Anum Javaid
Pakistan has been disturbed throughout olden times but the last few years have been marked by the different factors which contributed in the unrest of the society. This chaos in the state is causing troublesomeness to the community.
Pakistani military has struggled against India in three wars since independence, more than a few border skirmishes with Afghanistan, and an extended border conflict with India in 1999.the military forces of Pakistan are at this time conducting military operations along the border areas of Afghanistan against armed groups. There have also been infrequent reports regarding skirmishes between Pakistani and Afghan forces which are patrolling their corresponding borders. This could reach the status of an international armed conflict.
There have been non-international armed conflicts and internal disturbances and tensions in Pakistan for many years. According to the “ploughshares” report 1,650 people in the year 2006, 1,300 in year 2007 and between 11,000 and 12,000 in the year 2009 or upward were killed in the conflicts in several areas. The conflicts are sectarianism that took place between Sunni and Shi’a Muslims, insurgency in Balochistan where military and armed groups are trying to seek self-government and between military and Islamic militants along the porous afghan border.
Sectarianism become most prominent phenomenon in recent years. Pakistan is going through a sharp revival in sectarian violence. There are number of cities inside Pakistan like Karachi, Quetta, para chinar, Gilgit, swat etc, which were and still trying to cope with this threat. It is not only threat to the humanity but also peace and security of the state. According to the ‘Pakistan Security Report 2013’ launched by the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS), a total of 208 sectarian-related terrorist attacks were reported in 2013 across Pakistan, which claimed the lives of 658 people and injured 1,195.
This wave of violence is not dying down. The attacks in Balochistan on Hazara Shia community have also been a most important contributing feature in the overall sectarian tension in the country. In January 2013, the protests of this community brought the whole country to dead end. Balochistan shares a border with Iran and Afghanistan and attacks on the Hazara Shias are mainly linked with their influence and the presence of hostile agencies. In 2014, at least 23 people died and seven were injured in gun and suicide attack in a restaurant near the Pakistan-Iran border. Most or all of these people were believed to be Shia Pilgrims coming from Iran.
Second, the province of Baluchistan increased its efforts for political and economic autonomy, with armed groups attacking gas pipelines, railways and power transmission lines and launching rocket attacks on military targets. The military is said to have placed 123,000 troops in the Province in attempts to maintain control. Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have reported that government forces (the military, intelligence agencies and the paramilitary Frontier Corps) have engaged in “kill and dump” operations, targeted killings of opposition leaders and activists and enforced disappearances. Baluch armed groups have also been accused of killing civilians and destroying private property and have claimed a series of bombings on the gas infrastructure. Teachers and other government workers seem to have been particularly targeted. Since its beginning in 2004, the Pakistan’s Baloch insurgency is caught up in the worst internal strife ever known to the general public. A decade later, even not a single country supports the free Balochistan movement. The Baloch combatants seem fed-up with how judicious political parties, such as the ruling National Party of Dr. Malik Baloch, the chief minister of Balochistan, capitalize on their hard work and gain political power. Islamabad’s counter-insurgency policy can hardly be credited for pushing the Baloch insurgents to this level. Frustration, suspicion, infighting and division are the common features of the end of a guerrilla fight. Perhaps that time has come in Balochistan.
The major conflict is between the Pakistan government and talibans. The regions bordering Afghanistan, North and South Waziristan, continued to see conflict between supporters of the region’s strengthening Taliban, and the Pakistani government. In early 2008, for example, there were reports that up to 90 fighters were killed in clashes in the tribal region of South Waziristan, near the Afghan border, where militants have been openly challenging the army. Clashes continued with a report in mid-January of Uzbek fighters being killed in an assault on the house of a local administrator. It was claimed by AFP that Pakistan had deployed more than 90,000 troops to the tribal belt to combat Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants who fled Afghanistan after the 2001 invasion by US-led forces invaded the country.
In April 2007, President Pervez Musharraf admitted publicly for the first time that the army was helping tribal fighters battling foreign militants. In late January 2008, Pakistan sent reinforcements to the South Waziristan region on the Afghan border to target an Islamic rebel commander accused of involvement in the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Shortly afterwards, the army claimed to have killed 40 Islamic militants and arrested 30 more during two days of fighting along its border with Afghanistan. In 2009, there were reports of helicopter gunships stepping up attacks aimed at suspected militant hideouts in Waziristan. The USA has offered to train Pakistani security forces in their fight against Al-Qaeda-linked militants. American drone attacks have also taken place in Waziristan, with their number estimated at 51 in 2009 and increasing to 118 in 2010. In 2012, Pakistani lawmakers called on the US to stop its drone incursions in the country. In 2014 after attack on Karachi airport by talibans, Pakistani military launched an operation against these terrorist group in tribal areas near afghan border. The operation known as “Zarb-e-Azb”. This decision to launch a full scale operation by the Pakistani military was widely supported, with opinion-makers, politicians, journalists and other social-media users applauding the operation.
As these conflicts were and still disturbing the peace and stability of the state, but state is doing good to eliminate the causes and conflict from the society and from the state. Operation “zar-e-azab” is the successful demonstration of the conflict resolution. As always, armed forces of Pakistan are not hesitating in rendering any sacrifice for the motherland”. Coordination with other state institutions, Law Enforcement Agencies and with the support of the entire nation, these enemies of the state will be denied space anywhere across the country.
Ongoing Conflict in Pakistan
