Quetta, Balochistan

[S2]

Tronic Reply

"Steve, do you see Pakistan as a union?"

Absolutely not. I'd hope it was clear in my comment achieving such should be a goal pursued by their government and demanded by their people. Doing so would require a societal transformation that might make the Pakistani state an acceptable end-goal for the Balochi people as an alternative to their Sardars.

That's a long way from happening.

[1980s]

Gunmen target Hazara minority in Pakistan

At least seven people killed in latest attacks against mostly Shia ethnic group in southwestern city of Quetta.

Gunmen have killed at least seven people identified as Hazaras , a mostly Shia ethnic minority, in three separate attacks in southwest Pakistan, police said, bringing the two-week death toll to over 30 people.

Interesting remarks from Governor Magsi:

Speaking about the alarming rise in targeted violence, Zulfiqar Ali Magsi, the governor of Balochistan, warned on Friday of a risk of civil war in the province unless the security situation improved.

“The situation is slipping out of control. Target killings are happening on a daily basis despite the presence of paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC), Balochistan Constabulary and police,” the governor said during a meeting with a delegation of the Hazara Democratic Party (HDP).

“We will be compelled to call out Pakistan's army… if the government does not check incidents of target killings,” he said.

I wonder if he really believes that 'calling out the army' is going to make any difference on the streets of Quetta. Or perhaps that is what the Pakistani army itself wants?

It is strange that over the past 1 or 2 years the Shi'ite Hazara's in Balochistan have come under such an organised assault all of a sudden, said to be carried out by "Lashkar-e-Jhangvi", a group that has no grass-roots or base among the Baloch. The LeJ's support base is said to be almost exclusively from eastern Pakistan, yet it is Hazara Shi'as in far away Balochistan they have chosen to campaign against. That srikes me as odd for some reason since there are Shi'a communities in Pakistan's Punjab and Sindh provinces too. Perhaps another case of the Punjab provincial government cutting a deal with terrorist networks that allows them to preach, raise funds and rally recruits so long as the violence is kept away from Lahore etc?

Imprisoned since 1997 for over 50 cases ranging from murder to terrorism, LEJ's leader, Malik Ishaq, was freed on July 15 from jail for a lack of evidence.

In his speaking tours since his release, he has continued to incite violence against Shias, as on September 19, he was welcomed into Alipur by a "party of 800 men on motorcycles chanting anti-Shia slogans," the Pakistani paper The Express Tribune reported.

Reacting to his release, the Imamia Students Association, a shia group, warned that his release would mean more violence against Shias.

"The planned release of terror kingpin Malik Ishaq who is also the co-founder of banned organisation Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, with the blessing of Punjab government's weak prosecution and the court's blind decision is likely to fuel the ruthless killings of Shias across the country," they said.

Reza Nasim Jan, Pakistan team lead at the American Enterprise Institute, says although there is no direct evidence tying Ishaq to the rapid increase in violence, his anti-Shia rhetoric, on display during speaking tours and rallies focused in Sindh and Punjab, has not changed since his release.

Pakistan's minority Hazaras live in fear - Features - Al Jazeera English

So the rallies take place in Punjab and Sindh, and the killings are directed against Hazara Shi'a in Balochistan. A good excuse for a build-up of Pakistani army bases in Balochistan no doubt.

[S2]

1980s Reply

Nothing postulated by you is unreasonable. Self-interest in Punjab is long-established. So too Deobandi radical-inspired violence against shia and other communities.

Long live the Pakistani state. It stands as a model of integrated values.

[Tronic]

It is strange that over the past 1 or 2 years the Shi'ite Hazara's in Balochistan have come under such an organised assault all of a sudden, said to be carried out by "Lashkar-e-Jhangvi", a group that has no grass-roots or base among the Baloch. The LeJ's support base is said to be almost exclusively from eastern Pakistan, yet it is Hazara Shi'as in far away Balochistan they have chosen to campaign against. That srikes me as odd for some reason since there are Shi'a communities in Pakistan's Punjab and Sindh provinces too. Perhaps another case of the Punjab provincial government cutting a deal with terrorist networks that allows them to preach, raise funds and rally recruits so long as the violence is kept away from Lahore etc?

IMO, the strategy Pakistan seems to have adopted to solve the Balochistan issue is one of "Islamisizing" it, hoping to instill some sort of a pan-Pakistani Islamic identity, and this can only be done by propping the radical Sunni groups at the expense of the minorities.

One only needs to see the systematic campaign against the Shias in Pakistani held Kashmir, namely Gilgit-Baltistan, where they constitute a majority. These regions have been flooded with Punjabis and Sunni Muslims from the tribal areas and Kohistan; severely altering the demographics of this region.

Sectarian violence against the Shias is nothing new here and has only grown over time.

Infact, even at this very moment in Gilgit: Curfew continues to cripple life in Gilgit

The media blackout in Pakistani Kashmir helps to silence the issue, but the Shias in Kashmir have had it a lot rougher, and for a lot longer, than the ones in Balochistan.

[1980s]

I tend to see the Pakistanis as actually having no strategy when it comes to Balochistan (or at least, no common strategy among the civilian or military establishments). They seem dumbfounded and totally in denial about what is going on there, and to why the Baloch are in revolt against them. Their typically 3rd World short-term solution of abducting and murdering Baloch activists, journalists, intellectuals etc has only inflamed Baloch opinion against them even more and increased support for a violent response by Baloch militants. Patronising Islamist groups (with an ironically Punjab-Pakistani nationalist outlook) is something that has a history, but i dont know how much of that is strategy as opposed to narrow (perceived) short-term 'fixes'. Its definitely backfired on them.

As for the LeJ, i suspect it is largely out of the control of its former(?) ISI patrons. However i seem to recall reading some time back that the ruling political party in Punjab had acquired the services of the SSP (the LeJ's parent organisation) during an election campaign in the province. Also one of the Punjab leaders was reported to have even called on the TTP to 'spare' Punjab since his party 'shared similar views' to that of the Taliban! I am therefore not surprised that the LeJ should have 'spared' Punjab too from what it is instead inflicting on Shi'a Hazara in Balochistan.

In any case, the situation regarding Shi'as in Kurram, Gilgit and Balochistan, irrespective of the ethnicity of those in question, has not gone unnoticed by some of the Shi'ite foundations in Iran, and also the regime there (some of the news agencies give regular reports). Not that ordinary Iranians themselves care at all about what goes on in Pakistan, however. But the issue is something that can (and probably does) influence Iran's relations and attitude towards that country. Which leads me to believe that the LeJ does not act out on any strategy or agenda other than its own. Its actions should actually run counter to the interests of the Pakistani state (if we are to assume that Pakistan isnt actively looking to make enemies) given that the LeJ isolates both Iran and Afghanistan too (especially after the LeJ carried out a rare foreign attack on Shi'as in Kabul last December).

Anyway it will be interesting to see if this of has any impact on the way in which the Afghan Taliban operates from and within Balochistan. Surely the LeJ does the 'Quetta Shura' no favors by drawing Iranian and Afghan attention towards the plight of Hazara Shi'a living in Queta and elsewhere given past history of Taliban atrocities against the same in Afghanistan during the 1990s that almost led to war with Iran.

[1980s]

BBC News - Kidnapped UK aid worker Khalil Dale is killed in Pakistan

A British aid worker kidnapped in Pakistan in January has been found dead, the Foreign Office has said.

Khalil Dale, 60, who worked for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), was kidnapped in Quetta, south-west Pakistan.

His body was found in an orchard in Quetta with a note saying he had been killed by the Taliban, according to local police.

But there is no Taliban in Quetta, according to Interior Minister Rehman Malik!

Rip.

[1980s]

Killed in Quetta

If true, this is surely one of the most significant developments in the war in recent times.

Afghan intel confirms death of senior Afghan Taliban leader, possibly 25 others

By LWJ Staff May 2, 2012

Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS) Chief testified to the Afghan Senate today that Maluvi Mohammad Ismail, who until last year served as the Military Council Chairman for the Taliban's Quetta Shura, had recently been executed by rival Taliban members along with 25 other "key rebel figures." NDS chief Lieutenant General Rahmatullah Nabil additionally noted that the former head of the Taliban's Recruitment Council, Ustad Yasir, a key ideologue for the Taliban movement, had been among those killed. And regional reports identified two other Afghan Taliban officials who had also been killed: Maulvi Shaheedkhel (Shahid Khel), allegedly the shadow governor of Laghman province, and a Taliban intelligence figure named Maulvi Ahmadullah Wror.

Read more: Afghan intel confirms death of senior Afghan Taliban leader, possibly 25 others - The Long War Journal

[S2]

I'm increasingly suspecting that the afghan insurgency is directed from Rawalpindi. Not rogue elements. Not assistance. Controlled and directed.

[Agnostic Muslim]

Balochistan unrest: 7 labourers gunned down in Quetta

By Web Desk
Published: September 13, 2012

QUETTA: At least seven labourers were killed and some sustained injuries when unidentified men opened fire on them while they did construction work in the Dasht area of Mastung, Express News reported on Thursday.

Police and Levies were deployed to the area whereas the dead and injured were being shifted to a hospital.

Quetta remains under constant fire with target killing incidents and bomb blasts taking lives everyday.

It has also become a hub of sectarian violence.

Earlier, three members of the Hazara community in Quetta were killed and four others injured, including a two-year-old passerby, when armed assailants opened fire on the yellow cab they were travelling in on Spiny Road in the Killi Mubarak area.
Balochistan unrest: 7 labourers gunned down in Quetta – The Express Tribune

==========

And terrorism by the separatist groups so loved by some in the US legislature (Rohrabacher and company), whose leadership continues to find shelter and support from the Afghans, US, UK, Switzerland, continues...

[Tronic]

Balochistan unrest: 7 labourers gunned down in Quetta

By Web Desk
Published: September 13, 2012

QUETTA: At least seven labourers were killed and some sustained injuries when unidentified men opened fire on them while they did construction work in the Dasht area of Mastung, Express News reported on Thursday.

Police and Levies were deployed to the area whereas the dead and injured were being shifted to a hospital.

Quetta remains under constant fire with target killing incidents and bomb blasts taking lives everyday.

It has also become a hub of sectarian violence.

Earlier, three members of the Hazara community in Quetta were killed and four others injured, including a two-year-old passerby, when armed assailants opened fire on the yellow cab they were travelling in on Spiny Road in the Killi Mubarak area.
Balochistan unrest: 7 labourers gunned down in Quetta – The Express Tribune

==========

And terrorism by the separatist groups so loved by some in the US legislature (Rohrabacher and company), whose leadership continues to find shelter and support from the Afghans, US, UK, Switzerland, continues...

How do you automatically assume this attack was carried out by Baloch nationalists? The same article talks about attacks on the Hazaras and the sectarian violence. Could just as easily be the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, or the Sipah-e-Sahaba.

[1980s]

Q&A: ‘Baloch Groups to Unite Against Pakistan’

Interesting remarks made by the commander of the BLF as it relates to religious extremism, the Taliban and NATO forces in Afghanistan:

Oct 26 2012 (IPS)

Do you coordinate with Jundullah (“Army of God”) – the Baloch insurgent movement in neighbouring Iran?

We know the people fighting in Jundullah are also Baloch but we have no relation with them. Ours is a pure nationalist war, miles away from Jundullah´s religious extremism.

. . .

The Baloch say the government in Islamabad is trying to Talibanise Balochistan in order to quell the Baloch nationalist movement.

That’s true. Balochs are basically secular, by their culture, by their tradition, by their historical background, so the Pakistani regime is trying to Talibanise the Baloch society. Just where I am right now, the ISI – the Pakistani secret service – has set up two religious militant groups against the Baloch national struggle: one is Ansar-al-Islam and the other is Tahafuz-e-Hadoodullah (Protectors of God’s Rule).

They have formed these groups in the name of Islam but their real aim is to crush the Baloch freedom movement. Pakistan is the cradle of the Taliban and the breeding ground of the Taliban. Pakistan is nourishing and funneling the Taliban and Al-Qaeda terrorists into Afghanistan, India, Saudi Arabia, Yemen… Pakistan is an irresponsible state that is putting the civilised world in danger. A free Baloch state would therefore be in the interest of the whole civilised world.

Washington is reconsidering a pullout from Afghanistan due for 2014. How will this affect the Af-Pak region?

If America and NATO pull out from Afghanistan, that will lead to turbulence and destabilisation. A weak Afghanistan will not only destabilise the region but it will be harmful for the whole civilised world.

Full article: IPS – Q&A: ‘Baloch Groups to Unite Against Pakistan’

It is interesting that Dr. Allah Nazar of the BLF mentions an extremist group purportedly set-up by the Pakistanis in Balochistan calling itself 'Ansar-al-Islam' and distances himself from Jundallah. In Iran a previously unknown militant group calling itself 'Ansar' carried out a suicide bombing in Chabahar a couple of weeks ago. To my understanding there is no record of any extremist Sunni group called 'Ansar' operating in southeastern Iran (Sistan-o Baluchestan province) until the suicide attack in October. While the response of the state media typically assigned blame to US and Israeli agents for backing 'anti-revolutionary' groups it is noteworthy that an Iranian official stated that "Certain regional countries also had a hand in the Chabahar terrorist incident directly and indirectly." according to MNA (Certain regional countries were involved in Chabahar terrorist attack - Tehran Times). While that could mean Saudi Arabia, the remarks by Allah Nazar to IPS might reveal something else.

What i feel gives some credence to the fact that this 'regional' state is hinting at Pakistan rather than Saudi Arabia is the abrupt and unexplained cancellation (after the suicide bombing in Chabahar) of the Iranian VP's trip to Pakistan: DAWN: Iran’s VP cancels Pakistan visit. Not to mention that several Iranian military officials and Ahmadinejad himself have in the recent past named Pakistan openly as being culpable (even complicit) in the activities of extremist groups like Jundallah that target Iran and Shi'a Muslims.

Anyway, if so, what this illustrates then is that there is indeed a newly formed extremist group called 'Ansar' operating in Baluch inhabited territories and as such, is not an empty allegation or the fiction of Dr. Allah Nazar. But that it appears to target both Baluch nationalists and Iran (and by extension, Shi'as) seems new, if the two 'Ansar's' are indeed the same. I should also point out that murders and attacks on Shi'as in Balochistan (Pakistan) have dramatically increased over the past year, particularly on Shi'as (usually ethnic Hazara's) travelling on buses on their way to (or back from) pilgrimage sites in Iran, which has not gone unnoticed by Shi'ite agencies there like the Ahlulbayt News Agency.

Things might well be about to get a bit messier over there.

[Agnostic Muslim]

BRP spokesperson’s son reportedly killed

By Mohammad ZafarPublished: November 15, 2012

Sources say Haq Nawaz Bugti died in battle with security forces; officials deny incident.
QUETTA: Baloch Republican Party (BRP) spokesperson Sher Muhammad Bugti’s son was reportedly killed in a battle with security personnel in Nushki district, some 148 kilometres from Quetta, on Wednesday.

According to BRP sources, Haq Nawaz Bugti, who was not affiliated with the BRP himself, was killed in Nushki district during a fierce battle with security forces.

A spokesperson for the defunct Baloch Republican Army (BRA) who called media offices from an unspecified location also said that Haq Nawaz was killed in a clash with security personnel in Nushki. He further claimed that Baloch fighters caused heavy losses to security personnel.

District Police Officer Naz Jan, however, denied such reports altogether. “The police cover a 15 kilometre area, but so far they have received no such news,” he added. Nushki Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Jan also rejected the news, saying that if such incident would have occurred, he would have known.

The Frontier Corps (FC) Balochistan spokesperson also told The Express Tribune that no such battle had taken place with Baloch fighters in Nushki.

BRP, on the other hand, has announced 40 days of mourning and province-wide demonstrations today (Thursday) after the incident. It also announced a shutter-down strike on Nov 16 throughout Balochistan.
BRP Women’s Wing leader Horain Baloch paid tributes to Haq Nawaz for sacrificing his life for the Baloch cause, saying that anti-Baloch forces were carrying out ‘a genocide’.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 15th, 2012.
===========

Don't really care who killed him so long as yet another terrorist is dead - however, most of the background accounts so far indicate that HN Bugti was killed in a clash with another militia.

[cataphract]

Interesting remarks made by the commander of the BLF as it relates to religious extremism, the Taliban and NATO forces in Afghanistan:



Full article: IPS – Q&A: ‘Baloch Groups to Unite Against Pakistan’

If Baloch cultue is traditionally liberal as claimed by the BLF commander, how do militantly Sunni Baloch groups like Jundollah operate just across the border? Are the Balochs of Sistan THAT culturally different from Pakistani Balochs?

[1980s]

This interview with a Baluch nationalist contains some interesting comments regarding general Baluch-Pashtun relations in and around Quetta, altho no specific mention of the Afghan Taliban and what role (if any) it may play in any future escalation of violence in Quetta among various ethnic and sectarian groups.

Full interview: Nationalists’ Participation in Elections without Set of Demands Will Go Against Baloch Interests: Whaeed Baloch

Excerpts:

Islamabad often says Pashtuns also live in Balochistan and they account for the half of the population. The Pashtuns do not seem to have an objection to the federal government’s policies and decisions about Balochistan.

All Baloch nationalists, regardless of their political belief and organizational affiliation, have consensus on the fact that Pashtuns of Balochistan live on their own historical land, not on the Baloch territory. They have been forced to live with the Baloch as a result of a historic injustice done to them and to the Baloch. Balochs furiously fought against the Pakistani occupation of Balochistan and afterward under dominion of Pakistan for different causes and demands in particular times. To quash those demands, successive Pakistani governments tried to come up with concessions and bribes instead of political solution to the Baloch question.

In those hard times, Pashtuns usually sat on the sideline and watched, demanding more share in the doll, and/or silently supported the actions of the federal government against the Baloch. Even currently, when the Balochs are taking heavy toll in the hands of Pakistan army, the Pashtuns are beating the same old drum, demanding from rights from the Baloch despite knowing that the Balochs have no control over their own fate. In fact, the Balochs have suffered more because of that historic injustice.

There are also tensions between Balochs and the Pashtuns as to who owns and controls Quetta City. What do you have to say about this?

Some Balochs tend to remain silent when it comes to the status of Quetta. The City, before the Partition in 1947, was actually the home of some tribes. The indigenous tribes who lived in Quetta among the Baloch included the Shahwanis, Langoves, Lehris, the Sumalanis and the Raisanis while the Pashtun tribes included Yasinzais in Hana Odak, the Bazis in Nosar who were actually the domestic servants of the Raisanis.

If you look at the population of the Kasis in Quetta, they are still living in the old Kasi Qila area but there has not been a significant increase in their population. Likewise, if you look at the Shahwanis, Lehris, Jattaks and Bangulzais and Langovs of Qili Almo, Qili Shabo, Qili Ismail, the Sarmasthani Balochs in Nichari and the Marris in Marriabad, their population has not increased as significantly as the population of the Pashtuns because the Pashtuns in Quetta actually came from outside the city. For example, there is no increase in the population of the Pashtun Yasinzais in Hana Odak and the Pashtu-speaking Syeds of Shiekh Manda and the Bazais.

Demographic changes in Quetta were caused by the Pashtuns migration from neighboring districts, along with the Pashtuns and Hazaras from Afghanistan. If a genuine census is held in Quetta today, it will turn out that the Balochs are still in the single majority in the city.

Who do you think benefits from the violence in Quetta?

The attacks on the Punjabis and Hazaras in Quetta directly benefit the Pashtuns. If the Hazaras or the Punjabis leave Quetta, the Pashtuns would be the first ones to purchase their property and real estate. Even if Balochs leave a place, the Pashtuns buy their property. The violence in Quetta benefits the Pashtuns and it is backed by the Pakistani intelligence agencies and the Frontier Corps, which comprises of 90% Pashtuns and all their top officers, including the current and several past inspector generals were Pashtuns. There is coordination between the Pashtun political forces and the military to force the Baloch to withdraw from Quetta and even from Balochistan eventually by changing the demographic ratio.

What do you think the Baloch nationalists should do in such a situation?

I think it is the right time for the Baloch nationalists to assert their stance on Quetta. While a discussion has already begun in Pakistan about the creation of a separate Saraiki province, the Baloch nationalists should also put forward a demand that the Pashtun districts of Balochistan should be incorporated with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K.P.) Province, and Baloch historical territories in Sindh and Punjab return to Balochistan. However, I do not see the Pashtun leadership in Balochistan agreeing to this proposal. For example, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, the head of the Pashtunkhawa Milli Awami Party, has not demanded even on a single occasion that the Pashtun districts of Balochistan should be made a part of the K.P. although he should have taken advantage of the opportunity provided by the ongoing debate about the creation of a Saraiki province. The reason for this stance is because the Pashtuns want to claim equal benefits from the Baloch province and its resources. The Pashtuns have even a higher claim on Pakistan than the Punjabis as they want to simultaneously get benefits from the K.P. and Balochistan.

Do you foresee a confrontation between the Balochs and the Pashtuns in the future?

Absolutely. Pashtuns are the last checkmate move of the Pakistan government to Baloch and their movement. If the Balochs do not speak up on this crucial issue at this point, it is certainly going to be a major source of discontent and confrontation in the future. If the Balochs are unable to get absolute freedom from Pakistan at this point, their preference, while living within Pakistan, should be to exert maximum pressure on Islamabad to separate the Pashtun areas from Balochistan. If the Pakistani figures are correct that Balochistan is 60% Baloch and 40% Pashtun then one does not require an additional 60% to convert the Baloch into a minority on their own land. Only 20% population can totally change the face of Balochistan’s demography by including 20% more Pashtuns, Punjabi and Muhajir from Karachi and other parts of Pakistan as soon as the Gwadar Port becomes operational. We must keep in mind the fall of Karachi to the migrants of India, Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

. . . .

What do you have to say about the new wave of religious radicalization in Balochistan? Is it going to cause problems for the Baloch nationalism in the future?

Baloch nationalism is very secular while Pakistan was founded in the name of Islam. So, the two ideas are clearly opposed to each other. They cannot coexist. Since Baloch nationalism contradicts the idea of Pakistan, Islamabad has used all methods to eliminate this movement. For this purpose, Pakistan has used radical Islam and also promoted tribal rivalries. Pakistan heavily depends on Balochistan and it is going to further accelerate radicalism in Balochistan to make sure that Baloch nationalism is contained by hook or by crook. To achieve this goal, the army is patronizing and arming tribal militias in sensitive areas to eradicate Baloch nationalist dissent.

[1980s]

Balochistan: The State Versus the Nation: Frederic Grare

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace released this detailed report on the Baloch conflict about a week ago:

'Balochistan, the largest but least populous province of Pakistan, is slowly descending into anarchy. Since 2005, Pakistani security forces have brutally repressed the Baloch nationalist movement, fueling ethnic and sectarian violence in the province. But the Pakistani armed forces have failed to eliminate the insurgency—and the bloodshed continues. Any social structures in Balochistan capable of containing the rise of radicalism have been weakened by repressive tactics. A power vacuum is emerging, creating a potentially explosive situation that abuts the most vulnerable provinces of Afghanistan. Only a political solution is likely to end the current chaos.'

Full report: http://carnegieendowment.org/files/balochistan.pdf
Balochistan: The State Versus the Nation - Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Its an interesting read, although curiously Frederic Grare omitted any reference to Allah Nazar's Balochistan Liberation Front from his list of the main actors in the Baloch-Pakistan conflict. The report also fails to mention the Quetta Shura and barely discusses the presence of the Afghan Taliban in Quetta and elsewhere in Balochistan. He does however discuss the emergence and role of Pakistani Islamists and their historic use by the state as an instrument of state policy to quell ethnic and secular politics among the Baloch and Pashtun populations and their more recent use as militant proxies against the Baloch nationalists and Hazara Shi'ite population.