ISLAMABAD: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir visited the impoverished and insurgency-prone Balochistan province in southwestern Pakistan on Friday, interacting with farmers and evaluating the security situation, while emphasizing the region’s development as imperative for the success of the entire country.
Balochistan, which lies at the heart of Pakistan’s economic development plans, has been a scene of low-level insurgency for several decades.
Despite being rich in natural resources like gas, oil and minerals, the province remains one of the poorest places in Pakistan, prompting a separatist movement by armed nationalist groups that accused the central government in Islamabad for not letting the region get its fair share of the wealth.
Baloch nationals have also blamed Pakistani security forces for enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings, though these allegations have been frequently denied by the country’s civilian and military authorities.
The army chief visited Balochistan’s Awaran district earlier in the day where he was briefed about the efforts made by the security forces to ensure the socioeconomic development and enhancement of the province’s agriculture potential.
“Success of Balochistan is success of Pakistan,” he was quoted as saying in an official statement released by the military’s media wing, ISPR. “People of Pakistan are proud of the brave people of Balochistan who have stood tall against all odds. Armed Forces of Pakistan and Law Enforcement Agencies will continue to render their services in support of the people of Balochistan for peace and prosperity.”
General Munir interacted with the local elders and farmers in the area, emphasizing the significance of agriculture and the army’s commitment to the Green Pakistan Initiative, an environmental project aimed at combating climate change and deforestation in the country.
He said that farmers would be given all kinds of agricultural facilities, including the provision of easy loans, seeds, fertilizers, solar tube wells and guidance from experts, to help them cultivate their lands and become partners in the progress and development of their country.
The army chief also inaugurated Cadet College Awaran and interacted with its students and faculty members.
General Munir was received by the corps commander of the Balochistan Corps upon arrival to the district.
Pakistan’s army chief visits Balochistan, stresses region’s development as key to country’s success
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Pakistan’s army chief visits Balochistan, stresses region’s development as key to country’s success
- General Munir was briefed about the efforts made by the security forces to ensure the region’s socioeconomic development
- He promises all agricultural facilities to farmers to help them cultivate their lands and become partners in country’s progress
Back from Iran, Pakistani students say they heard gunshots while confined to campus
- Students say they were confined to dormitories and unable to leave campuses amid unrest
- Pakistani students stayed in touch with families through the embassy amid Internet blackout
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani students returning from Iran on Thursday said they heard gunshots and stories of rioting and violence while being confined to campus and not allowed out of their dormitories in the evening.
Iran’s leadership is trying to quell the worst domestic unrest since its 1979 revolution, with a rights group putting the death toll over 2,600.
As the protests swell, Tehran is seeking to deter US President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to intervene on behalf of anti-government protesters.
“During nighttime, we would sit inside and we would hear gunshots,” Shahanshah Abbas, a fourth-year student at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, said at the Islamabad airport.
“The situation down there is that riots have been happening everywhere. People are dying. Force is being used.”
Abbas said students at the university were not allowed to leave campus and told to stay in their dormitories after 4 p.m.
“There was nothing happening on campus,” Abbas said, but in his interactions with Iranians, he heard stories of violence and chaos.
“The surrounding areas, like banks, mosques, they were damaged, set on fire ... so things were really bad.”
Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene in support of protesters in Iran but adopted a wait-and-see posture on Thursday after protests appeared to have abated. Information flows have been hampered by an Internet blackout for a week.
“We were not allowed to go out of the university,” said Arslan Haider, a student in his final year. “The riots would mostly start later in the day.”
Haider said he was unable to contact his family due to the blackout but “now that they opened international calls, the students are getting back because their parents were concerned.”
A Pakistani diplomat in Tehran said the embassy was getting calls from many of the 3,500 students in Iran to send messages to their families back home.
“Since they don’t have Internet connections to make WhatsApp and other social network calls, what they do is they contact the embassy from local phone numbers and tell us to inform their families.”
Rimsha Akbar, who was in the middle of her final year exams at Isfahan, said international students were kept safe.
“Iranians would tell us if we are talking on Snapchat or if we were riding in a cab ... that shelling had happened, tear gas had happened, and that a lot of people were killed.”
