Pakistan targets Balochistan separatists after ‘unprecedented’ assaults

Pakistan’s security forces have intensified their operations against separatist militants in Balochistan province who launched a large-scale assault on Saturday in which at least 31 civilians and 17 security personnel were killed.A day after the militants carried out suicide attacks in the heart of the province’s capital, Quetta, the chief minister of the south-western region, Sarfraz Bugti, said 145 people he described as militants had been killed in 40 hours and that their bodies were in the custody of the authorities.The attacks began before dawn on Saturday, when scores of insurgents attacked military installations, police stations and banks, blocked main roads, destroyed railway tracks and carried out suicide attacks in Quetta and the port of Gwadar.Balochistan’s separatist insurgency is decades old, but it has gained a lethal momentum in recent years with attacks targeting security forces and civilians. Analysts described Saturday’s simultaneous attacks in more than 10 cities as unprecedented.Pakistan’s interior minister, Mohsin Naqvi, rushed to Quetta on Saturday with Bugti to offer condolences to the families of those killed.Naqvi blamed India for the backing of terrorists and attacks, a claim Delhi denied.The proscribed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed responsibility for the attacks. It claimed in a statement to have killed 84 security personnel and taken 18 security and civilian officials prisoner. The Guardian was unable to verify its claims.Residents of Khuzdar district said the BLA had captured seven members of the security forces. Pakistan’s military did not respond to a request for comment.Videos of the attacks shared on social media, including by the BLA, show insurgents roaming freely through Quetta, firing rocket launchers at a bank, torching police stations and standing on roadsides.Footage confirmed by local officials also shows a car ramming into the city’s red zone, where government buildings including the governor and chief minister’s offices are located, then detonating, killing police personnel including a deputy superintendent.In Mastung, dozens of insurgents attacked a prison and freed almost 30 prisoners, police said. In Gwadar, where China has built a deep-sea port, insurgents tried to get past its perimeter security but were foiled. “We heard a huge blast as smoke billowed up and firing continued late night near the port,” one resident said.In Pasni in Gwadar district, five militants were killed when they entered the headquarters of Pakistan’s coastguard after a suicide bomber blew themselves up at the gate. One maritime security official was also reportedly killed.Mobile internet services are suspended in various cities, including Quetta, Gwadar and Noshki. Residents of Noshki, where the insurgents attacked the offices of counterterrorism police and other government and security agencies, said the attacks were still continuing.Pakistan’s defence minister, Khawaja Asif, told local media that calm had been restored in Balochistan and that security forces were “engaged in a mopping-up operation”.Pakistan has repeatedly blamed Afghanistan for giving safe sanctuaries to the Baloch insurgents, Pakistani Taliban and other militant groups, claiming they use Afghan soil to launch their attacks. Kabul has denied the claims.Central and provincial government officials had said in recent months that Balochistan’s insurgency had been reined in.Zahid Hussain, a security analyst and author, said Saturday’s “unprecedented assaults” negated such claims. He said there was no political apparatus in the province and that the military decided everything, which had made things worse.“The situation has escalated to a dangerous level. The attacks prove they also have a huge local support base. Without that, such attacks are not possible despite the fact … we all agree the insurgents have safe sanctuaries in Afghanistan,” he said.