In Pakistan’s Balochistan, deadly attacks rip uneasy migrant-local equation

Nearly half of at least 70 people killed in this week’s attacks were workers from neighbouring Punjab province. Why were they targeted?

Islamabad, Pakistan – For 15 years, pick-up truck driver Qadeer Aslam had been transporting goods across Pakistan. Most of his trips were to Balochistan, about 400km (250 miles) west of his village near Burewala city in southern Punjab province.

Over the years, Aslam, 32, was able to save enough money to buy his own truck, a Hyundai Shahzore, in which he hauled fruit, vegetables and other goods to cities in Balochistan, a mineral-rich province and Pakistan’s largest by area. It has also been home to a violent separatist movement for decades.

On Sunday night, Aslam was on way to the province when armed fighters from the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), one of the main separatist groups, stopped his truck and killed him.

Twenty-two other men were also dragged from their vehicles that night, all singled out for being ethnic Punjabis, and shot dead on the highways.

Within 24 hours, at least 70 people were killed in six such attacks across Balochistan, including 35 civilians, 14 security personnel and 21 BLA fighters.

Aslam’s friend and neighbour Muhammad Tanveer told Al Jazeera he had recently paid the last instalment on his truck and was looking forward to improving his family’s living conditions.

“He was focused on earning enough to support his wife, two children and ageing parents. He had been travelling to Balochistan for years and never felt any danger,” said Tanveer, who runs a grocery store in Burewala.

He said Aslam was the only person from his village who sought economic opportunities in Balochistan. “He worked all over Pakistan, but Balochistan offered more work,” he said.

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