Direct Face-off between Baluchistan Liberation Army and China Ahead in Pakistan over China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
   22-May-2019



 
 
In the early hours of April 18, fighters of three Baloch groups, known as Baloch Raaji Aajoi Sangar, or BRAS stopped six buses near a mountain pass and singled out 14 members of Pakistan’s armed forces and executed all of them. Baloch also blocked the coastal highway that connects the port of Gwadar, near the Iranian border. The coalition spokesman cautioned China that such attacks would continue until it ceases all the activities in Southern Pakistan. This group even claimed the responsibility for the attack on Chinese Consulate in Karachi and the bus of Chinese engineers in Dalbandin, north of Gwadar.
 
 


 
 
On 19th May, Majeed Brigade, an elite unit of Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) warned China and Pakistan to withdraw their projects immediately from Balochistan otherwise they would face dire consequences. They even stressed on to the fact that China is helping Pakistan in wiping out the villages of Baloch people and China will have to pay if it continues supporting Pakistan. This video was released just after 8 days of the deadly attack on a luxury hotel in Gwadar. They named it Operation Zer Pahazag or Defending the Ocean. The 24-hour gun battle they fought with the Pakistani army at the Pearl Continental Hotel in Gwadar, which ended on May 13, was a strike against the abuse of Balochistan and its mineral wealth, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) said. The BLA commander threatened that Balochistan will become the graveyard of Chinese “expansionist motives”.
 
 

 
 
 
Gwadar – the port city in Balochistan on the Arabian Sea — is the backbone of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). It seeks to link China’s western and less-developed Xinjiang region with Gwadar in Pakistan’s Balochistan province. This plan will give China valuable access to the Arabian Sea. But according to Baloch leaders, CPEC is the threat to their identity because of increased inflow of outsiders in Balochistan since the CPEC has taken off. Shockingly, there is a dearth of clean drinking water, electricity, and other facilities for the locals of Gwadar, the epicenter of CPEC. The authorities in Balochistan converted Gwadar into a militarized zone and locals are not involved in it. To make way for CPEC, villages have been emptied out and people were driven out of their land. Military operations against civilians, too, have intensified, worsening the situation. Hence, the resentment is increasing among Balochs and they are fighting against this oppression.
 
 

 
 
 
Ever since CPEC was unveiled, security has been beefed up in Gwadar. The whole town of Gwadar city now resembles a military cantonment. Foreign journalists visiting Gwadar have not been allowed to enter the port city without “No-Objection Certificates” (NOCs). Locals who visit other areas of Pakistan are regularly asked to show their national identity cards to step back inside their own hometown. Despite these intense security measures, BLA was able to attack a luxury hotel in the heart of Gwadar.