image Source, getty images
A guerrilla from the Mari tribe of the Baloch people speaks from an insurgent observation post monitoring the movements of Pakistani troops in Balochistan province.
Balochistan is a region shared by Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan whose history is marked by conflict.
It is home to a long-running insurgency waged by Baloch nationalists against the Pakistani government, which has left thousands of victims on both sides.
And today it has also become a center of regional tension, as Iran and Pakistan accuse each other Harboring Baloch separatist “terrorists”,
Islamabad on Thursday launched an unprecedented attack on “terrorist hideouts” in Iranian Baluchistan, known as Sistan and Baluchistan province, killing nine people.
two days ago Iran attacked targets linked to a terrorist group in Pakistani Balochistan
According to Pakistani officials, two children were killed and three others were injured in the attack.
These attacks have raised international concern about the wider conflict in the region.
Although relations between Iran and Pakistan have been historically complex, the two countries have always maintained cordiality.
They share similar problems in the border region that is hotly contested by the Baluchi insurgency, which experts such as former British ambassador to Pakistan Robert Macaire describe as a “lawless” land where anarchy reigns.
Balochistan, which covers 44% of Pakistan, sits on Huge reserves of gold, copper and gasOne of the most important in Asia.
But, paradoxically, it remains a remote and in a certain sense forgotten area.
Is Poorest and least developed province From Pakistan.
A rebellion that started after the partition of India
Residents of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, are trying to live a normal life despite the looming threat of violence.
The region is believed to be named after the Baloch tribe, who began inhabiting the region centuries ago.
It is possible that the place was previously known by another name as there is no record of the city in pre-Islamic sources.
Militant insurgency by groups fighting for an independent state for the Baloch people They started in 1948Following the partition of the British Indian Empire in 1947, which later led to the creation of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Separatists have since stressed that the Baloch people feel abandoned by the government in Islamabad and are under-represented in the Pakistani state, despite being the country’s largest region.
It was there, beneath its vast desert, where Islamabad conducted six tests more than two decades ago He made the country the seventh country in the world to successfully develop and test nuclear weapons.,
The trial took place in May 1998 in Chagai District (henceforth called Chagai-I) under the leadership of then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and resulted in international condemnation and sanctions against Pakistan.
“We never wanted to participate in this nuclear race,” Sharif said at the time, alleging that he had detonated the underground devices in response to India’s recent nuclear tests.
attacks on militants
image Source, reuters
The Karachi Stock Exchange was the site of an attack by terrorists from Balochistan in 2020.
Iran claims its strike last Tuesday targeted “militants” from Jaish al-Adl, a Baluch separatist group fighting for independence for Sistan and Baluchistan, the Iranian part of the region.
Tehran says the group’s terrorists are hiding on Pakistani soil, but Pakistan denies this.
After a day of diplomatic exchanges, Pakistan fired missiles into Iranian territory on Thursday, defending the attack on two Militant and separatist fronts active in Balochistan are reportedly hiding in Iran.,
The truth is that several terrorist groups are active in Balochistan, including the Pakistani Taliban, the Sunni Muslim extremist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and the separatist Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), against whom Pakistan claims the attack was directed.
In 2020, four BLA men armed with rifles and grenades stormed Pakistan’s most important Karachi Stock Exchange, killing two security guards and a police officer and injuring seven others before being killed.
A key area for China
The same organization had also attacked the Zawar Pearl-Continental Hotel in the port city of Gwadar in southern Balochistan in 2019. Chinese investors and other nationalities commonly found there.
The hotel complex is seen by some separatist groups as the center of operations for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a megaproject announced in April 2015.
The investment, already estimated at around US$62 billion, more than Nicaragua’s gross domestic product (GDP), is aimed at building a network of roads, railways and gas pipelines between the two allies.
The militants vehemently oppose Chinese investment, arguing that it brings no benefits to the local population.
BBC Urdu Service journalist Saqlain Imam told BBC Mundo, “There are different types of nationalism in Balochistan. Some people oppose everything about Pakistan, because they just want to be an independent country.”
“Other groups feel that the federal government, which is dominated by Punjab – the country’s most populous province and the second-largest province by area after Balochistan – does not allow the Baloch people to have a say in projects. Gives.”
Reports of abuse and repression
The BLA is one of six armed separatist groups from Balochistan that have previously carried out attacks in Pakistan.
The United States and the United Kingdom consider it a “terrorist” organization.
Balochistan is currently a province that is difficult to access for journalists and human rights groups.
However, over the years Reports of various abuses and mass repression have been documented. By Pakistani Army.
Local authorities have denied the allegations on several occasions.
In 2023, 10 Pakistani soldiers and security officials were killed in three separate attacks in Balochistan, which were attributed to separatist militants.
According to reports, the attacks were commanded by groups operating from Iran.
Experts and activists predict that tensions between Islamabad and Tehran with various Baloch separatist groups will continue until the parties reach some kind of agreement.
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