Balochistan security review: Sharp fall in target killing of settlers

By Shehzad Baloch
Published: December 28, 2011

QUETTA:
While violence appeared to have declined in Balochistan in 2011, its contours also changed, data available to The Express Tribune suggests.
There was an unprecedented decline in the number of target killings of settlers from other provinces, particularly from Punjab, but it was coupled by a sharp increase in the discovery of bullet-riddled bodies of missing persons, sectarian violence and kidnappings for ransom.
“Target killing has been controlled in the province,” insists Rao Amin Hashim, inspector-general of Balochistan Police, pointing to records that suggest that as many as 59 settlers were targeted this year – significantly lower than a triple-digit figure for 2010.
Abductions
Kidnappings were on an unprecedented high this year, sending shock waves through the province. Traders and businessmen, particularly those from the minority Hindu community, were very vulnerable.
As many as 480 people, including Hindus and Parsis, were kidnapped by criminal gangs. Most victims were released after paying huge amounts in ransom but those who failed to furnish the amount were killed. The police managed to bust a few of these gangs, but their performance left much to be desired. “Police personnel do not have mobile phone trackers and other modern equipment. There is also a lack of proper investigators and senior and qualified officers,” Hashim explained.
Sectarian violence
Ninety-one members of the Shia community were killed this year in Balochistan.
In Quetta alone, as many as 65 people were killed in 15 incidents of sectarian violence while 26 pilgrims were shot dead in one incident in September in the neighbouring town of Mastung.
But police says that sectarian violence has been controlled by increasing security for Shia people in Quetta and ‘restricting’ their movement outside of it.
“After heavy deployment of police and other law enforcement agencies’ personnel to protect Shia Muslims, violence has been controlled,” Hashim argued, saying that the measure had been taken despite a lack of human resources. “We promoted 25 junior officers but despite the federal government’s orders, they have not joined their
duties in Balochistan because of deteriorating law and order.”
Missing persons
The trend of ‘kill-and-dump’ operations continued unabated throughout the year. Protests were organised in spite of hampered political activity, even in provincial capital Quetta.
Around 231 mutilated bodies were found throughout the province, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).
“Demonstrations or public gatherings were rarely held in Quetta but towns in interior Balochistan, particularly Makran Division and central Balochistan, remained shut for weeks in protest over recovery of mutilated bodies,” says Tahir Hussain, chairperson of the HRCP’s Balochistan chapter.
Family members, many of whom blame security forces for kidnapping and killing of political opponents, have registered cases but little progress has been made even in the Supreme Court.
Arson
Armed Baloch nationalist groups continued to target public property, such as gas pipelines and railway tracks. Rockets were also fired in various areas, including Dera Bugti, Nasirabad and Makran divisions and Quetta.
The Balochistan Republican Army claimed responsibility for most attacks on railway lines.
As many as 218 personnel of law enforcement agencies were killed in exchange of fire and bomb blasts.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 28th, 2011.

Independent Appeal: An education in making sure that Afghan girls keep going to school

It is a bright and chilly morning in the remote district of Jakawlang in Afghanistan's Bamiyan province.A wood-burning stove keeps the classroom warm and cosy despite the lack of desks and chairs...Continue Reading....

ناصر علی شاہ نے انڈونیشیا میں پاکستانی سفارت خانے کے تعاون کیلیے درخواست کی

‎Hazaranews Quetta اس ھفتے کے اوایل میں انڈونیشیا کے جزیرے جاوا کے قریب رونما ھونے والا کشتی کا المناک حادثہ بلاشبہ ھزارہ قوم کیلیے ناقابل برداشت حد تک درد اور تکلیف کا باعث بنا جسکی شدت اب بھی برقرار ییں ، بلخصوص سوگوار خاندانوں میں اکثر افراد سکتے کے عالم سے گذر رھے ییں ، ایسے کرب کے عالم میں قوم کے تمام افراد اور اداروں کو متاثرہ خاندانوں سے ھمدردی کا اظہار کرکے انکے زخموں پر مرھم رکھنا چاھیے ۔ ایم این اے سید ناصر علی شاہ نے اس سلسلے میں وزیر داخلہ رحمان ملک سے ملاقات کرکے انھیں ساری صورتحال سے آگاہ کیا جس پر وزیر داخلہ رحمان ملک نے مسلے کو بہتر طور پر حل کرنے کیلیے ایک کمیشن کا قیام عمل میں لاتے ھوے متاثرہ افراد کی فوری طور پر فہرست مرتب کرنے اور انکے لواحقین سے رابطہ کرنے کی ھدایت بھی کی ۔ اس سلسلے میں آسٹریلین سفیر اور انڈونیشین سفیر سے باضابطہ طور پر تحقیقات مین مدد دینے کیلیے بھی درخواست کی گیی ، وزیر خارجہ حنا ربانی کھر اور سیکرٹری خارجہ سے ملاقات میں سید ناصر علی شاہ نے انڈونیشیا میں پاکستانی سفارت خانے کے تعاون کیلیے درخواست کی جس پر وزیر خارجہ حنا ربانی کھر نے متعلقہ سفارت خانے کو حکومت انڈونیشیا سے اس معاملے پر رابطہ کرنے ، مکمل معلومات کے حصول اور مسلے پر ابتک ھونے والی پیشرفت کیلیے رابطہ کرنے کی ھدایت دی ییں دونوں وزرا نے اس واقعہ پر سید ناصر علی شاہ کو مکمل تعاوں کا یقین دلاتے ھوے ھزارہ قوم کے ساتھ پیش آنے والے واقعہ پر اپنے گہرے رنج وغم کا اظہار کیا ، ادھر جکارتہ میں پاکستانی سفارت خانہ اور اس مسلے پر کام کرنے والے ذمہ دار سفارتی عملے سے بھی سید ناصر علی شاہ نے رابطہ کرکے مسلے پر ابتک ھونے والی پیشرفت اور تعاون پر بات چیت کی ۔

Hazaras seek govt help for return of boat victims’ bodies

By Mohammad Zafar

QUETTA: Hazara community has sought the federal government’s help for the safe return of the bodies of boat accident victims from Indonesia. Addressing a news conference, representative of Hazara Community former Provincial Minister Sardar Sadaat Ali Hazara said his community has formed a delegation that will leave for Indonesia to identify the bodies belonging to Quetta.

There was still confusion over the exact figure of illegal immigrants as Hazara said over 190 people were onboard when the boat met the deadly incident. “90 people belonged to Quetta and majority of them were from Hazara community. Besides, there were some Pashtuns and people from other ethnicities,” he said. He appealed Indonesian authorities and United Nations to not punish the survivors as they were fleeing due to the deteriorating law and order situation in Balochistan where sectarian violence is rampant.

Assistant Director Relief Faisal Naseem said Hazara community had handed over a list of 35 people; however, CNIC numbers and other legal documents of some of the victims are missing. He said that the bodies would be identified through DNA test or any other given information.

Daily Times

List of targeted killed Hazaras in Quetta

Please click open the link below to get pdf file including the list of 435 Hazaras targeted killed, their father names, professions, places, dates of their martyrdom and places of their burial...

List of targeted Killed Hazaras in Quetta

A week on, govt ‘takes notice’ of boat tragedy

QUETTA: The tragedy occurred a few days ago but for the families of both, victims and survivors, the misery is not yet over. Interior Minister Rehman Malik, taking notice of the Indonesian boat tragedy which claimed lives of over 37 Pakistanis from Quetta, directed the Indonesian ambassador to help ensure arrangements in bringing their bodies back to Pakistan...Continue Reading...

India Group Seeks $7.8B Funding for Afghan Iron

By Rajesh Kumar Singh - Dec 22, 2011 10:31 AM PT

An Indian government-backed group that won rights to mine Afghanistan’s biggest iron ore deposit has sought $7.8 billion in state aid and loans to develop the venture, two people with direct knowledge of the plan said.

India’s steel ministry backs the proposal by the Afghan Iron & Steel Consortium, which comprises seven companies led by state-owned Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL), the people said, declining to be identified because details of the plan are confidential. The ministry will seek approvals from the foreign and finance ministries, they said, without giving a timeframe.
The group plans to spend $11 billion to mine the Hajigak deposit west of Kabul, build a steel mill, a power plant and transport links. The project will help India overtake China as the biggest overseas investor in Afghanistan, which the U.S. says holds $1 trillion in untapped mineral reserves, and increase its strategic presence in the war-ravaged nation.

“We have told the government that it will be difficult to raise debt for the Afghanistan project and the government should help us in getting that funding either through sovereign guarantees or any other means,” Steel Authority Chairman C.S. Verma said by telephone yesterday, declining to give details.

The group is seeking $5.5 billion of 30-year interest-free loans to fund the debt component of a planned 6 million metric ton-a-year steel plant and $2.35 billion in aid for building an 800-megawatt power plant, railway, road and power transmission lines around the project, the two people said. The seven companies will contribute about $3.2 billion toward equity in the venture, they said.

Hajigak Rights

President Hamid Karzai’s Cabinet last month awarded the Afghan Iron & Steel Consortium the rights to mine three out of four blocks of Hajigak, a series of rugged mountain ridges 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of Kabul. The deposit holds an estimated 1.8 billion metric tons of ore, almost as big as India’s largest iron ore mine.

The group includes state-run companies Rasthriya Ispat Nigam Ltd. and NMDC Ltd. (NMDC), and non-state companies JSW Steel Ltd. (JSTL), JSW Ispat Steel Ltd., Jindal Steel & Power Ltd. (JSP) and Monnet Ispat & Energy Ltd. (MISP) Seshagiri Rao, chief financial officer for JSW Steel and JSW Ispat, didn’t answer four calls to his mobile phone. Spokesmen for the other companies and secretary at the steel ministry declined to comment on the details of the plan.

“The consortium will request for sovereign guarantees for providing financial assistance to the consortium by way of interest-free long-term loan, grant-in-aid, etc., for steel, infrastructure and port related projects,” Steel Authority said in a Nov. 30 statement.

Chinese Investments

The group has separately proposed building a 900-kilometer railway line from Bamiyan in Afghanistan to Zahedan in Iran at a cost of $4.3 billion. The railway line will help ship ore from Hajigak back to India via Iran.

The Indian venture overtakes Metallurgical Corp. of China plan to spend $2.9 billion on the Aynak copper deposit as the biggest overseas investment in Afghanistan. The Chinese state company won the right in 2007 to mine the biggest copper state deposit in Afghanistan by pledging to build a coal mine, power plant, smelter and railroad.

This year, China National Petroleum Corp. offered the highest royalty and a refinery to win Afghanistan’s first oilfield auction last month, using a strategy that helped Chinese companies gain access to African resources. Chinese companies have announced $43.35 billion in energy and mining acquisitions overseas this year, compared with $3.91 billion by Indian companies, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rajesh Kumar Singh in New Delhi at rsingh133@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Amit Prakash at aprakash1@bloomberg.net

Bloomberg