Baluchistan separatist groups kill 70 ‘Punjabi hunt’

The victims identified and killed on ethnic grounds in the clash with the government in Islamabad. Prime Minister Sharif promises a resolute response to terrorism. Fr. Khalid Rashid Asi: ‘Indiscriminate targeting of innocent people’. Journalist Arif Khattak: action that ‘has nothing to do with the rights of the Baluch people’.

Baluchistan (AsiaNews) - ‘The State has failed to achieve peace in the country. The Baluchistan Liberation Army has carried out terrible incidents in the province, which are not only condemnable, but if I speak sincerely my heart weeps after seeing the dead bodies of innocent people’.

This is how Fr. Khalid Rashid Asi comments to AsiaNews on Sunday night's attack in Rarasham, near the border between Baluchistan and Punjab, in which 23 people from Punjab were murdered.

The violence, claimed by the BLA, was not the only one. In fact, in several simultaneous attacks, more than 70 people died (including 10 in Qalaat, in Sibbi 6, in Moosa Khel 23 Punjabis), according to the separatist army.

‘They killed 23 innocent Punjabis after identification; this shows that their hearts are full of hatred towards Punjabis. This racial hatred and discrimination is very dangerous,' added Fr Khalid Rashid Asi. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was not long in coming, saying today that a ‘firm decision’ must be taken to combat the rampant terrorism in the region.

‘There is no room for weakness,’ he added at a federal cabinet meeting in Islamabad, urging the unity of the nation to face this moment of crisis. In clashes with security forces, 12 terrorists were also killed as of last night and many were injured. Dozens of militants affiliated with the BLA took part in the numerous attacks.

The situation in the province is currently terribly unstable and serious. On the same day, rail traffic with Quetta was suspended following explosions on a railway bridge in the city of Bolan, which connects the provincial capital with the rest of Pakistan.

Arif Khattak, journalist and writer, said: ‘The way the Baluchistan Liberation Army has started killing innocent people in the name of Punjabi identity has shown that it has nothing to do with the rights of the Baluci people.

Addressing then the terrorists, who in the attacks of the past few hours have targeted security personnel and civilians mainly from Punjab, storming police stations, blowing up railway tracks and setting dozens of vehicles on fire, he said that they are not only fighting against state institutions, but have transferred this fight to the innocent masses and their homes.

‘You have lost your moral values. You have now joined the list of Baluchistan's worst enemies,' he said. Remarking on how little the actions of these armed groups fighting against the Pakistani government have to do with the desire for autonomy and independence of the province, among the poorest in Pakistan, and self-determination of the Baluchci people.

This is the second attack of this nature this year. In April, nine passengers were thrown off a bus near the city of Noshki in Baluchistan and shot dead after armed men checked their identity cards. People from Punjab often work in natural resource exploitation operations in the region, usually organised by the central government of Pakistan, and are therefore a frequent target of separatist attacks.

‘Our Pakistani army should take control and bring these terrorists to justice. It seems that peace cannot be built in the province,' Fr. Khalid Rashid Asi continues. According to him, the main problem is primarily a conflict of culture, and of interests.

‘With this kind of terrorist activity, the Balucistan Liberation Army is turning the people against them and the people have started to hate them. We want peace in our country, so our state should play its role and take concrete steps for this cause,' he concludes.

• Pakistan
• Baluchistan
• Punjab
• BLA
• separatists
• terrorism
• violence
• Shehbaz Sharif