Balochistan ministers pay extortion money; Pak army unleashes Afghan lashkars

An attack on Balochistan Home Minister Mir Ziaullah Langove's convoy has put the spotlight on who really controls Pakistan's largest province. A senior journalist claimed that ministers pay "bhatta" to the BLA to survive. Another Iranian report claimed that the Pakistan Army had unleashed Afghan lashkars to target pro-independence Balochis and forcibly disappear dissidents.

On Pakistan's Independence Day (August 14), Balochistan Home Minister Mir Ziaullah Langove was returning from an event in Kalat town when his convoy came under fire in Mastung district. The minister escaped unharmed, but at least six people, including three police personnel, were injured. Such incidents are not isolated. Decades of separatist struggle has kept Pakistan's largest province, Balochistan, on the boil. And the attack on the province's home minister is yet another reminder that the state's authority has eroded across large parts of Balochistan. A Pakistani journalist has claimed that ministers in Balochistan paid "Bhatta", or extortion money, to the BLA.

Meanwhile, according to a report, Pakistan's military and intelligence agencies have been using state-backed armed groups of Afghan "lashkars" (former military personnel) in operations against pro-independence Baloch groups. The report described these armed groups as "death squads" that carry out "enforced disappearances" on behalf of Pakistan's security establishment.

Mastung, where Balochistan Home Minister Langove was attacked, has seen repeated attacks in recent years. Just weeks ago, in July, a sessions judge and his security guard were shot dead in an ambush in the district.

Over the last few years, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) carried out waves of coordinated attacks across the province, hitting security installations, government buildings and civilian locations. Pakistani security forces have responded with large-scale operations, but the situation is far from under control.

The violence is now accompanied by another question — who actually controls parts of Balochistan? Is it the provincial government? Islamabad? The military? Or are they armed groups operating outside the formal state structure?

Recent claims by Pakistani journalist Muzamal Suharwardy, and a Balochistan Post report citing Iran's semi-official Tasnim News Agency have added another layer to that question. The report alleges that Pakistan's military and intelligence agencies are using state-backed armed groups, including former Afghan military personnel, against Baloch pro-independence groups.

First, let's have a look at Suharwardy's allegations.

MINISTERS PAYING 'BHATTA' TO BALOCHISTAN LIBERATION ARMY?

Pakistani journalist Muzamal Suharwardy recently posted a video discussing the deteriorating situation in Balochistan with Pakistani Policy analyst and journalist Raza Rumi. In the discussion, Suharwardy referred to former provincial minister Abdul Rehman Khetran. Khetran was a member of the Provincial Assembly of Balochistan for five years, till 2023. He also served as a minister.

In the video, Suharwardy said Khetran had been removed from the Balochistan cabinet after allegations that he paid "bhatta", or extortion money, to the BLA. Suharwardy then attributed a broader claim to Khetran, that people could not remain in certain areas without paying extortion to the BLA.

"They removed Abdul Rehman Khetran because he used to pay extortion money to the BLA, and now he says that everyone pays it," Suharwardy said in the video, speaking in Urdu.

He further asked whether Pakistan's intelligence agencies were really unaware if important people were paying money to the BLA.

Suharwardy's comments are an allegation and require independent corroboration.

But they are significant because Khetran himself had publicly alleged in October 2024 that the BLA was collecting extortion from coal-mine owners in Balochistan. At the time, Khetran claimed that mine owners were being charged Rs 500 per tonne of coal, and that around Rs 4 million was being collected daily, reported Dawn.

Khetran was removed from the Balochistan cabinet in July. The official notification did not state that his removal was linked to any payment to the BLA; reports instead cited differences between him and Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti over political and administrative matters.

But Suharwardy's argument goes beyond one minister.

"Every MP and every minister is appointed with their consent [the military and Islamabad]. Who manages the elections?" he asked, questioning how much control elected representatives actually exercise in Balochistan.

He described the province's governance as a 'complicated" arrangement in which different areas effectively fall under different power centres. "One area is controlled by the IG's office, another by the chief minister, and another by Islamabad," he said.

Suharwardy argued that the result was a province where governance had become fragmented and accountability was blurred.

PAK USING AFGHAN LASHKARS AGAINST PRO-INDEPENDENCE BALOCHIS?

Against the backdrop of rising violence comes another claim.

According to a report published by The Balochistan Post, citing Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency, Pakistan's military and intelligence agencies have been using state-backed armed groups — including former Afghan military personnel — in operations against Baloch pro-independence groups.

The report said such armed groups are locally referred to as "lashkars", described in Balochistan as "death squads". The report noted that they operate with the support of Pakistani security institutions and alongside the military, border forces and intelligence agencies.

The report further claimed that some former Afghan military personnel who left Afghanistan after the collapse of the previous US-backed government in 2021 joined Pakistani security institutions and state-backed armed groups operating in Balochistan. These "lashkars" are then unleashed on Baloch critics and dissidents in the restive province.

The allegation is significant because it suggests that Pakistan's response to the Baloch insurgency involves not only formal military and intelligence structures but also armed formations operating outside the conventional chain of command.

It would also provide a possible explanation for why former Afghan military personnel — trained fighters with battlefield experience and familiarity with the region's borders — could be useful to Pakistani security establishments.

India Today Digital could not independently check the veracity of the report.

PAKISTAN'S BALOCHISTAN PROBLEM GOES BEYOND TERROR

Balochistan's crisis is not new. The province has faced a separatist insurgency for more than two decades, with Baloch groups accusing Islamabad of exploiting its resources while denying locals political and economic rights.

The BLA, the most prominent separatist group, has targeted Pakistani security forces, civilians, Chinese nationals and infrastructure. The US designated it a foreign terrorist organisation in 2025. In 2025, Balochistan recorded 956 fatalities from hundreds of violent incidents, according to Pakistan's Centre for Research and Security Studies.

Claims that ministers are paying bhatta to the BLA while lashkars are being deployed against pro-independence Balochis suggest a crisis that goes beyond Islamabad's counterterrorism narrative.

Political analyst Hasan Askari Suharwardy pointed to Balochistan's strategic importance, from its vast territory and natural resources to CPEC, Gwadar and borders with Iran and Afghanistan.

"This should be top priority," Suharwardy said, arguing that responsibility had instead become diffused between Quetta, Islamabad, intelligence agencies and military commanders.

With BLA attacks repeatedly threatening Chinese interests and CPEC infrastructure, instability in Balochistan is not a local security problem. As Suharwardy put it, if the provincial government is failing, "those sitting in Islamabad" cannot claim success either.

- Ends