Fighting insurgency: Punjab clears swoop on Baloch insurgent camps

Up to 8 training cells operating on Punjab-Balochistan border.

LAHORE: Authorities in Punjab have cleared plans for a swoop on ‘eight training camps for Baloch insurgents’ located on the confluence of the Punjab-Balochistan border, The Express Tribune has learnt.

In a coordinated move, the Balochistan government has also decided to launch a crackdown against ‘criminals’ on its side of the border.

Arrangements have been finalised for an operation against the secretly-run training facilities – locally known as Farari camps – in Rajanpur district, according to a source. Punjab police, aided by other law-enforcement agencies, would conduct the operation.

Rajanpur borders the troubled Dera Bugti district of Balochistan.

The presence of Farari camps in the mountains of Rajanpur was confirmed in a confidential intelligence report. At these camps, insurgents are trained in the use of heavy weapons, including rocket launchers and hand grenades.

Arms and ammunition for these camps are smuggled from neighbouring Afghanistan, according to the report.

Balochistan has been in the throes of a deadly tribal insurgency since 2004. The insurgent groups involved are demanding more political autonomy and ownership of natural resources of the region.

The insurgency became fiercer in the wake of the killing of Baloch chieftain Nawab Akbar Bugti in a military operation in 2006.

Last month, the chief of paramilitary Frontier Corps said that insurgent groups, including Baloch Liberation Army, Baloch Republican Army and Baloch Liberation Front, were operating 121 Farari camps in different parts of Balochistan.

“Another 30 camps are operating in Afghanistan,” Maj Gen Ubaidullah Khan Khattak told a news conference last week, while also signalling the hand of some ‘foreign powers’ in the insurgency.

The intelligence report said Baloch insurgents have infiltrated the FC and other law enforcement agencies who leaked sensitive information to their groups.

Around 15 people abducted from different parts of the country are being held captive in these camps, the report said, adding that most of them have been kidnapped for ransom.

Extracts of the report were also shared by the Punjab home department with the provincial police chief. Key commanders, including Ali Jan, Nadir, Pandi, Bakhshu, Muhammad Saleh Kasmani and Sherdil, are running these camps.

These commanders have also been travelling to Rahim Yar Khan, Sadiqabad, Rohri, Guddu, Kashmore and Katcha areas, according to the report.

In Quetta, officials attending a high-level meeting agreed to mount an operation against the hideouts of criminals involved in incidents of kidnapping for ransom and target killings.

The operation would be carried out in Bolan and Mastung districts.

The meeting discussed the security situation in the province, particularly the recent surge in terrorist attacks and kidnapping for ransom incidents in Quetta.

Attendees at the meeting included Chief Secretary Babar Yaqoob Fateh Mohammad, FC chief Maj Gen Obaidullah Khattak, Home Secretary Nasibullah Khan Bazai, Quetta police chief Mir Zubair Mehmood and DIG (Special Branch) Rehmatullah Khan Niazi.

The meeting decided that the police force be trained on modern lines and armed with sophisticated weapons. As many as 100 surveillance cameras would be installed in different neighbourhoods of Quetta to keep an eye on criminals.

Several government departments were directed to synchronise their efforts to improve internal and external security of the province.

The law enforcement agencies will also boost patrolling duties in the city to foil terrorist attacks. (With additional reporting by our correspondent in Quetta)

(Read: FC and missing persons)

Published in The Express Tribune, July 16^th, 2012.