Sardar Akhtar Mengal, president of the Balochistan National Party and former chief minister, said the writ of the Pakistani state in Balochistan has weakened to the point that government control is now limited to “Zarghoon Road in Quetta,” while resistance groups operate freely across much of the region.
Speaking in an interview on journalist Asad Toor’s programme Un-Kahi, Mengal said armed fighters were taking control of government buildings and police stations, seizing weapons and moving openly near Frontier Corps forts without drawing any response from state forces.
“Yet the government continues to claim that everything is fine,” he said. “If everything is fine, then why have the internet and highways been shut down?”
Mengal said the hometown of former chief minister Sanaullah Zehri had remained under the control of armed fighters for two months. He said that after the fighters left the area, the government launched operations against civilians, restricted movement and cut off food supplies.
He added that residents travelling between towns were now required to register their entry at every checkpoint. “People are effectively trapped in their own towns,” he said.
Responding to a question about past attacks on him, Mengal rejected suggestions of Islamic State involvement. “Why would ISIS have any enmity with me? The force that has attacked me is the ISI. The purpose of these attacks is to stop political gatherings and create an atmosphere of fear,” he said.
Mengal also said individuals such as Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti benefited from the current situation. “If circumstances were normal, people like Sarfraz could not win even a union council seat. Institutions prefer those who make loud claims,” he said.
In recent months, several lawmakers have made similar statements about state writ and security conditions in Balochistan. Last week, Balochistan National Party (Awami) leader and assembly member Asadullah Baloch said government claims of improved security were “baseless,” adding that the region had “no security, no order and no government writ.”
Earlier this month, Opposition Leader Mir Younus Aziz Zehri criticized the government for downplaying highway blockades, saying fighters were stopping vehicles for hours and expanding their presence.
Earlier this year, MPA Zafarullah Zehri said in the Assembly that highways in several regions were now “effectively under the control of armed groups” and that “the government’s writ does not extend beyond its own offices.”
Senator Kamran Murtaza said the state’s authority in Quetta had “shrunk to just five kilometres,” adding that armed groups had established checkpoints near the city and were stopping vehicles “at their own choosing.”
Former chief minister Jan Muhammad Jamali also said he could not travel safely through Bolan or Nushki.