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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 KARACHI 000145 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/27/2019 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER MARR PK
SUBJECT: BALOCHISTAN - WHAT MAY BE BEHIND THE CURRENT 
UNREST AND POSSIBLE IMPLICATIONS FOR USG SHIPMENTS 
 
REF: A. KARACHI 131 
     ¶B. KARACHI 111 
     ¶C. KARACHI 73 
     ¶D. KARACHI 34 
     ¶E. 08 KARACHI 463 
     ¶F. 08 KARACHI 338 
     ¶G. 08 KARACHI 339 
 
Classified By: CLASSIFIED BY CONSUL GENERAL STEPHEN FAKAN FOR REASONS 1 
.4 b and d. 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
¶1.  (C) Often violent unrest over the killing of three Baloch 
leaders continued in Balochistan over the past week. 
Nationalist political parties led protest rallies and 
militant nationalist groups claimed credit for violence, 
including a rocket attack on a Frontier Corps (FC) camp. 
Some nationalist leaders rejected a GOP call for an internal 
investigation into the killings, calling instead for a UN 
inquiry.  The protests and violence occurred throughout the 
Baloch areas of the province, even in normally calm coastal 
districts.  Baloch National Party ) Mengal (BNP-M) and 
National Party (NP) leaders refused to participate in a peace 
meeting called by Chief Minister, Mohammad Aslam Khan Raisani 
on April 19.  BNP-M announced plans for a "Long March" across 
the province and appears to be attempting to rise to the 
forefront of the protest movement.  USG supply shipments, 
which cross Mengal-dominated Khudzar district, have been 
vulnerable to temporary disruptions caused by civil unrest in 
the province. 
 
¶2.  (C) In Pakistan,s Senate, Minister of Interior Rehman 
Malik made controversial claims that India, Afghanistan and 
Russia were backing the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) to 
fuel an insurgency in the province.  Many in the province see 
the killing of these three Baloch leaders as a turning point 
in Balochistan,s relationship with the federal government, 
and the continuing violence is pushing Baloch nationalists 
further away from reconciliation.  Many Baloch had high 
expectations from President Zardari; however, these events 
have frustrated these hopes. 
 
A Violent Week 
-------------- 
 
¶3.  (C) During the past week, unrest continued throughout 
Balochistan over the April 9 murder of Baloch National 
Movement (BNM) General Secretary Ghulam Mohammad Baloch and 
two other Baloch nationalists (ref A) in broad daylight.  The 
three were meeting with their attorney, Katchkol Ali 
Advocate, when they were pulled out of his office in the 
middle of Quetta and killed.  Most observers believe that the 
intelligence services (probably Military Intelligence) were 
responsible.  This marked a dramatic and negative departure 
from the Pakistan People,s Party outreach effort toward the 
Balochis. 
 
¶4.  (C) Following the murders, there were numerous reported 
instances of bomb blasts and hand grenade attacks.  In one 
April 14 action, the militant Baloch Republican Army (BRA) 
claimed responsibility for rocket attacks on Frontier Corps 
(FC) camps in restive Dera Bugti district that injured three 
FC members.  In another, unknown attackers fired rockets at a 
police training center in Quetta. 
 
¶5.  (C) Protestors in the province closed several businesses, 
including banks and burned a number of government and private 
offices. Protestors were turned back by police teargas in at 
least one instance and the headless bodies of two allegedly 
pro-GOP Bugti tribesmen were found in Nasirabad district on 
April 16.  Three more dead Bugti tribesmen were found on 
April 18 in Dera Bugti.  No one has claimed responsibility 
for the killings in either instance.  Many cities across the 
province observed strikes and transportation halts. 
 
Tepid Nationalist Response to GOP Offer 
--------------------------------------- 
 
 
KARACHI 00000145  002 OF 005 
 
 
¶6.  (C) Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik visited Quetta 
on April 14 and promised the GOP would form a commission to 
investigate the killings of the three Baloch nationalists. 
The commission will consist of senior officers from the 
Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the Frontier Corps (FC), 
intelligence agency representatives and Members of the 
Balochistan Provincial Assembly. 
 
¶7.  (C) In the past, the Baloch have typically distrusted the 
federal government in general and the intelligence agencies 
in particular.  Many prominent political parties and 
nationalists, including most recently Baloch National Party 
) Mengal (BNP-M) General Secretary Habib Jalib, have 
rejected the GOP offer and called for a UN investigation in 
lieu of a GOP inquiry. 
 
¶8.  (C) BMP-M President Aktar Mengal told the CG on April 21 
that he believed GOP promises of additional resources rang 
hollow.  He pointed out that prior governments, including the 
Musharraf and Sharif administrations had promised additional 
resource, which he claimed never materialized. 
 
¶9. (SBU) On April 22, Malik addressed the Senate debate on 
Balochistan and claimed that India, Afghanistan and Russia 
were backing the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) to fuel an 
insurgency in the province.  He also dismissed Balochistan 
Republican Army (BRA) chief Brahamdagh Bugti,s demand for an 
independent Balochistan, and claimed the "militant 
organization" was being backed by Afghanistan and India. 
Rehman also alleged that Brahamdagh was behind the kidnapping 
of Amcit John Solecki.  He denied that a military operation 
was underway in Balochistan, and he promised an in-camera 
session of the Senate to discuss the details about the 
Balochistan situation.  This was followed by an in-camera 
session in the Senate April 23, and much media criticism 
April 24 of Rehman,s allegations.  (Comment:  While the GOP 
frequently refers to Bugti as head of both the BRA and the 
BLA, Post has heard conflicting reports about BLA leadership 
since the 2007 death of BLA leader Mir Balach Marri.  We will 
attempt to clarify this in future reporting.  End comment.) 
 
Widespread Support 
------------------ 
 
¶10. (C) Perhaps what is singular about these protests is 
their duration and breadth.  Rallies and violence have 
continued for well over a week in the province.  A large 
number of districts have participated in the protests, which, 
in some cases, have drawn the support of the Pashtuns, 
traditional rivals of the Baloch.  Southern districts in the 
Makran (coastal) region, such as Gwadar and Kech, usually 
less prone to turmoil, have been active in the protests and 
reportedly experienced violent events such as hand grenade 
attacks and arson. 
 
Militant Baloch Groups Active in Protests 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶11.  (C) Reportedly, many protestors openly displayed flags 
of the Baloch Republican Army (BRA), associated with Bugti 
tribal leader Brahamdagh Bugti, and the historically 
Marri-tribe affiliated Baloch Liberation Army (BLA).  A 
source in Balochistan told Post that BLA militants warned 
school officials in the Makran against displaying Pakistani 
flags.  Baloch nationalist leader Harbiyar Marri and BRA 
leader Bugti both called for U.S. and Indian support for the 
nationalist cause during separate televised interviews. 
Jailed Baloch Republican Party (BRP) officials initiated a 
hunger strike demanding political prisoner status.  (Note: 
The BRP is reputedly the political wing of the BRA.  End 
note.) 
 
Baloch National Party ) Mengal Joins In, Plans "Long March" 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
¶12.  (C) Women members of the Baloch National Party ) Mengal 
(BNP-M) demonstrated against the killings in the industrial 
city of Hub.  BNP-M officials led demonstrations in Khuzdar 
and Lasbella districts.  BNP-M President Aktar Mengal told 
the CG that his party plans to coordinate with other 
 
KARACHI 00000145  003 OF 005 
 
 
nationalists parties to stage a series of demonstrations 
beginning on April 30.  He added that the party also plans to 
stage a "Long March" on that day, beginning in the coastal 
city of Omara in Gwadar District and ending in Quetta. 
(Note:  The GOP derailed similar plans for a BNP-M "Long 
March" in 2006 by arresting the Mengal and a number of his 
followers.  Mengal said that he is prepared to be interned 
again.  End note.) 
 
Chief Minister Announces "Peace Committee" 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶13.  (C) On April 19, the province's Chief Minister, Mohammad 
Aslam Khan Raisani, a member of the Pakistan People's Party 
(PPP), formed a "Peace Committee" to halt targeted killings 
of Punjabis and Pashtuns, among others.  Parties 
participating in the meeting included the Pashtookhwas Milli 
Awami Party (PkMAP - a predominantly Pashtun political 
party), the Awami National Party (ANP), the Balochistan 
National Party Awami (BNP-A) and the Pakistan Muslim League 
) Nawaz (PML-N).  BNP-M leaders and National Party (NP) 
leaders declined to participate, citing a lack of confidence 
in the provQD94'[90qQ|^apter in relations with 
Islamabad; however, the recent murders were an open affront 
to Balochis and have dashed most hopes for reconciliation. 
 
¶16.  (C) Militant Nationalists have repeatedly used stories 
of the defilement of Baloch women as a rallying call, 
including the claim that Pakistani soldiers raped a Baloch 
woman at Sui Gas fields in 2004 and a more recent claim that 
a Baloch woman is being used as a "sex slave" by the 
military.  (Comment:  Both claims remain unsubstantiated 
accusations.  End comment.)  Nationalists want, at the least, 
greater provincial autonomy and control over the province's 
natural resources.  Over time, issues such as GOP military 
operations in Dera Bugti, alleged missing persons, and 
political prisoners have been added to their list of demands. 
 They are riled by the federal takeover of Gwadar port and 
want provincial control restored there. 
 
¶17.  (C) Nargis Baloch, a respected Baloch intellectual and 
editor of nationalist Urdu newspaper Intekhab, described the 
killings of the three Baloch leaders as a turning point for 
many Baloch.  She explained to Poloff that she had watched 
many young Baloch nationalists grow increasingly 
disillusioned with the promises of the GOP and they were 
moving towards militancy.  Many Baloch separatists, who are 
wanted by the GOP, hide in the mountains of Balochistan.  In 
the past, Nargis said that they were looking for ways to come 
out of hiding and go back to their families and lives.  As 
things have deteriorated in Balochistan, these same young 
nationalists see violence and independence as their only 
option. 
 
 
KARACHI 00000145  004 OF 005 
 
 
¶18.  (C) According to Nargis, Baloch nationalists feel that 
they have been betrayed by the GOP and are clear they are 
willing to accept help from any country that offers it. 
Nargis was visibly upset by the turn of events in 
Balochistan.  She stressed that the Baloch were natural 
allies against the Taliban, because the Baloch were not 
religious extremists and they did not give the Taliban safe 
havens. 
 
Key Nationalist Militant Groups 
------------------------------- 
 
¶19.  (C) While nationalism has been a common Baloch cause, 
militant activity has generally been led by the Bugti, Marri 
and Mengal tribes.  Currently, the Baloch Republican Army 
(BRA), directed by Brahamdagh Bugti from Kabul, is the Bugti 
tribe's leading insurgent group.  The Bugti tribe is 
predominant in Dera Bugti district.  The Marri tribe, 
traditionally based in Kohlu district, has been associated 
with the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and the Baloch 
Liberation Front (BLF). 
 
¶20.  (C) The Mengal tribe, with a strong presence from 
Lasbella to Khuzdar district, has been relatively moderate 
during the current nationalist insurgency.  The Mengals have 
been associated with militant groups such as the Balochistan 
Liberation Organization (BLO), the Baloch People's Liberation 
Front (BPLF), and more recently, Lashkar-e-Baloch  (Note: 
The is also the name given to the BNP-M group that planned to 
participate in the aborted 2006 march across the province. 
End note.) 
 
Impact of Civil Unrest in Balochistan on USG Supply Routes 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
¶21.  (C) Internal turmoil in Balochistan is an ongoing threat 
to USG supply shipments to Afghanistan.  On April 9, around 
200 protestors blocked the Hub - Chaman road in the vicinity 
of the central Balochistan city of Khuzdar. Police were able 
to open the road the next day.  Militants (presumably 
nationalists) bombed railroad tracks on April 11 and again on 
April 12.  The damage was minor and the railway was repaired 
relatively quickly. 
 
¶22.  (C) In another unrelated but equally pertinent example 
of the effect of civil unrest on supply shipments, on March 
25, Pashtun merchants blocked traffic on the Quetta-Chaman 
highway in the vicinity of the Kohzak Hills in Balochistan to 
reportedly protest the slow pace of construction work on the 
highway, which they claimed was preventing them from 
conducting business.  Hundreds of vehicles, including around 
35 - 40 U.S. military supply vehicles, were stalled en route 
due to the protest, which did not end until the next 
afternoon. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶23.  (C) Nationalist groups appear to view the recent killing 
of nationalist leaders (ref A) as an opportunity to gain 
momentum for their movement and also a turning point away 
from reconciliation.  They appear to have lost faith in 
repeated provincial and GOP efforts to resolve the conflict 
(reftels).  The recent events surrounding the kidnapping of 
UNHCR official John Solecki (ref G) appear to have enhanced 
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