Quetta: Caught in the crosshairs of Militancy

Transcription

1 Quetta: Caught in the crosshairs of Militancy by Jawad Falak, Zeeshan Muneer, Hassan Riaz and Ousama Khurshid Khan Research Brief

2 QUETTA BLAST: THE LOSS OF A GENERATION Pakistan's military with the backing of civilian government and the entire nation has clamped down on terrorist hideouts and networks across the country. The large scale military operation Zarb-e-Azb, which gained momentum after the massacre of school children in APS Peshawar by TTP terrorists, has restored the writ of the government in FATA and has largely reduced the capabilities of terrorists in Pakistan. However, the terrorists leadership survived the wrath of Pakistan Army by retreating to safe havens in Afghanistan. The terrorists having been unable to capture and control territory as they used to, are now resorting to suicide attacks against soft targets to make their presence felt. One such attack was conducted on August 8, The well planned and coordinated attack resulted in the deaths of at least 93 people, lawyers being half of them. On the morning of August 8, President Baluchistan Bar Association, Advocate Bilal Anwar Kasi, was murdered near Mengal Chowk on Manno Jan Road by assailants on motor bike. Distance between target killing of Kasi and Civil Hospital The body was taken to Government Hospital where senior lawyers and members of Baluchistan Bar Association gathered to pay respect. In a well conceived plan, the terrorists dispatched suicide bomber to the same hospital where they correctly predicted the arrival of large number of lawyers, media persons and social activists. The suicide bomber blew himself in the middle of the gathering killing and injuring a large number of people. The victims included the senior lawyers, members of Bar and barristers which practically wiped out much of the senior tier of lawyers in Quetta. Investigating agencies and senior security officials have stated that the attack targeted the lawyers community. According to them, attackers killed President Baluchistan Bar and attracted maximum number of lawyers away from the security of the district courts to the hospital where the suicide bomber blew himself. The attack has been condemned by international community which expressed grief on the huge loss of life. Prime Minister, the Army Chief and leaders of various political parties visited Quetta to express solidarity with the families of victims. The attack has been claimed by Jammat ul Ahrar and Islamic State. Baluchistan is a province which is already marred by sectarian violence, insurgency and terrorist activities conducted by BLA, BLF, Lashkare Jhangvi among others. The arrival of IS and Jammat ul Ahrar in Baluchistan has exacerbated the problems for security agencies which are already over stretched in the province. The ideology of all these groups is different but their aim is similar which is to destabilize Baluchistan and hamper Pakistan's ambition of developing CPEC. These groups are targeting security forces, government installations, foreigners, doctors, professors and now lawyers in a concerted effort to fail the government machinery. The attack on lawyers is not a random attack with the only aim of inflicting huge casualties. Rather, it is an attack on the judicial system of the province. An entire generation of top lawyers in the province was eliminated. The junior lawyers in Quetta have now climbed to the senior tier of legal practitioners in the province. The attack on legal experts, intellectuals and scholars in Baluchistan is part of well thought plan to deprive it of an educated class which is essential for the development of any society. 2

3 Total Number of Attacks: Date Detail Group Responsible 3rd September Meezan Chowk in Quetta, killed 50 wounded 50 plus LeJ 2010 September 2011 Twin suicide attack in Quetta, 25 people killed several wounded LeJ June 2012 Hazarganji area, killed 14 injured 30 people LeJ suspected January 10th Attack on a Snooker club in Quetta claimed 92 lives LeJ, United Baloch Army 2013 February 16th Target Shia Hazara community claimed 89 people in Suburbs of Quetta LeJ injured April 2013 Attack on FC post Quetta killed six people and wounded 40 others LeJ June 2013, An attack in Sardar Bahadur Khan Women s University killed 25 people LeJ including DC Quetta August 9, 2013 The target was a police officer but other 38 people were also killed with several wounded Unknown 21st January 2014 January 13th, 2016 GROUPS BEHIND ATTACKS The following groups have claimed responsibility for the brutal and horrendous attack of 8 August 2016 Jamaat-ul-Ahraar Daesh (IS Vilayet-e-Khorasan) While local government officials such as the Balochistan Chief Minister Sanaullah Zehri, have asserted that Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Afghanistan's intelligence agency National Directorate of Security (NDS) were behind terror incidents in Quetta including this one. This assertion was supported by former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf. The attack seems to be a repeat of an earlier one in 15th June 2013, when after an attack on a university bus carrying female students, the hospital where the injured were being treated was attacked by gunmen and suicide bombers. That attack was carried out by the LeJ a notorious sectarian militant group responsible for not only massive attacks within Balochistan but throughout Pakistan and Afghanistan as well. There are several Baloch separatist groups as well who had previously unleashed an ethnic cleansing campaign against settlers targeting civilians of non-baloch origins. However subsequent counter terror campaigns seem to have contained them in far flung uninhabited areas and most of them have been found out to be operating under the auspices of RAW. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar: A plotted bomb exploded in a bus targeting Shia pilgrimages killed 24 people A suicide attack on Polio Vaccination center killed 15 people Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (Assembly of the Free) is a splinter group from Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on March, 2014; they also show allegiance to ISIS. Currently it is headed by Omar Khourasani and their spokesperson is Ahsan Ullah Ahsan. They have forsworn any allegiance with Maulana Fazlullah who is the current head of TTP. Omar Khorasani also previously headed the Ahrar-ul-Hind which also claimed several attacks not only in Pakistan but in India too. In February 2014, Ahrar-ul-Hind, headed by Maulana Umar Qasmi (former leader in the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi) was formed after TTP opened peace talks with the Pakistani government. It later merged into Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a second splinter group that broke away from Tehreek-i-Taliban in Pakistan on 4 September 2014, and named Omar Khalid Khorasani as its commander. LeJ TTP 3

4 Abdul Wali Khan, popularly known as Omar Khalid Khurasani, is the patron of TTP s splinter group Jamat ul Ahrar. He was appointed as the chief of the TTP Mohmand Faction by Baitullah Mehsud but after disagreement over Fazlullah s order to fight against the Pak Army, he separated from TTP in August 2014 and created his faction of hardline elements, called the Jamat ul Ahrar. Having received no formal education from any school or seminary, Khurasani is a ruthless militant, compared to ISIS Abu Bakr al-baghdadi. He is known to have had ties with AL-Qaeda and has even claimed to give shelter to the group leader, Ayman al-zawahiri. Khurasani is credited with several high-profile attacks, including the failed assassination attempt at former Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami Qazi Hussain Ahmed and the execution of 23 paramilitary soldiers in his imprisonment. A letter issued by the Mehmand faction also hinted at taking part in the deadly attack on a Peshawar church in Khurasani is also the first militant to get a suicide attack carried out by a woman in Pakistan. OMAR KHALID KHURASANI News of Khurasani s injury in a clash with the Afghan forces surfaced in February, which was confirmed by his aide and ex-ttp spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan. The JUA claims to be fighting for the establishment of an Islamic state in Pakistan. It is likely to have some support in Mohmand, and the other FATA agencies: Bajaur, Khyber and Aurakzai. Some media outlets recently reported the group s allegiance to Islamic State (IS) but there is no evidence of any active involvement at present. The recent suicide attack (7th August) in Quetta claimed 70 precious lives the responsibility was taken by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) as well as Jammat-ul-Ahrar. Ehsanullah Ehsan, spokesperson of TTP said that further detail will be released soon. High Profile Attacks by Jamaat-ul-Ahraar: 2 November 2014, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan claimed responsibility for the Wagah border attack in a telephone call to Dawn from Afghanistan. "Some other groups have claimed responsibility of this attack, but these claims are baseless. We will soon release the video of this attack," he said. "This attack is revenge for the killing of innocent people in North Waziristan." 7 November 2014, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar claimed responsibility for twin bombings that killed at least six people in Mohmand Agency. The bombs targeted peace committee volunteers in Chinari village of Safi Tehsil. Ehsanullah Ehsan claimed responsibility and vowed to continue attacking tribal peace committees. 21 November 2014, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar claimed responsibility for a grenade attack on the membership camp of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) in Orangi Town area of Karachi. Three members of the Sindh Assembly and 50 workers were injured. 15 March 2015, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar claimed responsibility for twin bombings at a Roman Catholic church and Christ Church during Sunday service at Youhanabad town of Lahore. At least 15 people were killed and seventy were wounded in the attacks. Pakistan 7 March 2016, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that left 11 dead and 15 wounded after a man blew himself up outside a district court in the town of Shabqadar in the Charsadda District. The attack in Gulshan-e-Iqbal park on March 29th, 2016 was also claimed by Jammat-ul-Ahrar on Easter Sunday. It was a massive attack in which 70 people died among them 29 were children and 34 were men and number of injured was 300. Ahsanullah Ahsan the spokesman for Jammat-ul-Ahrar stated we targeted Christians celebrating Easter. At that time JA launched several attacks just to ensure their presence and increase the moral support from Islamic militants. They also claim responsibility of two suicide attacks on Christian s churches in Youhanabad, Lahore which killed at least 15 people on March They also claim that we are going to start Islamic state in Pakistan as some media reports also laimed that but there is no evidence of any active involvement. 4

5 DAESH/ISLAMIC STATE OF IRAQ AND LEVANT: KHORASAN PROVINCE Daesh emerged in Iraq and successfully captured large swaths of territories in Iraq and later Syria by launching lightning attacks against government forces in both the countries. As of August almost 20 % of Iraqi and 50 % of Syrian territories is under the control or influence of the terror group. Various terrorist groups from across Asia and Africa pledged allegiance to Daesh which greatly enhanced the group's out reach and influence. Islamic State of Iraq and Levant Khorasan Province is a branch of Daesh which is active in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The group was formed in January 2015 by IS. Hafiz Saeed Khan was appointed as the leader of Khorasan group. This group is a mixture of splinter groups of various terrorist organizations in Afghanistan and Pakistan. On October 2014, 6 TTP commanders in Pakistan: Hafiz Saeed Khan, Shahidullah Shahid and TTP commanders of Kurram and Khyber agencies and Peshawar and Hangu Districts, defected from TTP and pleded allegiance to Daesh. Various Afghan Taliban commanders from Logar and Kunar province joined these TTP defecors. Abu-Muhammad Al Adnani, the official spokesperson of IS, accepted this pledge of allegiance on January 26, 2015 and announced the formation of Wilayat Khorasan. The rise of Daesh in Afghanistan was not welcomed by Afghan Taliban who told this group to pledge allegiance to Afghan Taliban leadership and fight under their banner. Fighting broke out between Afghan Taliban and IS in Khorasan which led to the capture of territory by Daesh in Nangarhar, Helmand and Farah provinces. These successes led Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan to join Daesh in Khorasan province. The Afghan Taliban felt threatened by the expansion of IS and inclusion of new groups in it, launched a wide scale offensive against Daesh in Khorasan province. Afghan Taliban retook Farah and Helmand provinces and cornered Daesh in Nangarhar province. Hafiz Saeed Khan who is also known as Mulla Saeed Orakzai, is the appointed leader of IS Khorasan, an offshoot of Abu Bakhr al-baghdadi's militant group which spans Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Bangladesh, as well as some parts of Central Asia. Saeed was born in 1972 in the town of Mamozai in the Orakzai Agency, a tribal area of Pakistan near the Afghan border. After 9/11, when United States and Nato troops attacked Afghanistan, Saeed began his stint in militancy, going to Kabul to fight against the invaders, where he remained for two years. There he became close to Baitullah Mahsud, who would in 2007 become the inaugural leader of the incipient TTP. He appointed Saeed to the new leadership group, or Shura, and made him an Amir, or religious leader, for Orakzai. He remained in the TTP during the reign of Baitullah s successor Hakimullah but split up after the death of Hakimullah and the rise of current TTP supremo, Mullah Fazlullah. HAFIZ SAEED KHAN Finally, on 15 October, 2014, Saeed abandoned the TTP, along with five other Taliban leaders, and pledged allegiance to Daesh chief Abu Bakr al-baghdadi. Saeed's position as head of IS Khorasan was confirmed in a video message released by the militant group on 11 January. The video features a message by Shahidullah Shahid, who now serves IS as a spokesperson, just as he once did the TTP. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the video showing Shahid's announcement also features the gruesome beheading of a Pakistani soldier, identified only as Manzoor. Saeed was alleged to be killed in a US drone strike but resurfaced and is still active in perpetrating brutal attacks across the region. 5

6 Daesh still controls several districts in southeast Afghanistan and have now resorted to launching ambushes against ANA and Afghan Taliban. They have lost their capabilities to control territories in Afghanistan. However, Daesht has now resorted to suicide attacks against civilians in both Pakistan and Afghanistan. RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS WING (RAW) The Civil Government of Pakistan has accused India for flogging up terrorism in Pakistan via its famous Intelligence Agency named as RAW. India has been involved in destabilizing Pakistan by using state and non-state actors. Playing asymmetrically appears to be India s new strategy to weaken Pakistan. RAW is alleged to have supported Tehrik-e- Taliban Pakistan in the tribal areas as well as Baluch separatist leaders. Alarm spread across the public when the BBC launched its report revealed the involvement of RAW in supporting militant wings of Pakistani political parties. It has been mentioned in report that RAW is funding, training and providing weapons to the ethnic political party known as the MQM. The MQM s militant wing has been notorious for targetkillings and other organized crime, as well as frequently shutting-down Karachi, Pakistan s biggest metropolis. Notwithstanding RAW has been involved in several subversive acts inside Pakistan. Some of them are highlighted below: 1. Support of Wali Khan and Pashtunistan: Wali Khan was the successor and son of Abdul Ghaffar Khan who wanted moral, political and other support from Ex- Prime Minister of India Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi. Matter of fact is that Pakistan agencies was keeping an eye on the movements of Wali Khan, the meeting was shifted to Sweden where RAW representatives met Wali Khan. Later all sorts of support was given to Wali Khan by the Indian Government till 1977 when Indira Gandhi lost election. 2. Hijacking of Aircraft : On 30 January 1971 an Indian Airlines Fokker F27 Friendship aircraft named Ganga flying from Srinagar to Jammu was hijacked by two Kashmiri separatists who were plotted by RAW named as Hashim Qureshi and Ashraf Qazi. Plan was to hijack the flight was with 26 passengers on board, to take to Lahore airport. RAW allowed him to carry a grenade and a toy pistol inside the plane. Pakisani authorities at Lahore airport allowed the plane to land when they were informed that it had been hijacked by National Liberation Front activist of Kashmir. All India Radio soon made broadcast of this hijacking and the whole world was informed that the Pakistan Government was behind this hijacking. The incident overtly gave India the right opportunity which was planned by R.N. Kao, to cancel the flights of Pakistan over its territory which hampered the plans of Yahya Khan to send its troops by air to curb the political movement of Mujib in East Pakistan. 3. Support of Mukti Bahini: Since the Indian Army was not prepared and well-equipped for an immediate army action at that point (March 1971), it was planned to raise and train a guerrilla outfit of the Bengali refugees of East Pakistan by RAW which would harass the Pakistan Army till the Indian Army would be ready for the final assault to the liberation of East Pakistan. Indira Gandhi then asked R.N. Kao, Chief of RAW, to prepare all possible grounds for the army for its final assault when the clearance from General Maneckshaw was received for its readiness for the war. RAW s existing mindset has been augmented by current national security adviser, Ajit Doval. In 2014 he proposed to launch a defensive-offensive approach and ventured Pakistan to do one (more) Mumbai (type attack) and lose Baluchistan (province). On 27 May 2015, Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parikar went a step further by suggesting a policy of neutralizing terrorists through terrorists, by which he means employing non-state proxies for counterterrorism purpose. Moreover high officials of RAW such as Amarjit Singh Dulat (former chief of RAW) in his book Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years has confirmed that India had been paying militants and separatists. These events mentioned above show that RAW has a very strong network with in Pakistan whose main aim is to turn 6

7 Pakistan into a failed state. From Ravindra Kaushik the first RAW agent detained in Pakistan till Kulbushan Yadav the last RAW spy agent who was apprehended a couple of months ago, signals the Indian intent to turn Pakistan into a faltering and fumbling state by high profile projects of Pakistan such as OBOR and CPEC. All the evidence pinpoints that all sophisticated operations, run mainly from Afghanistan, under the guidance of Indian Commander Kulbhushan Yadav who has the covername of Hussein Mubarik Patel is a serving officer of Indian Navy who undertook intelligence gathering for Indian agencies primarily RAW. He joined the National Defence Academy in 1987 before joining the Indian Navy in Jan 1991 and subsequently served for the Indian Navy till around December 2001 when the Parliament attack occurred and then started contributing his services towards gathering of information and intelligence within India. He commenced intelligence operations in 2003 and established a small business in Chabahar in Iran where he was able to achieve undetected existence and visits to Karachi in 2003 & 2004 and did some basic assignments within India for RAW. He was picked up by RAW in 2013 end. Ever since he had been directing various activities in Balochistan and Karachi at the behest of RAW and deteriorating the law and order situation in Karachi. He asserts to be the link between Mr Anil Kumar Gupta who is the joint secretary of RAW and his contacts in Pakistan especially in Balochistan Student Organisation. KULBHUSHAN YADAV His main purpose was to hold meetings with Baloch insurgents and carry out activities with their collaboration. These activities were of a criminal nature, leading to killing of or maiming of Pakistani citizens. In pursuit towards achieving the set targets by my handlers in RAW, he was trying to cross over into Pakistan from the Saravan border in Iran on March 3, 2016, and was apprehended by Pakistani authorities while on the Pakistani side, The main aim of this crossing over into Pakistan was to hold a meeting with Baloch separatists in Balochistan for carrying out various activities, which they were supposed to undertake and carrying backwards the messages which had to deliver to Indian agencies. While in Pakistani custody, he confessed to the authorities specifically the designs of India vis-à-vis CPEC and Balochistan. He also gave valuable information which led to the capture of many RAW cells within the rest of Pakistan intelligence agencies with the aim of destabilize Pakistan. RAW s relations with Balochistan separatist movement leaders is nothing new to be disclosed but coming out from the RAW officer himself further confirms the intentions of New Delhi. The most alarming disclosure was the link of RAW with the Baloch student federations, showing that Pakistan s youth are being radicalized by foreign elements. He clearly stated that Indian premier intelligence agency (RAW) is behind the terrorist activities in Balochistan and in the port city of Karachi. Most importantly he reveals the Indian plan to sabotage the CPEC project and Gawadar port by attacking the armed forces and government installations along the coast. LASHKAR-E-JHANGVI (LeJ) Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) is one of Pakistan's most violent Sunni Muslim militant groups.its ideology is of Sunni Supremacy and violent fundamentalism.it takes its name from the late Sunni Cleric Haq Nawaz Jhangvi, who spearheaded the anti- 7

8 Shia campaign which began in the country 30 years ago as a counter-movement to the Iranian Islamic revolution. Mr Jhangvi was a founding member of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), a group blamed by many for introducing sectarian violence to the country.the campaign got bloodier when a rival Shia group, Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Fiqah Jafferia (TNFJ) challenged it, resulting in the deaths of the top leaders of both sectarian groups, including Mr Jhangvi. Within a decade the conflict led to fissures within the SSP and in 1996 LeJ broke away under the leadership of Riaz Basra. He wanted to continue on the path of violence against Shias and rejected a call from other Sunni militant leaders to join mainstream politics and scale down attacks. Calling themselves "Jhangvi" loyalists, the Lej - or Army of Jhangvi - began allying itself with the Taliban movement which was just taking over in Afghanistan. Later on it expanded its alliances to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), Jundallah, Punjabi Taliban and Harkat-ul-Ansar. The connection helped Mr Basra and his group to seek refuge in Afghanistan.Government intelligence agencies have pointed to several LeJ militant training camps in Afghanistan. These camps were used not only to train anti-shia militants but also as safe havens for Pakistani criminals and militants. In August 2001, Pakistan's military leader General Pervez Musharraf banned a number of militant organisations, with LeJ at the top of the list. In May 2002 Riaz Basra was killed, and analysts believe that the group began to develop links with Osama Bin Laden's al-qaeda network via the Harkat-al-Ansar. Such fears were proved right when investigators found links between LeJ relating to three 2007 incidents in Pakistan which were all blamed jointly on al-qaeda and the LeJ. These included the kidnapping and beheading of US Journalist Daniel Pearl, an attack on French engineers in Karachi and a bomb attack on an Islamabad church. The LeJ specializes in mass casualty attacks against soft targets that lead to the dual effect of sowing unstability as well as lowering morale. In Balochistan the LeJ has been particularly active perpetrating brutal attacks against the Hazara ethnic community who are predominately Shias. After the death of Riaz Basra, the mantle has passed onto LeJ co founder Akram Lahori. He was arrested on July 4, 2002 and was lodged in jail since then. There are reports that Qari Zafar took over the group s leadership in 2005, while others claim that Rizwan Ahmad was LeJ s leader until his February 2007 arrest, and still other reports claim that Lahori remained the emir of the group despite his incarceration. Malik Ishaq reportedly took operational command of the LeJ as a whole after being released from prison in 2011, but was again arrested by Pakistani police in February 2013 before being killed in a firefight on July 29,2015. However the LeJ has continued to grow and also give rise to several offshoots such as the LeJ Al Almi and Asian Tigers. LeJ effectiveness is primarily due to its decentralized structure. The LeJ is organized into small cells of approximately five to eight cadres each, who operate independently of the others. Individual LeJ cadres are reportedly unaware of the number of cells in existence similar to their own or the structure of operations. After carrying out an attack LeJ cadres often disperse and then reassemble at the various training camps to plan future operations. Jundallah Punjabi Taliban JeJ Al Almi LASHKAR E JHANGVI Junood al Hafsa Asian Tigers 8

9 LeJ ATTACKS IN BALOCHISTAN LJ claimed responsibility for killing 26 Shia pilgrims on 20 September 2011 in the Mastung area of Balochistan. The pilgrims were travelling on a bus to Iran.In addition, 2 others were killed in a follow-up attack on a car on its way to rescue the survivors of the bus attack. Lashkar-i-Jhangvi claimed responsibility for 13 lives lost in brutal attack on Shia pilgrims in Quetta on 28 June 2011: At least 13 people, two women and a policeman among them, were killed and over 20 others injured in a bomb attack on a bus mainly carrying Shia pilgrims returning from Iran. Most of the pilgrims belonged to the Hazara community. On 10 January 2013, several bombings took place in Quetta targeting the Hazara community, killing a total of 130 people and injuring at least 270.It was claimed by the LeJ. On 16 February 2013, at least 110 people were killed and 200 injured after a bomb hidden in a water tank exploded at a market in Hazara Town on the outskirts of Quetta, the capital city of Balochistan, Pakistan. On 15 June 2013, a series of bombings and a subsequent siege resulted in the deaths of 26 people and injuries to dozens more. The attacks began with the detonation of an explosive device attached to a bus carrying students from Sardar Bahadur Khan Women's University. The blast completely destroyed the vehicle, killing 14 women and injuring 19 others. A short time later, a suicide bomber struck at the nearby Bolan Medical Complex, where victims of the initial bombing were being treated. A team of five gunmen then forced its way into the compound, as senior Quetta political officials were visiting the injured, sparking an hours-long shootout with security forces. The siege ended with at least 12 casualties, including four attackers, four Pakistan Army soldiers and four hospital nurses. One of the gunmen survived the assault and was captured by government forces. The responsibility of suicide attack on the bus of travelers killing 28 Hazara passengers in Daringar area of Mastung district on 15 February 2015 has been claimed by outlawed group of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. CONCLUSION The recent attack on Quetta confirmed that violent Non State Actors or State actors through proxies want to destabilize Baluchistan and desire to cultivate a chaotic situation in order to carry out their aims. Destabilizing Baluchistan and sabotaging CPEC are core targets of RAW in Pakistan in order to sustain Indian hegemony in South Asia. Non state actors like LeJ, Daesh and JuA seek to gain prestige and support through such high profile attacks. Targeting the people from the commoner to the elites is one of the variants to spread chaos and to inculcate the separatist sentiment at the grass root level. On the other side, the destabilization of Pakistan s economy will be achieved through the eventual failure of mega projects like CPEC. Reference News Correspondent. "Quetta Attack: ISIL and Taliban Claim Suicide Bombing." Al Jazeera: Live News. Last modified August 9, News Correspondent. "Pakistan Bombing: What is Jamaat Ul-Ahrar?" The Conversation. Last modified March 29, News Correspondent. "Timeline of Deadliest Insurgent Attacks in Pakistan." The Express Tribune. Last modified March 28, mission-r-aw.html R.K. Yadav (New Delhi: Manas Publications, 2014), 543 pp

10 Zeeshan Muneer has completed his LLB from Punjab University and a degree in International Relations from National Defense University Islamabad. He has a deep interest in international affairs and International Humanitarian Law. He is employed as a Research associate in CSCR and is part of CSCR Research Team. Hassan Riaz The writer is an International Relations graduate from National Defence University,Islamabad. He has been working with Pakistan House and SASSI in the past, currently he is working with CSCR. He has completed his thesis on 'US Iran Nuclear Deal its implication on region'. His areas of interests includes domestic problems of Pakistan and on going turmoil in Middle East generally and Iran specifically. Ousama Khurshid Khan is currently working as Senior Research Associate in CSCR. He is Alumnus of National Defence University. He is also member of ACCA. He has previously served in NDU's research think tank ISSRA in His area of interest is Defence studies and foreign policy of United States, and he writes on regional contemporary issues. He can be reached at ok@cscr.pk and he Jawad Falak has acquired his degree in IR from NDU and is also an ACCA. He is currently working as DD Operations CSCR and can be reached at Jawad@cscr.pk and he Copyright 2016 Center for Strategic and Contemporary Research. All Rights Reserved 10