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Balochistan is one of Pakistan’s poorest regions although it has vast natural resources.<ref name=Kemp>{{cite book|last=Kemp|first=Geoffrey|title=The East Moves West: India, China, and Asia's Growing Presence in the Middle East|year=2010|publisher=Brookings Institution|isbn=978-0815703884|edition=1st|page=116}}</ref> Baloch separatists allege that the central government of Pakistan is systematically suppressing development in Balochistan to keep the Balochs weak.<ref name="Kemp"/>
The [[Balochistan Liberation Army]] has been accused by Pakistani state agencies of engaging in several domestic violent incidents when the attacks were however claimed by another group called [[Lashkar-e-Balochistan]].<ref>[http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/lahore/26-Apr-2012/blast-all-leads-point-to-balochistan Blast: All leads point to Balochistan]</ref> It has been designated as a terrorist group by the Government of Pakistan. Internationally, it has been officially designated as a terrorist group by the [[Home Office]] of the government of the United Kingdom.<ref>[http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/counter-terrorism/proscribed-terror-groups/proscribed-groups?view=Binary Proscibed Terrorist Organisations], Home Office (Government of the United Kingdom)</ref> Meanwhile the Pakistani security forces especially [[Inter-Services Intelligence]] (ISI) and the [[Frontier Corps]] have been reported to follow a [[kill and dump]] campaign.<ref name="economist.com">{{Cite news|url=http://www.economist.com/node/21552248%7casi|title=Balochistan: "We only receive back the bodies"|location=Quetta|date=7 April 2012|publisher=The Economist|quote=Since July 2010 over 300 battered corpses have been flung on roadsides and in remote areas across the province. Baloch activists and human-rights organisations believe these men, insurgents and activists, were victims of a “kill and dump” policy run by the Frontier Corps (FC), a paramilitary force that works with the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency. With burn marks, broken limbs, nails pulled out, and sometimes with holes drilled in their heads, the bodies are discarded, becoming food for dogs. The security forces deny any connection to the corpses. No one has been held responsible.}}</ref> In the period from 2003 to 2012, it is estimated that 8000 people were kidnapped by Pakistani security forces in the province.<ref name="The Economist">{{Cite news|url=http://www.economist.com/node/21552248%7casi|title=Balochistan: "We only receive back the bodies"|location=Quetta|date=7 April 2012|publisher=The Economist|quote=}}</ref> BLA has also been accused of numerous terrorist attacks.<ref name="The Economist" /><ref name="BBC News">{{Cite news |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17182978|title=Waking up to the war in Balochistan|date=28 February 2012 |accessdate=7 April 2012|publisher=BBC News|quote=The civil war has left thousands dead - including non-Baloch settlers killed by Baloch militants - and has gone on for the past nine years, but it hardly made the news in Pakistan, let alone abroad.}}</ref><ref name="Zeb 2011">{{cite web|url=http://law.anu.edu.au/coast/events/apsa/papers/253.pdf|title=Traditional Power Structure and Ethnopolitical Conflict in Baluchistan: Target Killing of Punjabi Settlers as a Case Study|first=Rizwan|last=Zeb|work=Australian Political Science Association Conference|year=2011|publisher=[[ANU College of Law]]|quote=The current insurgency which started in 2003-04 is also more organized and well equipped than the earlier ones, and more violent. One of the unique features of this is the target killing of the Punjabi settlers by the Baluch militant nationalist groups who view Punjabi settlers as outsiders and supporters and agents of the state.}}</ref><ref name="hrw.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/pakistan1210.pdf|title="Their Future is at Stake": Attacks on Teachers and Schools in Pakistan's Balochistan Province|publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]]|date=December 2010|quote=militant Baloch groups such as the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and the Baloch Liberation United Front (BLUF) seeking separation or autonomy for Balochistan have targeted Punjabis and other minorities, particularly in the districts of Mastung, Kalat, Nushki, Gwadar, Khuzdar, and Quetta.}}</ref>
==Area of dispute==
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