Balochistan Operation
Introduction:
(http://www.balochistan.sdnpk.org/introduction.htm)
The brahvi extinct volcano, koh-I-sultan is situated about 500 km. west
of Quetta.
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History:
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Baluchistan)
Ancient history:
From the 1st century to the 3rd century CE, the region was ruled by the
Pāratarājas (lit. "Pārata Kings"), a dynasty of Indo-Scythian or Indo-Parthian
kings. The dynasty of the Pāratas is thought to be identical with the Pāradas
of the Mahabharata, the Puranas and other Indian sources.
They are essentially known through their coins, which typically exhibit the bust
of the ruler on the observe, with long hair within a headband), and a swastika
within a Brahmi legend on the reverse (usually silver coins) or Kharoshthi
(usually copper coins). The coins can mainly be found in the Loralai area of
modern Pakistan.
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the Erythraean Sea (1st century CE) describes the territory of the Paradon
beyond the Ommanitic region, on the coast of modern Baluchistan.
Bulk of Bloch migrations from what was Persia came at the time of invasion of
Gangis Khan into that region. Blochies were given refuge in what was the
greater Sindh region. Later infighting between Blochies resulted in clans led
by sardars, which claimed regions within Sindh. In an effort to gain total
control of the regions, the British named the area Blochistan and got the
support of Bloch Sardars who then were titled as Nawabs. These Nawabs
were to keep minor Bloch, Pathan etc. sardars in check. For the last 150
years the region has seen continual fighting to gain access to natural
resources in otherwise barren land.
Major Kings:
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Climate:
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balochistan_(Pakistan)#Climate)
Very cold winters and hot summers characterise the climate of the upper highlands.
Winters of the lower highlands vary from extremely cold in the northern
districts to mild conditions closer to the Makran coast. Summers are hot and
dry, especially the arid zones of Chaghai and Kharan districts. The plain areas
are also very hot in summer with temperatures rising as high as 120 °F (50 °C).
Winters are mild on the plains with the temperature never falling below the
freezing point. The desert climate is characterised by hot and very arid
conditions. Occasionally strong windstorms make these areas very inhospitable.
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Administrative division:
Balochistan is divided into 27 districts.
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Map of Balochistan
(http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=Climate+of+
+Balochistan&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi)
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This is a list of all cities of Balochistan, Pakistan with a population more than
25,000.
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Famous people:
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balochistan_%28Pakistan%29#Famous_people)
There are many famous people from Balochistan including the following:
Historical Personalities
Post-Independence (post-1947)
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arms consignment was the ethnic Balochs of Iran. This was Iraq's response to
Iran's support for the Kurds in northern Iraq.
The Gwadar Port project employed close to 500 Chinese nationals by 2004.
On 03 May 2004, the BLA killed three Chinese engineers working on the Port.
Gwadar airport was attacked by rockets at midnight on 21 May 2004. On 09
October 2004, two Chinese engineers were kidnapped in South Waziristan in
the northwest of Pakistan, one of whom was killed later on October 14 in a
botched rescue operation.
Main characters:
Pakistan Army claims that Balochistan Liberation Army is clandestinely
funded by the Afghan government and its arms supposedly flow into
Baluchistan through the Pakistan-Afghanistan porous border. Iran also has
strategic interests in the region and keep an eye on the affairs of
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Balochistan.The Indian government has been trying to help Pakistan with this
grievance in spite of bitter relations between the two countries.
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Area of dispute:
Balouchi peoples were not given a share in the Federal and local government
and they were forced to join Pakistan in 1948. The Federal government with
the help of local Sardars looted the natural resources of Baluchistan.
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Since 1948, tribal lords including Bugti, Marri, Mengal,Magsi,Jamali with the
help of the local government have used tribal chiefs to keep the Balochi
people backward and illiterate by systematically opposing any attempts to
establish modern educational institutions in their areas of influence; all these
Sardars have been educated at various European and American universities,
but they still support old traditions to keep the local populace illiterate.
Baloch grievances:
Fueled by grievances of lack of autonomy, excessive meddling in nomadic
affairs and influx of skilled settlers, miners and traders from other provinces of
Pakistan into Balochistan, there erupted an armed conflict between the
Baloch and the central government.
Main characters:
There are three distinct parties involved and affected by this conflict:
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Development;
Balochistan's population consists of mix between Balochi & Pashtuns but
Pashtuns enjoy a reasonable representation in the state & military jobs of
Pakistan and their more religious leaning makes them mainly more pro-
Pakistan but after 9/11 they have been fighting too, for the pro-Baloch
independence. It is widely believed that the government of Pakistan needs to
bring an end to the tribal system and provide more job opportunities to the
common Balochistani, in the name of education, outsiders (especially
Punjabis and Urdu speaking) are being settled in different parts of Balochistan
turning majority of Balouch area into minorities which threats local tribesmen.
As such, steps are being taken for industrialisation of the province and
industrial zones are planned along the new Gwadar-Karachi highway. This
development is expected to bring accelerated progress in the near future
although uprisings against the decline of the tribal system will probably
accompany such a situation.
References:
1. Owen Bennett Jones, Pakistan: Eye of the storm (New Haven: Yale
University Press, 2002)
2. Selig S Harrison, In Afghanistan’s Shadow, pp.27-28
3. "Pakistan: The Worsening Conflict in Balochistan," International Crisis
Group, Asia Report No. 119,
4. The State of Martial Rule, Aysha Jalal, Sang-e-Meel 1999 ISBN 969-
35-0977-3 page 40.
5. Hassan Abbas, Pakistan’s Drift into Extremism (New Delhi: Pentagon
Press, 2005) p
6. Eckhardt, SIPRI 1988: 3,000 military + 6,000 civilians = 9,000,
Clodfelter: 3,300 govt. losses
Key Players:
• Taliban (Militants)
• Pakistan Army
• Nawab Akbar Bugti
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Taliban
(http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761588418/Taliban.html)
The Taliban movement emerged out of the chaos and uncertainty of the Afghan-
Soviet War (1979-1989) and subsequent civil war in Afghanistan. During the
1980s Afghanistan was occupied by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
(USSR) and ruled by a Soviet-backed government. Afghanistan’s long war with
the USSR was largely fought by mujahideen (Islamic guerrilla) factions with
assistance from the United States; Pakistan also provided places of refuge,
military training, and other support. After the Soviets completed their withdrawal
in 1989, civil war broke out between the mujahideen factions and the central
government. Afghanistan’s central government had long been dominated by the
country’s majority ethnic group, the Pashtuns, but after the Soviet withdrawal a
coalition government that included Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras, and other minority
groups came to power. The Taliban emerged as a faction of mujahideen soldiers
who identified themselves as religious students. The Taliban consisted mostly of
Pashtuns intent on once again dominating the central government in Kābul. They
were trained and armed by the Frontier Constabulary, a quasi-military unit in
Pakistan, which also has a significant Pashtun population. The Taliban actively
recruited thousands of young men in the Afghan refugee camps and the madrasas
in Pakistan. Many war orphans also joined the movement. The Taliban promoted
itself as a new force for peace and unity, and many war-weary Afghan people,
particularly Pashtuns, supported the Taliban in hopes of respite from years of war.
In late 1994 and early 1995 the Taliban moved through the south and west of
Afghanistan, taking control of Kandahār and many other towns and cities
dominated by fellow Pashtuns. Herāt and most of the other towns along the main
southern and western highway soon followed. In February 1995 the Taliban
reached the outskirts of Kābul but was ousted by government forces in March.
Again it advanced to the capital in October. While continuing to assault Kābul
with rockets and bombs, Taliban soldiers advanced and took control of eastern
Afghanistan, as well as the country’s central area. The Taliban continued its siege
of Kābul off and on throughout 1996 until it was able to advance and capture the
city in September. Government troops and officials, including President
Burhanuddin Rabbani and Prime Minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, fled to the
northern part of the country. Shortly after the capital fell to the Taliban, the
country’s last Soviet-backed president, Mohammad Najibullah, and his brother,
security chief Shahpur Ahmadzai, were seized and publicly hanged.
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Pakistan Army
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan_Army)
In the 1990s, the Army created a strong centralized corps of reserves for its
formations in the critical semi-desert and desert sectors in southern Punjab and
Sindh provinces. These new formations were rapidly equipped with assets needed
for mechanized capability. These reserve formations are dual-capable, meaning
they can be used for offensive as well as defensive (holding) purposes.
Pakistan, today has a 45 day reserve of ammunition and fuel as compared to only
13 days in 1965 and has fairly effective and efficient lines of communication and
can fully mobilize its formations in less than 96 hours owing to the lack of depth
in the country's North South axis.
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Nawab Akbar Shahbaz Khan Bugti (Urdu: ( )نواب اکبر شہاز خان بگٹیJuly 12, 1927–
August 26, 2006) was the Tumandar (head) of the Bugti tribe of Baluch and
served as Minister of State for Interior and Governor of Balochistan Province in
Pakistan. He received his early education from the towering personality of Allama
I. I. Kazi. An Oxford-educated man, he was a towering personality in Baloch
politics for more than five decades.
With a wide following that crossed tribal lines among ethnic Baloch groups, the
contradictions in this western educated tribal leader roused strong emotions, both
positive and negative. Despite making harsh decisions at times, he was considered
a pacifist by many and certainly did not espouse a violent path in his early
political career. In recent years, he was accused by the Pakistani government of
being a warlord and running a well-organized militia, sometimes thought to be the
shadowy Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) with members numbering in the
thousands. The BLA allegedly ran dozens of militant guerrilla training camps.
While campaigning from the mountain ranges of Dera Bugti, he was, according to
the Pakistani government, directing a “Omar Mukhtar, Fidel Castro and Che
Guevara” style guerrilla war. In July 2006, Pakistani president General Musharraf
targeted him through aerial bombing, using air force jets and gunship helicopters.
The leader of Balochistan National Party, Sardar Akhtar Mengal said, "The
increase in bomb attacks in the Bugti and Marri areas are meant to target Baloch
nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Bugti and his associates" and called upon the
international community to take note of the situation.
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2005:
(http://satp.org/satporgtp/countries/pakistan/Balochistan/data/2005.htm)
January 9 Sui 6 11
January 10 Sui 2 2
January 10 Mastung 3 3
January 11 Sui 2 5
January 19 Chaman 0 2
February 1 Quetta 1 9
February 3 Kohlu 0 1
2006:
(http://satp.org/satporgtp/countries/pakistan/Balochistan/data/2006.htm)
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2007:
(http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/pakistan/balochistan/data/2007.htm)
February 10 Sibi 1 2
February 17 Quetta 17 30
February 18 Kashmore area/ Sindh-Balochistan 2 0
border.
February 18 Dera Bugti 0 3
February 21 Dera Bugti 0 3
February 21 Dera Allah Yar 0 4
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February 25 Kohlu 3 0
March 7 Sui 1 12
March 16 Quetta 1 0
March 20 Quetta 0 2
March 29 Dera Bugti 0 1
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Balochistan Timeline
STATISTICS
(www.satp.org)
2005:
(http://satp.org/satporgtp/countries/pakistan/Balochistan/timeline/2005.h
tm)
Three brothers are killed and their parents’ sustain injuries when an explosive
device went off in their home in the Drengar area of Mastung district.
January 11 At least two Defence Services Guard personnel are killed and five others
sustain injuries as unidentified people attacked the Sui gas field. Military
authorities extend the deadline for two wanted militants in South Waziristan to
surrender to January 26.
January 14 The Balochistan Government formally seeks Federal Government's assistance
to ensure security of natural gas installations in the Sui area.
January 15 Unidentified assailants fire six rockets targeting a checkpoint of the paramilitary
forces in Kohlu district, located some 160 kilometers north of Sui.
January 17 Unidentified persons fire at least six rockets at a Frontier Corps camp near
Mach.
January 26 The Pakistan Army has set up a new military base near the Sui gas field, where
troops have been deployed after a series of rocket attacks disrupted fuel
supplies earlier this month. The decision was announced to journalists on a trip
organised by the military to Balochistan.
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2006:
(http://satp.org/satporgtp/countries/pakistan/Balochistan/timeline/2006.h
tm)
January 1 Four persons are killed and three children sustain injuries when a bomb
exploded inside a house in the Mashkal area of Kharan district.
January 2 At least three people are killed and eight others sustain injuries in clashes
between paramilitary forces and Bugti tribesmen in Balochistan.
January 3 Security forces (SFs) killed two tribesmen and injured seven others in a
shoot-out in the Dera Bugti district.
January 4 Three people are killed and four others sustain injuries during a clash
between SFs and tribesmen around the Sui area.
January 7 Suspected insurgents fired more than 20 rockets at paramilitary camps in the
Machh area of Bolan and Mand area of Makran division, killing at least one
person.
January 10 One Frontier Corps personnel is killed and two others sustained injuries in a
gun-battle between tribesmen and SFs in the Loti gas field area.
January 12 At least 15 people, including three Frontier Corps personnel, were killed and
three others injured in an armed clash between the paramilitary force and
armed tribesmen in the Pirkoh area of Dera Bugti district.
January 14 Paramilitary forces launched another operation in the Marri area using
helicopter gun-ships and heavy weapons. Mir Balach Khan Marri, a member
of the Balochistan Assembly, informed that SFs had been lobbing mortars
and rockets at the small township of Kahan for the last two days in which 25
people, mostly women and children, had been killed and several others
injured.
January 15 At least eight people were killed in clashes between armed men and SFs in
the Kahan area of Kohlu district.
January 16 SFs killed three children in an attack at Kahan and other adjacent areas of
Balochistan province.
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January 18 One Frontier Corps personnel is killed and another sustained injuries in a
landmine explosion in the Pirkoh area.
2007:
(http://satp.org/satporgtp/countries/pakistan/Balochistan/timeline/2007.htm)
January 1 Suspected insurgents blew up a main gas pipeline and two electricity pylons
at Dera Bugti in Balochistan. The Balochistan Liberation Army leader, Wadera
Alam Khan Bugti, claimed responsibility for the attack. He also claimed
responsibility for two other incidents in which three electricity poles in Dasht
and a gas pipeline were blown up.
January 3 Insurgents blew up an 18-inch diameter pipeline in Dera Bugti, suspending
the supply of gas to Pir Koh and other areas of the district.
A special anti-terrorism court in Quetta issues arrest warrants for the slain
tribal chief Nawab Akbar Bugti’s grandson, Bramdag Bugti, and six others.
They are wanted under the Explosive Substances’ Act, in a case registered
with the Sariab police.
January 14 A bomb attached to an Afghanistan-bound petrol tanker supplying fuel to
American forces in that country exploded in the Chaman town of Balochistan,
but caused no casualties. A paramilitary commander told AFP that a convoy
of four petrol tankers is near the town of Chaman, bordering Afghanistan’s
Kandahar province, when the bomb detonated. The explosion overturned the
tanker, causing a huge blaze, he confirmed, adding that no one is hurt in the
incident and the three other tankers are able to proceed to safety.
January 15 Abul Haq Haqiq, who is known to the media as Mohammad Hanif, is arrested
in the eastern province of Nangarhar. During interrogation he reportedly said
Omar is in the western Pakistan city of Quetta (capital of Balochistan
province), the Afghan intelligence agency said in a statement. "He is under
the protection of the ISI [Inter-Services Intelligence] in Quetta," it quoted Hanif
as saying.
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Pakistan’s slide towards state failure accelerated dramatically in year 2007, and the
assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on December 27 was a sharp reminder
that the country’s progressive collapse was much more rapid and irretrievable than most had
envisaged. In more ways than one, 2007 was a cumulative reflection on all of President
Pervez Musharraf’s errors of omission and commission since he took power in the coup of
October 1999.
A simple truth in vast regions of Pakistan today is that the state has withered away. A wide
array of anti-state actors is currently engaged in varying degrees of violence and subversion
in an extended swathe of territory. A cursory look at the map indicates that the North West
Frontier Province (NWFP), Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), and Balochistan are
witnessing large-scale violence and insurrection. Violence in parts of the Sindh, Punjab and
Gilgit-Baltistan has also brought these areas under the security scanner. Islamabad’s writ is
being challenged vigorously – violently or otherwise – in wide geographical areas, and on a
multiplicity of issues. Well over half of the territory presently under Pakistan’s control,
including Gilgit-Baltistan and ‘Azad Jammu & Kashmir’, has passed outside the realm of civil
governance and is currently dominated essentially through military force.
Security
Terrorists
Months Civilians Force Total
/Insurgents
Personnel
January 26 16 29 71
February 35 4 8 47
March 28 21 261 310
April 176 18 83 277
May 57 10 14 81
June 31 12 40 83
July 144 143 191 478
August 56 63 117 236
September 101 67 144 312
October 282 101 154 537
November 293 94 341 728
December 293 48 97 438
Total 1523 597 1479 3599
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Security
Year Civilians Force Terrorist Total
Personnel
2003 140 24 25 189
2004 435 184 244 863
2005 430 81 137 648
2006 608 325 538 1471
2007 1523 597 1479 3599
Source: Institute for Conflict Management Database
Balochistan
On the face of it, it seems that the province has relatively calmed down after
the assassination of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti on August 26, 2006, by the
military. The momentum of the Baloch insurgency declined relatively in 2007,
as some leaders either fled Pakistan or were neutralized by the state. The
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Still reeling under the loss caused by the assassination of Nawab Akbar Bugti
in August 2006, the Baloch insurgents were dealt another significant blow
when Nawabzada Balach Marri, purported chief of the Balochistan Liberation
Army, was killed on November 21, 2007. Marri was reportedly killed along
with his bodyguards in a clash somewhere inside Afghanistan, triggering
widespread violence in Quetta and other parts of the province. Mystery
shrouds Marri’s killing, as some reports suggested he was killed in
Afghanistan while others stated it was in Pakistan.
Adding to the Baloch insurgency are the Islamist militants concentrated in the
north of the province, who are orchestrating violence on both sides of the
Afghan border in their areas of domination. There were regular reports
throughout 2007 of the presence of al Qaeda-Taliban operatives in
Balochistan. In fact, Abul Haq Haqiq aka. Mohammad Hanif, an arrested
Taliban spokesman, reportedly told Afghan intelligence in January 2007 that
the fugitive Taliban chief Mullah Mohammed Omar was living in Quetta under
the protection of the Inter-Services Intelligence.
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The assassination of Nawab Akbar Shehbaz Khan Bugti, the legendary leader
of the Baloch freedom struggle, in a brutal military operation by the Pakistan
Army will have serious long-term repercussions on Pakistani politics, as a
martyr is born to inspire the rebel Baloch nationalists in their ongoing struggle
for greater rights and control over their natural resources.
In his death and the barbaric manner in which it was inflicted by those who
wanted to establish their stronghold in Balochistan by setting up cantonments
there, Bugti has already become a martyred hero for Baloch nationalists
everywhere in Pakistan, rather than the anti-state tribesman General
Musharraf sought to portray him as. To the warrior Bugti tribe, he was not only
the tribal head but also the latest in a long line of nationalist leaders who tried
to defend the province from exploitation by the Centre at the hands of the
mighty Punjab-dominated military establishment.
“It is better to die — as the Americans say — with your spurs on. Instead of a
slow death in bed, I would rather prefer death come to me while I am fighting
for a purpose”. So said Akbar Bugti in May 2006 while talking to a Time
magazine.
He 80-year old nationalist who wanted to fight to the death got his wish three
months later when the Pakistani security forces killed him in a ruthless military
operation on August 26. General Musharraf, who had declared Bugti a
‘terrorist’, made no bones about fulfilling the rebel leader’s desire.
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Born on July 12, 1927, Bugti attended the elite Aitchison College in Lahore
and Oxford University, London before going into politics. Bugti, 80, a former
Chief Minister and Governor of Balochistan, was considered an articulate
spokesman for the Baloch cause for decades. Bugti was a member of the
Shahi Jirga (Council) that had voted for the creation of Pakistan at the time of
Partition in 1947. He became a member of the first Constituent Assembly and
served as Minister of State for Interior and Defence in 1956. The gruesome
murder of an avowed secularist like Bugti, who was concerned about the
Talibanisation of Pakistani society, demonstrates how a so-called enlightened
moderate military dictator treats his political opponents. Ironically, the
Musharraf administration is negotiating with far more lethal hardline Islamist
groups operating in the Waziristan tribal area.
To Musharraf and his cronies, Bugti was no more than an insurgent feudal
lord who wanted to prevent development from reaching his tribesmen and
who operated a ‘state within a state’. Musharraf used to describe Bugti as a
miscreant, a term introduced by the British East India Company – a term
which was last used widely in 1971 by the Pakistani military elite to describe
the Bengali people of erstwhile East Pakistan. The General blamed Bugti for
past insurgencies in Balochistan, and accused him of being a warlord running
a well-organised militia, private courts and prisons, using his income from the
gas fields in Dera Bugti.
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Akbar Bugti was the son of Nawab Mehrab Khan Bugti and a grandson of Sir
Shahbaz Khan Bugti. He was born in Barkhan on July 12, 1927. He was
educated
at Oxford, England and Aitchison College, Lahore. It is alleged that he
Committed his first murder when he was only 12 and that he had several
men
Killed to avenge the assassination of his son, (Salal Bugti).
Nawab Akbar Bugti was elected in a by-election to the National Assembly of
Pakistan in May 1958 to fill the vacancy created as a result of the
assassination of
the incumbent, Dr Khan Sahib, and sat on the government bench as a
member of
the ruling coalition.
Nawab Akbar Shahbaz Khan Bugti (July 12, 1927–August 26, 2006) was
the
Tumandar (head) of the Bugti tribe of Baluch and served as governor of
Balochistan Province in Pakistan. An Oxford-educated man in a land of
widespread illiteracy, he was a towering personality in Baloch politics for more
than five decades.
After an armed struggle started in Balochistan in 2004, Bugti was widely
perceived as a leader but went underground in 2005. On August 26, 2006,
after
several attempts were made on his life in the preceding months, he was killed
in
his cave in Kohlu, about 150 miles east of Quetta, leading to widespread
unrest
in the area, where he is widely regarded as a hero and martyr.
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1993: Nawab Akbar Bugti was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan
representing the JWP in parliament.
. Ordered the killing of 100 men to avenge the assassination of his son
Nawabzada Salal Akbar Bugti.
.2004: Actively launches the Balochistan freedom struggle
.August 2006: Bugti killed in an army operation in the hills of Kohru.
An ISPR statement said that two army helicopters, flying over the general
area of
Tartani in Kohlu on August 23, were fired upon from the ground and one
helicopter was damaged.
Another chopper was then dispatched to investigate and was also hit, but
returned safely.
The military launched air strikes against a cave complex in the mountains on
the
border of the Dera Bugti and Kohlu districts, where the chieftain was said to
be
hiding. There was little fighting on the ground, they said.
The missile raid destroyed the entrance to the rocky hideout and Special
Forces
moved in on Saturday to carry out a cordon and search operation.
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Heavyfighting broke out as the insurgents returned fire, killing several soldiers
including the leader of the commando team, the official said.
The soldiers eventually secured the area and ascertained that Bugti was
among
the dead. As many as 21 army commandos and 37 rebels were also killed in
the
same operation, which targeted 50 to 80 of Nawab Bugti's closest family
members and top commanders. Key members of Bugti's family were
reportedly
killed in the operation.
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On Saturday August 26, 2006, around 2230 hrs (PST), Bugti was killed in a
bombing operation that caused the cave roof to collapse on him. His location
was
traced through the satellite phone he was using, and Pakistani secret service
agencies pin-pointed his location. (It is not clear if he was pinpointed through
a
satellite phone) The news of his death was broken to the media by
Makhdoom
Amin Fahim, leader of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians.
Pakistani President, Gen Pervez Musharraf, has termed his death a victory
for
Pakistanis and congratulated the secret service chief who carried out this
operation. Pakistan's Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani, confirmed
that the operation included both air and ground assault. In a short telephonic
interview made to a private television network, Pakistani Information Minister
said that Bugti's death occurred as the cave he was in collapsed.
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There have been stories reported in the press that Akbar Bugti's otherwise
Marri allies, who apparently were still embittered by his support of the 1970s
military operation against them, exposed his hiding place to the Army, who
surrounded the area and sent in a few senior officers in charge of the
operation along with a Bugti guide into the Nawab's cave to negotiate a
surrender.
Given Akbar Bugti's renowned stubbornness and non-compromising
attitude, it is thought that Bugti or his associates detonated explosives in the
case, killing all present inside, including the army negotiators and Akbar Bugti
himself. Thus creating a legacy that Bugti was a 'martyr' for Baluch rights and
freedom.
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(http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200601151040.htm)
Balochistan restive, India concerned about gas pipeline:
New Delhi, Jan. 15 (PTI): With unrest prevailing in Balochistan, concerns are growing in India over the
proposed 4.16 billion US dollar Iran-India gas pipeline which has to pass through the region of Pakistan.
India's worries stem from the fact that it would have huge stakes in the nearly 3000 km long pipeline project,
about 800 km of which has to pass through Balochistan.
"We are concerned about the future of the pipeline in view of the growing instability in Balochistan," official
sources said here.
"India will have immense strategic stakes in the pipeline once completed. Naturally, instability in the region
(Balochistan) will not be in the interest of the project," the sources said.
New Delhi apprehends that the pipeline could be caught in the cross-fire if violence continues to increase in
Balochistan, they said, citing the past incidents when pipelines of water and gas have been targeted in the
region.
These concerns are believed to have been one of the provocations for External Affairs Ministry to issue a
statement recently on situation in Balochistan.
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(http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_15-7-
2003_pg7_2)
Suspected tribesmen set fire to natural gas pipelines near Dera Bugti, 550
kilometres east of Quetta, the third time in five months, officials said.
Dera Bugti police station has registered a case against unidentified people for
attacking sub-pipeline No 3738, which takes gas to a purification plant, on the
complaint of PPL Manager Sagheer Haider Malik at 5am on Monday.
Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited Chairman Rasheed Lone said supply to
the main gas pipeline was not interrupted by the attack.
The DCO said he was informed Monday morning that some unidentified
people damaged the sub-pipeline, but the leakage was stopped later.
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A senior police officer from Dera Bugti requesting anonymity said the PPL
manager had lodged a case against unidentified people for damaging the sub-
pipeline. He said fire did not break out due to the firing of unidentified people
because the sub-pipeline carried raw gas. He said raids had been conducted
at different areas to arrest the culprits.
The SNGPL chairman said it was not a big attack because the main pipeline
was not damaged. He said he himself had talked to Karachi SNGPL office,
which confirmed that the gas supply was continuing from Sui to Karachi and
Peshawar.
Interior Ministry sources said the government was facing a law and order
problem in Baloch areas including Dera Bugti, Goth Mazari, Sui and Uch.
Sources said miscreants were also creating problems in Rajanpur, Sadiqabad
and Kashmore.
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In this Trilateral Gas Pipeline project, Iran will be the Supplier of the Gas.
Pakistan will act as a Facilitator between Iran and India. Whereas India
will act as a Buyer. But is is also in favour of Pakistan as then it will be
the Best chance for Paksitan to get maximum Benefit from this Project.
By this Pakistan will be able to overcome the Shortage of Gass Supply
all over the country. And it will be very cheap for Pakistan as well.
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Re-Engineering of Balochistan
(www.satp.org)
Kanchan Lakshman
Research Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management; Assistant Editor,
Faultlines: Writings on Conflict & Resolution
The stage for escalated, and possibly extraordinary, violence has been set in
Balochistan. Addressing the media at Turbat in the province on December 16,
2004, President Pervez Musharraf declared that his Government would crush
all anti-Pakistan movements: "We are gathering information through
intelligence and other sources that who is doing what in the area and I warn
them because when the Government starts action against them, they will be
crushed."
This declaration of intent only completes what has been on the cards, at least
since 31st March 2004, when the General had declared on the Pakistan
Television (PTV) "Newsnight" programme, that the problem with Balochistan
was that only 5 per cent of the area was 'A area', while 95 per cent was 'B',
where the police did not operate. Soon, he had stated, the entire 95 per cent
'B area' would be made into 'A area'. Already, he disclosed further, five
districts in the 'B area' had been declared 'A area'.
The British colonial administration divided Balochistan into A and B Areas: the
former were under direct British control and administration; in the latter, the
British exercised proxy control through the Sardars or tribal chiefs. The
system was continued after Independence by the Pakistan Establishment.
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With its vast potential for a wide range of natural resources, including oil,
uranium, copper and other minerals, its critical strategic location - it
commands over 900 miles of the Arabian Sea coastline, and the
development, particularly, of the Gwadar Port with massive Chinese financial
and technical assistance, 'stabilizing' Balochistan and consolidating
Islamabad's administrative hold over the province is emerging as an
overarching objective of the present regime. These objectives militate directly
both against the long-standing system of near autonomy most of the province
has enjoyed since and even before the creation of Pakistan, and against a
number of critical demands consistently held by the Baloch people and
leadership. Specifically, the Baloch Ittihad (Baloch Unity) movement seeks,
among a range of other objectives, to bring an end to the exploitation of
Baloch resources by Islamabad, particularly by North Punjab; to secure fair
royalties for Baloch gas; to secure employment for locals in projects being
executed in Baloch areas; and to ensure that revenues from various projects
in Balochistan are invested in the province itself.
More significantly, the Baloch have long and bitter memories of Islambad's
repression and betrayal over the past, and there is great venom against the
'Punjabis' in the Baloch discourse. In the 1950s, after an unsuccessful
insurrection, Pakistan offered a General Amnesty to the rebels, but when their
leaders came out they were hanged. This betrayal weighs heavily in the
consciousness of the Baloch, as does the brutality with which the rebellion of
the 1970s was suppressed, with indiscriminate use of superior firepower -
including air power - against Baloch camps and villages in which thousands
were killed.
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Latest Situation
QUETTA: In one of her immensely chaotic interactions with the press, I asked
former premier Benazir Bhutto during her last visit to Quetta two weeks before
her assassination that would she apologise to the Baloch people over the
massacre of 1973 that her father had carried out. Benazir initially seemed
offended by the question. But soon she displayed a blissful smile, and said
she had come to Balochistan with a message of reconciliation and general
amnesty to everyone.
“I was a young student then [in 1973]…It will be unfair to solely hold the
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) responsible for the military operation of that
time. All parties were equally responsible for the bad blood of 1970s,” she
remarked, “but we need to forget the past so that we can look for a bright
future.” Benazir said she had deep respect for Sardar Attaullah Mengal,
whose elected government was ousted by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1973 leading
to a deadly military operation in the province, despite all political differences.
The military operation of 1973 led to the killing of around six thousand Baloch
people, according to Dr Ayesha Siddiqa’s book Military Inc. Inside Pakistan’s
Military Economy.
Alienated Baloch leadership: Benazir had moved faster than any other
national leader to access the alienated Baloch leadership. She was one of the
few leaders to condemn the killing of Nawabzada Balaach Marri, the son of
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Nawab Khair Baksh Marri. She also visited the Bugti House in Quetta to offer
condolences to the family of late Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti. “Political dissent is
one thing,” she said while referring to Bugti’s killing, “but it does not mean that
you crush your opponents by bombing them. This is inhuman, undemocratic
and uncivilised.”
Benazir promised that if her party was elected to power then she would
immediately end the ongoing military operation in Balochistan. She believed
that the problem was the engagement of “our forces against our own people”.
ISLAMABAD, April 16: Former prime minister and chairperson of the Pakistan
People’s Party Benazir Bhutto has expressed grave concern over the
continuing military operation in Balochistan and called for an end to the
operation and settlement of political disputes through dialogue.
A press statement issued by the party’s media centre said that the PPP
chairperson had been receiving reports from the party’s provincial
organisation that life had become miserable in Balochistan for people in areas
where the military operation was under way.
It said she had received the latest complaint from leaders of Sarawan and
Jhalwan tribes, alleging large-scale military operations in their respective
areas. They complained of brutal military operation in Mastung, Bolan, Kalat
and Awaran districts where men, women and even children were targeted
with tanks and gunship helicopters.
According to the PPP statement, the former prime minister warned against
cornering people of Balochistan against the wall as the most potent threat to
the federation.
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He said the people of the province have for the first time been able to benefit
from the strong economic growth and development, thus positively affecting
their lives.
The Prime Minister said this while reviewing the progress on the ongoing
development projects in Balochistan here at the Prime Minister Secretariat
this afternoon.
He said the mega projects like Gwadar Deep Sea Port, Coastal Highway,
Mirani Dam, Kachi Canal, Sandak Copper Project would bring about
economic prosperity for the people of Baluchistan.
These mega projects would facilitate the economic activities thus opening up
job opportunities for the people of different areas of the province, he added.
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Besides taking several economic initiatives for the welfare of the people of
Balochistan including appropriate representation in the federal services, the
government has increased the job quota for the educated youth of the
province, he added.
The Prime Minister said the government has been sincerely striving to provide
basic facilities including health and education to all so that educated youth
can play their role for the progress of the country.
He said Balochistan has vast potential in various areas like mining, gas,
mineral exploration, fisheries, petroleum and other natural resources,
adding, there is need to utilize the available natural resources to benefit
the people of the area as well as the country.
The Prime Minister said that the government is focusing on the building of
National Trade Corridor and with the completion of roads network,
access to the Central Asian States and beyond, would become possible.
Earlier the Chief Secretary during his presentation said that the government
and the people of Balochistan greatly appreciate the economic policies and
the development projects undertaken by the federal and provincial
governments.
He updated the meeting that the pace of work on various projects is going on
satisfactorily including the work on rehabilitation of the infrastructure which
was damaged after the flood in the province.
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He said it would help a great deal in maintaining law and order, which is the
prerequisite to maintain the pace of the ongoing development programme in
the province.
He also apprised the meeting that the work on night landing facility at Quetta
Airport is also moving forward at a satisfactory pace which would be
completed as per schedule at a cost of Rs. 6 billion.
The Chairman National Highway Authority (NHA) briefed the meeting that
work on the development of roads network is in progress.
He said the connectivity of Gwadar with other areas and Central Asian States
would be completed during the given timeframe.
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The Secretary Railways briefed the meeting that the feasibility for the
upgradation of Quetta Zhob Railway line is in the progress and project will
be completed with an amount of Rs. 42 billion. The feasibility of linking
Gwadar through rail will be completed by the end of February this year
with an amount of Rs. 98 billion. He said the work is continuing
satisfactorily.
He said that about 7500 tents, 33000 blankets and seeds of various crops
weighing 700 tonnes were distributed among the farmers. He said that
Rs. 1600 million were distributed as compensation among the affectees
of Mirani Dam.
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Besides, increasing the road sector development budget the meeting also
reviewed the pace of work on Railway track in the province as feasibility of
Quetta-Dera Ismail Khan via Zhob Railway track would be launched by
February next. Work on Lackpass tunnel some 30 km of the provincial capital
on Quetta-Karachi highway would also be completed soon while the meeting
also approved Khujjak Tunnel project and work on which would be launched
soon.
The meeting also approved projects for supplying gas to Loralai, Zhob, Killa
Siafullah and Noshki districts while work on the project to supply gas to
Winder industrial state would be launched soon.
Besides, the Saudi government has promised Rs. 320 million for electricity
supply project for Dalbandin while rest of the cost of the project would be
borne by the federal government, he said, adding negotiations between
Iranian and Pakistani governments is continue regarding supply of power
supply to Gwadar, Awaran and Chaghi areas.
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He said the government has also approved Rs. 60 million for equipping
Quetta Airport with night landing facility and this project would be completed
by June next.
He said both the President and the Prime Minister have agreed with the
provinces stand about Gas Development Surcharge and Gas Royalty issue.
However, in view of the technicalities of the issue, the government has
constituted the committee to draw a viable formula acceptable to both the
federal and the provincial governments.
He said the province would gain self reliance in terms of economy after the
Reko Dic Copper and Gold project is made functional.
Besides, the federal government has also promised Rs. 166 million under
Education Support Programme while Rs. 1.5 billion would be provided to
province under DERA-II.
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Daily Intekhab
http://www.dailyintekhab.com/
Radio Balochi FM
http://www.radiobalochi.com/
Baloch Media
http://www.balochistan.org/
Balochi Radio
http://www.balochiradio.net/
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Literacy
The Balochistan province has 26.6 percent literacy against the national
average of 47 percent and the corresponding figures of female literacy are 15
percent and 33 percent.
Sanitation facilities
The infant mortality rate in the country is 100 (per 1,000 live births), whereas
Balochistan has 108. The national mother mortality rate is 350 (per 100,000)
and the province has a frighteningly high 600.
Electricity
75 percent of the villages of the country are electrified but only 25 percent in
Balochistan.
Poverty
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(Source: http://www.un.org.pk/nhdr/htm_pages/cp_1.htm)
Unemployment
President Pervez Musharraf and the military are responsible for the worsening
of the conflict in Balochistan. Tensions between the government and its
Baloch opposition have grown because of Islamabad’s heavy-handed armed
response to Baloch militancy and its refusal to negotiate demands for political
and economic autonomy. The killing of Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Khan
Bugti in August 2006 sparked riots and will likely lead to more confrontation.
The conflict could escalate if the government insists on seeking a military
solution to what is a political problem and the international community,
especially the U.S., fails to recognise the price that is involved for security in
neighbouring Afghanistan.
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Tensions with the central government are not new to Balochistan, given the
uneven distribution of power, which favors the federation at the cost of the
federal units. The Baloch have long demanded a restructured relationship that
would transfer powers from what is seen as an exploitative central
government to the provinces. But Musharraf’s authoritarian rule has deprived
them of participatory, representative avenues to articulate demands and to
voice grievances. Politically and economically marginalised, many Baloch see
the insurgency as a defensive response to the perceived colonisation of their
province by the Punjabi-dominated military.
The military government should recognise that it faces conflict not with a
handful of sardars but with a broad-based movement for political, economic
and social empowerment. The only one way out is to end all military action,
release political prisoners and respect constitutionally guaranteed political
freedoms.
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Reliance on the Pashtun religious parties to counter its Baloch opposition has
strengthened Pashtun Islamist forces at the cost of the moderate Baloch. With
their chief Pakistani patron, Fazlur Rehman’s Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam running
the Balochistan government in alliance with Musharraf’s Muslim League
(Quaid-i-Azam), a reinvigorated Afghan and Pakistani Taliban are attacking
international forces and the Kabul government across Balochistan’s border
with Afghanistan. But the international community, particularly the U.S. and its
Western allies, seem to ignore the domestic and regional implications of the
Balochistan conflict, instead placing their faith in a military government that is
targeting the anti-Taliban Baloch and Pashtuns and rewarding pro-Taliban
Pashtun parties.
Still, the conflict could be resolved easily. Free and fair elections in 2007
would restore participatory representative institutions, reducing tensions
between the centre and the province, empowering moderate forces and
marginalising extremists in Balochistan. In the absence of a democratic
transition, however, the militancy is unlikely to subside. The longer the conflict
continues, the higher the costs – political, social and economic for a fragile
polity.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
(a) cease military action, send the armed forces back to the barracks and
restrict their role to guarding the province’s land and nautical borders;
(b) withdraw the Frontier Corps, replacing it with provincial security forces
that are firmly under provincial control;
(c) dismantle all check posts manned by paramilitary and other federal
security agencies; and
(a) producing immediately all detainees before the courts and releasing
political prisoners;
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(b) ending the political role of intelligence agencies, military and civil, and
barring them from detaining prisoners;
3. Entrust the Baloch with more responsibility for their own security by:
(a) accepting provincial jurisdiction over law and order and policing;
(c) ensuring that locals are recruited to the police force and Levies in
Balochistan; and
(d) meeting the quota for Baloch recruitment in the armed forces and federal
security agencies.
(b) establishing and empowering the special task force proposed by the
Mushahid Hussain subcommittee to monitor and implement these
recommendations;
(c) revising the distribution criteria for National Finance Commission awards
to account for backwardness, level of development, geographic size, and
revenue levels of the provinces; and
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(a) meeting Baloch concerns about Gwadar Port by placing the project under
provincial government control; ending the practice of allocating coastal lands
to security agencies; giving local fishermen unimpeded access to their fishing
grounds; revising the “master plan” so locals are not dislocated; addressing
pressing health and education needs, with an emphasis on new technical
institutes and colleges; and implementing job quotas for locals at the port and
related projects;
(b) ensuring in Sui and other oil and gas extraction projects that the well head
value and natural gas rates are on par with other provinces; renegotiating
natural gas rates and the royalty formula; encouraging oil and gas companies
to hire and train Baloch workers and allocate funds for social development;
and consulting with the province on privatisation of the oil and gas industry
and other state-owned enterprises; and
(c) developing irrigation schemes, including small dams, for rural Balochistan,
on the recommendation of the provincial government.
(a) eliminating the Concurrent Legislative List and devolving all its subjects to
the provinces;
(c) enacting legislation to regulate and monitor land allotment, sales and
transfers in Gwadar; and
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11. Press the Pakistan government to end all practices that violate
international human rights standards, including torture, arbitrary arrests,
detentions, and extra-judicial killings.
OVERVIEW
Violence continues unabated in Pakistan’s strategically important and
resource-rich province of Balochistan, where the military government is
fighting Baloch militants demanding political and economic autonomy.
President Pervez Musharraf’s government insists the insurgency is an attempt
to seize power by a handful of tribal chiefs bent on resisting economic
development. Baloch nationalists maintain it is fuelled by the military’s
attempts to subdue dissent by force and the alienation caused by the absence
of real democracy. Whether or not free and fair national and provincial
elections are held later this year or in early 2008 will determine whether the
conflict worsens.
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are losing faith in the political process and now see armed resistance as the
only viable way to secure their rights.
Although the military has retained control through force, it is fast losing the
campaign to win hearts and minds. The insurgency now crosses regional,
ethnic, tribal and class lines. Musharraf appears oblivious to the need to
change course if the insurgency is to be contained and political stability
restored. Islamabad has yet to implement any of the recommendations on
Balochistan’s political and economic autonomy made by a Senate (upper
house) committee in November 2005.
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CONCLUSION
• No development in the country especially in the backward areas
particularly BALOCHISTAN.
It includes Education sector, health sector, Human living standards,
basic needs of life like clean and healthy water, hygienic food, any
agricultural development etc.
• Killing of thousands of Innocent people in Balochistan, both Army
personnel and the common residents of Balochistan.
• Pakistani Govt. is paying very high cost in Balochistan. As a result of it,
Pakistan Economy is being affected day by day. Due to these
circumstances, inflation rate is going higher.
• Americans belong to jewish group and our Holy Book says that jew and
muslim can’t be friend. So Americans are always the enemy of muslims
and trying to vanish the muslims by attacking different muslim
countries. It might be possible and America is feeding the Pakistani
Govt for this operation.
• But last but not the least still there is a better chance to develop our
Balochistan because it’s also a part of our Home Land. It can’t be
ignored at all because people of Balochistan also have the complete
Right to live a better and a developed life.
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