PESHAWAR: Pakistan needs a coordinated strategy to deal with ongoing locust attacks, as the situation can result in a food emergency, agriculture officials and experts warned on Thursday.
Although the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government conducted ground and aerial spraying, Muhammad Naveed, deputy director for plant protection at the KP Agriculture Extension Department, told Arab News the insects were still entering the province from Balochistan and Punjab.
“We have conducted 20 operations through ground and aerial spray, finishing and containing the insects’ further spread. The only viable option is that all four provinces should launch a synchronized and coordinated strategy to counter the desert locusts efficiently,” Khan said, referring to KP, Balochistan, Punjab and Sindh, which have suffered the worst locust outbreaks.
“The country can face with food crisis if timely action isn’t taken,” he said.
Last week, the KP government used drone sprayers in parts of southern Dera Ismail Khan district amid an increase in locust swarms in the impoverished region.
Abdul Mateen Babar, a farmer in Dera Ismail Khan, told Arab News that locust attacks were reported in remote areas bordering Balochistan from where the insects were entering his region. “Locusts hover over ready crops like clouds in the sky,” he said.
Desert locusts, swarming short-horned grasshoppers, have been destroying crops in Africa and Asia for centuries. Their ability to move in huge swarms with great speed makes them one of the most devastating agricultural plagues.
In January last year, the locusts flew from the Red Sea coast of Sudan and Eritrea to hit Saudi Arabia and Iran. They entered Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province in March. In May, they arrived in Sindh.
The KP government declared a state of emergency after the insects entered Dera Ismail Khan in late January.
Dr. Anwar Bhittani, an agriculture expert from southern Tank district, said that locusts could now damage ready wheat crops as their breeding season starts in mid-February and will last till mid-March.
“One locust can damage food of several persons. In the current situation, the federal government should activate the departments of all the four provinces to produce a joint and synchronized strategy to deal with the looming danger,” he added.
Dr. Inamullah Khan, professor at the University of Agriculture Peshawar, said locusts naturally move to warmer places because of favorable weather conditions for their quick reproduction. They can travel 150 kilometers a day and a female insect lays up to 200 eggs at once, he added.
“The desert locusts are attacking wheat, which is our staple food. Our annual wheat production is almost 25 million tons … and our total consumption stands at 23.5 million tons annually. I fear there may be a food crisis if the insects cannot be controlled,” Khan said.
Locust invasion of Pakistan may lead to food crisis – experts
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Locust invasion of Pakistan may lead to food crisis – experts
- Locust breeding season starts in mid-February and will last till mid-March
- Agriculture officials call for a joint KP, Balochistan, Punjab and Sindh strategy to contain the plague
Pakistan military says 92 militants, 15 troops killed in coordinated Balochistan attacks
- BLA militants hit Quetta, Gwadar and seven other towns as security forces launched a counteroffensive
- Military says 18 civilians, including women and children, were killed in attacks on laborer families
QUETTA/KARACHI/ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s military said on Saturday it killed 92 militants, including three suicide bombers, while repelling coordinated attacks across the southwestern province of Balochistan, as security forces carried out large-scale clearance operations following assaults on civilians and law enforcement personnel.
The attacks, involving gunfire and explosions, targeted several locations including the provincial capital Quetta and the coastal city of Gwadar, as well as Mastung, Nushki, Dalbandin, Kharan, Panjgur, Tump and Pasni, according to the military’s media wing.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement that militants launched multiple attacks “to disrupt peace in Balochistan.”
“Security Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies being fully alert immediately responded and successfully thwarted the evil design of terrorists,” it said. “Our valiant troops carried out engagement of terrorists with precision and after prolong, intense and daring clearance operation across Balochistan, sent ninety two terrorists including three suicide bombers to hell, ensuring security and protection of local populace.”
The military said 18 civilians, including women, children, elderly people and laborers, were killed in attacks in Gwadar and Kharan. It said 15 security personnel were also killed during clearance operations and armed standoffs.
The ISPR said the attacks were launched by “Indian sponsored Fitna al Hindustan,” a reference to the separatist Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), saying intelligence reports confirmed the violence was orchestrated and directed by militant leaders operating from outside Pakistan, who were in direct communication with attackers during the assaults.
The BLA also issued a statement earlier in the day, saying it had launched what it called “Operation Herof 2.0” and claiming responsibility for attacks in multiple locations.
Pakistani officials describe BLA militants as Indian proxies, a charge New Delhi denies.
The military said sanitization operations were continuing across the affected areas and that those involved in planning, facilitating or carrying out the attacks would be brought to justice.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif praised security forces for foiling what he described as organized attempts to destabilize Balochistan, and paid tribute to personnel killed during the operations.
The ISPR said 41 additional militants were killed in separate operations a day earlier in Panjgur and Harnai, bringing the total number of militants killed in the past two days to 133.
Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, has faced a decades-long insurgency by separatist militant groups, with Pakistani authorities frequently accusing foreign actors of backing the violence. India has repeatedly denied such allegations.
