Islamabad’s Balochistan headache

The Pakistan government will have to take a long hard look at security and the politics that has fostered a sense of alienation in Balochistan

Pakistan’s security establishment is grappling with one of its worst terrorism-related incidents in decades after militants in Balochistan took hundreds of people hostage. In an audacious attack on Tuesday, the militants targeted the Jaffar Express travelling from Quetta to Peshawar and took more than 400 people, many of them soldiers, hostage. Pakistani security forces freed more than 150 hostages by Wednesday and killed 27 militants, though 10 people also lost their lives in the fighting. The outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), which seeks Balochistan’s secession from Pakistan, has claimed responsibility for the attack and reports suggest the group could still be holding up to 300 hostages. Such a hostage crisis is unprecedented in Pakistan’s recent history, even after the flare-up of terrorism following the Lal Masjid episode of 2007 and subsequent Taliban take-over of the northwestern Swat Valley.

Reports emerging from the province suggest the latest attack was primarily aimed against the security personnel travelling on the train (REUTERS)

The Jaffar Express has often been targeted by Baloch militants in the past. Reports emerging from the province suggest the latest attack was primarily aimed against the security personnel travelling on the train. While the Pakistani security establishment’s focus will be on ending the hostage crisis and ensuring there are no further casualties, the government will have to take a long hard look at security and political policies that have fostered a sense of alienation in Balochistan. The fact is successive governments in Islamabad have stymied the political ambitions of the people of Balochistan, including their calls for having a greater say in shaping their political future and exploitation of the province’s abundant resources.