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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 016944 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
NOFORN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/19/2015 
TAGS: PK PREL PGOV KTER
SUBJECT: DEATH OF NAWAB BUGTI, BALOCH TRIBAL INSURGENT 
LEADER 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker, Derived from DSCG 05-01, d 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: The killing of Baloch tribal insurgent leader 
Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti by security forces on Saturday has 
dismayed politicians across the political spectrum, including 
members of the party that President Musharraf relies on to 
run the country, and triggered riots in a limited number of 
cities in Balochistan. Government politicians are now playing 
down the initial military triumphalism at the death of Nawab 
Bugti. The people of Balochistan had an ambivalent 
relationship with Nawab Bugti: some saw him as a great 
nationalist leader fighting for the province's economic 
rights, others saw him as a self-serving tribal lord whose 
violent tactics against the economic infrastructure hurt the 
people of the province, not just the central government. End 
summary. 
 
----------- 
How He Died 
----------- 
 
¶2. (U) There are conflicting stories about how Nawab Bugti 
was tracked down. Some press reports say that the security 
forces located him through a satellite telephone call. 
However, the government has stated that an attack on an Army 
helicopter on August 23 led security forces to launch an 
operation the next day that eventually led to the assault on 
the cave in which Bugti was hiding on Saturday. As many as 27 
government security forces and 60 militants were killed in 
the attack, according to press reports. The assault was 
described as a "commando" operation involving officers from 
the Pakistan Army's elite Special Services Group. The 
government asserts that its forces came under heavy fire from 
the cave and when they returned fire and attempted to enter 
it, the roof collapsed, killing all inside, including a 
number of soldiers and officers. Nawab Bugti's presence in 
the cave was confirmed by captured militants, according to 
the government. Tikka Khan, editor of the Urdu-daily Islam, 
told Embassy that if the Nawab was located by satellite phone 
it proves the government was specifically searching for him 
and makes his killing a deliberate criminal act. 
 
¶3. (U) The start of the operation against Nawab Bugti on 
August 24 coincided with what was described as a "first-ever" 
Bugti tribal jirga, attended by thousands of 
government-allied tribesmen at which they, in essence, 
deposed Nawab Bugti by declaring the "end to the Nawabi 
system" and pledging their support to the government. 
 
¶4. (U) Initially, there were reports that two of Nawab 
Bugti's grandsons, including his heir-apparent Brahamdagh, 
were also in the cave, along with Mir Balaach Khan Marri, son 
of Marri tribal leader Nawab Khair Bux Marri. However, 
President Musharraf and the government spokesman would not 
confirm whether Nawab Bugti's grandsons or Balaach Marri died 
in the attack. Agha Shahid Bugti, the Nawab's son-in-law, 
also refused to confirm whether the grandsons survived or 
were killed in the operation, according to one press report. 
A separate press report stated that one of Nawab Bugti's 
grandsons was captured; a spokesman for the Marri tribe said 
that Balaach Marri and both Bugti grandsons were alive. As of 
Monday, bodies were still being dug out of the cave rubble. 
 
¶5. (U) Nawab Bugti, who was reportedly 79, was both a former 
provincial governor and chief minister. In 1946, Nawab Bugti 
took over leadership of the Bugti tribe (Nawab is a title 
meaning prince), which is currently estimated as having 
200,000 members and a militia of 5,000 fighters. Since early 
2005, he had led his tribe's armed resistance to the 
government. In recent months, the government security forces, 
led by Frontier Corps troops backed by Army helicopters and 
artillery, had driven Bugti into hiding in the mountains. 
 
----------------------------------- 
 
ISLAMABAD 00016944  002 OF 002 
 
 
Crowing Soldiers, Sober Politicians 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (C) In the aftermath of Nawab Bugti death, General 
Musharraf said that the government would take "every step" 
necessary to extend its writ into Balochistan. The tone of 
the initial news reports was of a military success. But the 
tenor changed as opposition politicians, including those from 
beyond Balochistan, began criticizing the killing. 
Journalists and nationalist politicians within Balochistan, 
including politicians opposed to the sardari system, told 
Embassy that the Nawab's death would be a rallying point for 
opponents of the government and could lead to increased 
violence against Punjabis in the province. (Note: The federal 
government and Army are seen as being dominated by Punjab 
Province. End note.) 
 
¶7. (C) Even top leaders in the governing PML-Q were 
circumspect in their comments about Nawab Bugti's death. 
Senator Mushahid Hussain, PML-Q General Secretary, told 
Polcouns that Nawab Bugti's death was regrettable and 
avoidable. Mushahid and PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat 
Hussain have arranged for the Army to transport two of Nawab 
Bugti's sons to the cave site where he died, so that they can 
oversee the recovery of the body, which will be turned over 
to the family for burial in Dera Bugti. 
 
¶8. (U) Newspaper editorials called for the end of military 
action and the start of negotiations to resolve the 
province's grievances, which stem from the belief that 
Islamabad has not given the province a fair share of the 
revenues generated by its mineral wealth or an adequate share 
of the jobs in ongoing development projects in the province. 
Mushahid Hussain said the death creates the opportunity to 
revisit the recommendations of a committee he led last year 
that called for increasing economic opportunities in 
Balochistan, investing in social infrastructure, limiting 
settler influence in elections, and increasing provincial 
autonomy and control over natural gas revenues. 
 
¶9. (U) Nawab Bugti's death sparked protests and riots in 
Quetta, Balochistan's capital, and other cities, in which at 
least three people were killed and 50 injured. In Quetta 
roughly 600 protesters were arrested. On Monday, Quetta 
experienced a citywide strike, with roads empty and most 
shops closed. In addition, the main highways from Quetta to 
Karachi and Punjab Province were also blocked by protesters. 
 
¶10. (C) Comment: The unrest triggered by Nawab Bugti's death 
has been confined, so far, to just five of Balochistan's 27 
districts, with disturbances, however, also occurring in 
Karachi in Sindh Province. Crowds in Quetta were violent but 
not exceedingly large by Pakistani standards. One Embassy 
interlocutor said the size of the crowds was limited because 
people have known for months that the security forces where 
closing in on Nawab Bugti. Notably, members of Musharraf's 
ruling party are now emphasizing that Nawab Bugti died 
because the roof of the cave collapsed, as opposed to being 
killed directly by government troops. PML-Q leaders may be 
downplaying the military success because the party faces a no 
confidence vote in the National Assembly later this week. If 
Brahamdagh Bugti, the Nawab's anointed successor, was killed, 
the GOP would have eliminated the most likely leader to take 
the reins of the insurgency from Nawab Bugti. End comment. 
BODDE