Cold-blooded murder of innocent, unarmed people seems to be the most popular sport among terrorists in Balochistan. They employ all kinds of weaponry to cause bloodshed, ranging from targeted killings to murderous ambushes to suicide-bombings. And their targets include settlers, educationists, and members of sectarian and religious minorities, foreigners passing through the province and not too infrequently civil servants and security personnel. Kidnappings for ransom are also one of terrorists' special areas to showcase how exceedingly fertile are their killing fields.
Of course, the tempo of each phase of their blood sport keeps varying as there appears to be some slowdown presently on targeted killing of educationists. But the killing of the Shias goes on relentlessly, probably making Balochistan for the Hazara Shias the most dangerous place to live in the world.
At times the volatility that obtains in Balochistan today appears to be the sum-total of separate and independent criminal pursuits of vested groups with unrelated agendas. Murderous ambushes looked so much the work of rival sectarian outfits. And attacks on law-enforcement personnel were considered a concert effort to weaken the writ of state. Targeted killings and kidnappings for ransom were thought to be popular with elements who sought to carry out ethnic cleansing in Balochistan with Punjabi settlers their principal targets. And their motive was characterised by a pronounced economic dimension. The targeted killing of 10 road-construction workers who are believed to be Pashtun, in Dasht area of Mustung district on Thursday has shown early contours of the terrorists' grand design to destabilise Pakistan starting with Balochistan which is more vulnerable than rest of the provinces especially for its inhospitable geography, nasty recent history and ethnic diversity. That the Pashtun, who have lived peacefully with the Baloch since times immemorial, are being hunted in their own land is certainly an unmistakable sign of a greater nefarious game being played out against Pakistan in its own territory.
The tempo of the sinister design to destabilise Pakistan and to seriously undermine its morale to the point that it should agree to compromise on its strategic interests seems to be entering its final phase. No doubt, there are attacks on schools, explosions in crowded bazaars and frequent incidents of kidnappings and targeted killings. But here the enemy appears to have brought under focus or set eyes on Pakistan's defence installations and security personnel - a tactic of the psychological warfare to create discord and dissension between people and their armed forces. As various terrorist outfits have been executing their own individual plans, one wonders why the higher echelons of civilian bureaucracy and political elite, who could be much more easy targets, are so much out of their sight. The terrorists are now much more trained, use more sophisticated weapons than before and make excessive use of communication tools.
History tells us that fighting potential of insurgents is directly proportional to the help that they derive from abroad. In common parlance such a situation comes about thanks to the so-called foreign hand. And this aptly defines Pakistan's dilemma. Without foreign help, terrorists are just not capable of carrying out such massively devastating strikes as they do in Pakistan. It's difficult to dispute the argument that political dialogue with terrorists, in whatever apparel they are clothed, is the best course. But time has come that Pakistan government should look into the possibility of 'foreign hand' more incisively. And they should take it up with governments whose cat's-paw these terrorists are. Given the gravity of the situation time is the essence.