Balochistan (Pakistan)

Summary: Balochistan (sometimes: Baluchistan) is Pakistan's largest province on the southwestern corner of the country, bordering Iran, Afghanistan, Sindh province, and the Arabian Sea. Balochistan accounts for a large proportion of Pakistan's natural resources, especially natural gas, but also copper, gold, and possibly other hydrocarbon deposits. Balochistan is the site of a port at Gwadar, on the Arabian Sea near the Iranian border, funded by China as a terminus for oil and gas pipelines to export natural gas and ship oil eastwards toward China. Balochistan is also the site of a long-running campaign for autonomy by the Baloch people, who comprise about half the province's population. In 2009, violence associated with that campaign, including the alleged kidnapping of nationalists by Pakistani intelligence, escalated as part of a long-time campaign for ethnic and provincial autonomy. Human rights organizations denounced reported "extra-judicial" killings and other rights abuses in the conflict. While much smaller than the battle against the Taliban in ethnic "Pashtunistan" to the east, some observers feared the conflict in Balochistan could divert Pakistani resources from the conflict in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and in the North West Frontier Province. In the 2020s, separatists continued to spar with the government, and groups like the Baluch Liberation Army emerged as terrorist organizations.

Long overshadowed by armed resistance to central government control in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (especially, in the North West Frontier Province), an ethnic-based conflict for autonomy also resulted in armed conflict in Balochistan province, comprising roughly the western half of Pakistan, since 2004. In 2009, a series of incidents in Balochistan, including alleged kidnappings of political foes of the central government, raised concerns that the province could divert critical government resources from the fight against the Taliban.

The driving force behind the insurrection is a demand for autonomy from the central government by the Baloch, a linguistic-ethnic group comprising about half of Balochistan's population of 18 million. Baloch are also found in neighboring southern Iran and in Afghanistan. They have had a strong tribal identity dating at least to the era of the prophet Mohammad. Balochistan is the largest of Pakistan's four provinces, situated on the Arabian Sea and sharing borders with Iran to the north, Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Pashtun to the north and east, and the province of Sindh to the south.

The Baloch, virtually all of whom are Muslims, became part of Pakistan at the time of the breakup of British India in 1947 despite a campaign to form a separate entity. Subsequently, Pakistan has witnessed at least four separate uprisings in 1948, 1958, 1962, and 1973-1977, before the campaign started in 2004.

At the same time, the government in Islamabad has eyed Balochistan's rich natural resources, especially natural gas, as a major economic asset, alongside its access to the Arabian Sea. The city of Gwadar, east of Oman (which ceded the city to Pakistan in 1958), is the site of a deep-water port built by China at the cost of $200 million under a contract arranged just weeks before the Al Qaeda attacks of September 2001. For the Chinese, Gwadar has the potential to become the western terminus of pipelines that could carry Balochistan's natural gas for export and Gulf petroleum eastwards to China across Afghanistan. Such a port also gives Pakistan a greater presence and influence in the Middle East and indeed in world commerce generally.

Campaign for Autonomy. Like counterparts in the tribal areas of northern Pakistan, Baloch tribes have long resisted domination by a central government dominated by the Pashtun linguistic-ethnic group. The Balochs speak their own language and have strong ties to the Arab world, notably Oman on the southeastern corner of the Arabian peninsula. The province became part of Pakistan upon independence from Britain not because of strong cultural ties but because Balochistan was dominated by Muslims, and Pakistan was formed from areas of British India that were predominantly Muslim. The same applied to the part of eastern British India that became East Pakistan.

Some Balochs were never happy with being part of Pakistan rather than an independent country. Pro-independence conflicts erupted in 1948, 1958, and 1962, only to be suppressed by the Pakistani army.

East Pakistan's successful drive for independence, which resulted in the formation of the nation of Bangladesh, saw a renewed effort in Balochistan from 1973-1977, during which an estimated 50,000 Baloch tribesmen were involved in fighting for autonomy against 70,000 Pakistani army troops. The 1973 uprising was blamed for more than 5,000 deaths among tribesmen and about 3,000 deaths among soldiers of the Pakistan army.

Renewed fighting broke out in 2004. Over a fifteen-month period ending in April 2006, The Nation newspaper reported there had been over 1,500 attacks aimed not only at the armed forces but also at Chinese employed on major development projects in Balochistan. The 2004 hostilities were loosely coordinated by three sometimes-aligned, sometimes-competing tribal chiefs: Mir Balaach Khan Marri, thought to be a leader of the Balochistan Liberation Army and son and heir of one of the two leading nationalist sardars (tribal leaders) in the Baloch nationalist movement; Akhtar Jan Mengal, also the son and heir of a leading nationalist sardar (tribal leader); and Brahamdagh Bugti, grandson and heir of slain nationalist leader Akbar Bugti and a reputed leader of the banned Balochistan Liberation Army. These three men represented different, and sometimes conflicting, tribal groups that were nevertheless united in their campaign for tribal autonomy.

The fighting gave rise to allegations of human rights abuses by government forces. The independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), which investigated allegations of human rights abuses from late 2005 to early 2006, concluded that "there is currently a war-like situation, militarization and politico-economic conflict in Balochistan," including inter-tribal feuds among the sardars (tribal leaders) and abuses by government intelligence agencies. Such abuses included "alarming reports of extra-judicial killings, torture, disappearances, threats and intimidation by intelligence agencies, arbitrary arrests and violence" in some tribal areas of the province, the HRCP said, adding: "HRCP considers that the present situation in parts of Balochistan including Dera Bugti and Kahan, can be described as armed conflict."

The commission called for a "high-level investigation, under an independent public prosecutor into reports of extra-judicial, summary and arbitrary execution, torture, disappearances and injury caused due to excessive use of violence," including violence by government security forces. It also recommended that the government and tribal leaders take steps to end penal sanctions imposed by jirgas (assemblies of tribal elders) and to abolish private prisons.

In July 2009, The New York Times reported: "Although not on the same scale as the Taliban insurgency in the northwest, the conflict in Baluchistan is steadily gaining ground. Politicians and analysts warn that it presents a distracting second front for the authorities, drawing off resources, like helicopters, that the United States provided Pakistan to fight the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Baluch nationalists and some Pakistani politicians say the Baluch conflict holds the potential to break the country apart unless the government urgently deals with years of pent up grievances and stays the hand of the military and security services." In April, there were widespread reports that plainclothes Pakistani intelligence officers kidnapped three political leaders in the city of Turbat; their bodies, riddled with bullets, were found five days later. The discovery set off several days of rioting.

Violence continued throughout the first decades of the twenty-first century as the Baluch people continued to fight for autonomy and tensions remained present in the region, although much of the violence that surged throughout the early 2000s became more subdued in the 2010s. Still, separatist groups remained active, and between 2000 and 2024 over 8,600 people, including roughly 4,600 civilians, died as a result of separatist violence or the Pakistani military response. Additionally, thousands of Baluch people remained missing at that time; the Pakistani military and government denied allegations that they were responsible for these disappearances.

The Role of Natural Resources. Besides the drive for ethnic/tribal autonomy, two other issues further complicate the political picture in Balochistan: (1) proven reserves of natural gas (about 20 percent of Pakistan's total supply) and suspected rich mineral deposits, including copper and gold; and (2) resentment among many citizens of the province that they have been frozen out of jobs and opportunities presented by exploitation of natural resources, while at the same time living without many amenities common elsewhere in the country of Pakistan. Baloch sympathizers point out, for example, that only a small percent of the province's population enjoys easy access to potable water that is much more readily available to the rest of Pakistan’s population. Baloch nationalists have insisted their province should receive a much larger share of royalties for natural gas sent outside the area. Prospective discoveries of other hydrocarbon energy resources in the province add to the sense of resentment among some Baloch.

Balochistan is regarded as an important transit route for oil and gas pipelines delivering fuels to China. Partly for that reason, Pakistan persuaded China to play a major role in financing a major project to develop the city of Gwadar as a second Pakistani port on the Arabian Sea. Many Baloch people complained that they received few or no benefits from the government's investment in the port project. As a result of China's involvement in the Gwadar port project and other infrastructure projects in Pakistan, Chinese workers in Pakistan were sometimes targeted by Baloch separatists for kidnappings and other types of attacks.

Balochistan, Afghanistan, and Iran. Balochistan's strategic location on Pakistan's borders with both Afghanistan and Iran has placed it at the center of a number of cross-border conflicts and confrontations.

The issues of Islamist fundamentalism, the rise of the Taliban on Pakistani soil, and the nationalist aspirations of the Baloch became interlinked following the American invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. In general, at that time, the Baloch were opposed to the rise and influence of the fundamentalist Taliban in their province. At the same time, the government in Islamabad tried to connect Baloch demands for autonomy with the rise of religious fundamentalism.

Historically, Baloch leaders seeking independence took refuge in Afghanistan when the country was aligned with the Soviet Union during the 1970s. Baloch tribesmen generally did not align with the Taliban or other fundamentalist elements inside Pakistan for the twentieth century.

However, by the early 2020s some evidence of improved relations between Baluch separatists and Islamic fundamentalist groups had emerged. Additionally, when the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021 after the withdrawal of the US military and collapse of the Afghan government, Afghanistan became a refuge for Baluch separatists and other groups carrying out cross-border attacks against Pakistan. Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan's Taliban government spiked at this time, particularly after a July 2023 attack by jihadist militants based in Afghanistan killed twelve Pakistani soldiers.

While Pakistan and Iran generally had peaceful relations, since Iran was also engaged in the suppression of a Baluch separatist movement on its own side of the border, this situation also proved to be volatile on occasion. Notably, in January 2024, Iran launched military strikes inside Pakistan that killed two children. While Iran claimed it was only targeting Iranian citizens involved in terrorist activity who had taken refuge in Pakistan, this attack led to outrage in Pakistan, which soon launched drone and rocket strikes on alleged separatists in Iran. Pakistan and Iran's decisions to strike targets in each other's territory proved highly unusual and increased tensions between the two countries.

Provincial government

Political parties and principal players in Balochistan:

• Awami National Party (ANP), One of the two main Pashtun nationalist parties.
• Balochistan National Party (BNP)
• Baluch National Party (BNP), a moderate faction calling for extensive autonomy, with the central government limited to national defense, foreign affairs, currency, and communications.
• Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP), Baloch nationalist party.
• Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F), the MMA's largest component.
• Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), an alliance of six Islamist parties active in Balochistan as well as in Pakistan's tribal areas; of these parties, JUI-F is the largest.
• Pakhtoonkhwa National Democratic Alliance (PNDA), an alliance of two main Pashtun nationalist parties formed in 2007.
• Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-i-Azam (PML-Q), part of President Pervez Musharraf, also active in Balochistan.
• Pashtoon Khwa Milli Awami Party (PKMAP), one of the two main Pashtun nationalist parties.

Non-political influences:

• Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), formed in the 1980s to press for Baloch independence (including parts of Iran and Afghanistan), backed at that time by the Soviet Union, responsible for attacks against the Pakistani government; banned. Designated a terrorist group by the US in 2019
• "Sardars," tribal chiefs, of which there are approximately seventy in Balochistan, and who exercise strong influence in the province's largely tribal society.

Main players:

• Brahamdagh Bugti, grandson and heir of slain nationalist leader Akbar Bugti of the Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) and a reputed leader of the banned Balochistan Liberation Army. Broke away and created Political Organisation Baloch Republican Party in 2008.
• Mir Balaach Khan Marri, thought to be the leader of the Balochistan Liberation Army and son and heir of one of the two leading nationalist sardars (tribal leaders) in the Baloch nationalist movement. Marri died in 2007.
• Akhtar Jan Mengal: son and heir of one of the two leading nationalist sardars (tribal leaders) in the Baloch nationalist movement. He is the chairman of the Balochistan National Party (Mengal) who served in the Pakistani National Assembly until 2023.

Bibliography

Ellis-Petersen, Hannah. "Where is Balochistan and Why is it the Target of Iran and Pakistan Strikes?" The Guardian, 18 Jan. 2024, www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/18/where-balochistan-why-iran-pakistan-strikes. Accessed 28 Feb. 2024.

Gall, Carlotta. "Another Insurgency Gains in Pakistan. The New York Times. July 12, 2009. Online at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/12/world/asia/12baluchistan.html?hp

Grare, Frédéric. "Pakistan: The Resurgence of Baluch Nationalism." Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. January 2006. Online at http://www.carnegieendowment.org/publications/index.cfm?fa=view&id=17865&prog=zg

Javed, Farhat. "Pakistan-Iran Strikes: Where is Balochistan and Why is it Being Targeted?" BBC News, 19 Jan. 2024, www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-68035478. Accessed 28 Feb. 2024.

"More than a dozen dead in Balochistan attack in Pakistan." Al Jazeera, 13 May 2023, www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/13/pakistan-more-than-a-dozen-dead-in-balochistan-attack. Accessed 28 Feb. 2024.

"Pakistan’s Military Chief Warns Afghan Taliban against Harboring Militants as Attacks Spike." NBC News, 14 Jul. 2023, www.nbcnews.com/news/world/pakistan-afghanistan-taliban-militants-attacks-isis-tehreek-e-jihad-rcna94327. Accessed 28 Feb. 2024.

Sahni, Ajai. "Pakistan's Province of Fear." The Pioneer (New Delhi). World News Connection, Dec. 21, 2005.