Download PDF file - HRCP

Conflict in Balochistan 12
asked to wait till permission was sought for them to proceed. After an hour and a half, they were warned that
mines had been laid on the road and occasional firing by the “furraris” 2 was common. To assess the situation,
the team decided to take the risk and travelled for an hour and a half on this road. They were unable to see a
single human being apart from military personnel and a few locals who were living in proximity to the main
check post. They confirmed that rocket launchers and gun fire was exchanged by both sides - the military and
the local tribesmen. They also verified that gunship helicopters and fighter jets flew regularly over the area and
that they heard sounds of bombardment.
The team saw heavy artillery, including canons and tanks at various bunkers of the military. There was
fear amongst the few locals that the HRCP team spoke to and they expressed resentment over the military
presence as well as their use of force. Despite repeated interrogation, the locals did not confirm that there were
“furrari” camps in their area.
The military personnel claimed that some distance away, the FC had set up a bunker after taking over
a “furrari” camp. The team
doubts that the place was a
“furrari” camp because locals
claimed it was a temporary
settlement of Marri nomads.
TheHRCPteampasseditand
saw a reservoir of water
collected for household use,
remains of earthen ovens
(‘tandoors’) and other
household items.
Displaced persons; where will they go?
weapons visible. As such claiming that it was a furrari camp were not valid.
Subsequently, HRCP
activists made further inquiries
from locals and confirmed the
FC had fired upon this
settlement of nomads, based
at Arand, and had established
a position for themselves there,
with heavy artillery and other
The Talli road leading to Kahan, on which the team was travelling, was being built by the army.
Bulldozers were reportedly sent out a month earlier. It was also reported that because of the use of force by the
FC, and the bombardment, the sparse local population in the area had fled. It is difficult to give the numbers of
internally displaced persons in this area, as most of them are nomads.
The HRCP team noticed that except for their vehicle, no other travellers were being allowed beyond
the Talli check point. The three roads leading to Kahan, they learnt, were all closed. The team met a number of
people in Quetta, including journalists and Marris, who confirmed Kahan had been cordoned off and made
inaccessible by the FC forces along all three routes, Dera Bugti, Kohlu and Sibi. Local transporters bore this
out. People whom the team met told the team bombardment had been carried out in Jabbar 3 , Pekal, Siyah
Koh, Mayhaee, Bambore, Taratani, Soraf, Sakhin and Sorakhor. However, HRCP cannot give first-hand
information either of the bombings or of the fatalities or casualties caused. The team did however receive a list
of those dead and injured in Pekal and Jabbar. They were subsequently able to verify the authenticity of these