The latest killings in Balochistan should not be treated as another grim provincial dispatch. They belong to a larger militant pattern that has gathered pace over the past two years and is now testing the state\u2019s patience and resolve at every possible level. According to DG ISPR Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, four civilians, 27 policemen and 11 soldiers have been martyred in recent attacks and follow-up operations, while 54 terrorists have been killed.
\nThe choice of targets helps cut through the fog. A police post guarding Mangi Dam in Ziarat was assaulted from multiple directions. An army convoy was ambushed near Bela-Winder. All this cannot be swept under the rug as scattered acts of violence. Essentially, it was an attempt to make the ordinary business of the province appear unsafe.
\nAs has tragically become the norm, the heaviest losses were once again borne by Balochistan\u2019s law enforcement agencies. Nine policemen were martyred in the first Ziarat attack and 18 more during the subsequent engagement in the mountains. These numbers alone should puncture much of the propaganda built around these groups. The men being killed are not strangers to Balochistan. They are local defenders, often thinly equipped and posted in difficult terrain, asked to hold the first line before heavier formations arrive. A campaign that murders them cannot claim to speak for the province.
\nWhile political grievance may be heard through law and constitutional politics, grotesque acts like abduction, ambush, extortion and the killing of civilians and policemen are terrorism. No vocabulary of rights can sanitise attacks on water installations, highways and men in uniform. This is not resistance. It is organised violence against Balochistan\u2019s capacity to function.
\nThe DG ISPR has pointed to India supporting terrorist outfits using territory under Afghan Taliban control as a base of operations. It is high time for the state to share verifiable evidence in this regard with international partners, raise them at every relevant forum and tie the case to a clear demand: Afghan soil must not be used against Pakistan. Where foreign sponsorship, training, logistics or digital amplification are identified, the response must be diplomatic as well as kinetic.
\nThere can be no indulgence for armed groups and no confusion about their nature. Balochistan is Pakistan\u2019s coastline, resource base, western gateway and home to citizens who deserve peace without fear. Our martyrs have died defending more than posts and convoys. They died defending the principle that Balochistan\u2019s future will not be written by gunmen, foreign handlers or sanctuaries across the border.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The latest killings in Balochistan should not be treated as another grim provincial dispatch. They belong to a larger militant pattern that has gathered pace over the past two years and is now testing the state\u2019s patience and resolve at every possible level. According to DG ISPR Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, four civilians, 27 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-555457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\n