequences. The Taliban, headquartered in the provincial capital of Quetta, use Baluchistan's 800-mile-long border to slip in and out of Afghanistan. The sparsely populated region also provides safe haven for drug smugglers and Iranian rebel groups. The CIA is believed to launch drone strikes from bases in Baluchistan. And then, of course, there's India, which Pakistan has repeatedly accused of funding the rebels, a charge India vehemently denies. The mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, is an ethnic Baluchi, as is his nephew Ramzi Yousef, who plotted the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

For now, the Pakistani government is benefiting from the scant media attention given to the region and its problems. But it can't be swept under the rug forever.

The Stories You Missed in 2011 | Foreign Policy

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

90pc of missing Baloch killed by their own groups’​

* FC IG denies allegations of his force’s involvement in disappearances of Baloch youth, political activists

By Mohammad Zafar

QUETTA: Frontier Corps (FC) Inspector General Major General Ubaidullah Khattak on Tuesday claimed that 90 percent of the Baloch missing persons were involved in criminal activities and had been killed by their own organisations.

Addressing a press conference at FC Headquarters in Quetta on Tuesday, he said that the FC was present in various districts of Balochistan to maintain law and order. “If tribal elders and members of civil society ensure peace in the province, then the FC will be withdrawn,” he said.

Khattak denied the allegations that his force was involved in enforced disappearances of Baloch youth and political activists.

Defending the FC existence, the FC chief said there had been decline in violence during this year as 1,328 incidents took place while there were 1,425 incidents of violence in 2010. According to information shared by FC, there were 110 rocket attacks in this year and there were 164 in last year. Similarly, 134 grenade attacks in this year and 168 during the last year.

The FC inspector general expressed his deep concern over increasing incidents of kidnapping for ransom and said it had become a lucrative business in Balochistan where 279 people were kidnapped last year. “Some influential and high profile people are involved in this business that it witnessing sharp rise,” Ubaidullah Khan said, adding that most of the incidents happened in Quetta, Dera Bugti, Sibi and Turbat.

He said the Shamsi airbase was in control of the Pakistan Army since December 11. “A board has been set up to compile a report on Shamsi airbase and it is possible that the army may hand over the control to the Frontier Crops,” he added.

He said that around 335 NATO containers and 41 NATO oil tankers were in different areas of Balochistan while around 91 NATO oil tankers had been sent to Karachi on the Balochistan government’s ordered. He said, “If anybody attacks our security forces we have the power to reply them.”

He condemned the attacks on the FC in November 20 in Bahlol Basti area of Musa Khail Coalmine Project where 14 people, including an FC major, were killed and 14 others sustained injuries. “The coalmine project is closed but we are sure we can start it again for the benefit of the local people,” he said.

Responding to a question, he said that the FC had adopted a new policy to recruit local people from Balochistan to increase their representation in the force. He said 1,000 vacant jobs would be filled in the next few months by recruiting local people for which qualification had been relaxed.

He said that around 1,500 personnel of the FC were being retired yearly and FC command had decided to recruit 1,000 personnel from Balochistan. The present representation of Balochistan in the force is 10.4 percent while the federal quota is 6 percent, he said, adding that Balochs from Dera Ghazi Khan would be counted in the Punjab quota and not the Balochistan quota.

He said that the first right on the resources was of the local people. He said that Chamalung coal project was successfully being run by local management under the army’s supervision while 4,500 students were getting education besides over 22,000 were given jobs directly and indirectly.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[Irfan Baloch]

Baluchistan's instability has international consequences. The Taliban, headquartered in the provincial capital of Quetta, use Baluchistan's 800-mile-long border to slip in and out of Afghanistan. The sparsely populated region also provides safe haven for drug smugglers and Iranian rebel groups.

Anyone with a little knowledge of geography and terrain would laugh at the absurd claim and then wonder at the effectiveness of NATO forces in Afghanistan. If indeed Taliban hold an HQ in Balochsitan then it means they have to dodge the NATOP forces in Kandhar, Anguri Ghazni, and then Kabul to launch attacks and come all the way back dodging NATO forces 5 or 6 times which tells you ether the NATO is incompetent or is too busy overseeing the poppy trade.
But then again, when a force thinks that terrorists flee towards hilltops in marked and open check posts( instead of caves or trenchnes) then what else you can expect from a writer who might not have been to the conflict zone himself.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

The reality of Balochistan


Zafar Hilaly ... The writer is a former ambassador.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

The public is fairly clueless about what’s happening in Balochistan. We never hear from our reclusive governor, while the chief minister, though more visible with his utterances, is almost always incomprehensible to the untrained ear.

The media too seems to have treated Balochistan as a distant province. There has been little investigative reporting on the affairs of that province, and not just on what the separatists and militants are up to or how the military is going about its business but also on issues of political and administrative governance in general.

Hence, the situation there is pretty murky and it’s difficult to make hard judgments.

The ethnic Baloch are not in a majority, to begin with, while separatism has already exposed the province to pernicious influences from the outside. Separatism by the ethnic Baloch runs up against another problem because of that province’s ethnic composition.

Pakhtuns and others will never accept ethnic Baloch dominance.

Indeed, the Pukhtuns have little reason to do so, being better armed and more connected within Pakistan and with the Pukhtun part of Afghanistan. So separatism will lead to sub-separatism within that province. Their best bet, therefore, is to take advantage of the prevailing political sympathies for them by striking a sensible and responsible deal with the federation.

Of course, the agencies operating there cannot be given a clean bill of health. They can be cruel and blinkered in their approach to what is a complex and sensitive issue. And the “Punjabi” army and ‘“Punjab” may still be an issue, but it is not a fundamental issue.

All political parties, including the newcomer on the block, the PTI, admit that Balochistan has had a raw deal under insensitive dictators who were predisposed towards finding military solutions to political problems. And if Baloch fear of being drowned “in a sea of Punjabi majority” is a genuine fear, that too must be addressed.

But the ethnic Baloch, led by extremists, must also wake up to the fact that separatism is a dead-end road for them, just as it is for the country as a whole. They must therefore show willingness to negotiate seriously all their genuine grievances.

Apart from demographic realities within Balochistan, there is another reality which the ethnic Baloch need to consider. They are too few and too weak to prevail over the wishes of the other provinces. And while the rest of the country is very amenable to giving them the right to run their own affairs, it is also united in preventing secession.

For Pakistan to relinquish its claim to Balochistan would in effect mean that it would be giving up 40 percent of its territory, and with it the territorial integrity of the country as a whole. That’s simply out of the question, which is why many will stop at nothing to ensure this does not happen.

Simply put: there cannot be an independent Balochistan unconnected with Pakistan. It would also have a destabilising effect regionally.

The Baloch stand to benefit so much from provincial stability which will attract enormous investments to tap Balochistan’s mineral and other resources, partly because of its strategic location-both because of its frontage on the Indian Ocean and its potential role as a commercial entrepot to the Central Asian hinterland.

China alone would become a huge investor with a significant long-term economic and geopolitical interest in that province; and where China is investing, so will the US to offset China’s influence. Actually, were relations between Pakistan and India to mend somewhat, India too could be a significant investor and a beneficiary from Balochistan’s role as a regional hub.

Besides, if the Baloch play their cards skilfully they could obtain special treatment for a number of years to give them a kick-start. Quotas are still in force in the federation and they could be applied in a provincial context as well. The centre should be amenable to such a demand if it will help to restore peace and stability in that province. By contrast, separatist militancy will keep Balochistan impoverished and it will lead nowhere.

One reason why this has not happened as yet is because the sardars want to jealously safeguard their traditional leadership role within their tribes by playing the separatist card and by exploiting long-held grievances of discrimination and neglect.

If Balochistan picked up economically, they would have a hard time preserving the sardari system and their privileged status. In fact, the reason that the outdated Sardari system has lasted as long as it has is due to our politico-bureaucratic negligence and mismanagement in the past.

The sardari system also made matters worse by impeding the transition from the tribal mode to a more modern vision. Such a transition would have weakened the Sardars who would have lost their grip by now as a result of structural socio-economic change.

Nawaz Sharif hasn’t done the responsible thing by pandering to the sardars and showing them to be the innocent victims of a ruthless military, as he did the other day in Karachi at a joint press talk with Ataullah Mengal. That will not help to resolve the issue of that province, nor does it improve civil-military relations which are so important for tackling not just Balochistan but other national problems.

Besides it’s not as if the military is composed of homicidal maniacs. They and the settler community have been the targets of attacks that have caused much death and settler families have been forced to flee their second- and third-generation homes in Balochistan.

The point of this article is not to apportion blame or pass judgment as to which of the protagonists in the ongoing strife in Balochistan is more to blame. However, it’s unwise for the government to get drawn into the game of aggressive posturing. Instead, it should press ahead with ambitious plans for the development of that province, as outlined in the “Haqooq-e-Balochistan” document.

To slacken the tempo on account of the insurgency would mean falling behind and those who fall behind get beaten when it comes to winning the loyalty of the populace. That, sadly, has been the story of relations between the centre and the province. Regardless of the outcome of its peace overtures and, however disappointing the response, the centre must not get distracted from pursuing its core interests in Balochistan, the foremost of which is to bring development to this much-neglected province.

Even if it means some belt- tightening by the other provinces.

The reality of Balochistan - Zafar Hilaly ... The writer is a former ambassador.

 

[Yeti]

Karachi

In yet another outburst against the security establishment for its alleged hand in the kill-and-dump spree in Balochistan, veteran nationalist leader Sardar Ataullah Mengal said on Thursday that the separation movement in the province could only be stopped by punishing those who had committed crimes against the Baloch.

He was talking to a delegation of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) led by Asadullah Bhutto, the Ameer of the party in Sindh, at his residence. Mengal said that anti-Pakistan and anti-army sentiments were high in Balochistan, as the Baloch considered the security personnel the killers of their dear ones. “Those who are supposed to provide protection are murdering them (Baloch), dumping their dead bodies with mutilated faces.”

“The same 1971 drama is being replayed when Bengalis were deprived of their rights and ultimately Bangladesh emerged on the world map. He said the entire country knew who was behind the massacre of the Baloch. “The killing of Baloch people at the hands of their own security forces is not only shocking, it’s a grave crime.”

Perhaps referring to the killing of high-profile Baloch nationalist leaders, he said no one had been left who could control the situation in the province. “The situation is alarming and that may lead to dangerous state of affairs.”

Meanwhile, Bhutto said talks or negotiations in the past remained inconclusive because verbal assurances could not calm down the situation which had reached the point of no return. “Balochistan requires immediate attention or it would fall apart.” Expressing concern over the volatile situation in the province, he said that continued mistreatment of the Baloch would lead to anarchy in the country.



Anti-Pakistan sentiments high in Balochistan: Mengal

 

[Thorough Pro]

Thanks to Indian backing of Bugti terrorists. Pakistan defence forces have all the right to shoot to kill any person who takes up arms against the state, they are terrorists just like maoists in India and LTTE in Sri Lanka. Theuy should all be killed.

Indian leaders/RAw are still trying the same technique they did in 1971 in east Pakistan, and in Sind in 80's, times are quite different and Baluchistan is not 2000 miles away with no transportaion.

And for the record there is no popular uprising in Baluchistan, its only a few thousand Bugti terrorists lap dancing to their hindu masters.

 

[Yeti]

Thanks to Indian backing of Bugti terrorists. Pakistan defence forces have all the right to shoot to kill any person who takes up arms against the state, they are terrorists just like maoists in India and LTTE in Sri Lanka. Theuy should all be killed.

Indian leaders/RAw are still trying the same technique they did in 1971 in east Pakistan, and in Sind in 80's, times are quite different and Baluchistan is not 2000 miles away with no transportaion.

And for the record there is no popular uprising in Baluchistan, its only a few thousand Bugti terrorists lap dancing to their hindu masters.

Can't blame India when your own security forces doing the killing

---------- Post added at 06:01 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:00 AM ----------

“Those who are supposed to provide protection are murdering them (Baloch), dumping their dead bodies with mutilated faces.”

 

[Bhairava]

Maybe it was the first time the old man of Balochistan had directly referred to the Pak Army as Punjabi Army and accused them of atrocities in Balochistan.

This shows how much the Baloch are frustrated with the system.

 

[TaimiKhan]

Balochistan has more pushtuns compared to balochs, and pushtuns have no such sentiments, thus mengal is wrong is saying that whole of baluchistan has such concerns. And as for Baluchis, the majority of the people having such sentiments consists of Mengals, Murris & Bugtis used to have. Things are changing and with more look after and economic development, such sentiments will go away.

And as for Mengals, we know all about them. Even though a few mengals are serving in the armed forces too.

 

[Thorough Pro]

Can't blame India when your own security forces doing the killing

---------- Post added at 06:01 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:00 AM ----------

“Those who are supposed to provide protection are murdering them (Baloch), dumping their dead bodies with mutilated faces.”

Don't be stupid, pretty obvious our own forces will be killing the terrorists, I guess Indians call Israeli's for help.

 

[Areesh]

Anyways Akhtar Mengal is going to take part in coming elections so....... Good political statement Mr Mengal.

 

[Yeti]

Don't be stupid, pretty obvious our own forces will be killing the terrorists, I guess Indians call Israeli's for help.

What are you taking about? when the statement shows he is blaming Pakistani security forces and not India

 

[Areesh]

Anyways it is good that Yeti has sympathy for Baloch even when they are Muslims. Great.