Pakistan plans temporary relocation of about 1,000 residents of nomadic settlement
The authorities of Pakistan’s Balochistan province plan to temporarily relocate about 1,000 people from a nomadic settlement in the mountainous Shor-Parod area of Mastung district to conduct a security operation against terrorists. Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti said this during a provincial assembly session, Dawn reports.
The plan has not yet been implemented
According to Bugti, a government survey found that about one thousand people live in the area, most of whom belong to nomadic communities. Some residents move seasonally with their livestock.
The provincial chief minister stressed that the plan concerns only a small group of people near the foothills, is at the preparation stage and has not yet been implemented. He also said that other parts of Mastung district are not included in the plan and that no mass relocation is being carried out in other areas of Balochistan.
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Temporary accommodation for residents
Bugti assured that the relocation would be temporary and that the authorities would provide the necessary conditions for displaced residents, paying special attention to women, children and elderly people.
According to him, the operation is planned for action against terrorist hideouts. Bugti said that such groups use hideouts to prepare attacks and may use civilians as human shields during attacks on state personnel.
During the session, opposition leader Mir Younis Aziz Zehri raised the issue of cutting down fruit orchards and relocating the population. Bugti said that the state cannot ignore situations in which militants use private properties, including orchards, houses, shops or hotels, as hideouts or places to launch attacks.
