Pakistan (MNN) — A militant group has attacked Chinese infrastructure projects in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. Fighting between the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and the Pakistani military lasted 70 hours.
Nehemiah with FMI talks about the BLA. “This terrorist organization has nothing to do with Islamic ideology. They are Muslim terrorists, but they really just want to control their own land. They want to separate from Pakistan. And they want to establish Islamic law in this region, which they are calling Great Balochistan.”
Motivations
Nehemiah says the BLA doesn’t want cooperation between the Chinese government and Pakistan. They believe the Pakistani government is exploiting Balochistan to further its relationship with China.
The BLA emerged in the summer of 2000 when it carried out bombings against civilians. But the attacks against Chinese infrastructure projects are the largest they have carried out in years.
Nehemiah says, “This area, the whole region, is almost a no-go area. If you want to go there, you need very special permission from Pakistan authorities. And the reason that people do not go there is because of these insurgents and their targets and these killings.”
Danger to Christians
The BLA specifically targets foreigners or minorities. Nehemiah says they have attacked churches, as well as Shia Muslim and Hindu groups.
Ask God to protect FMI partners working in the region. Pray many people in Balochistan will embrace Jesus. Nehemiah says, ‘We have partners there who are serving and helping people to know about Jesus Christ. They’re trying to take the Word of God to these mountains.”
“We were there a few months ago, and we witnessed that serving in this region is extremely difficult.”
The header photo shows the flag of the BLA. (Photo courtesy of HapHaxion, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons)
