Pak-Iran tensions

Dawn Editorial

In the wake of Sunday's attack by Jundullah in Sistan-Baluchestan, senior Iranian officials have issued blunt statements against Pakistan. For example, Intelligence Minister Heyder Moslehi has been quoted as saying: 'According to the evidence, the Pakistan intelligence service is linked to the group (Jundullah) and Pakistan has to clarify its position regarding the group.' And the commander of the Guard's ground forces has reportedly demanded permission to 'confront terrorists on Pakistani soil.'
 
Iranians look at the scene of a blast in the Pishin district. A suicide bomber killed five senior commanders of the powerful Revolutionary Guard and at least 26 others Sunday near the Pakistani border in the heartland of a potentially escalating Sunni insurgency. -Photo by AP

For its part, the Pakistani government has strenuously denied any link to Jundullah and promised to extend all cooperation possible to the Iranian authorities. What are we to make of all this? First, the issue of Jundullah and its presence inside Pakistan. In the shadowy world of militancy very little is known for certain, but it does seem likely that Jundullah exists in some form in Balochistan and perhaps even Fata.

However, and this is the second issue, the question is, does Jundullah to the extent that it does operate from Pakistani soil do so with the government or the security establishment's blessing? Even by Machiavellian standards, support for Jundullah extended by agencies under civilian control can virtually be ruled out. After previous attacks in Sistan-Baluchestan attributed to Jundullah by the Iranian government, it is understood that President Zardari directed then Interior Adviser Rehman Malik to urgently address the concerns expressed by the Iranian government. Could, though, the security establishment here be playing its 'games' and helping Jundullah as one of the 'good' militant groups it is regularly accused of shielding? This too seems extremely unlikely for there is no apparent benefit to be had. Remember also that Pakistan is itself faced with a low-level local Baloch insurgency and therefore is unlikely to stoke Baloch militancy across the Pak-Iran border.

While it cannot be argued with absolute certainty, what is far more likely to be occurring is that Jundullah is benefiting from the Al Qaeda-anti-Shia nexus of militancy operating inside Pakistan, a nexus that the state here is struggling to contain and is itself a target of. Consider this possibility: as the militants fighting against the state find themselves being targeted inside their strongholds by the Pakistan Army, they will try everything possible to take the pressure off. A wave of suicide bombings and fidayeen attacks inside Pakistan is one way to do so. Another way would be to increase tensions between Pakistan and its neighbouring countries - exactly what has happened following Sunday's attack in Sistan-Baluchestan. So while the state must clamp down on such forms of militancy harder, our neighbours should avoid falling into the militants' trap.