‘Pak army attacking Baloch population to sanitise CPEC’
Baloch activists have approached the United Nations urging it to ask Pakistan to put a halt to the ongoing military operations in Kolwah and Awaran districts of Balochistan. They allege that the Pakistan army is attacking the civilian population in these areas, causing deaths and disappearances. The military operation has been going on for a month and the activists hold the military’s attempt to “sanitise” the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as the reason behind the action. To condemn these operations, Baloch and Sindhi activists protested at the United Nations, where the 72nd United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meeting was held this week, during which Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi gave his speech.
Explaining the Kolwah and Awaran operations, Nabi Bakhsh Baloch, secretary general, Baloch National Movement-North America, in a letter to the UN Secretary General, said, “Currently, 50 Pakistan army vehicles and six helicopter gunships are taking part in a military operation in the Kolwah area of Balochistan. The monthlong ongoing military crackdown on the civilian popu- lation has resulted in several fatalities with a large number of locals gone missing, taken away by the soldiers to undisclosed locations. Homes, shops and businesses of the residents were burnt down by the army to force them out of the route that covers the $54 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor in the interests of Islamabad and Beijing. Due to the complete media blackout, it is impossible for reporters to enter the area and inform the world.”
Explaining the genesis of the events, Johar Baloch, a Baloch activist living in exile said, “The operations of Pakistani forces in Kolwah and Awaran started just a few days after the earthquake in 2013. All the affected areas of Awaran and Turbat districts were cordoned off and many checkpoints and military camps were built. One of the major Pakistani military operations in Awaran was launched in June 2015, in which hundreds of civilians were abducted and many of them were killed. Thousands were compelled to leave their homes. After the 2013 earthquake, Pakistani forces did not leave Awaran and instead extended their brutalities to different areas of the district, including Kolwah, Jahoo and Mashkey.”
According to different activists, the current phase of offensives was started by the Pakistan army in the first week of August this year, and has not stopped yet. A battalion of Pakistani forces was deployed in different areas in Kolwah, including Marastan and Dandaar. Many houses and schools were converted into military checkpoints.
“On 8 August 2017, Pakistani forces raided my parents’ house in Karki Kolwah and made it their checkpoint and my family was dis-