Another day and another targeted killing; this time in Kuchlak, Balochistan. On Friday, a prayer leader was killed while another imam was also assassinated in the same area on the outskirts of the provincial capital on Saturday. In the Friday incident at Al-Haj mosque, the targeted imam was a brother of the Afghan Taliban chief Haibatullah Akhundzada. The Saturday attack killed the imam of Usman bin Afaan mosque. The police say the deceased was an Afghan citizen and had been the imam of the mosque for many years. The new wave of target killings has not been claimed by anyone. The Afghan Taliban, who are negotiating a peace deal with the US in Doha, were quick to release a statement that the killing of their chief’s brother would not impact the talks. These developments suggest that the recent spree of killings stems either from infighting in the Taliban or actions of foreign hostile agencies. Factions within the Taliban might have sprung into action after the insurgents as well as US officials mentioned significance progress in talks. Some foreign agencies that want to thwart the US-Taliban deal could also be behind the fresh bloodshed.
Either way, the recent attacks point towards presence of Taliban elements in Balochistan, creating multiple security challenges for the government and the local population, such as the Shia Hazara. The government must take action against the district administration that let foreign citizens work in local mosques without any check. This cannot happen without the active support of local sleeper or active cells of militants or those sympathetic to militant groups in Afghanistan. The world would again put Pakistan under the spotlight. Over the years, we have been denying the presence of the so-called Quetta Shura of the Afghan Taliban. The security forces must purge Balochistan and other parts of the country from such militant groups. Pakistan should not become the sanctuary of the Taliban for the sake of the security of its own people.
In recent months, security forces have inflicted deadly blows to Baloch insurgents, who claimed the lives of 119 people – including 15 police personnel – and injured 114 in terrorism-related incidents in 2018. The militants must, immediately, be flushed out of Balochistan. *