ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s army is not interested in evacuating entire areas in the restive southwestern province of Balochistan to launch operations against militants, the top military spokesman said Saturday, insisting the region will always remain part of the country.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest but most impoverished province, has been the site of a long-running insurgency that has intensified in recent months, with separatist militants attacking security forces, government functionaries and non-local residents.
Intelligence-based operations have been launched in response, though outfits such as the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and its Majeed Brigade faction have carried out increasingly coordinated strikes, including a passenger train hostage-taking earlier this year and an attack on a school bus that killed and injured several children.
“We are not interested in evacuating an entire area, sending in troops, clearing all the localities and then declaring that peace has been restored because you cannot station the army permanently,” Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said while addressing students in a military internship program in Rawalpindi.
The ISPR shared portions of his remarks in a video released on its Facebook page.
“Once the army leaves, the terrorists would return,” he added. “That is why we need to work in a very intelligent manner. We need to work with the population, with the local administration, and we need to identify the terrorists, their sympathizers and their facilitators. That is what we are doing.”
Chaudhry emphasized that the military has no interest in falsely accusing or targeting innocent civilians.
“However, if someone facilitates terrorism, if someone keeps explosives in their house or gives shelter to terrorists, then they will have to face the consequences,” he continued.
The military spokesperson also underlined that Balochistan would “always remain part of Pakistan,” noting the province’s ethnic and demographic diversity and its connections with other parts of the country.
The comments came as violence in the mineral-rich province has intensified in recent months.
Earlier this week, the United States designated the BLA and the Majeed Brigade as “foreign terrorist organizations.”
Separatist groups accuse Islamabad of exploiting Balochistan’s resources to fund development elsewhere, while the federal government denies the charge, saying it is working to uplift local communities.
