Sectarian, Ethnic violence on rise in Pakistan’s Balochistan

Balochistan [Pakistan], March 17 (ANI): In Pakistan, Sectarian and ethnic violence has become a regular affair and is on a constant rise as security forces recovered arms and ammunition in the Chaman district of Balochistan, according to Geo News.

In an intelligence-based operation in Chaman, Balochistan, security personnel recently found a sizable cache of weapons and ammunition, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement on Thursday. The operation to find the terrorists’ hideout was carried out on the Boghra Road in Chaman in search of a suspected hideout of terrorists.

The “latest fire events on law enforcement personnel and civilians in the Chaman area, in addition to the placement of improvised explosive devices in adjacent areas,” were carried out by the terrorists, Geo News reported.

Moreover, numerous improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and other accessories were recovered from the region, which highlighted the rise of terrorism in the area.
Balochistan has been under a grip of racial, religious, militant, and separatist violence that is supported by a variety of organisations, making the situation in the region quite unpredictable, Geo News reported.

The situation has further gone worse due to the rise of outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) across Pakistan. With TTP on the rise, the number of terror attacks has increased manifold.

TTP has killed an estimated 83,000; mostly innocent people since 2006, pushed them out of their homes and stalled development that they oppose anyway to retain their hold, reported International Forum for Rights and Security (IFFRAS).

In Pakistan, the ongoing political game involving the political class, the military and the judiciary, has ignored the public suffering on numerous counts. On top of the murky heap is violence by the country’s largest and most violent militant group TTP.

The TTP, a Pakistani offshoot and close ally of the Afghan Taliban, is listed as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States and the United Nations.

According to UN estimates, it has between 4,000 to 6,500 fighters in Afghanistan. Its spread is beyond the tribal belt, to Pakistani cities.

Pakistan’s sectarian violence demonstrates the growing hold of extremists as sectarianism is seeping through the sections of society previously untouched by religious fundamentalism, reported Global Strat View.