The attack in the Musa Khail district of Balochistan in which armed men in uniforms forcibly dragged 23 people out of vehicles and shot them dead is a testimony to the group’s continued acts of violence that have claimed many lives over the years. This barbaric incident, committed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), not only illustrates the fact that militancy remains a menace to the security of Pakistan but also shows that ethnic & regional tensions there are the cause of such violence.

That the gunmen were so methodical in their task – checking the papers of drivers, rigorously ensuring that passengers were who they claimed to be, shooting people in the back of heads if they were of Baloch ethnicity, points to a sick culture in Balochistan. Pre-dominantly, Punjabi passengers were targeted and it is part of overall exclusivist campaign which seeks to ‘clear’ Balochistan of non-Baloch population. This is not a unique case, and has become quite typical of some of the militant groups in the country with the BLA and others using tactics such as these to take the lives of the people they deem as ‘foreign’ and show others that they are in control.

It also entails other forms of violence that go beyond the loss of lives.........

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