The Baluch retribution against Pakistan army offensives

In a latest incident at least 14 people were killed in an ambush on several buses travelling between Karachi and Gwadar in the remote Ormara area of Balochistan province on Thursday, April 18. According to police officials they “stopped buses on the Makran Coastal Highway andgunned down 14 people. The attackers, were wearing uniforms of the paramilitary Frontier Corps. The deceased included nine personnel from Pakistan Navy, one from Pakistan Coast Guard and one from Pakistan Air Force, whereas identities of the remaining three victims were not determined yet, security officials were cited as saying by Xinhua news agency.

 

According to Xinhua news agency proscribed organization Baloch Raji Ajoi Sangar claimed the attack on their unverified Twitter account, saying that their offensives against the security forces will further intensify.

 

Balochistan witnessed two terror attacks in the past week. While an attack targeting the minority Hazara community in Quetta killed 20 people, a blast that targeted security forces in Chaman killed two civilians and injured more than ten. Baloch Liberation Tigers (BLT), an active anti-Islamabad outfit, had claimed responsibility for a bomb attack on a gas pipeline in the Dera Bugti area in Balochistan in March. The militant group considers Pakistan its opponents and has waged a struggle to claim equal rights for the Baloch people in Pakistan.

 

In the month of February a fidayeen attack carried out against the Pakistan Army convoy near Balochistan on 17 February, in which at least nine personnel were killed and 11 injured. This attack comes just days after the Pulwama terror strike in which a similar suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a CRPF convoy, martyred more than 40 jawans. Baloch Raji Ajoi Sangar (BRAS) has claimed responsibility for the attack in which took place between Turbat and Panjgur along the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) route.

 

After 6 days of this incident on February 23, at least six Pakistan Army personnel were killed as a massive explosion rigged through an army convoy in Dera Bugti district of Balochistan on Saturday. According to reports, Baloch fighters have claimed responsibility for the attack. Meanwhile, the Baloch Republican Army spokesperson Sarbaz Baloch called media outlets from an unknown location and claimed responsibility for the attack.

 

According to a report, six dead bodies and two critically injured troops were brought to a hospital. The injured personnel were later shifted to Rahim Yar Khan city of Punjab for further treatment.

 

Sarbaz Baloch said that six troops were killed while a vehicle was completely destroyed in a remote-controlled IED blast. He vowed to continue targeting Pakistani forces until the establishment of a free and sovereign Baloch state. This is notable that BRAS is an alliance of three Baloch pro-freedom organisations, Baloch Liberation Army, Balochistan Liberation Front and Baloch Republican Guard.

 

Pakistan sent a protest letter to Iran on Saturday demanding action against Tehran-based "terrorists" involved in these killings. The Foreign Office said the "terrorists" belonging to Baloch nationalist groups were operating from a border region in Iran and has asked Tehran to take action against them. The recent killing had occurred just ahead of the first-ever visit of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to Iran starting on Sunday. Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif condemned the attack, saying enemies of Pakistan-Iran ties were responsible for it. "Strongly condemning the recent terrorist attack in Pakistan, just as PM Imran Khan embarks on his first, historic visit to Iran. Terrorists, extremists and their sponsors are terrified by close relations between Muslim states."

 

It’s very well known fact that Pakistan provide support for terrorist activities on Iran’s land. Last month, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has joined cause with India and stepped up pressure on Pakistan by asserting that Pak-based sources & sponsors of cross-border terror funding are "well-known" and warned that inaction against terror groups will undermine Iran-Pak ties. The Iranian President warned, “The continuation of these terrorists’ activities from the Pakistani soil can undermine the relations between the two countries”. Iran's all-powerful Revolutionary Guards has also threatened retaliation inside Pak territory if Pak Army and ISI fail to act against on what they termed state-sponsored terror groups. The warnings have been issued by the head of Revolutionary Guards and no less than head of Revolutionary Guards Quds Force (an elite unit) Qassem Soleimani. Quds Force has been at the forefront of fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria.