Pakistan Conflict Monitor

Separatist Violence Drives Thousands of Settlers Out of Balochistan

Violence Drives Settlers Out of Province, Gulf News, 28 July 2010

EXCERPT: "Around 100,000 settlers in Balochistan from other parts of Pakistan have left the troubled province so far because of violence involving Baloch separatist militants, Interior Minister Rahman Malek told the Senate here yesterday. Making a policy statement on the situation in the mineral-rich southern province rocked by recurring attacks and acts of sabotage, the minister said 'mysterious hands' were behind the unrest, but did not elaborate. Since January this year alone more than 250 people from other provinces who had settled in Balochistan had been killed in attacks, Malek said. He promised to provide details and concrete evidence about anti-Pakistan elements active in Balochistan and their foreign backing in an in-camera briefing to the lawmakers. He said four private militias — the Balochistan Liberation Army of Harbyar Marri, the Balochistan Republican Army, the Balochistan Liberation Front of Dr Allah Nazar and Lashkar-e-Balochistan run by Javed Mengal — were operating in Balochistan."

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Related articles:
"100,000 settlers have migrated from Balochistan", The News International, 28 July 2010
Govt comes up with tougher anti-terror law, DAWN, 28 July 2010
Guns smuggling on the rise in Balochistan, Central Asia Online, 9 April 2010
India supplying weapons to Balochistan terrorists: Bashir, Sify News, 25 February 2010

Related posts:
Unrest in Balochistan, 23 July 2010
Army tries "hearts and minds" strategy in Balochistan, 12 July 2010
Govt fails to curtail violence in Balochistan, 6 July 2010
Security concerns challenge development in Balochistan, 2 March 2010
Strategic Balochistan becomes a target in war against Taliban, 22 December 2009

Unrest in Balochistan

Unrest in Baluchistan, International Relations and Security Network // Security Watch, 22 July 2010

EXCERPT: "While the world focuses on the end game in Afghanistan, multiple crises brewing in a neighboring region have the potential to spoil international efforts to stabilize the  country. Extremist groups, secessionist movements, and grinding poverty and oppression are all contributing to instability in Baluchistan, a vast desert region spanning Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran along the Arabian Sea shoreline. Islamabad and Tehran face active insurgencies in their parts of Baluchistan. Developments in the region affect relations between Pakistan, India, Iran, and Afghanistan, delaying plans for economic and energy cooperation. It was not surprising, then, when a much-anticipated meeting on July 15 between the Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers ended without progress. The meeting -- the first high-level Indian visit to Islamabad since the deadly Mumbai attacks in November 2008 -- fell victim to public accusations over Baluchistan, proving that this remote and impoverished province may have superseded even Kashmir as the biggest thorn in bilateral relations. Speaking to journalists after an exhausting day of official rounds in the damp monsoon weather, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi called the talks valuable and said the two sides would continue meeting. But he indicated that the issue of New Dehli's support for ethnic Baluchi secessionists had been discussed."

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Related articles:
Another BNP-M leader shot dead, The Express Tribune, 20 July 2010
"Baloch target killings: Bureaucracy not involved", The Express Tribune, 17 July 2010
No proof provided by Pak over India's role in Balochistan: Krishna, Sify News, 16 July 2010
JI flays Baloch leader's murder, The News International, 16 July 2010

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Gunmen kill nationalist leader in Balochistan, 14 July 2010
Army tries "hearts and minds" strategy in Balochistan, 12 July 2010
Govt fails to curtail violence in Balochistan, 6 July 2010
Security concerns challenge development in Balochistan, 2 March 2010
Strategic Balochistan becomes a target in war against Taliban, 22 December 2009

Kidnappers Free Aid Workers

Pakistan Kidnappers Free Aid Workers, AFP, 15 July 2010

EXCERPT: "Three aid workers employed by US-based charity Mercy Corps have been freed in good health by their abductors after a five-month kidnap ordeal in Pakistan, officials said. The aid workers and their driver were kidnapped in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, which is troubled by banditry, regional insurgency, Taliban violence and sectarian killings. They went missing on February 18 in Qila Saifullah district, about 200km northwest of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan. The driver was killed last month, prompting Mercy Corps to close offices in Baluchistan and the neighbouring province of Sindh. 'It is confirmed that three Mercy Corps workers have been released by the kidnappers in the wake of negotiations by tribal elders,' provincial home secretary Akbar Hussain Durrani told AFP on Thursday. 'No ransom was paid for their release,' he added."

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Related articles:
Mercy Corps employees freed in Pakistan; work remains on hold, The Seattle Times, 14 July 2010
Mercy Corps leaves abductees in the lurch, The Nation, 19 June 2010

Related posts:
Govt fails to curtail violence in Balochistan, 6 July 2010
Aid agency closes offices following kidnapping, execution, 15 June 2010
Aid agency attacked, workers killed, 10 March 2010
Security concerns challenge development in Balochistan, 2 March 2010
NGO workers kidnapped in Balochistan, 19 February 2010

Gunmen Kill Nationalist Leader in Balochistan

Gunmen Kill Nationalist Leader in Pakistan's Quetta, AFP, 14 July 2010

EXCERPT: "Gunmen assassinated a nationalist leader in Pakistan's insurgency-torn province of Baluchistan on Wednesday as he left his home on the outskirts of Quetta, police and relatives said. Habib Jalib was secretary general of the opposition faction of Baluchistan National Party, which advocates greater autonomy for the southwestern province and campaigns peacefully for self-determination. Relatives said Jalib, a lawyer and former MP, was going to drop his children at school when gunmen waiting for him outside sprayed bullets and fled on a motorbike. [...] Violence has surged this year in Baluchistan, which borders both Afghanistan and Iran. Human rights activists have raised concerns about an increase in targeted killings in the province over the past 20 months."

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Related articles:
Gunmen shoot dead former senator in Balochistan, BBC News, 14 July 2010
Balochistan protests against Habib Jalib's killing, GEO TV, 14 July 2010
FC troops rescue hostage in dare-devil operation, The Express Tribune, 14 July 2010

Related posts:
Army tries "hearts and minds" strategy in Balochistan, 12 July 2010
Govt fails to curtail violence in Balochistan, 6 July 2010
Baloch nationalism offers strong resistance to govt efforts, 30 March 2010
Riots in Quetta following latest targeted killing, 23 March 2010
Quetta: Between four regions and two conflicts, 4 March 2010

Army Tries "Hearts and Minds" Strategy in Balochistan

Pakistan Tries New Counterinsurgency Strategy, The Associated Press, 10 July 2010

EXCERPT: "Echoing U.S. counterinsurgency strategy in neighboring Afghanistan, the army has peppered Baluchistan with dozens of development projects to win hearts and minds, an effort officials say has accelerated in recent months alongside a push by the federal government to address local grievances. Pakistan hopes to replicate this counterinsurgency strategy in other areas along the Afghan border where the army is battling a separate rebellion led by the Pakistani Taliban. But like the U.S. effort in Afghanistan, many observers are skeptical Pakistan's recent push in Baluchistan will succeed given the deep distrust of the state and security forces. 'They are unable to pacify the people because the political and economic alienation of the local population is huge,' said Riffat Hussain, professor of defense studies at Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad. Baluchistan remains Pakistan's poorest province despite the presence of vast natural resources that residents complain are mainly exploited to fill the central government's coffers. They also chafe under what they view as effective military rule."

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Related articles:
Gunmen shoot dead National Party leader in Balochistan, BBC News, 12 July 2010
The missing dimension of Pakistan’s counterinsurgency policy, Radio Free Europe, 10 July 2010
Fashionable dreams in Pakistan's turbulent Baluchistan, AFP, 7 July 2010

Related posts:
Border areas show signs of insecurity despite claims of progress, 9 July 2010
Govt works to tame Taliban and nationalist sympathies in Balochistan, 7 July 2010
Pakistan army finds Taliban tough to root out, 5 July 2010
Failed counterinsurgency strategy leads to rising number of US terror plots: Report, 21 June 2010
Baloch nationalism offers strong resistance to govt efforts, 30 March 2010

Govt Works to Tame Taliban and Nationalist Sympathies in Balochistan

Pakistan Works to Tame Taliban and Nationalist Sympathies, CNN, 7 July 2010

EXCERPT: "Pakistan is taking a page from America's counterinsurgency playbook in trying to win the hearts and the minds of those who might otherwise join Taliban militants or Balochistan nationalists against its military. Balochistan province - Pakistan's largest and one of its most troubled - is home to a nationalist insurgency and an increasingly violent Taliban presence. The sight of Baloch troops marching in the Pakistani army might have been unimaginable three years ago, but recruits are now training to fight for the army, not against it. More than 3,500 such troops have been recruited since 2007, commanders say. 'The whole exercise is to integrate the Balochi youth,' said Gen. Athar Abbas, a Pakistani army spokesman. 'If you encourage people all over the province to join the army and the state system ... that is going to diffuse whatever insurgency is left in these parts.' Part of that encouragement includes education. [...] The army said its soldiers gave up a day's pay, more than a million dollars, to build a school. The sum of their efforts have built 25 schools, 12 mosques and four health clinics. But siding with the military can come at a cost. Tribal leader Rab Nawaz Zing said he's been attacked 18 times for supporting the army. He blames other tribal chiefs. 'If you want schools, you get shot,' he said. 'They say we don't need health centers and roads.'"

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Related articles:
Few women health workers in Balochistan, IRIN News, 7 July 2010

Related posts:
Govt fails to curtail violence in Balochistan, 6 July 2010
Baloch nationalism offers strong resistance to govt efforts, 30 March 2010
Security forces accused of sabotaging "hearts and minds" campaign in Balochistan, 2 February 2010
Military undermines government on human rights, 21 January 2010
Strategic Balochistan becomes a target in war against Taliban, 22 December 2009
Reforms for insurgency-hit province unveiled, 24 November 2009

Govt Fails to Curtail Violence in Balochistan

Govt Fails to Curtail Violence in Balochistan, Sify News, 6 July 2010

EXCERPT: "Six years old Rabia is the latest casualty which has shocked Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's Balochistan province, where target killings, road side bomb blasts, land mine explosions, attacks on police check posts, trains, gas pipelines and electricity lines have become a routine affair now. [...]  'The insurgency is still on the rise. This is spreading very rapidly and as you can't even count the number of attacks and casualties. They are killing at least one person in target killing every day apart from frequent bombings. The number of these incidents is continuously rising,' said Chaudary Muhammad Yaqoob, former Inspector General Balochistan Police. '[...] We need to counter this technically and politically as soon as possible, otherwise situation will be out of our control very soon', he added. Yaqoob said that mainly four groups Baloch Republic Army, Baloch Liberation Army, Balochistan Liberation Front and Baloch Liberation United Front are active in the area which have established close links with the criminals and the Taliban who are busy in anti Pakistan activities in Southern Punjab and Wazirstan areas. They coordinate with them for the actions like target killing, grenade attacks and land mine blasts."

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Related articles:
Attacks in Lahore: Buildup to secession?, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, New Delhi, 6 July 2010
Pakistan army help Balochistan with education, The Express Tribune, 5 July 2010
Pakistan protest over Iran hanging, BBC News, 23 June 2010

Related posts:
Aid agency closes offices following kidnapping, execution, 15 June 2010
Taliban threaten girls' schools in Balochistan, 19 May 2010
Demilitarization, self-determination urged for Balochistan, 28 April 2010
Baloch nationalism offers strong resistance to govt efforts, 30 March 2010
Security concerns challenge development in Balochistan, 2 March 2010

Aid Agency Closes Offices Following Kidnapping, Execution

Mercy Corps Leaves South Pakistan, BBC News, 15 June 2010

EXCERPT: "The US-based aid agency Mercy Corps is pulling out of two southern Pakistani provinces for security reasons. Nearly 50 offices in Balochistan and Sindh are to be shut. The decision follows the kidnapping of four of the agency's local staff in February, allegedly by pro-Taliban gunmen. One has since been killed and a ransom is sought for the others. Mercy Corps told the BBC that Pakistan's government had done little to help free the men. Its announcement follows similar decisions by other international aid organisations, including the UN, to scale back operations in Pakistan since 2009. [...] 'The decision has been taken following developments after the kidnapping of our team members,' Dr Saeedullah Khan, head of Mercy Corps operations in Quetta, told the BBC. He said a videotape of its employee being murdered had been sent to the organisation, with the ultimatum that the remaining three would also be killed unless a ransom of 100m rupees ($1.2m; £800,000) was handed over. 'We have protested strongly and are closing down 40 offices in Balochistan, and eight in Sindh province as a protest.'"

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Related articles:
BLUF claims issuing threats to ICRC, The Nation, 16 May 2010
ICRC cuts operations in Balochistan, DAWN, 15 May 2010

Related posts:
UN temporarily closes offices in Peshawar, 6 April 2010
Aid agency attacked, workers killed, 10 March 2010
NGO workers kidnapped in Balochistan, 19 February 2010
Embattled UN rethinking Afghan-Pakistan role, 6 November 2009

Taliban Threaten Girls' Schools in Balochistan

"Follow Islamic Dress Code or Else…", The Express Tribune, 16 May 2010

EXCERPT: "Suspected militants have threatened several girls schools in Quetta to follow 'proper Islamic dress code' or else they will be attacked. The threat was issued in letters sent to several girls school in the provincial capital. The letter warned teachers and administrators of dire consequences if they ignored the letter. It claimed that informers of militants were present among students and teachers in all schools of the province. A Baloch insurgency and sectarian clashes have claimed hundreds of lives over the past three years in the province. But threats to girls schools have been uncommon in the province, especially in Quetta."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
SHO among six wounded in Quetta blast, DAWN, 19 May 2010
Five injured in hand grenade explosion in SW Pakistan's Quetta city, China View, 16 May 2010
TTP warns Balochistan schools against allowing students to wear "western" clothes, Thaindian, 15 May 2010
5 schools shut down in Quetta, The Nation, 15 May 2010
Assassination spike threatens new Pakistan flashpoint, SifyNews, 2 May 2010

Related posts:
Education in chaos in northern conflict zone, 21 April 2010
Quetta: Between four regions and two conflicts, 4 March 2010
Huge increase in school attacks: Report, 16 February 2010
The Quetta Shura Taliban in southern Afghanistan, 12 January 2010
The Taliban's war on schoolchildren, 4 December 2009

Demilitarization, Self-determination Urged for Balochistan

The Baloch People Have a Right to Self-Determination, openDemocracy, 27 April 2010

EXCERPT: "The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) is urging the complete demilitarisation of the rebel province of Balochistan, as a precondition for a negotiated political settlement to end six decades of economic neglect, ethnic persecution and military repression by successive governments in Islamabad. [...] Echoing the criticisms of Baloch national leaders, the HRCP says the Pakistan’s peace and reconciliation proposals are undermined by on-going military operations and human rights abuses. [...] Promises of military de-escalation are contradicted by continued army incursions and air strikes, which have resulted in many civilian casualties, and by the shooting dead of peaceful Baloch protesters, most recently in Turbat in January this year. [...] Whether self-determination means the restoration of independence, or full regional autonomy within a federal Pakistan, is a matter for the Baloch people to decide. The best way to resolve this issue would be for the government of Pakistan to authorise a United Nations-supervised and monitored referendum to allow the people of Balochistan to freely and democratically determine their own future."

Read the full article.

Related articles:
BLA claims responsibility for killing professor in Quetta , DAWN, 28 April 2010
Targeted killings undermine legitimate Baloch cause: Imran, The Nation, 28 April 2010
Scholarships for Balochistan, FATA students in jeopardy, Daily Times, 27 April 2010
Prosperity linked with Balochistan, Daily Times, 22 April 2010
Balochistan reaches boiling point, BBC News, 7 January 2010

Related posts:
Baloch nationalism offers strong resistance to govt efforts, 30 March 2010
Riots in Quetta following latest targeted killing, 23 March 2010
Court to rule on missing Pakistanis, 19 March 2010
Security concerns challenge development in Balochistan, 2 March 2010
Military undermines government on human rights, 21 January 2010