Chatham House
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Why brute force will not end Pakistan’s Balochistan insurgency
EXPERT COMMENT
A heavy-handed security response to what is widely judged to be a political crisis would be a clear indication that lessons from the past have not been learned.
On 25-26 August, more than 70 people – including 23 civilians – were reported killed and key infrastructure damaged in a series of attacks across Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan. The armed separatist group, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Created in the early 2000s, the BLA, together with other militant groups, has waged a decades-long campaign against Pakistan’s government which is accused of unfairly appropriating Balochistan’s rich gas and mineral reserves. Severe economic deprivation has compounded these grievances. Balochistan is the largest and least populated of Pakistan’s provinces and the most impoverished, with an estimated 70 per cent per cent of its population classed as ‘multidimensionally poor’.
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Original article link: https://www.chathamhouse.org/2024/09/why-brute-force-will-not-end-pakistans-balochistan-insurgency
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