Balochistan… a turbulent region on the border between Iran and Pakistan
Balochistan is an unstable region on the border between Iran and Pakistan and has for years been the scene of a conflict between security forces and opposition groups, which the two countries describe as “terrorist and extremist”, but this could currently cause an escalation tensions between the two countries. neighborhood.
Balochistan province in southeastern Iran and Balochistan province in western Pakistan are among the poorest regions of the two countries: they are two vast regions that constantly struggle with drought, in addition to high unemployment rates.
Balochistan is home to the Baluchi group, whose total number is estimated at ten million, the majority of whom live in Pakistan, including the province of Sindh, with between one and a half and three million in Iran and a much smaller minority in Afghanistan.
Iran and Pakistan share a border of approximately one thousand kilometers (620 miles), the scene of numerous smuggling operations, especially of fuel. Due to the porous nature of the borders.
Tensions have always risen on both sides of the border, but they rarely flare up like they do now. Both Iran and Pakistan strike what they call “terrorist” targets within the two regions in question.
A woman carries cans of water in a rickshaw in the Koh Sabz area of Balochistan province in southwestern Pakistan, where Iran launched an airstrike (AFP)
The situation in Pakistan
Pakistani forces have been fighting the latest Baloch separatist insurgency for nearly two decades, which has killed hundreds of people in attacks on security forces, government employees and non-Baloch civilians.
According to Agence France-Presse, Baloch separatists and human rights groups say the army’s campaign against the insurgency “has included widespread forced disappearances and arbitrary killings.”
Since 2014, separatists have also targeted projects linked to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a $58 billion project that is part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), much of which passes through the Balochistan, rich in minerals.
However, Baloch separatists are not the only group using the vast Pakistani region as a base. Western governments have previously accused Pakistan of allowing Taliban leaders to use a safe haven in Balochistan.
The Baloch on the Pakistani side complain that they are deprived of their rights and that revenue generated from natural resources is not adequately spent on local administration and social needs.
What is the security threat in Iran?
In recent months, attacks by the opposition organization “Army of Justice” have occurred in Iran, which Iran has included in the list of terrorist organizations.
The Baloch opposition group, Jaish al-Adl, had previously claimed responsibility for operations against security personnel and civilians in recent years in Balochistan province.
On January 10, an Iranian policeman was killed in armed clashes in the city of Rask, Balochistan province in southeastern Iran, between armed Baloch opposition militants and Iranian police forces. This was the second attack by the Baloch opposition group “Army of Justice”, on the police headquarters of the border town of Rusk, after 11 Iranian policemen were killed in this border region with Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The attack came a few days after two suicide attacks in the city of Kerman, the commercial center of Balochistan province. The attack was claimed by ISIS Khorasan. Authorities said: One of the suicide bombers was a Tajik national and entered the country through Afghan territory.
After launching rocket attacks against Syria and Iraq, the Revolutionary Guards’ statement linked the attacks in Balochistan province to the ISIS attack, in an unprecedented step.
A video released by Iranian state television shows people gathered at the site of a missile attack in the border village of Saravan in Iran’s Balochistan province (EPA).
Baloch opposition groups are active in south-eastern Iran and authorities classify them as “terrorists” or “counter-revolutionaries”. Iranian government media insist on providing ideological descriptions of the Baloch opponents’ activity. The majority of parties in that region say they defend the rights of Baloch nationalism and accuse the authorities of implementing policies of “demographic change” and “identity destruction.”
The “Justice Army” was established in the early years of the last decade after the disintegration of a similar organization, “Jundallah”, which for years had carried out attacks against Iranian security forces, but has lapsed since the Iran executed the organization’s leader, Abdul Malik Rigi, in 2010 after arresting him.
Official Iranian media reports indicate that Abdolmalek Rigi was arrested in an operation in February 2010 when Iranian fighter jets forced a passenger plane he was traveling on in Kyrgyzstan to land in Iran. He was executed by hanging in June 2010.
Mahsa Amini protests
Balochistan Complaints Iran’s Balochistan province faced a state of instability in 2022 as its residents joined protest movements that erupted across Iran against the backdrop of the death of Kurdish Mahsa Amini (22) after having been arrested by the morality police on the grounds of wearing an ugly hijab.
During that period, the intensity of protests in Balochistan province increased. Due to popular discontent in the governorate over the accusation of a police chief of raping a young woman.
The protests, which had a particular impact, reflected the prevailing anger in the country, as security forces cracked down on the protests.
On September 30, 2022, called “Bloody Friday,” more than 90 people were killed, according to Amnesty International, when security forces targeted Balochistan’s main town of Zahedan.
In total, at least 130 people have been killed in the governorate, out of more than 500 killed during protests last year. The people of Zahedan continue to march “silently” every Friday. Demand that those responsible for the shooting of protesters on September 30 be held accountable.
“Ethnic and religious discrimination”
Activists have long complained that the region has been subjected to economic and political discrimination by Iranian authorities, who have executed large numbers of Baloch people on various charges, particularly drug trafficking.
Balochistan is the poorest province in the country and the majority of its population belongs to Sunni Baloch. It is known that the population of the region complains of “ethnic and religious discrimination policies”.
In a reflection of the poverty that prevails in the region, a large number of Baluchis work on fuel trucks. They smuggle fuel across the border into Pakistan, where it can be sold at a higher price. According to activists, Iranian security forces have killed dozens of Baloch people in recent years.
Balochistan province tops the list of 31 provinces in terms of executions, according to data from the Oslo-based Organization for Human Rights in Iran, which monitors executions in Iran.
Amnesty International indicated that 19 cases of executions in the Iranian governorate in 2021 occurred against Baloch individuals.
2024-01-19 07:54:40
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