Baloch Freedom Fighters attack security forces, kill 2 soldiers
The Associated PressPublished: January 10, 2007

www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/10/asia/AS-GEN-Pakistan-Tribal-Unrest.php

QUETTA, Pakistan: Rebel tribesmen attacked a military convoy in Pakistan's tense southwestern Baluchistan province, killing two soldiers, police said Wednesday.

The rebels ambushed a two-vehicle convoy of the Frontier Corps paramilitary troops with assault rifles and rockets Tuesday in a rugged area in Bolan, a tribal district about 150 kilometers (90 miles) east of Quetta, Baluchistan's capital, a senior police official said.

They hit one of the vehicles and killed two soldiers, he said.

Troops returned fire, triggering a clash that lasted about five hours and left eight rebels wounded, the official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

He said the wounded guerrillas were being treated at a hospital in police custody and the other rebel fighters fled into the mountains.

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A spokesman for the Baluchistan government, Abdul Raziq Bugti, said he could not confirm the clash.

There was no immediate comment from the rebels. Sometimes people claiming to speak for the ethnic-Baluch fighters contact journalists in Quetta to claim responsibility for anti-government attacks.

Baluchistan has been the scene of increasing violence in recent years, including bombings and rocket attacks targeting security forces, railroads and gas pipelines.

Authorities blame the anti-government attacks on armed tribesmen demanding an increase in royalties for resources extracted in their gas-rich territories. They also want greater autonomy for the province.

Tensions have soared since the August killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti, a tribal chieftain accused by the government of leading rebel attacks.

'Two troops dead' in Balochistan

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6245793.stm

At least two Pakistani paramilitary troops have been killed in a rebel attack in insurgency-hit Balochistan province, eye witnesses say.
They say that four rebels, injured in the cross-fire, were arrested.

The attack coincides with reports that the army has conducted a search operation to hunt tribal rebels in two eastern districts during Eid holidays.

Baloch nationalists have over the last few years demanded more autonomy for the south-western province.

Rebellion
In August the army killed a top tribal leader, Nawab Akbar Bugti, in a search operation in the area.

But several leaders were able to escape the net and are now understood to be leading the rebellion.

Nawab Bugti was killed last year

The attack on a Frontier Corps (FC) patrol took place in the hitherto peaceful district of Bolan, close to the two troubled districts of Kohlu and Dera Bugti.

Raziq Bugti, a spokesman for Balochistan government, confirmed the attack but said he had no knowledge of casualties.

He denied that any large scale search operation had taken place in Kohlu and Dera Bugti during the Eid holidays.

But Brahamdagh Bugti, a rebel leader and grandson of Nawab Bugti, said the operation was launched by ground forces that were covered by helicopter gunships.

He said more than 30 people were arrested, including some women and children, on suspicion of harbouring tribal militants.

Media reports suggest a number of suspected rebels were killed in the operation.

There are no accredited journalists in the area to verify these claims independently.

But eyewitnesses approached by the BBC said that some arrests did take place in the border region between Dera Bugti and Kohlu.

They accused the army of burning down the thatched homes people of people living in the poverty stricken region, on suspicion that rebels hid there.

Reports of the search operation come after continued rocket attacks by rebels on gas pipelines in the Sui area of Dera Bugti, home to Pakistan's largest gas reserves.


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Military displaces 84,000 Baloch

Amir Mir
Tuesday, January 09, 2007 23:13 IST

www.dnaindia.com/report.asp


LAHORE: The ongoing military operation in the trouble-stricken Balochistan province has caused displacement of over 84,000 residents of Dera Bugti and Kohlu districts, the home town of the slain Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Bugti who was killed by the Army in August 2006, says a recently released report by the United Nations offices in Islamabad.

The United Nations had sent a fact finding mission to Balochistan in June/July 2006 followed by detailed field research in August which identified some 84,000 internally displaced people including 26,000 women and 33,000 children in a very bad nutrition status.

The UN report, which is vehemently denied by the military authorities, say that over 84,000 members of the Bugti tribe had to leave their homes in Dera Bugti and Kohlu areas of Balochistan when tension mounted in the aftermath of a military operation launched by Pakistan army against those allegedly attacking national gas and oil installations besides resisting the setting up of the military cantonments in their areas.
The UN report says the mass exodus has already made the situation serious with the onset of winter, making the Pakistani authorities to seek the help of the UN to avert the nutrition crisis among the displaced, a majority of now residing in Quetta, Naseerabad and Jaffarabad districts of the province. The UN has subsequently approved a six months humanitarian relief package worth one million dollars to address the humanitarian crisis. The package further includes setting up of 57 supplementary feeding centres and three therapeutic feeding centres in the three districts of Balochistan.

However, the Balochistan government denies the observations of the UN report. According to District Coordination Officer of the Dera Bugti, Abdul Samad Lasi, almost all the migrated people have returned to their homes in Dera Bugti and Kohlu except 1,500 people, a majority of whom are Hindu businessmen. “We have resettled the displaced people, who were forced by Akbar Bugti to leave the area, in Dera Bugti and Kohlu,” said Abdul Samad Lasi, adding that “We are unaware about the displacement of people in the wake of the military operation in the province.” Yet he added in the same breath, “Though it is a humanitarian issue, some elements attempted to politicise it for political gains.”


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Pakistan constitutes Afghan Jirga Commission

www.thenews.com.pk/update_detail.asp

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has formed Afghan Jirga Commission with Minister of Interior as its head, Pakistan prime minister told newsmen here.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz was talking to newsmen Wednesday after inauguration of the Fatima Jinnah Girls College at Hamak near Islamabad.

The governors of NWFP and Balochistan and federal ministers Dr. Ghazi Gulab Jamal and Yar Muhammad Rind will be members of the commission, he told. The commission will decide the working procedure for the Jirga.

Aziz said that within and out of parliament dialogue with political forces is a part of political process but it doesn’t mean that the two talking sides are joining a coalition. He said Pakistan Muslim League would contest next elections on the same platform with existing allies in the coalition.

Earlier, addressing the inaugural ceremony of the college prime minister reassured that no changes in disregard to the Islamic teachings would be made in the curriculum.

He also announced 400 new teachers vacancies for the federal capital.

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BMC System installed to check illegal border movement on Pak-Afghan Border

Written by pub
Wednesday, 10 January 2007
www.app.com.pk/en/index.php
CHAMAN, Dec 10 (APP): Director General Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Iqbal Mehmood on Wednesday said that the Bio Metric Control Computerized System would check illegal border movement between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Talking to journalists here, the DG said that the new computerized system has replaced the old "Permit System" and would be controlled and managed by the FIA. This system would closely monitor all the personal and vehicular movement on border. Moreover, similar kind of system is already in place in different airports of the country.

The system comprises 16 new and sophisticated computers which would record all necessary information about those who cross border or enter Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Director General Nadra (Balochistan) Brig. (Retd) Akhtar Hussein Shah said that most of the countries in the world are using same kind of systems to record movement on their border.

He added that the Interior Ministry and Foreign Office of Pakistan is in contact with the Afghan Government in this connection. Moreover, the tribal straddling on border have been issued cards which would help them cross border without any difficulty.

Col. Masood Ahmad of Pakistan Border Force meanwhile said that the forces were fully prepared to check any kind of illegal cross border movement. The Bio Metric Control System would further help tighten the security of the border. He added that about 6500 persons have been issued computerized border crossing passes.

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 10 January 2007 )