Pakistan (MNN) — Freedom fighters and security forces in Balochistan, Pakistan clashed this weekend to a degree not seen for decades.
Starting in the early hours of Saturday, January 31, fighters from the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) killed nearly 50 people in coordinated attacks across the province.
Pakistani security forces intervened swiftly, killing 145 fighters from the BLA. The provincial chief minister, Sarfraz Bugti, says this number of fighters killed was the highest in decades.
(Stock photo courtesy of Beebagar Baloch via Unsplash)
Balochistan was annexed by Pakistan in 1948. It has seen multiple separatist movements since then. (More on that here.)
Unrest in Balochistan happens for several reasons, says Greg Kelley with Unknown Nations. “It happens to be an area that’s very rich in minerals and resources, and the people of Balochistan have forever been frustrated, feeling like the government — the capital of Pakistan, [Islamabad] — are the main benefactors of their wealth,” he explains.
Of Pakistan’s ten poorest districts, seven are in Balochistan. Kelley describes it as “lack of infrastructure, lack of education, lack of medical opportunities.” As local people see their homeland’s resources being exploited, “there are these sort of ‘freedom fighters’ that have emerged over the years that have gone toe-to-toe with the Pakistani military in opposition,” he says of the BLA.
Is there any good in unrest?
“Any time that there’s instability and chaos in majority Hindu, Buddhist, or Muslim environments, it creates an opportunity for the gospel,” Kelley says, “because the people are suffering. You begin to question and look at your worldview and say, ‘Is this really all that life has for me? Is this the hope?’”
In a world full of political and national conflicts, it’s tempting to shrug off news that isn’t in our own backyards. But God calls His people to look at the world with the Great Commission in mind.
Quetta, Pakistan (Stock photo courtesy of Syed Aoun Abbas via Unsplash)
“They say about 100% of the population is considered unreached. These are exclusively Muslim areas,” says Kelley about Balochistan Province. “The main people groups there are the Pashtun and Baloch people.”
Frontiers like this are exactly where the church needs to engage, he says. “We need to mobilize the Christian church in Pakistan into this area more strategically and intentionally. I believe that there’s going to be a gospel movement in Balochistan.”
You can be part of that push by praying for more gospel workers and partnering with Unknown Nations to help them support local believers on mission.
“Pray that the Lord raises up harvesters, laborers that will go into these areas — Pakistani nationals who can go into Balochistan and speak the languages,” says Kelley.
Header photo: Ras Koh Hills, Kharan District, Balochistan Province, Pakistan (Stock photo courtesy of Muhammad Irfan Baloch)
