Ten killed, 13 hurt in separate blasts

www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,18692084-401,00.html

From: Reuters

April 03, 2006

TEN people were killed and 13 injured in separate bomb blasts in the restive southwestern Pakistani province of Baluchistan.
Three civilians - a man, a woman and a girl - were killed and seven injured in two consecutive bomb explosions at a state-run farm in the town of Kohlu, 300km east of Quetta, a security official said.

The official had earlier said that two paramilitary soldiers were killed in the blast.

"Initial reports had indicated that two paramilitary soldiers were killed, but later the dead were identified as three civilians," the official said, on condition of anonymity.

He blamed the attack on tribal militants who have waged a sporadic revolt in recent years in mineral-rich but sparsely populated Baluchistan.

Five tribal policemen and a private security official guarding an oil and gas exploration site were killed and four injured in a landmine explosion in the desert region of Sunny in remote Bolan district, tribal police official major Mohammed Anjum said.

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A tractor driver was killed and two others injured in Naseerabad district when a tractor-trailer hit a landmine, police official Khalid Magsi said.

Paramilitary forces also defused a remote-controlled bomb planted on a main railway line near Mach station a couple of hours before two passenger trains were to pass the spot, a paramilitary commander said.

Tribal chieftains say they are fighting for more political rights and a greater share of profits from the region's natural resources.

Ten killed, 13 hurt in southwest Pakistan blasts

AFP
Sunday, April 02, 2006 20:01 IST

QUETTA: Ten people including five tribal police were killed and 13 injured in separate bomb blasts on Sunday in the restive southwestern Pakistani province of Baluchistan, officials said.

Three civilians - a man, a woman and a young girl - were killed and seven injured in two back-to-back bomb explosions at a state-run farm in the town of Kohlu, 300 kilometres (186 miles) east of Quetta, a security official said.

The official had earlier said that two paramilitary soldiers were killed in the blast.

"Initial reports had indicated that two paramilitary soldiers were killed, but later the dead were identified as three civilians," the official said, on condition of anonymity. He blamed the attack on tribal militants who have waged a sporadic revolt in recent years in Baluchistan.

Five tribal policemen and a private security official guarding an oil and gas exploration site were killed and four injured in a landmine explosion in the desert region of Sunny in remote Bolan district, tribal police official major Mohammed Anjum said.

A tractor driver was killed and two others injured in Naseerabad district when a tractor-trailer hit a landmine on Sunday, police official Khalid Magsi said. Paramilitary forces also Sunday defused a remote-controlled bomb planted on a main railway line near Mach station a couple of hours before two passenger trains were to pass the spot, a paramilitary commander said.

Tribal chieftains say they are fighting for more political rights and a greater share of profits from the region's natural resources. Some 8,000 opposition party activists on Sunday held a rally in the provincial capital Quetta, demanding an end to military operations in the province.

"We will not negotiate with the government until our workers are released from prisons and torture cells and the military operation is stopped," Akhtar Mengal, chief of the Baluchistan National Party, told the rally.
SOLDIER KILLED IN Rocket attack on army post

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K J M Varma, Islamabad: A Pakistani soldier was killed and four others injured when suspected militants fired rockets on an army post in the country's restive tribal region even as an explosion rocked a government-owned dairy farm in southwest Balochsitan province leaving two workers dead and 10 wounded.

After the last night rocket attack on their post in Datta Khel area in North Waziristan tribal region late last night, the troops returned fire which hit a house injuring a child and a woman, reports reaching here said today quoting officials.

Unconfirmed reports said that both the woman and child died later.

The rocket attack on the Army post by unidentified assailants left one soldier dead and four others injured.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack but such strikes are often blamed on militants.

The army says that more than 140 militants have been killed since a major operation was launched in North Waziristan on March one. At least 10 soldiers also died and several others injured in clashes.

In another incident, at least two workers of a government-owned dairy farm were killed and 10 others injured when a locally-made bomb exploded in their workplace in the troubled Balochistan province today.

The farm is located in the restive town of Kohlu, some 300 kms east of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan, Mohammed Akbar, a local government official said.

Two killed in Balochistan blast
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4869812.stm

Two people have been killed and 10 others injured in an explosion at a government dairy farm in Pakistan's Balochistan province, officials say.

Suspected tribal militants planted a bomb in the diary in Kohlu district, some 400km (250 miles) east of the regional capital, Quetta.

The bomb exploded in a rest area for workers, an official said.

Gas-rich Balochistan has seen months of violence as tribal groups push for greater political and economic rights.

"The explosive device was planted somewhere inside the farm and it went off around 0930 local time (0430 hours GMT), district official Naseem Lehri told Reuters news agency.

The rebels have blown up gas pipelines, railway lines and electricity lines in the past. They have also attacked army bases and government buildings.

Large parts of Balochistan remained without electricity on Sunday after the militants blew up four electricity pylons on Friday, reports said.

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has accused tribal leaders of putting up armed resistance to his plans to build a sea port and road network to turn Balochistan into a major trading zone.

But the Baloch tribal leaders say their struggle is for greater provincial autonomy and an increased share of mineral resources from the gas and oil rich province.

Four injured in Balochistan explosions

www.dawn.com/2006/04/02/top5.htm

By Our Staff Correspondent

QUETTA, April 1: At least four people, including a woman, were injured in a landmine explosion in Pat Feeder area and a hand grenade attack in the provincial capital on Saturday. Rocket attacks on Frontier Corps checkpoints in Dera Bugti were also reported.

According to official sources, three people where seriously injured in Pat Feeder area when their vehicle hit a landmine.

“The victims were on their way to their village,” a police official in Dera Murad Jamali said. The injured were sent to the Dera Murad Jamali Civil Hospital.

Unknown people hurled a hand grenade into the house of police constable Abdul Majeed in Sariab area, injuring a woman. The house was also damaged.

“A homemade grenade was used in the attack,” a police official said.

A bomb exploded on the third floor of Baldia Plaza near Meezan Chowk in the provincial capital in the night.

Police said the bomb had been planted near the office of the Pakistan Workers’ Party. The explosion smashed windowpanes of the office of Advocate Sohail Ahmed Rajput, provincial information secretary, Jamhoori Watan Party.

Tribesmen fired 18 rockets at FC checkpoints in Dera Bugti and Pather Nullah area of Pir Koh gas field.

Sunday, April 02, 2006

VIEW: The challenge of Balochistan
—Dr Hasan-Askari Rizvi
www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp

To arrest the ongoing drift Balochistan needs a quick dose of effective economic and political measures and participatory management. The latest commitments to Balochistan by the prime minister should be implemented without unnecessary delay in a non-partisan and transparent manner. The ball is in the federal government’s court

The Balochistan problem involves three sets of inter-related issues: the nation-building process, development of relatively backward areas, and provincial rights and interests. Most developing states have to deal with these issues. These issues can be tackled by a host of political strategies or by keeping them within manageable limits. If allowed to fester they can undermine national harmony and state structure.

The unitary or monolithic model of nation-state does not work in a diversified state like Pakistan where local and ethnic and linguistic identities have strong roots. The Pakistani state adopted a somewhat accommodating posture towards these identities after 1971. However, military governments find it difficult to pursue accommodation towards smaller identities in a consistent manner. They often show a strong inclination towards a unitary nation-building model that emphasises control and centralisation. Their organisational ethos and mindset tilts them towards a simplified notion of a nation with a unitary and hierarchical order.

A pluralist model of nation-building is more relevant to Pakistan because it incorporates the smaller identities in the national identity, avoiding the projection of one identity against the other. It creates a relationship of interdependence between the local or regional identities and the national mainstream.

A durable interdependence can be nurtured only by providing adequate opportunities to the smaller identities to participate in the nation-building process. They should not feel that the nation-state identity is imposed from above. It should be a product of the shared political experience of the smaller identities that teaches them the advantages of being part of a larger national framework. If the national framework is evolved through a participatory process the smaller identities do not feel overwhelmed or threatened by the larger identity. Rather, they realise that the national political process increases their opportunities and is inclusive of local, ethnic and linguistic identities.

Similarly, development work will be resisted less in the backward areas if it incorporates local participation. The need-assessment of an area must take into account the interests and concerns of the people as articulated by them. The implementation of development work must also be based on the participatory principle, i.e. the local community must be directly involved in the work. This approach gives two advantages. First the development process is sensitive to the needs and aspiration of the local people. Second, participatory development helps neutralise those opposed to development either due to their failure to comprehend it or to protect some vested interests.

The Musharraf-led government has allocated more resources for development work in Balochistan than any previous government. However, it faces tough opposition in the province, including armed resistance in some districts. The ongoing resistance is more widespread than the 1973-77 insurgency and the official claim that government policies are being contested only by three tribal chiefs is not credible. The government attributes opposition “by sardars” to their antipathy to welfare of the ordinary Baloch. It also claims that these tribal chiefs receive funds from Afghan and Indian sources to carry on the insurgency.

The opposition to the federal government’s development and administrative policies in Balochistan includes sections of three major tribes (Bugti, Marri, and Mengal) as well as the Baloch youth — especially those labelled as regional nationalists. The latter neither share the agenda of the tribal chiefs nor identify with them. They represent a large number of Baloch, who are totally alienated from Pakistan’s state and government. Their reasons for opposition to development differ from those of the tribal chiefs. The federal government’s policies have created a situation that has brought them close to the tribal chiefs. These tribal chiefs are now articulating the province-related issues in a manner that attracts the non-tribal alienated youth. It is mainly from among these Baloch youths that the Balochistan Liberation Army gets its recruits. It’s noteworthy that violence is not limited to the areas directly controlled by the three tribal chiefs. Other districts are also facing increased violence.

The federal government-directed development work has intensified insecurities among a large section of the Baloch populace because the process is non-participatory and does not address the concerns and aspirations of the Baloch activists. Their major concerns include: (i) most development work is managed by the federal government and the provincial government has little, if any, role in determining the development priorities and the execution of the development plans. (ii) There is a disproportionate allocation of resources to the areas where the federal government has strong interests like minerals and natural gas, or the existing or planned army garrisons (cantonment), coastal highway and Gwadar. Other areas get less attention. (iii) The Baloch activists are worried about the increase in non-Baloch population in the project areas — especially Gwadar. They complain that most jobs are going to non-locals. (iv) They complain about the alleged sale of land in the Gwadar area to people from outside the province. Moneyed outsiders have purchased most of the precious land in Balochistan and this has, in some areas, displaced the poverty ridden Baloch. (v) Almost all Baloch leaders want to increase Balochistan’s share in natural gas royalty and development surcharge. Some argue that mineral and other natural resources should be handed over to the province.

These issues cannot be separated from the demand for greater provincial autonomy for the province and the representation of Baloch in the federal bureaucracy and the military, especially the army. The official data, made available in the parliament in response to the members’ questions, shows that Baloch are under represented in most federal services. Their representation in the military, especially in the army, continues to be poor. So far only one Baloch has reached the level of lieutenant general. Soon after his retirement he also served briefly as governor of Balochistan. One is not sure if more Baloch officers are expected to reach this level in the near future.

One hopeful development is the visit of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to Quetta a couple of days ago. He offered a handsome economic assistance package to the province and promised to create 30,000 new jobs (including some in police and the Frontier Corps) for the province. Then the Balochistan Provincial Assembly met last week after several postponements during December-March and decided to set up a committee to look into the problems of the province.

These are positive signs and reflect some change in the federal government’s disposition. However, the real challenge is to change the ground realities of alienation, poverty, under-development, and non-participatory development in Balochistan. The latest gesture, like the previous assistance packages, comes as federal “charity”. The federal government should acknowledge that such assistance packages are not a favour but a manifestation of the rights of the people of Balochistan. The cardinal principle of participation and representation has to be built into the development work in Balochistan.

The question of provincial autonomy should also be taken up to strengthen trust between the federal government and Balochistan. For the time being, the provincial assembly and the provincial government should have a greater role in development work. The federal government should also implement the report of the parliamentary sub-committee headed by Senator Mushahid Hussain, which contains useful and progressive recommendations.

To arrest the ongoing drift Balochistan needs a quick dose of effective economic and political measures and participatory management. The latest commitments to Balochistan by the prime minister should be implemented without unnecessary delay in a non-partisan and transparent manner. The ball is in the federal government’s court.

Dr Hasan-Askari Rizvi is a political and defence analyst

Pakistan seizes heavy weapons in southwestern province
Islamabad, April 2, IRNA

www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0604022998173614.htm

Pakistan-Arms Recovery
Authorities in southwestern Pakistan on Sunday seized huge quantity of arms and ammunition, an official of the paramilitary force and TV channels reported.

The paramilitary `Frontier Corps' seized the weapons in Enjeer Cha area of Chaghi district of Balochistan province.

According to details, commandant Chaghi militia on a tip off conducted a raid and recovered arms and ammunition.

The seized weapons include three rounds of 82 mm mortar, 588 rounds of small arms, 1436 rounds of 12.7 mm gun and nine fuses of bomb.

A case was also registered against the unknown smugglers and further investigations are underway.

Meanwhile a private Geo television has reported that the security forces have recovered modern lethal weapons including Stinger missiles and important documents from the fort of anti-government tribal leader Nawab Akbar Bugti.

According to the TV, that documents were also found from the Bugti's residence which had all details of the weapons.

Other ammunition seized from the Bugti Fort include anti-tank mines, anti-personnel mines, anti-tank rockets, detonators and weapons made for a regular army, the channel reported.

A spokesman for Bugti dismissed the government claim as baseless and malicious to defame Nawab Bugti and his group.