More spies in Balochistan

Six men who 'belong' to two networks said to be run by Afghan intelligence agency NDS have been captured in Quetta

Balochistan is a prime target for the intelligence agencies of other countries. An Indian agent infiltrating from Iran was recently captured and talked in detail about his activities. Now six men who allegedly belong to two of the networks said to be run by Afghan intelligence agency NDS have reportedly been captured in Quetta. Balochistan Home Minister Sarfraz Bugti has been quick to condemn their activities, which are said to include murder and the setting off bombs as well as other acts of terrorism in the provincial capital. He also alleged that the men were working with Indian intelligence agency RAW in order to destabilise Pakistan. These are serious allegations and not for the first time there is evidence of ‘foreign hands’ working to the detriment of Pakistan — hands that extend from our contiguous neighbours.

Occurrences such as this cannot be ignored. Whilst in many ways such actions are to be expected of India, they are somewhat less so in respect of Afghanistan. The relationship may not always be harmonious but it is not so bad as to warrant the undermining and attacking of organs of state and infrastructure as is being alleged. At the very least, this is indicative of a range of agendas operating in Afghanistan, not all of them to the favour of Pakistan.



Mr Bugti had some hard words for the Afghan refugees resident, many of them for decades, in Balochistan. He said that they should return to their own country and that Pakistan needed to “put its own house in order”. The question of repatriation is a thorny one and not just for Balochistan, and it should not be imagined that Afghan repatriation is necessarily going to solve the problems faced by Balochistan. The other question that needs urgently answering relates to the identity cards held by those arrested which were, as with the case of Mullah Mansoor, the late leader of the Taliban killed in a drone strike the previous week, fraudulently obtained. The new identities were purchased for relatively small sums, pocket change for an intelligence agency. As things stand, it will not be a surprise if Balochistan remains the focus — and the victim — of foreign hands for years to come.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 28^th, 2016.

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