Pakistan's military to launch new offensive against separatist militants

By Asif Shahzad

Pakistan plans a new military offensive against separatist insurgents in southwestern Balochistan province, home to key Chinese Belt and Road projects, but it was not immediately clear if the plan would be a joint effort with its giant neighbour.

Following a string of deadly attacks that targeted its citizens in recent months, China has pushed to join security efforts to protect them, and on Tuesday unveiled a plan for joint counter-terrorism exercises in Pakistan.

The exercise, which both the sides called Warrior-VIII between the Pakistan Army and Peoples' Liberation Army of China, was launched at a northwestern Pakistani counter-terrorism facility, a Pakistani army statement said.

"The exercise is aimed at refining professional skills through joint training, besides harnessing (our) historic military-to-military relations," said the statement, largely echoing a Chinese defence ministry announcement the day before.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired a meeting of civil and military leaders who gave the go-ahead for the "comprehensive operation", his office said in a statement.

But it stopped short of saying whether the effort was limited to ground operations, or could involve the air force, and whether it was prompted by China's disquiet at the separatist attacks.

Pakistan's information ministry and the military did not immediately respond to requests for details on the nature of the offensive.

Asked whether China was involved in Pakistan's planned offensive against Balochistan insurgents, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Wednesday, "I do not understand the situation you mentioned."

He added: "As a matter of principle, China firmly supports the anti-terrorism efforts of the Pakistani side and is willing to deepen pragmatic cooperation with (it) in various fields to better benefit the two countries and (their) peoples..."

Pakistan's military already has a huge presence in the rugged region bordering Afghanistan and Iran, where insurgent groups have been fighting for a separate homeland for decades to win a larger share of benefits from the resource-rich province.

The military has long run intelligence-based operations against the insurgent groups, the most prominent being the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), which escalated attacks in recent months on the military and nationals from longtime ally China.

The region is home to Gwadar Port, built by China as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a $65 billion investment in President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road infrastructure initiative to expand China's global reach.

In addition to the recent attacks, the BLA claimed a suicide bombing last month outside the international airport in the southern port city of Karachi that killed two Chinese engineers.