A member of security forces in Pakistan. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

File image of a Pakistan soldier.
| Photo Credit: AP

At least 18 security personnel and 23 terrorists were killed during clashes between the two sides in Pakistan. File

At least 18 security personnel and 23 terrorists were killed during clashes between the two sides in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province.

The military said the terrorists were killed in different areas of troubled Balochistan in the last 24 hours.

In one such operation in Harnai district on Saturday (February 1, 2025), national troops effectively engaged the terrorists, killing 11 militants and destroying multiple terrorist hideouts.

Earlier on Friday night, 12 terrorists were killed while security forces successfully thwarted militants’ attempt to establish roadblocks in the Mangocher area of Kalat.

“Thus far a total of 23 terrorists have been sent to hell in different operations in Balochistan in the last 24 hours,” the Army said, adding the sanitisation operations will continue until perpetrators and facilitators of the heinous and cowardly act are brought to justice.

The Army said the security forces were determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism from not only Balochistan but the entire Pakistan.

However, no one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Balochistan is in the grip of violence perpetrated by the Baloch extremists who regularly attack the security forces and people belonging to other provinces.

Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest province but, although it has more resources than other provinces, it is the least developed. The incident comes less than a day after separate anti-terrorist operations by the security forces in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

At least 10 terrorists in five operations in different areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the ISPR said on Friday.

The operations are part of a sustained effort as the country witnessed a surge in violent attacks since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021, particularly in the bordering provinces of KP and Balochistan.

Terror attacks have increased since the banned militant Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan group broke a fragile ceasefire agreement with the government.

With at least 685 members of security forces losing their lives amid a total of 444 terror attacks, 2024 turned out to be the deadliest year for the civil and military security forces of Pakistan in a decade.

Karachi:

 A gas pipeline at Akhtarabad Western Bypass in Pakistan’s Balochistan has been damaged, disrupting supply to several areas, according to ARY News.

The spokesperson for Sui Southern said that an 18-inch diameter main gas supply line had been damaged. It was unclear whether the damage was caused by an accident or sabotage. Technical teams from Sui Southern have been dispatched to the site to assess the situation, ARY News reported.

The damage has affected supply to several areas, including Kuchlak, Ziarat, Bostan, Yaru, Karbala, Harmizai, and Pishin. Several parts of Quetta, such as Airport Road, Naukali, Jinnah Town, Khazi, and Hazar Ganji, are also facing supply issues, ARY News reported.

Meanwhile, Rawalpindi is grappling with a severe gas crisis, with disruptions reported in 70 per cent of the city’s areas as the temperatures have dropped.

Residents of Chaklala Scheme III, Gulistan Colony, Wilayat Homes, Eidgah Mohalla, Jamia Masjid Road, Dhoke Hassu, Dhoke Kashmirian, Sadiqabad Khurram Colony, Rawalpindi Cantonment, Khayaban-e-Sir Syed, and Dhoke Kala Khan are struggling to prepare meals due to the lack of gas, ARY News reported.

The crisis has also led to the closure of tandoors in many neighbourhoods, further complicating daily life for residents.

Locals in Pakistan’s Karachi have been grappling with a severe gas crisis amid cold weather forcing domestic consumers largely to purchase expensive liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), Dawn reported.

The LPG loadshedding is scheduled in Karachi from 9:30 pm (local time) to 6 am (local time) and 2:30 pm (local time) to 5 pm (local time). However, the majority of the areas of Karachi either remained with LPG most of the day or received gas with a very low pressure.

Residents of parts of Karachi said that unannounced gas loadshedding always hit the city whenever winter was around the corner. The gas crisis has intensified since the winter season began in the city.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Are Beijing-Islamabad ties under strain? Last month’s bombing near Karachi airport, which killed two Chinese engineers and wounded a third, may well be a turning point. These bombings, claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), were the latest in a string of attacks on Beijing’s interests in Pakistan, which began in 2016. They have angered China, which has pushed Pakistan to begin formal negotiations for a joint security management system.

Last Monday, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said that Beijing “will continue supporting Pakistan’s counterterrorism effort[s] and socioeconomic development”. Pakistani officials who have direct knowledge of the previously unreported negotiations told Reuters that the Chinese want to bring in their own security, something that Pakistan is not in support of. Beijing has sent Islamabad a written proposal to “allow the dispatch of security agencies and military forces into each other’s territory to assist in counterterrorism missions and conduct joint strikes”.

Pakistan, for its part, was amenable to setting up a joint security management system wherein Chinese officials could attend security meetings. It had also requested Beijing for greater help in improving its intelligence capabilities instead of direct involvement. But, it remains averse to having Chinese security and military forces on its territory.

Why China Is Frustrated

China does not seem to be in the mood to be placated—and not without reason. Two major deadly attacks have occurred this year—one was in October last month in Karachi, and another in March in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). The latter attack, on a Chinese envoy, was carried out by affiliates of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and resulted in the deaths of five Chinese nationals working on the Dasu dam project. 

Following the October bombings, the Chinese response was unusually blunt. It has been pushing for a thorough probe and investigation into the attacks as well as for a large-scale counterterrorism operation. The Chinese embassy, strongly condemning the “terrorist attack”, recently requested Pakistan to “thoroughly investigate the attack, severely punish the perpetrators, and take all necessary measures to protect the safety of Chinese citizens, institutions and projects in Pakistan”, and asked “Chinese citizens, enterprises and projects in Pakistan to be vigilant, pay close attention to the security situation, strengthen security measures, and make every effort to take safety precautions”. This is not surprising because these two attacks are certainly not the only ones targeting Chinese interests and personnel in Pakistan. 

The Balochistan Conflict

The roots of these tensions go back to Baloch dissatisfaction. However, the other broad underlying factor is Pakistan’s inability to assimilate all its ethnic groups and provinces into a cohesive national identity, both culturally and economically. The narrative of Pakistani Balochistan follows a familiar trajectory. It has been seen earlier in the history of East Pakistan (which ultimately decided its destiny as Bangladesh), of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, and of the Northwest Frontier Province (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa). The steady depletion of natural resources of these provinces, the dispossession of their populaces, the erosion of local autonomy, negligence towards development, the suppression of ethnic identity and culture, demographic changes and the brutal crushing of any dissent or opposition are all-too-familiar patterns. 

Balochistan is a resource-rich province with natural gas and mineral deposits, including coal, chromites, barytes, sulphur, marble, iron ore, quartzite, uranium, limestone and 95% of the world’s asbestos. Nevertheless, the province continues to languish under neglect, with the Baloch people alleging internal colonisation by Pakistan’s dominant Punjab province. The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) continues to press ahead with its demands for secessionism, with Pakistan launching large-scale anti-insurgency operations to crush the agitation. Hundreds of Baloch have lost their lives and many more “disappeared” under these operations.

Why CPEC Has Become A Bone Of Contention

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the flagship programme of China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), passes majorly through Balochistan and is meant to bring in all the fruits of development. But the project has added to Baloch anxiety. The CPEC, a network of road, rail, power grid and cable connections, links China’s Xinjiang to the Gwadar Port in Balochistan Province. The Baloch allege dissatisfaction with and exploitation by the CPEC, whereby thousands have been displaced on their own land without adequate compensation or employment opportunities. There are charges of corruption and ambiguity, with many believing that only Pakistani elites and China would benefit from the project. The result has been a string of attacks on Chinese personnel and interests, interrupting the implementation of the CPEC. For instance, in 2018, the BLA attacked the Chinese consulate in Karachi. Two years later, it attacked the Pakistan Stock Exchange, where the Chinese are major investors. In 2022, a female Baloch suicide bomber targeted Karachi University, killing three Chinese teachers. Last year, the BLA set six Chinese mobile towers on fire.

These tensions have considerably slowed down the progress of the CPEC, with many projects having been stalled. The Chinese, who have invested almost $64 billion into the corridor, are visibly upset. In 2021, a Pakistan Senate panel expressed concern over the slow progress of the CPEC and the Chinese dissatisfaction, given that around 135 Chinese companies are engaged in the CPEC. The Chinese Ambassador in Islamabad had also complained that Pakistan had “destroyed CPEC”.

A Breakdown Of Ties?

Along with the stalled projects and lost profits, body bags containing the remains of Chinese workers returning to the country have added to China’s frustrations. This has led to pressure on Islamabad to launch a full-blown counterinsurgency operation in Balochistan. It has also contributed to the erosion of confidence and a possible devaluation of bilateral ties with Pakistan. Analysts have pointed out that in the last few joint statements—most notable being the latest one released during the visit of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to China—Pakistan is no longer mentioned as a “highest priority” country for China, a tag that featured in previous joint statements. Also, the idea of extending the CPEC to Afghanistan—mooted during a trilateral meeting in 2023 between then-Pakistani foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang, and acting Afghan foreign minister Malawi Amir Khan Muttaqi—is no longer being discussed.

Pakistan neither wants to engage in another massive counterterrorism operation nor does it want Chinese security forces to guard CPEC projects. Yet, $30 billion of its $126-billion total external foreign debt is owed to China. It is also seeking another $7 billion from the International Monetary Fund. Not a pretty picture: not for Pakistan, not for China, and certainly not for the CPEC.

(Aditi Bhaduri is a journalist and political analyst. She has translated the works of Nicholas Roerich from Russian to English)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author

Karachi:

At least 20 miners were killed and eight others were injured early Friday when unidentified armed men attacked their coal mines in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province.

The incident occurred in the Dukki area of the province, Dunya News reported.

The attack is the latest in a string of violence in Pakistan. It comes less ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s summit to be held in the national capital.

According to District Chairman Dukki Haji Khair Ullah Nasir, the attackers used hand grenades and rocket launchers in the attack. He said that there are ten coal mines located in the area.

Nasir said that the attackers also set ablaze mining machinery before fleeing the scene.

At least 20 miners were killed and eight others were wounded.

Police, paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) and rescue teams rushed to the spot after the attack.

Police sources said that the death toll may rise as some injured minors were in critical condition.

SHO Dukki Hamanyan Khan said the armed men first gathered the miners in different groups and then sprayed bullets on them.

Heavy contingents of police and FC have cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to arrest the culprits.

Pakistan has witnessed a worrying surge in terrorist attacks in the ongoing year with fatalities in the first three quarters surpassing the numbers recorded in all of 2023.

As per the third Quarterly Report (Q3) issued by the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), the number of fatalities rose to at least 1,534 in the first three quarters of 2024 compared to 1,523 in 2023.

Balochistan, bordering Iran and Afghanistan, is home to a long-running violent insurgency. Baloch insurgent groups have previously carried out several attacks targeting CPEC projects.

The banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) accuses China and Islamabad of exploitation of the resource-rich province, a charge rejected by the authorities. It has fought a long-running insurgency for a separate homeland.

Earlier this week, two Chinese nationals were killed and 17 people injured in a suicide attack by a Baloch insurgent group that targeted a convoy of Chinese workers near Pakistan’s busiest airport in Karachi. PTI SH NSA NSA

Representational image.
| Photo Credit: AP

Gunmen killed 20 miners and wounded another seven in Pakistan’s southwest, a police official said on Friday (October 11, 2024).

It’s the latest attack in restive Balochistan province and comes days ahead of a major security summit being hosted in the capital.

Police official Hamayun Khan Nasir said the gunmen stormed the accommodations at the coal mine in Duki district late Thursday night, rounded up the men and opened fire.

Most of the men were from Pashtun-speaking areas of Balochistan. Three of the dead and four of the wounded were Afghan.

Nobody claimed immediate responsibility for the attack.

On August 26, one of the bloodiest attacks in Pakistan’s Balochistan province occurred, with over 70 people, including Pakistan Army soldiers, reportedly killed by the separatist group Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA). The date held significant meaning for Balochistan as it marked the 18th death anniversary of Nawab Akbar Bugti, a Baloch nationalist leader killed by the Pakistani military in 2006.

The BLA’s Majeed Brigade, its suicide squad, conducted a coordinated attack across various parts of Balochistan. The assault involved blowing up infrastructure such as railway tracks and bridges and resulted in the deaths of migrant labourers from Punjab.

The Baloch rebellion in Pakistan stems from both historical and contemporary resentments, impacting stability in India and the broader region. Balochistan has a long history of political unrest, economic oppression, anti-Punjabi sentiment, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings. These issues have rekindled the fight for Baloch nationalism. For two decades, the mineral-rich province has experienced low-level insurgency against Pakistan’s central government, accompanied by brutal retaliatory actions.

Pakistan has described the recent attacks as a “nefarious scheme supported by external rivals to undermine its development ties with Beijing”.

The BLA is considered the largest armed group in Balochistan, with thousands of members. It collaborates closely with the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF), another major separatist militant group advocating for Baloch self-determination. Both groups have been labelled as “terrorist organisations” by Pakistan.

The 1999 Coup

Many Baloch believe they were coerced into joining Pakistan in 1948. The princely state of Kalat, now part of Balochistan, briefly enjoyed independence before being ‘forced’ into accession with Pakistan. Apart from initial resistance, there were uprisings in 1958 and 1977 seeking either independence or greater autonomy.

Pervez Musharraf’s military coup in 1999 further alienated the Baloch from Pakistan. Distrust of Punjabi dominance in the Pakistani army and bureaucracy, along with the lack of Baloch representation, has been a persistent issue. In one of Musharraf’s counter-insurgency operations, Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Bugti was killed in 2006. Pakistan has not made significant efforts to integrate the region or address the local issues of its inhabitants.

“The Baloch have been alienated by the Pakistani state since the country’s inception. This alienation has intensified over the past two decades due to Pakistan’s failure to engage in meaningful reflection and its numerous cases of enforced disappearances, torture, and killings of Baloch activists,” says Malik Siraj Akbar, a political analyst based in Washington, D.C.

How Things Stand Today

Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest province by area but remains one of its most impoverished regions. Years of poverty, neglect, and mistreatment by the central government have fueled anger, which is exploited by separatists. Revenue from Balochistan’s rich natural resources has been used to develop other parts of Pakistan, including Punjab and Sindh, which are more prosperous. Balochistan contributes only 4% to Pakistan’s economy.

The province also lags in social development indicators, with the highest infant and maternal mortality rates, the highest poverty rate, and the lowest literacy rate in Pakistan.

There is no forum for dissent, as enforced disappearances of thousands of Balochs continue. Political parties in Balochistan, which previously formed most provincial governments, lost power in controversial elections. Later, Islamabad supported puppet leaders, worsening the situation.

“While Pakistan may appear to be a democratic state, real power rests with its military and intelligence agencies, which are primarily blamed for the violence in Balochistan,” says Akbar. “Unless the military ends its illegal operations and is held accountable, any confidence-building measures with the Baloch and prospects for negotiations are unlikely,” he adds.

Apart from using brutal force and repression, the Pakistani establishment has also failed to engage with civil rights movements in Balochistan. Resentment is so high that in the current uprising, the Baloch nationalist movement has garnered support from women, children, and the families of the missing persons, with some even joining the suicide bombers.

Baloch separatists are also opposed to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which passes through Balochistan and is seen as an example of exploitation. They have targeted Chinese workers as part of their resistance. Balochistan is a crucial location in China’s multi-billion-dollar CPEC, part of President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). In January, insurgents attacked government offices in Gwadar, a key hub for Chinese investments in energy and infrastructure. The BLA also targeted Pakistan’s largest naval air force base.

The current insurgency is driven by the construction of Gwadar, a Chinese-funded project announced in 2001 intended to transform the small village into a port city like Dubai. The Pakistani government has excluded Baloch from the development process, employing Chinese engineers and non-Baloch Pakistani workers, fueling antipathy and violence. The Taliban’s seizure of neighbouring Afghanistan has also enhanced the capabilities of armed groups in the region, including Baloch separatists.

Pakistan Should Stop Blaming Others

Pakistan has accused India of providing arms, training, and financial support to insurgent groups in Balochistan. India denies these allegations and has urged Pakistan to examine its own support for terrorism. In 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks highlighting Pakistan’s atrocities and repression of the Baloch people had sparked controversy in Islamabad.

India has been closely monitoring the situation in Balochistan and has expressed concerns about rising attacks in both Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan since the Taliban’s return to Kabul. Pakistan needs to abandon the policy of rewarding those who attack Baloch nationalists and stop promoting conspiracy theories that India, Iran, and Afghanistan are behind all the tumult in Balochistan.

“Pakistan has mastered the art of externalising responsibility for its self-created problems. Unable to address the two-decade-long insurgency in Balochistan despite using brutal tactics similar to those in East Pakistan in 1971, Pakistan has intermittently blamed India for its troubles,” says Tilak Devasher, a member of the National Security Advisory Board, India. “It has, however, failed to produce any evidence to substantiate its claims. Consequently, its assertions are not taken seriously by the international community,” adds Devasher.

Pakistan must demonstrate political will to address the Balochistan issue by engaging with civil rights groups, involving Baloch in the development process, and alleviating their poverty and suffering. Meanwhile, India continues to observe the situation closely.

(Bharti Mishra Nath is Contributing Editor, NDTV)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author

Nisar Lehri, senior journalist in Mastung locality of Pakistan’s Balochistan. File
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

GUWAHATI

A global media safety and rights body has mourned the killing of the tenth journalist in Pakistan in 2024.

Armed assailants gunned down the 50-year-old Nisar Lehri, a senior journalist in Mastung locality of Pakistan’s Balochistan and a member of the local press club, on September 4 for reasons not officially disclosed. Nine others were killed before him in the country this year.

“Pakistan has slowly turned into a graveyard of working journalists in South Asia,” the Geneva-based Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) said in a statement on Wednesday.

Expressing serious concern over the continued killing of media persons in Pakistan even though the country is not witnessing any war currently, PEC president Blaise Lempen demanded a fair probe into Lehri’s untimely death.

“For any reason, the perpetrators should not enjoy immunity and they must be booked under the law of the land,” he said.

The PEC’s Guwahati-based South Asia representative, Nava Thakuria said Lehri’s killing followed that of Muhammad Bachal Ghunio of Mirpur Mathelo locality in the Sindh province, on August 27.

The eight other Pakistani journalists killed since January 1 were Malik Hassan Zaib, Khalil Afridi Jibran, Nasrullah Gadani, Kamran Dawar, Mehar Ashfaq Siyal, Maulana Mohammad Siddique Mengal, Jam Saghir Ahmad Lar, and Tahira Nosheen Rana.

Mr. Thakuria said Bangladesh has followed Pakistan in the killing of journalists since the movement against reservation in government jobs led to the ouster of Sheikh Hasina as the Prime Minister. Five Bangladeshi journalists killed during and after the movement were Tahir Zaman Priyo, Hasan Mehedi, Shakil Hossain, Abu Taher Md Turab, and Pradip Kumar Bhowmik.