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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 ISLAMABAD 014349 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/19/2015 
TAGS: PK PREL PGOV KTER
SUBJECT: A PRIMER ON BALOCHISTAN 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker, Derived from DSCG 05-01, d 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: This cable--the first in a series of cables 
on the province--is intended to serve as a primer on 
Balochistan, Pakistan's largest, least developed, and most 
sparsely populated province. Other cables in this series will 
cover the tribal and ethnic political dynamics of the 
province, the insurgency, and Islamabad's plans for 
overcoming the insurgency. This message covers basic 
geographical and statistical information, as well as an 
ethnic breakdown of the province. The Government of Pakistan 
in recent years has invested heavily in the province to tap 
its mineral wealth and to turn it into a regional 
transportation hub. However, since 1948, Balochistan has been 
plagued by an on-again, off-again insurgency led by 
ethnically Baloch tribal leaders. The insurgency flared up 
again in early 2005 with tribal militants blowing up gas 
pipelines and electricity pylons; the GOP began a concerted 
crackdown last December after insurgents fired rockets at an 
army base near Kohlu that President Musharraf was visiting. 
Baloch discontent today centers on what they say is the 
unfair distribution of the natural resources and revenue 
generated in the province. Baloch argue that the province 
should receive a disproportionate share of the revenues 
generated by its mineral wealth because it has greater 
development needs than the other provinces. For example, the 
Baloch point out that pipelines from natural gas fields in 
the province were run to cities in Punjab decades before they 
reached the provincial capital, Quetta. Most of the recent 
fighting has been confined to the eastern portion of the 
province, but some high profile violence has occurred along 
the Makran Coast, including the killings of Chinese engineers 
involved with the construction of a deep sea port at Gwadar. 
End Summary. 
 
Geography 
 
 
¶3. (U) Balochistan is a parched and inhospitable land. While 
rich in minerals, geologists have compared Balochistan's 
terrain to Mars. Pakistan's nuclear testing site is in 
Balochistan. To the east and northeast, Balochistan borders 
all three of Pakistan's other provinces as well as the 
southernmost of the seven Federally Administered Tribal 
Agencies, South Waziristan. To the north, Balochistan shares 
borders with the Afghan provinces of Nimruz, Helmand, 
Qandahar, Zabol and Paktika. To the west it borders the 
Iranian province of Sistan-va-Baluchestan. On the south, 
Balochistan has more than 770 kilometers of coastline along 
the Arabian Sea. 
 
¶4. (U) Area: At 347,190 square kilometers Balochistan is 
slightly smaller than Montana, and makes up nearly 44 percent 
of Pakistan's total area. 
 
Socio-Economic Indicators 
 
 
¶5. (U) Balochistan's population of 7.1 million (according to 
May 2003 government estimate) accounts for roughly 5.1 
percent of Pakistan's total population. The province's 
population density of 19 people per square kilometer compares 
to a national average of 166 and an average of 358 in Punjab. 
 
¶6. (U) The average literacy rate of the province is 31 
percent, compared to a national average of 49 percent. Girls 
make up less than 37 percent of the primary through high 
school enrollment, and according to provincial government 
statistics, out of the number of students attending primary 
school, less than 16 percent of boys and 13 percent of girls 
go on to middle school. Baloch nationalists believe that the 
low education levels stem from federal government neglect. 
 
¶7. (U) Balochistan's per capita income is roughly USD 160, 
less than one-fifth of the national average of approximately 
USD 850. 
 
ISLAMABAD 00014349  002 OF 004 
 
 
 
¶8. (U) Natural resources include gas, coal, gold, copper, 
iron, marble, gypsum, and limestone. The province produces 
more than 40 percent of Pakistan's primary energy (natural 
gas, coal, and electricity), but while natural gas generates 
USD 1.4 billion in annual revenues, the province receives 
back just USD 116 million a year in royalties, or 8 percent, 
one of the major causes of friction between the nationalists 
and the federal government. Industries include cotton, 
woolen, and leather goods, iron and steel production, silk 
and rayon manufacturing, cement factories, and jute 
production. 
 
Infrastructure and Reserves 
 
 
¶9. (U) The Sui gas field, through 2005, had produced 
approximately 45 percent of Pakistan's domestic natural gas, 
however remaining reserves at the Sui field  are now a third 
of the original total, equaling about 12.5 percent of 
Pakistan's total natural gas reserves. 
 
¶10. (U) The Chinese operated copper and gold mine in Saindak, 
which has more than 400 million metric tons of reserves, 
generated nearly USD 170 million of exportable revenues in 
¶2003. In 2004 the Saindak operation employed nearly 1,200 
Pakistani and just over 300 Chinese workers. The federal 
government receives a 2 percent annual royalty from the 
operation. 
 
¶11. (U) The recently discovered Rekodiq copper-gold deposit 
in northwestern Balochistan near Saindak, with its estimated 
940 million metric tons of reserves, is potentially one of 
the largest in the world, and is set to be mined by a 
Canadian-Chilean joint venture. The Balochistan government 
has a 25 percent stake in the project. 
 
¶12. (U) Reserves at the Dilband iron-ore deposit are 
estimated at 200 million metric tons. The province has just 
over 200 million metric tons of coal reserves, a fraction of 
Punjab's 175 billion tons of reserves. 
 
¶13. (U) Infrastructure: The USD 1.1 billion Gwadar deepwater 
cargo and naval port when completed will provide Pakistan 
with its third major port facility and act as a major outlet 
for Pakistani trade with Afghanistan and the central Asian 
republics. Gwadar will have a dozen multipurpose berths, 
including two oil terminals, and the latest generation of 
containerized cargo handling facilities. The port opening has 
been delayed--it was scheduled to open in June after a 
second-stage dredging--and top GOP officials have been unable 
to say when the port will open. China has invested heavily in 
the project, providing USD 198 million of the USD 248 million 
cost of the project's first phase. Analysts have suggested 
that this is a strategic investment to enable China to take 
advantage of the port's proximity to the Persian Gulf and 
China's westernmost province, Xinjiang. The GOP and Beijing 
have already discussed building an oil refinery and possibly 
a pipeline between Balochistan and Xinjiang. Balochistan is 
also a possible transit route for pipelines from Turkmenistan 
to the Arabian Sea or India, and from Iran to India. 
 
Government 
 
 
¶14. (U) Like other provinces, Balochistan has a Provincial 
Assembly and Chief Minister, with a Governor appointed by the 
federal President. Federal level representation consists of 
17 Members of the National Assembly (out of 342 seats) and 22 
members of the federal Senate (out of 100 seats). 
 
¶15. (U) Currently the province is governed by a coalition of 
the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) and the Muttahida 
Majlis-e-Amal (MMA). The MMA contingent is composed almost 
exclusively of Pashtun members of the 
Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam/Fazlur Rehman Faction (JUI/F). The 
 
ISLAMABAD 00014349  003 OF 004 
 
 
Baloch are divided between the nationalist parties and the 
PML. The nationalists hold just under a quarter of the seats 
in the assembly. 
 
¶16. (U) The province is divided into 26 administrative 
districts. Major cities and towns include the provincial 
capital Quetta, Kalat, Khuzdar, Kohlu, Loralai, and Zhob. 
 
Ethnic Snapshot 
 
 
¶17. (C) The Baloch, with 45 percent of the population, are 
the dominant ethnic group in most of the province. However, 
Pashtuns, with 38 percent, are the most populous in the 
northeastern quarter. As of December 2005, there were also 
683,000 Afghan refugees in the province, according to UNHCR. 
Many Baloch nationalists claim that the Baloch make up as 
much as 60 percent of the province's population, asserting 
such a high percentage because these nationalists fear that 
the Baloch are becoming a minority in their own province. 
This fear is fueled, in part, by a rising tide of Punjabi and 
Sindhi settlers who have entered the province to find work in 
projects such as Gwadar. The Baloch and Pashtuns live in 
their own "defined areas," according to one Embassy contact. 
The majority of Baloch are Hanafi Sunni Muslims. The Baloch 
tribal system has been described as "feudal militarism," with 
power concentrated in the hands of local tribal leaders or 
powerful Sardars. (Note: This contrasts sharply with the far 
more egalitarian Pashtun tribal society. End note). 
 
¶18. (C) Currently, the most powerful sardars--each with a 
substanital militia--are those of the Bugti, Marri, and 
Mengal tribes, all of whom have been at odds with Islamabad 
in recent years. Each of these tribes is based in the eastern 
third of the province. (Note: The Sui gas fields are ound in 
the tribal territory of the Bugtis. End Note). The Bugtis are 
led by Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti; the Marris by Nawab Khair Bux 
Marri; and the Mengals by Sardar Atuallah Khan Mengal. The 
youngest of the three--Mengal--is about 75. Each of the three 
tribes is associated with a different political party: Bugti 
founded the Jamhoori Watan Party; Mengal founded the 
Balochistan National Party; and Marri is tied to the Baloch 
Haq Tawar Party as well as the Baluchistan Liberation Army. 
While these three tribes have been behind the insurgency in 
recent years, there are at least two dozen other 
sardars--some estimates put the number at more than 70--who 
are on friendly terms with the government. Most of these 
other sardars are found in the western and southern portions 
of the province. Major subtribes of the Bugti are the Masoori 
and the Kalpars. 
 
¶19. (C) The Pashtun part of the province includes the 
northeastern districts of Quetta, Pishin, Qila Abdullah, 
Ziarat, Qila Saifullah, Zhob, Musa Khel, and the northern 
portions of Loralai and Sibi. The Pashtun area borders the 
Afghan provinces of Zabol, Paktika, and Qandahar. Pashtuns 
are predominately Sunni Muslims. Pashtun society, like 
Baloch, is tribal but extremely egalitarian: tribal leaders 
are considered first among equals. 
 
¶20. (C) The major Pashtun tribes in Balochistan are the 
Kakar, Tarin, Kansi, Shirani, Pani, Dawi, Ghilzai, and Babi. 
The Kakar are thought to be the most numerous tribe, and are 
found in and around Quetta and throughout the Pashtun 
majority districts. The Tarin, and their subtribe the 
Achakzai, are historically one of the largest tribes in the 
province. The Kansi were the historical fief-holders of 
Quetta for the Durrani Kings in Afghanistan and are the most 
populous tribe in the city. The Ghilzais in Balochistan are 
nomads, many of whom also have homes in Afghanistan, though 
many of the Sulemankhel subtribe have settled in and around 
Zhob. Key Pashtun leaders in the province include Mehmood 
Khan Achakzai, a Member of National Assembly and leader of 
the Pushtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PKMAP), a Pashtun 
nationalist party, that shares many of the grievances of the 
Baloch nationalists; Abdul Rahim Khan Mandokhel, a federal 
 
ISLAMABAD 00014349  004 OF 004 
 
 
Senator from PKMAP; Muhammad Sarwar Khan Kaker, a federal 
Senator from the PML; and Rehmatullah Kaker, a federal 
Senator from the MMA. 
 
¶21. (C) Comment. Baloch discontent and the province's mineral 
wealth are inextricably entwined. The Baloch perceive that 
the province's natural resources have been exploited for the 
benefit of the people and industries of Punjab. They also 
complain that the distribution of federal resources, which is 
based on population, puts Balochistan--a thinly populated 
province--at a disadvantage. Because of the underdevelopment 
of the province, especially in comparison to Punjab, Baloch 
argue that the province should receive a greater share of 
funds to allow the province to catch up with the rest of the 
country. Baloch disgruntlement also stems from what they see 
as a lack of adequate representation in the federal 
bureaucracy, as well as the military, thus they are demanding 
the enforcement of quotas already in federal law. These calls 
have strengthened as the Baloch have grown fearful that they 
will become second-class citizens in their own province 
because of the influx of skilled Punjabis and Sindhis seeking 
employment in the province's infrastructure projects such as 
Gwadar and the copper-gold mines in Saindak and Rekodiq. A 
political settlement that addresses these grievances would 
require substantial revisions to Pakistani law and 
distribution of royalties, which would depend on high level 
backing in Islamabad. End comment. 
CROCKER