Yet another terrorist attack has taken place in Balochistan, which seems to be spiralling further into chaos with every passing day. 14 bus passengers were forcibly offloaded after being picked out with the help of their National Identity Cards and shot dead on the Makran Coastal Highway. The deceased include nine members of the Pakistan Navy. One was a member of the coast guard. The Balochi Raaji Aajoi Sanger (BRAS), an umbrella network of various ethnic Baloch separatist groups.
The attack shows that it is not only Sunni supremacist groups like the Islamic State and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi that have begun a resurgence in Balochistan, but also Baloch separatist groups. This situation does not bode well for the future of the country. Not only does it mean that Pakistan will likely see more bloodshed in the future, but also that the future of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Furthermore, these attacks have begun to take place at a time when international tourists had only begun to return to Pakistan. Now it seems that the local tourism industry, which seemed all set for a revival, has run into another major roadblock.
What Pakistanis should be asking is why the country’s security agencies have failed to secure Balochistan after all this time. The people of the province have put up with years of military operations, press censorship and extra-judicial actions. After all of this, what do we have to show for it? Even members of the navy and police are not safe from attacks, let alone migrant labourers and ethnic minorities like the Hazaras of Quetta.
This is despite numerous reports of local militant groups laying down their arms and denouncing terrorism.
Going forward, it is hoped that the authorities will reconsider their approach instead of doubling down on the tried and tested tactics they have used thus far. *