27/01/2005 Balochistan sliding into protracted ‘separatist’ conflict (Reuters)
QUETTA — Pakistani forces, already stretched battling militants and guarding the Indian frontier, could be sliding into a protracted separatist conflict in a key province bordering Afghanistan, military officials and politicians say. Tribal separatists in the southwestern province of Balochistan have stepped up a long-simmering insurgency in recent weeks with bomb and rocket attacks on security forces, government buildings and vital economic installations. The most serious attack came on January 11, when tribesmen fired dozens of rockets at the country’s largest gas field at Sui, 400km southeast of the provincial capital Quetta, killing up to 15 people and cutting supplies for over a week. When the central government moved troops to Sui to guard against more attacks, militants responded with several assaults on rail lines in Balochistan, one of which wounded five people, and also bombed a government building in Quetta. “The militants are heavily armed and operate training camps in areas inhabited mostly by the powerful Marri and Bugti tribes,” a military official said on condition of anonymity. “The situation is grave and the violence could escalate.” On Tuesday, authorities halted night-time train services in Balochistan, fearing more attacks, and security has been increased at key installations throughout the province. Tribal separatists have been battling for independence or autonomy for their strategic province bordering Afghanistan ever since the creation of Pakistan in 1947, when colonial Britain granted independence to the Indian sub-continent. Since then there have been four major armed revolts, the last in 1970s, which was brutally crushed by the military at a cost of thousands of lives. Legal nationalist groups, which deny links to the militants but broadly support their agenda, say the government’s failure to respond to demands for autonomy, jobs and higher royalty payments from mineral resources was strengthening radicals. Militants have been especially angered by plans to construct new military bases and major development projects they say are aimed at strengthening, not easing, central control. “People feel that they won’t get their rights through democratic and legal means,” Akhtar Mengal, president of the Balochistan National Party. “The lava had been on the boil for long. There is anger and resentment among the people toward government policies that deny them their rights. They seem to have little choice other than to take up arms and fight.” Sanaullah Baloch, a national senator and opposition leader, said lawmakers like him faced increased criticism, especially from younger separatists who consider legal struggle pointless. “Militants hold a greater appeal to them,” he said. Baloch nationalists returned to mainstream politics when democracy was restored in Pakistan after military ruler General Zia-ul Haq was killed in an air crash in 1988. But violence has resumed since nationalists were marginalised politically by the military-led government of President Pervez Musharraf, which launched mega projects like a Chinese-funded deep-sea port at the small fishing town of Gwadar. A separatist bomb attack killed three Chinese working on the the project last May but it has been completed ahead of schedule and is expected to be formally opened at a ceremony attended by Chinese leaders in February or March. "Some of the tribal leaders see development and progress as a threat to their grip in their backward areas,” said Raziq Bugti, a spokesman of the Balochistan government. “By resorting to violence in the garb of demands for rights, they want to derail the development efforts,” said Bugti who himself was a guerrilla commander in 1970s insurgency. “We believe development will weaken the oppressive tribal system and help modernise the society.” The government has said it is ready to address nationalist concerns and promised more jobs in an attempt to defuse tensions. But nationalists say development programmes are bypassing Balochis, who could become a minority in their own province because of an influx of workers from other parts of Pakistan. “Locals are not even given their share in jobs, nor control of their natural resources and coastline. Land in Gawadar is being bought and sold by speculators,” Baloch said. http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2005/January/subcontinent_January847.xml§ion=subcontinent&col= __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - 250MB free storage. Do more. Manage less. http://info.mail.yahoo.com/mail_250 ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Take a look at donorschoose.org, an excellent charitable web site for anyone who cares about public education! http://us.click.yahoo.com/_OLuKD/8WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. 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