Pakistan faces new frontier against attacks: Balochistan’s Pashtun areas

Islamabad, Pakistan — Violence has surged since June across Balochistan’s Pashtun-majority districts, areas which had largely escaped the fighting that has engulfed much of Pakistan’s southwestern province.Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest province by area, resource-rich but its least developed, bordering Afghanistan and Iran.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4How will Pakistan deal with the unrest in Balochistan?list 2 of 4Why peace remains elusive in Pakistan’s troubled Balochistanlist 3 of 4At least nine police officers killed in southwestern Pakistan attacklist 4 of 4Pakistan military says 42 killed in fighter attacks in Balochistanend of listWhile Baloch nationalist rebels have waged an armed rebellion against the state there for two decades, the Pashtun-majority districts had, until recently, remained largely outside that conflict.That pattern has now changed.On September 1, security forces said they had repelled an attack, claimed by the Pakistan Taliban (known by the acronym TTP), on a customs facility at a major intersection, Ziarat Cross, in the Pashtun-dominated Pishin district, 100km northeast of Balochistan’s capital Quetta. Several armed fighters and six se...