Description: Separate operations led by the Pakistani military resulted in the deaths of 41 militants in two separate districts within the Balochistan province. The raid in the Panjgur district resulted in the deaths of 31 militants while the second raid conducted in the district of Harnai resulted in the deaths of 11 militants. The Pakistani Defense Ministry has stated that the attacks were supported by neighboring India without providing any substantial evidence. Previously, the Ministry issued warnings for evacuations which it later denied in the Tirah region located in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where another militant group, the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) is active. The raids were a response to the attacks conducted by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), the region’s separatist group, which were conducted in Quetta and resulted in the deaths of more than 145 people. Pakistan’s Defense Minister has reiterated the accusations against India and Afghanistan which according to him were working in conjecture to destabilize Pakistan by supporting and providing safe harbor to separatist and militant groups such as the BLA and the TTP.
Impact: Pakistan is facing a security crisis on multiple fronts which is expected to continue in the long – term, taking into consideration regional power rivalries and historic tendencies and connections with government – sponsored terrorist, separatist and militant groups. The BLA and other militant or separatist forces are primarily locally mobilized, however, their financial support as well as logistics and weapons come from foreign sources, due to their level of sophistication. Pakistan’s frequent criticizing towards India and Afghanistan is somewhat substantiated since both countries in collusion use their financial resources and territorial access as a launchpad to destabilize Pakistan. The Pakistani government on the other hand can be attributed with severe intelligence failures to counteract these groups and considerable lack of comprehensive dialogue with the regional population in provinces such as Balochistan and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The groups are exploiting this rift between the government and the local population as fertile ground for mobilization and recruitment which eventually results in the high number of attacks for the duration of the previous year. Instability would persist and potentially escalate, significantly destabilizing the region.