As the dust of another deadly conflict settles over the scarred ridges of Sulaiman and Kirthar ranges in Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest but most sparsely populated province, a volatile mix of long-ignored grievances, a brutal rebellion, proxy wars and high-stakes geopolitics erupts again.For nearly 40 hours, a fierce battle was waged in those ridges in what officials called a “desperate” wave of coordinated separatist attacks across more than a dozen locations in the southwestern province of Balochistan, claimed by the banned group Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), which for decades has been waging a rebellion for an independent state.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listNearly 200 people were killed in the latest attacks – 31 civilians, 17 security personnel, in addition to 145 BLA fighters – more than 100 of them on Saturday alone, according to the Pakistani army. It was one of the biggest and most brazen attacks carried out by Baloch separatists, whose claim, however, of killing 84 Pakistani security personnel was dismissed by the authorities.In the provincial capital, Quetta, where the scars of the decades-old conflict could be seen over the city’s police academy, the courts and the bazaars, the official message is once again of unwavering control.“Our security forces, personnel and officers have fought bravely,” said Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, framing the BLA attacks as the “last gasp o …
