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The recent clash are seen as classic hit and run
insurgency operations leading analysts to believe that
earlier Pakistani claims of having attacked and
destroyed arm caches and training camps have had
little effect on the Bugti resistance. The Bugtis also
seem to have graduated to targeted attacks via snipers
claiming to have killed 4 soldiers in two areas.
Pakistan does not seem to be in any mood to negotiate with the
tribes in this gas-rich region. Pakistan President
Pervez Musharraf had very uncharitable things to say
about the tribal leaders and promised that his country
will not succumb to what he calls blackmail. Tribes
have had major issues with Pakistan ever since
independence from Britain in 1947. In many ways they
never really integrated with Pakistan.
However, their issues seem more economic that power-centered.
The tribes say that Pakistan uses their resources but
does not invest even a portion of the moneys it gets
to further their lives. Pakistan is also accused of
building a river across the only river that brings
drinking water to this region so the farmers in the
Valleys can benefit. Tribes say that these insensitive
moves and policy make them look like a colony of
Pakistan just as East Pakistan was till they obtained
independence in 1971 with Indian help.
Musharraf is accusing India of aiding the tribes in Baloachistan,
which India and the tribes have rejected as sheer
nonsense, and lies. Implying that he does not
recognize Pakistan as his Federal super-structure,
Bugti says, "He is in Baloachistan and not in
Pakistan.
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