Violence in Quetta increased by 350%: report

Islamabad-based independent research centre, the Conflict Monitoring Center, in its latest security report on Balochistan revealed that violence in Quetta had increased by 350 percent during the month of May. An unprecedented escalation in militant attacks in Quetta district shows grim security situation but the hand-tied security forces have restricted themselves only to defensive tactics. It said militants killed 16 security forces personnel including an SSP and seven policemen but the security forces could eliminate only one militant in the month.
Majority of the victims of militant attacks remained civilians as 51 of 67 people killed were civilians. Militant violence affected 19 of the total 30 districts of Balochistan in May this year, the report said. The Conflict Monitoring Center’s statistics show that overall militant attacks in Balochistan once again surpassed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA. The statistics show that militants active in Balochistan have carried out more attacks against security forces than they ever did. Generally they used to hit soft targets and avoid security forces but during May, at least 15 attacks were carried out against police, Levis, and Frontier Constabulary. CMC’s data shows that militants active in Balochistan are now consistently using IEDs against government and public properties. This trend is observed since start of the year 2011. Statistics of the month of May however, show that more IEDs were used against police and Frontier Constabulary.
The militants used 15 IEDs in the month and half of them were used against security forces. This trend may worry security forces as they are already pushed on the back foot by exaggerated criticism by the media and recent judicial proceedings about missing persons in Balochistan. The CMC has already warned in its quarterly report that if concrete security measures are not taken against militants in Balochistan, the menace may enter into a no-return phase.
In May, a senior police officer SSP, Shah Nawaz was killed while the commissioner of Qalat narrowly escaped an assassination attempt. Seven policemen were killed and nine were injured during the month. Police is not trained to fight organised militants who are generally better equipped than police. Therefore they remain a soft target. In Balochistan, there are mainly three types of militants active against state and the government. Bloch nationalists, sectarian militants and Pakistani Taliban who have are closely linked with al Qaeda.
Most of the violence in the province is perpetrated by the Bloch nationalists but sectarian militants like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Taliban are also making the situation worse. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed responsibility for the assignation of the SSP Crime Investigation Department. Despite increased number of attacks on security forces in Balochistan, the prime victim of the ongoing insurgency is innocent civilians. During the month, 67 people were killed in militant attacks. Except 16, all were civilians. To establish a parallel writ the militants are using coercive approach in the province. The government cannot provide security to all civil servants and traders who are frequent targets of the militants. The militants generally target civil servants, traders and government school teachers. On May 26, the Bloch Liberation Army killed a school principal along with his nephew. The militants regularly target teachers of government schools. In many parts of the province government school teachers do not hoist national Pakistani flag in their schools as they fear reprisal from the militants.
The security forces’ response in Balochistan during May remained limited to defensive tactics. Statistically security forces actions in May were increased by 50 percent as compared to April but practically the number of security forces actions increased from four to seven. Only one militant was eliminated during these actions while eight were arrested. The FC is also accused of killing three of the missing persons who were allegedly picked by the FC some months ago. The chief justice had ordered to produce them before court but there bodies were found in Killi Ferozabad area of Quetta on May 28. During the month, violence affected 19 of the 30 districts of Balochistan while security forces actions remained limited to only four districts. Quetta was most affected district of the province as 43 percent (28 out of 65) militant attacks were recorded in the provincial capital.