QUETTA, Pakistan — Pakistani forces are hunting separatist fighters across Balochistan after a wave of coordinated attacks left more than 190 people dead over two days, officials said, as the government vowed to strike back and the Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility.
Authorities said around a dozen sites remained sealed off Sunday as troops combed banks, jails, police stations and military installations struck by militants a day earlier. At least 31 civilians and 17 security personnel were killed in the assaults, while at least 145 attackers died in clashes with security forces, Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti told reporters. A deputy district commissioner was abducted, an official said.
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The violence followed the military’s announcement Friday that it had killed 41 insurgents in two operations in the province, which borders Afghanistan and Iran and has seen a decades-long separatist campaign.
After explosions and gun battles rattled Quetta, the provincial capital, the city fell unnervingly quiet Sunday. Major roads stood empty, storefronts were shuttered and residents stayed indoors. “Anyone who leaves home has no certainty of returning safe and sound,” said Hamdullah, 39, a shopkeeper who uses one name. “There is constant fear over whether they will come back unharmed.”
Bugti said districts targeted in the onslaught had been cleared as of Sunday and pledged an unrelenting pursuit. “We are chasing them, we will not let them go so easily,” he said at a press conference. “Our blood is not that cheap. We will chase them until their hideouts.”
The BLA, the most active Baloch separatist group and designated a terrorist organization by the United States, said in a statement sent to AFP that it carried out the coordinated attacks on military sites as well as police and civil administration offices, using small arms and suicide bombers. Several of the group’s videos appeared to show leader Bashir Zaib leading armed units on motorcycles during the assault, and another clip claimed to depict the abducted senior official from Nushki district.
Militants in one district overran a local jail and freed at least 30 inmates, seizing firearms and ammunition before ransacking a police station and making off with additional munitions, officials said. Analysts said the breadth and timing of the attacks were notable. “It was one of the most audacious attacks in the region in recent years, as unlike other attacks, it took place in broad daylight,” said Abdul Basit of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. “It is alarming that militants, with coordinated manpower and strategic acumen, have now reached the provincial capital.”
Pakistan’s interior minister, Mohsin Naqvi, and defense minister, Khawaja Asif, alleged without evidence that the attackers had links to India; both vowed the militants would be “completely eliminated.” India rejected the claims. “We categorically reject the baseless allegations made by Pakistan, which are nothing but its usual tactics to deflect attention from its own internal failings,” foreign ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said.
Videos released by the BLA and statements by officials indicated the presence of women among the attackers; Asif said at least one suicide bomber was a young woman. “They continue to showcase women strategically in high-visibility attacks,” Basit said.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s poorest and largest province by landmass, lags far behind national averages for education, employment and development. Baloch separatists accuse Islamabad of exploiting the province’s vast natural gas and mineral wealth without benefiting locals. The insurgency frequently targets security forces, non-local Pakistanis working in the province and foreign energy firms. Last year, insurgents attacked a passenger train carrying 450 people, touching off a deadly two-day siege.
As investigators tallied the damage and troops expanded their search, Quetta remained tense and on edge. Authorities appealed for vigilance and patience amid the slow return of traffic and commerce to the city’s deserted streets.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
