Jundullah, cover named Jaish al-Adl, the and Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), have been declared terrorist outfits by the US. The declaration of the US Office of Foreign Assessment Control has been welcomed by Pakistan as these outfits have long been a source of violence in the Balochistan province bordering Iran. It is imperative that their international handlers and donors now be brought to book to ensure lasting peace in the region.
The BLA is Pakistan’s prime concern for two reasons: a) its involvement in subversive activities targeting its armed forces and, b) its attacks on foreign investors in parts of Balochistan. The US State Department in the charge sheet against the BLA stated: “The BLA is an armed separatist group that targets security forces and civilians, mainly in ethnic Baloch areas of Pakistan. The BLA has carried out … suicide attack in August 2018 that targeted Chinese engineers in Balochistan, a November 2018 attack on the Chinese consulate in Karachi, and a May 2019 attack against a luxury hotel in Gwadar,”
During its early days in early 2000s, the BLA attracted a chunk of youth in Balochistan giving the impression that it was the saviour of their rights. However, it did not take long for the organisation to show its terrorist colours, working in tandem with sectarian terrorists and Taliban. The lethal combination of the two earned them the reputation of being the most dreaded killers in Quetta. Shia pilgrims passing through the rigid terrains of Balochistan became their common target because they were non-Baloch (considered hostile by the BLA) and Shia (deemed to be killed by Taliban). Before making a sort of a merger with Taliban, the BLA started attacking armed forces, prompting Pakistan to declare it a terrorist outfit in its early days in 2006. The European Union also designated it as a terrorist organisation.
Time and again, it has been reported that foreign powers, including mainly but not limited to India, have been financing the BLA. Now that the US has declared it a terrorist organisation, it is imperative to hold an inquiry into where these terrorists get their funding from. More important is the action to be taken at the government level to counter the separatist narrative. Generations of Baloch people have been harbouring a sense of alienation from the country because they think that their resources are not being utilised on them.
The previous government has done well to lay down a network of roads connecting Balochistan with other parts of the country. The current government should take up the streak of development from where their predecessors left it off. *