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The Insurgency in Balochistan is an insurgency or revolt by Baloch nationalists and Islamist militants against the governments of Pakistan and Iran in the Balochistan region, which covers the Pakistani province of Balochistan, Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan Province in southeastern Iran, and the Balochistan region of southern Afghanistan. Rich in natural resources like natural gas, oil, coal, copper, sulphur, fluoride and gold, this is the largest, least populated and least developed province in Pakistan. Armed groups demand greater control of the province's natural resources and political autonomy. Baloch separatists have attacked civilians from other ethnicities throughout the province. In the 2010s, attacks against the Shia community by sectarian groups—though not always directly related to the political struggle—have risen, contributing to tensions in Balochistan. In Pakistan, the ethnic separatist insurgency is low-scale but ongoing mainly in southern Balochistan, as well as sectarian and religiously motivated militancy concentrated mainly in northern and central Balochistan.
The Balochistan Liberation Army, is a Baloch ethnonationalist militant organization based in Afghanistan. BLA's first recorded activity was during the summer of 2000, after it claimed credit for a series of bombing attacks on Pakistani authorities. BLA is listed as a terrorist organization by Pakistan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The Balochistan Liberation Front is a militant group operating in the Balochistan region of southwestern Asia. The group was founded by Jumma Khan in 1964 in Damascus, and played an important role in the 1968–1973 insurgency in Sistan and Baluchestan province of Iran and 1973–1977 insurgency in Balochistan province of Pakistan. However, the group's insurgency was defeated in both Pakistan and Iran and the status of the group became unknown until 2004. The group re-emerged in 2004 after Allah Nazar Baloch took command of the group in 2003. Since then the group has taken responsibility for attacks on civilians, journalists, government officials and military personnel.
A series of occasional armed skirmishes and firefights have occurred along the Afghanistan–Pakistan border between the Afghan Armed Forces and the Pakistan Armed Forces since 1949. The latest round of hostilities between the two countries began in April 2007. Militants belonging to Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar also use Afghanistan's territory to target Pakistani security personnel deployed along the border. The Diplomat says that the presence of terrorists belonging to Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan on Afghan soil is the reason for sporadic shelling of Afghanistan's territory by Pakistani security forces.
The 2013 India–Pakistan border incidents was a series of armed skirmishes along the Line of Control (LoC) in the disputed Kashmir area. Starting from the mid-January 2013, they have been described as the "worst bout of fighting in the region in nearly 10 years". It began on 6 January 2013, when according to Pakistani reports Indian forces attacked a Pakistani border post, killing one soldier. Indian authorities claimed the incident as a retaliation against preceding Pakistani ceasefire violations, but denied having crossed the demarcation line. In a second skirmish on 8 January, Indian authorities said that Pakistani forces crossed the LoC, killing two Indian soldiers. The incident sparked outrage in India and harsh reactions by the Indian army and government over the news that the body of one of the soldiers had been beheaded. Pakistan denied these reports. On 15 January, a third skirmish reportedly led to the death of another Pakistani soldier.
Chaudhary Aslam Khan was a Pakistani police officer. From 2005 to 2014 Aslam arrested and killed terrorists, gangwar-criminals, target killers and extortionists belonging to TTP, BLA, TMP, LJ, LeT and SSP. On 9 January 2014, he was killed in a bomb blast carried out by Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan.
Jaish ul-Adl, or Jaish al-Adl, is a Salafi Islamist militant organization that operates mainly in southeastern Iran, where there is a substantial concentration of Sunni Baluchis and a porous border with Pakistan. The group is responsible for several attacks against civilians and military personnel in Iran. The group claims that it is a separatist group fighting for independence of Sistan and Baluchistan Province and greater rights for Baluch people. Iran believes that the group is linked to Al-Qaeda. The group also maintain ties with Ansar Al-Furqan which is another Iranian Baloch Sunni armed group operating in Iran. Salahuddin Farooqui is the current head of Jaish ul-Adl. His brother, Amir Naroui, was killed by Taliban in Afghanistan.
On 16 February 2017, a suicide bombing took place inside the Shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan, Sindh, Pakistan, where pilgrims were performing a Sufi ritual after the evening prayers. At least 90 people were killed and over 300 injured.
Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad is a codename of a combined military operation by the Pakistani military in support of local law enforcement agencies to disarm and eliminate the terrorist sleeper cells across all states of Pakistan, started on 22 February 2017. The operation is aimed to eliminate the threat of terrorism, and consolidating the gains of Operation Zarb-e-Azb which was launched in 2014 as a joint military offensive. It is further aimed at ensuring the security of Pakistan's borders. The operation is ongoing active participation from Pakistan Army, Pakistan Air Force, Pakistan Navy, Pakistan Police and other Warfare and Civil Armed Forces managed under the Government of Pakistan. More than 375,000 operations have been carried out against terrorists so far. This Operation has been mostly acknowledged after Operation Zarb e Azb.
On 14 August 2017, an improvised explosive device targeted a Frontier Corps (FC) vehicle in Harnai district of Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province. The attack left 8 FC troops dead. The Balochistan Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack.
Terrorist incidents in Pakistan in 2018 include:
This article is an incomplete outline of terrorist incidents in Pakistan in 2021 in chronological order.
Terrorist incidents in Pakistan in 2022 include:
On 25 January 2022, militants stormed an army security post in a remote area of Dasht, Kech District, Balochistan, Pakistan, killing at least ten security personnel and injuring three others. The clash lasted for a few hours in which militants also suffered several casualties. Additionally, the militants also seized weapons that were present in the security post. Locals in the area also confirmed that an attack on the security post took place and that the militants suffered heavy casualties in the attack.
This article is an incomplete outline of terrorist incidents in Pakistan in 2023 in chronological order.
On 12 May 2023, a terrorist attack occurred in Muslim Bagh, Killa Saifullah District in northern Balochistan, Pakistan. Insurgents attacked a Frontier Corps camp, killing six security officers and a civilian.
On 24 May 2023, a security checkpoint was attacked by a suicide bomber in North Waziristan, Pakistan. Four people were killed in the attack, and numerous others were injured. It was believed by some that the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) were responsible following them taking credit for an attack on an oil and gas plant in the Hangu District the day before, which resulted in the deaths of four security personnel and two private guards. Four days later, the militant group Jaish Fursan Mohammed claimed responsibility for the attack.
On 3 November 2023, a Pakistan Army convoy was attacked in Gwadar District, Balochistan, Pakistan, resulting in the death of 14 soldiers when two vehicles of the security forces were ambushed by militants while moving from Pasni to Ormara.
The Mianwali air base attack occurred on 4 November 2023. It was carried out by the jihadist group Tehreek-e-Jihad on the Pakistan Air Force's PAF Base M.M. Alam, Punjab.
The 2023 Tirah shooting happened on 6 November 2023, in the Khyber District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad Hassan Haider and three other soldiers were killed during an exchange of fire with militants. The security forces conducted an operation in the area, resulting in the death of three militants.
References
- ↑ "Inter Services Public Relations Pakistan".
- ↑ "Balochistan: Four Pakistan border guards killed by militants near Iran". BBC News. April 2023.
- ↑ "Pakistan army says 4 soldiers killed in attack near Iran border".
- ↑ "4 soldiers martyred in terrorist attack along Pak-Iran border in Balochistan's Kech: ISPR". April 2023.