Mine blasts – killing innocents in Balochistan

Landmines in Balochistan pose a serious and ongoing threat to civilians. These can be found along roads, tracks, fields, deserts, railway tracks, in and around settlements and schools, and in other public places. They deny access to food, water, and other basic needs, and inhibit freedom of movement of the local inhabitants. They also hamper the delivery of humanitarian aid.

Few days back a young boy was injured while walking along a main road in Dera Bugti district. The mines have been indiscriminately planted by the so-called ‘liberation fighters’ in many areas of the Dera Bugti and Kohlu districts to target law enforcement agencies’ personnel and their tribal opponents.

One of the worst incidents took place in April 2006, when at least 29 members of a marriage party were killed after a tractor trolley carrying these people to the town of Rakhni, hit an anti-tank landmine at Gujji Nullah. Most of the victims were women and children. The bridegroom was among those injured. The route between Rakhni and the town of Bekar, frequently used by paramilitary troops, had been heavily mined by tribal militants loyal to the miscreants’ leader Brahamdad Bugti.

These lethal munitions have triggered a strong sense of fear in the inhabitants of the area. They know that they are walking and working in mined areas but are forced to live there as there are no alternatives. When land cannot be cultivated, when medical systems are drained by the cost of attending to frequent landmine casualties, and when country must spend money clearing mines rather than paying for education, it is clear that these weapons not only cause appalling human suffering, they are also a lethal barrier to development of the province.

Mine clearance is carried out by engineer personnel of the army and FC and they are reported to have conducted de-mining operations in the area of Chamalang in 2007 and 2009, clearing thousands of anti-vehicle and anti-personal mines. These mines had been laid after a dispute over the ownership of coalmines area between the Marri and Luni tribes. In the past six months alone, there have been 17 mine blasts killing 10 persons and injuring 21 in Dera Bugti district alone.

The criminal elements involved in planting these mines are seldom apprehended. They feel no remorse for inadvertently targeting their tribe mates and innocent children. The landmines laid by them obviously cannot discriminate between friends and foe and innocent individuals keep falling victims.

The individuals who get injured due to activation of these mines are actually worse than those who get killed. Loosing limbs and getting crippled for lifetime is definitely a bitter ordeal to bear. Shouldn’t the individuals involved in planting the mines in populated areas and along roadsides be called ruthless criminals? Do they deserve to be called ‘humans’ at all?

In addition to land mines, growing incidents of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) explosions have rendered Balochistan a dreadful region, with 1,424 terrorist incidents reported during last three years (2009-2011). The country has suffered the most through the use of IEDs by terrorists and militants as 2,073 security forces personnel and civilians have been killed in 2,053 IED attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan both.

The phenomenon is resulting into orphan children and impoverished families who do not even know why such catastrophe is unleashed on them. They are the innocent sufferers of the wreckless criminals.

PROF AFRAZ AHMED

Islamabad