1970s operation in Balochistan
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Fourth Balochistan Conflict | |
---|---|
Part of the Balochistan, Pakistan | |
Result |
Pakistani victory[10]
|
Supported by:
Iran
United States[1][2]
Oman[3]
Ataullah Mengal
Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo
Sher Mohammad Marri
80,000 (Initial)
145,00020,000 (Initial)
55,000 Tribesmen (Peak)
~16,000 civilian casualties[12]
38,000 political prisoners were arrestedThe Fourth Balochistan Conflict was a four-year
and tribesmen that lasted from 1973 to 1977.The conflict began in 1973 shortly after then-Pakistani President
Fighting was intermittent throughout the conflict, climaxing in 1974 with drawn-out battles. The Bhutto regime was overthrown by General Zia-ul-Haq on 5 July 1977, and martial law was imposed. A general amnesty was declared by military governor Rahimuddin Khan. Military action ended by November 1977, replaced by development and educational policies to conciliate the province.
The conflict took the lives of ~3,300 Pakistani troops, ~5,300 militants, and thousands of civilians. Most civilian casualties were inflicted by utilization of indiscriminate weapon systems by Pakistani Forces such as Attack Helicopters.
Calls For Independence
The
This greatly influenced Balochistan's leading political party, the National Awami Party (NAP). Led by ethnic nationalists and
Launch of Bhutto's Military Operation
The ethno-separatist rebellion of Balochistan of the 1970s, the most threatening
In time, the nationalist insurgency, which had been steadily gathering steam, now exploded into action, with widespread civil disobedience and armed uprisings. Bhutto now sent in the army to maintain order and crush the insurgency. This essentially pitted the ethno-separatists against the central government. As casualties rose, the insurgency became a full-fledged armed struggle against the Pakistan Army. The sporadic fighting between the insurgency and the army started in 1973 with the largest confrontation taking place in September 1974 when around 15,000 ethno-separatists fought the Pakistan Army and Air Force. Sensing the seriousness of the conflict, the Pakistan Navy applied an effective blockade in Balochistan's waters and stopped the illegal arms trade and aid to Baloch rebel groups. In a separate operation, the navy seized and destroyed vessels that were trying to aid the Baloch rebel groups. The army suffered more than 3,000 casualties in the fight while the militants lost some 5,000 fighters as of 1977.[12] After three years of fighting the separatists were running out of ammunition and so withdrew by 1976.
Foreign Support
India
Pakistan asserted India was covertly intervening in Balochistan in the same way it had intervened in East Pakistan before the secession of Bangladesh. India denied the assertions, replying that it was fearful of further balkanisation of the subcontinent after Bangladesh. In retrospect, Avinash Paliwal, in his book My Enemy's Enemy: India in Afghanistan from the Soviet Invasion to the US Withdrawal, cites a junior Indian intelligence officer participant in these operations who recalled that "we gave Baloch everything, from money to guns, during the 1970s, everything". Paliwal further claims that just as Pakistan and India were bitter rivals, so were Iran and Iraq. In the pursuit of their respective rivalries, Pakistan and Iran developed closer relations, as did India and Iraq. Arming Baloch insurgents in Iran and Pakistan was in the interest of both Iraq and India. The militant group Pasthun Zalmay was responsible for a series of bomb blasts and other insurgent activities in Pakistan; it comprised Balochs and Pashtuns and was in direct contact with Kabul as well as with the Indian and Iraqi missions in Afghanistan. As a consequence, relations between Iran and India deteriorated so much that in 1975, Indian diplomat Ram D. Sathe sent a secret letter to the Indian ambassador in Tehran in which Sathe predicted that "it will be a few more days before the Iranians will stridently back the Pakistanis (on Kashmir) ... Personally I do not think we should be under any illusion about this matter. I think Iranians will definitely back the Pakistanis".[4]
Iran
It was after visiting Iran in 1973 that President
United states
During the conflict, US provided training and military equipment to Pakistan, most notable is the Marine training program to train the Pakistan army troops against Baloch separatists.[15][16] Moreover many military officers were trained in US as well as many in Pakistan by American forces in this conflict.[17] In 1974, an embargo was imposed on Pakistan due to WOMD projects, but due to intensification of the insurgency,it was lifted in 1975 and weapons were sent to Pakistan to deal with the situation.[18]
Republic of Afghanistan
The
Iraq
Relations between
Oman
During the
Soviet union
Due to communist ideology of the insurgents and in an attempt to destabilize Pakistan, a western aligned nation, the Soviet union started supporting groups like
End of Action
Although major fighting had broken down, ideological
Rahimuddin's tenure also ushered in sustained development.
Tensions have resurfaced in
See also
- First Balochistan conflict
- Second Balochistan conflict
- Third Balochistan conflict
- Insurgency in Balochistan
- Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad
- List of conflicts related to the Cold War
References
- ^ "Analysing the role of US in Balochistan conflict" (PDF).
- ^ Balochistan,the hour of reckoning.
- ^ , Walter C. Ladwig III, "Supporting Allies in Counterinsurgency: Britain and the Dhofar rebellion ," Small Wars & Insurgencies, Vol. 19, No. 1 (March 2008), p. 68 Archived 12 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ ISBN 9780190685829.
- ^ ISBN 9780230112001.
- ^ ISBN 9781317196082.
- ^ "Discovery of Arms in the Iraq Embassy, Islamabad – 1973". Archived from the original on 9 March 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
- ^ a b "Baluch Liberation Front – Mapping Millitant Organisation". web.stanford.edu. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
- ^ "Jabal, The Voice of Balochistan". Retrieved 25 May 2024.
- ^ "Balochistan Insurgency".
- ^ Siddique 2014, p. 40.
- ^ a b c d "Twentieth Century Atlas – Death Tolls". Retrieved 12 December 2014.
- ^ Foreign Policy Centre, "On the Margins of History", (2008), p.35
- ^ BBC, News page (17 January 2005). "Pakistan risks new battlefront". BBC News. Retrieved 8 April 2006.
- ^ "Analysing the role of US in Balochistan conflict" (PDF).
- ^ Balochistan,the hour of reckoning.
- ^ "Pakistani Air Force cadet departs for America to attend U.S. Air Force Academy". U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Pakistan. 16 June 2017. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
- ISBN 978-0-8108-7815-0.
- ^ ISBN 9781849048637.
- ^ , Walter C. Ladwig III, "Supporting Allies in Counterinsurgency: Britain and the Dhofar rebellion ," Small Wars & Insurgencies, Vol. 19, No. 1 (March 2008), p. 68 Archived 12 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ a b c In Afghanistan's Shadow: Baluch Nationalism and Soviet Temptations.
- ^ a b "Balochistan- Separate Ways". Indus Asia Online Journal (iaoj). Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
- ^ "Akbar Bugti". Retrieved 12 December 2014.
- ^ Emma Duncan, Breaking the Curfew, (1989), p. 155
- ^ Emma Duncan, Breaking the Curfew, (1989), p. 156
- ^ "Balochistan home to lowest-literacy rate population in Pakistan". Daily Times. 2007. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
Balochistan is home to the largest number of school buildings that are falling apart. It also has the fewest educational institutions, the lowest literacy rate among both males and females.
- ^ "Tribal Politics in Balochistan 1947–1990" Conclusion (1990) p. 7
Sources
- Siddique, Abubakar (2014). The Pashtun Question The Unresolved Key to the Future of Pakistan and Afghanistan (Hardcover). Hurst. ISBN 9781849042925.