According to reports from reliable sources in Dera Ghazi Khan and Quetta, theBaloch freedom-fighters successfully launched a mortar attack on aPakistani nuclear establishment controlled by the Pakistan Atomic EnergyCommission (PAEC) on May 15,2006. The establishment is located in the vicinityof the Dera Ghazi Khan-Quetta highway. Earlier too, it was once the target of anunsuccessful attack by the Baloch freedom-fighters.
The mortar attack caused the outbreak of a large fire in the woods surroundingthe establishment. Twenty fire engines took nearly 10 hours to bring the fireunder control. It has been reported that the fire could be extinguished beforeit could spread to the establishment itself. Apart from destroying a largenumber of trees planted around the establishment, a cafeteria and other service buildings,the fire does not appear to have caused any other damage. The sensitive parts ofthe establishment were reportedly not affected.
The PAEC has not issued any official statement on the fire. In talks with thelocal media, unnamed PAEC officials have projected the fire as due to a shortcircuit. They have not admitted that it was caused by a mortar fire.
The Baloch freedom-fighters have repeatedly been trying to disrupt road and railcommunications between Balochistan and Punjab. Dera Ghazi Khan has been afavourite scene of their operations in order to disrupt the normal economic lifein Punjab. Since President Pervez Musharraf launched his militaryoffensive in Balochistan last December to crush the freedom struggle, thedeployment of para-military forces in and around Dera Ghazi Khan has beenstrengthened. Similarly, there has been a strengthening of security measuresaround the nuclear establishment.
One of the main grievances of the Baloch freedom-fighters has been the holdingof the nuclear tests of May,1998, in Chagai which, according to them, has causedsevere public health hazards in Balochistan. They have also been complainingthat the nuclear waste from Pakistan's nuclear establishments is being stored inBalochistan.
In the meanwhile, the recent ban by the Government on the BalochistanLiberation Army (BLA) has not had any impact on its activities. It has managedto maintain the momentum of its freedom-struggle with almost daily attacks ongas pipelines, electricity transmission lines, railway lines and on posts of the security forces. It has even carried out a daring attack on a Police Academykilling six police officer trainees.
The BLA and other Baloch nationalist elements have also stepped up theircampaign against the Chinese engineers and security officials posted in Gwadarin connection with the project for the construction of the Gwadar port. A teamof Chinese engineers recently visited Balochistan amidst tight security to carryout a preliminary study on the possibility of the construction of a road linking Gwadar with the Karakoram Highway in the Northern Areas, which is beingupgraded, and an oil/gas pipeline connecting Gwadar with Xinjiang. The idea isthat the Chinese tankers bringing oil from Saudi Arabia and Iran would downloadthem at Gwadar and from there the energy supplies would be moved by a pipelineto Xinjiang. This would reduce the Chinese dependence on the Malacca Straits forthe transport of their energy supplies.
China has already agreed to help Pakistan in the construction of more nuclearpower stations as a counter to the Indo-US nuclear deal, now under considerationby the US Congress. The number of new power stations being mentioned is eight.It is proposed to locate one of these in Balochistan. Gen.Musharraf is expectedto visit Beijing next month for talks on this issue. If this visit materialises,this will be his second visit to China in less than a year.
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B. Raman is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt.of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute for Topical Studies,Chennai
