ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday approved a “comprehensive military operation” against separatist militant groups operating in its southwestern Balochistan province, amid a surge in attacks across the region.

The remote province, Pakistan’s largest by area but least developed, is home to a decades-long insurgency by separatists who carry out frequent attacks against the government, army and Chinese interests in the region to press their demands for a share in regional resources. The state denies it is unfair in its treatment of Balochistan.

Last month, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the most prominent of separatist groups operating in the province, claimed a suicide bombing that targeted Pakistani army troops at a railway station minutes before they were due to board a train to return home for vacations. It killed 27, including 19 soldiers, who were in civilian clothing. 

Last week, militants stormed a paramilitary checkpoint in Balochistan’s mountainous Kalat district, some 150 km south of the provincial capital of Quetta, killing seven troops and wounding at least 18. In October, in two separate incidents, five people were killed in an attack by armed men on the construction site of a small dam, while 21 miners working at privately run coal mines were also gunned down. The BLA group also claimed a recent suicide bombing outside the southern Karachi international airport, in which two Chinese engineers were killed. 

“The participants approved a comprehensive military operation against terrorist organizations operating in Balochistan including the Majeed Brigade, BLA, BLF and BRAS who are targeting innocent civilians and foreign nationals to scuttle Pakistan’s economic progress by creating insecurity at the behest of hostile external powers,” said a statement from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office after a meeting of the National Action Plan’s apex committee in Islamabad, attended by the cabinet, provincial chief ministers and the three armed services chiefs, including Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Asim Munir. 

“COAS reiterated the Pakistan Army’s unwavering resolve to eliminate all threats to national security and provide robust support to the government’s initiatives aimed at ensuring peace and stability.”

The statement did not give any details of the military operation such as when it would be launched and in which parts of the province and which security agencies will participate. 

Ethnic Baloch insurgents say they are fighting what they see as the unfair exploitation of the province’s mineral and gas wealth by the federation at the center. The province is home to major China-led investment projects such as a strategic port and a gold and copper mine.

The Pakistani government and military deny they are exploiting Balochistan and have long maintained that neighbors such as India, Afghanistan and Iran foment trouble in the region and support and fund the insurgency there to impede its development and economic potential.

KARACHI: An abandoned aircraft that crash-landed at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport in 2011 is set to embark on an unusual journey by road to Hyderabad today, Wednesday, where it will be used for teaching purposes at an aviation institute, a spokesman for the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) said on Tuesday.

The PAA plans to transport the 40-ton aircraft from the port city of Karachi, via the National Highway, to the Civil Aviation Training Institute (CATI) in the southern Pakistani city of Hyderabad. On its journey, the plane will pass through several densely populated areas of Karachi, the country’s largest and most populated city, including Steel Town and Bin Qasim Town.

“The aircraft is set to be transferred from Karachi to the Civil Aviation Training Institute (CATI) in Hyderabad for aviation training,” PAA spokesperson Saifullah said, with the journey set to begin at 4am PST.

The MD-83 aircraft, registered as SU-BOZ, was taking 74 passengers from Tabuk city in Saudi Arabia to the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta when it made the emergency landing in Karachi on Dec. 25, 2011.

Footage of the plane’s landing, widely shared on social media, shows the AMC Airlines flight touching down at Jinnah International Airport without its nose gear deployed. Smoke billowed from the plane as it skidded along the runway.

Despite multiple attempts, the nose landing gear failed to deploy, forcing the pilot to land the plane on its belly. No injuries were reported.

The incident led to the closure of the Karachi airport runway for several hours.

“The aircraft was abandoned by the operating airlines and is now embarking on a new journey [to Hyderabad] for use for training purposes,” the PAA spokesperson added.

This is the second aircraft to be transported by road from Karachi to Hyderabad for training purposes in recent weeks.

Last month, the journey by road of a decommissioned Boeing 737 from Karachi to Hyderabad also caught the media spotlight in Pakistan.