Baloch insurgency - Central News Hub

Pakistan Deploys Deadly Arsenal in Strikes on Baloch Militants in Iran

The ISPR’s statement comes hours after the Foreign Office confirmed that Pakistan targeted terrorist hideouts inside the Iranian border…reports Asian Lite News

The Pakistan Army on Thursday shared operation details of strikes against militants in Iran saying hideouts used by terrorist organisations, namely Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF), were successfully struck in an intelligence-based operation, code named — “Marg Bar Sarmachar”, the media reported.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement that in the early hours of Thursday, Pakistan carried out effective strikes against hideouts inside Iran used by terrorists responsible for recent attacks in Pakistan, Geo News reported.

“The precision strikes were carried out using killer drones, rockets, loitering munitions and stand-off weapons. Maximum care was taken to avoid collateral damage,” it added.

The military’s media wing said the targeted hideouts were being used by notorious terrorists including Dosta alias Chairman, Bajjar a.k.a. Soghat, Sahil a.k.a. Shafaq, Asghar a.k.a. Basham and Wazir a.k.a. Wazi, among others.

“Pakistan Armed Forces remain in a perpetual state of readiness to ensure safety of Pakistan citizens against acts of terrorism,” the statement added.

The ISPR said the armed forces’ resolve to ensure that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan are respected and safeguarded against any misadventure, remains unwavering, Geo News reported.

“We reaffirm our determination to defeat all enemies of Pakistan with the support of the people of Pakistan,” it added.

The military’s media wing also stressed the need for dialogue and cooperation in resolving bilateral issues between the “two neighbouring brotherly countries”.

The ISPR’s statement comes hours after the Foreign Office confirmed that Pakistan targeted terrorist hideouts inside the Iranian border after Iran violated the country’s sovereignty and launched a strike in Balochistan that left two children dead and injured three girls, Geo News reported.

“This morning, Pakistan undertook a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts in Siestan-o-Baluchistan province of Iran,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

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A new direction for Baloch insurgency

The attack raised questions about what motivated an educated, happily married, middle-class woman to blow herself up.

Shari Baloch, a 31-year-old mother of two, reportedly became the first woman to carry out a suicide bombing for the secular, ethnic Baloch rebels seeking independence for Pakistans largest and resource-rich province of Balochistan.

She killed three Chinese citizens and their Pakistani driver in front of the Confucius Institute in Karachi on April 26, RFE/RL reported.

The attack raised questions about what motivated an educated, happily married, middle-class woman to blow herself up. Many in Pakistan wonder whether the attack signifies a new direction for the two-decade-old Baloch insurgency that is locked in a violent stalemate with Islamabad, the report said.

Kiyya Baloch, an exiled journalist covering Balochistan, says the first attack by a female suicide bomber heralds the possibility of similar attacks in the future.

“It is a paradigm shift because until recently, the Baloch nationalists prided themselves in being secular and opposed to the kind of radicalization that results in extreme violent acts such as this one,” he said.

Kiyya Baloch says a wide-ranging Pakistani crackdown that has included military operations, forced disappearances, and even extrajudicial killings of the insurgency’s supporters fuels extreme desperation among those affected by the abduction or killing of their loved ones, RFE/RL reported.

“Both the state and the Baluch insurgents have adopted extreme positions,” he told RFE/RL.

“The state appears unwilling to give up its security-centric approach to Balochistan as it continues to prop up an artificial political leadership (in the region). On the other hand, the insurgents have been radicalised to an extent that they are now resorting to suicide bombings.”

Since 2000, Baloch rebel groups have been engaged in conflict with the Pakistani security forces in the vast southwestern province bordering Afghanistan and Iran and hemmed in by the Arabian Sea.

Islamabad blames the rebels for attacks on government forces, installations, immigrants, and labourers from the eastern Punjab Province and even pro-Islamabad Baluch figures.

Baloch nationalists and human rights watchdogs accuse Pakistani security forces of grave human rights violations by adopting harsh methods such as forced disappearances and killings to crush the insurgency.

Continuing violence during the past two decades has transformed the insurgency. It began as a tribal rebellion but has evolved into a handful of shadowy groups now attracting educated, middle-class Baloch professionals, the report said.

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