Chief Minister (CM) Balochistan Nawab Aslam Raisani has barely escaped an attack on his life. On his way to a session of the provincial assembly, Raisani’s convoy was targeted by a suicide bomber at a railway level crossing in Saryab. Narrowly missing the vehicle that carried Raisani, the bomber managed to injure ten people. This seems like an assassination attempt, one that is being claimed by many but its real perpetrators are not yet known. It is reported that organisations like the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and Baloch Liberation United Front have claimed responsibility but the loudest claimants are a little known group that goes by the name of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi al Alami (LeJaA). The Laskar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) proper has denied any connection with the LeJaA, with the latter threatening more such attacks.
Some quarters are accusing Baloch nationalists of being behind this attack, which comes on the heels of the attack on Balochistan Governor Nawab Zulfiqar Magsi by a remote control bomb just over a week ago. Even CM Raisani thought that “locals” along with the LeJ were involved. A few things just do not add up. News reports indicate that the body of the suicide bomber was that of an Uzbek. Now the last one heard, Uzbeks do not have any particular affiliation with or compassion for the Balochistan cause. Uzbek militants are part of the army of jihad. For them to join the fray of the Baloch struggle while they are immersed in a war with the security forces here and the US/NATO in Afghanistan does not make sense. Also, Balochistan’s nationalists do not use suicide bombings as their standard operating procedure. The assassination attempt on Raisani has right-wing militancy plastered all over it.For those who say that the militants wage their war against the security forces only and do not target the country’s leading figures, one only need to remember that the Taliban issued a hit list in 2009 in which it swore to target politicians. It was therefore only a matter of time before they upped the ante. If it really is the militants, this attack on Raisani shows just how alarmingly close the terrorists are to creeping towards our power centres.If our heavily protected leaders can so easily be targeted by militants, one shudders to think about the fate of the defenceless masses – Dailytimes
