The recent layer of terrorism in Balochistan

The recent act of terrorism against the Hazaras has raised questions. Which terrorist groups carried out the attack? Is the state appeasing terrorists or fighting them?, 

In this article, I would give a factual account of what has happened in the last two decades in Balochistan.
In 1998, Riaz Basra who was then a member of Sipah e Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) arrived in Balochistan along with six fighters; Zahid Multani, Saifullah, Najmus Saqib, Bashir and two others. Riaz Basra met Farooq Bangalzai of Baloch Liberation Army and Habibullah Zehri. The meeting was followed by the formation of Lashkar e Jhangvi's Balochistan wing under the command of Zahid Multani. Riaz Basra returned to Jhang while Zahid Multani was given the task of training a force for Lashkar e Jhangvi (LeJ) Balochistan. 

The first sectarian attack by LeJ in Baluchistan was carried out six days prior to the coup in Oct 1999 when the provincial education minister Sardar Nisar Ali Hazara was attacked along with his driver and bodyguard at point-blank range. Though the minister survived but it marked the beginning of a targeted killing spree against Hazaras. When General Musharraf came to power, he banned five organizations under the Anti Terrorism Act of 1997, Lashkar e Tayeba (LeT), Jash e Muhammad (JeM), Sipah e Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), TNSM and TJP.

While SSP was banned by Musharraf, Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) emerged as its political front while LeJ was covertly working as a militant group of ASWJ. The resurgence of terrorist activities by the militants of LeJ began when Usman Saifullah Kurd joined LeJ in 2005.

Until his death in 2015, Usman Saifullah Kurd masterminded at least 36 high profile terror attacks against the Shia community. The Emir of Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Hakeemullah Mehsud, offered him the leadership of TTP Balochistan but Usman refused it by saying that his war was only against the Shia community. He had a cult following within the LeJ. He was their defacto leader. Hafiz Mannan and Mahmood ur Rehman Rind had also joined LeJ in 2005. Mannan was a fierce militant and a close confidante of Usman Saifullah Kurd. Mahmood Rind had a conflict with Usman Saifullah Kurd on the ground that he deserved to be the leader since majority of the fighters of Lashkar e Jhangvi (LeJ) were from Mastung, his native area. As a result, Mahmood launched Jaish ul Islam, a sub-faction of LeJ in 2012.

Majority of the fighters joined Jaish ul Islam and LeJ was left with the fighters from Quetta. From 2012 to 2015, Jaish ul Islam carried out a number of terrorist attacks on the Hazara community, FC troops and the Police. Jaish ul Islam was further boosted by the joining of Hafiz Manaan. He had killed 44 innocent people and was also involved in the sports ground and Gandipor attack against Hazaras. Mannan was killed by intelligence agencies in an operation on 9 Nov 2016 after DIG Technical embraced shahadat in an attack by a suicide bomber. Prior to that, the law enforcement agencies killed Usman Saifullah Kurd at Masha’Allah hotel in Quetta on 15 Feb 2015. After four months on 7 July 2015, Mahmood ur Rehman Rind who was the leader of Jaish ul Islam was also killed. These three killings were a huge success. But the war was far from over. In 2015-16, hardcore fighters of LeJ; Asad Achakzai, Abdur Raziq, Siraj Yousuf, Najeeb Badini and Naeem kakar joined LeJ Al Alami. This subfaction was launched by Safdar Shah who was a medical student aka Safdar Laptop alias Mohsin Punjabi.

 

In the next six months, LeJ Al Alami killed 44 people out of which 31 were from Hazaras and 8 from the law enforcement agencies. Yusuf was arrested in quetta, Asad was killed by police in Hyderabad and eventually LeJ Al Alami was eliminated by 16 june 2016. During the same time, Hafiz Saeed Khan, a leader of Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), established Islamic State of Khorasan (ISKP) in July 2015. It was the branch of DAESH or ISIS in Afghanistan and Pakistan. TTP established a strategic alliance with ISKP. 

The first contingent of militants for ISKP was formed by Saeed on July 14, 2012. Following eight armed groups of TTP joined ISKP.

1. Khalid Mansoor, TTP commander in Hangu; 

2. Shahidullah Shahid, spokesman of TTP; 

3. Mufti Hassan Swati, TTP commander in Peshawar;

4. Gul Zaman Fateh, TTP commander in Khyber; 

5. Hafiz Dawlat Khan, TTP commander in Kurram; 

6. Hafiz Saeed Khan, TTP commander in Orakzai; 

7. Abdul Bahar Mehsud, TTP commander in Waziristan; 

8. Abu Bakr, commander of the TTP in Bajaur.  

In July 2016, Lashkar e Jhangvi (LeJ) and Jaish ul Islam merged in Islamic State of Khorasan (ISKP). It was a strategic decision because LeJ and Jaish ul Islam were on the run because of the intelligence based operations by law enforcement agencies in Balochistan. An oath taking ceremony took place in Kanat, Mastung where a 27 year old, Mufti Hidayat, was elected as the first emir of ISKP's chapter in Balochistan. Farooq Bangalzai was extremely unhappy since he expected to be the leader. The shura comprised of 8 individuals with five from Jaish ul Islam and three from LeJ. Farooq Bangalzai, Imran Raisani alias chota umar and Ustad Shaukat were members of LeJ while Khair Muhammad alias Maulvi Afghan, Hafiz Nemat, Mumtaz Raisani alias pehelwan and Hafiz Kabir were from Jaish ul Islam. Some of the men from Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) including Jehangir Badini, Asfandyar, Sumair Afridi, Waleed, Dilawar, Asmatullah, Rafiullah and Noorullah also pledged allegiance to Mufti Hidayat. ISKP strengthened itself from Aug 2016 to mid of 2017 in Balochistan.

Salman Badini, Saeed Taqwa, Chota Umar and Dimagh jan formed part of LeJ Quetta. They all were experts in target killing. On Aug 8 2016, ISKP carried out it's first terror attack in civil hospital, quetta in which 70 people died. Ali Ahmed from LeJ was the suicide bomber. At the same time, his brother Muhammad Ali carried out a suicide blast in Syria. After some painstaking investigations, intelligence agencies succeeded in apprehending Saeed Taqwa in feb 2017. From the shoe of suicide bomber, intelligence agencies got a lead on Dimagh jan.

Dimagh jan was arrested in an operation by law enforcement agencies in july 2018. During the interrogation, he revealed many details about ISKP. He admitted that he had planned an attack on naval dockyard, three churches, an airforce base and abduction of a chinese doctor. On the day of Dimaghjan's capture, four hardcore militants of ISKP were also arrested after their telegram groups were infiltrated by the cyber teams of law enforcement agencies. At the same time, two chinese were abducted by militants of ISKP in a camp in Balochistan. Intelligence officials trapped an individual who was supplying food to the camp where the two chinese engineers were imprisoned. That guy provided the details about the hideout of ISKP in Kabu mountains. After a detailed planning with southern command, airforce was taken in loop since the terrain was treacherous and a labyrinth of hidden valleys. The Chinese engineers were executed by ISKP. The operation by Pakistan's LeAs was launched when a five ton bomber was dropped by PAF on the camp which was in between the kabu mountains. 

The softening of target was followed by a swift raid from light commando battalion in which they killed a high value target along with six others. This operation was a big success. After the operation, Farooq Bangalzai escaped into Afghanistan and is still hiding there. DIG Aetzaz Ahsan Guraya along with few intelligence officers were a part of all these operations. They remain the unsung heroes. To receive intelligence on the remaining whereabouts of ISKP’s chapter in balochistan, the law enforcement agencies infiltrated an Afghan guy in the training camp of ISKP in Kunar, Afghanistan. He received a six months training and became an IED expert. After returning to Balochistan, he was contacted by Imran Raisani alias chota umar who was the shura member of ISKP-Balochistan. The LeAs were monitoring their activities and finally apprehended Chota Umar while he met the Afghan guy at a hotel on May 16, 2018. It was a massive success. On the same day, LeAs conducted an intelligence based operation in Balochistan’s Killi Almas area in which Col Sohail Abid embraced martyrdom.