More than 1,000 people have been killed in Syria amid fierce clashes between anti-government groups and security forces, coupled with a series of “revenge killings.” The surge in violence marks one of the bloodiest episodes in Syria since the civil war began 14 years ago.
According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the death toll includes 745 civilians, 125 government security force members, and 148 militants aligned with pro-Bashar al-Assad groups.
The violence comes just months after Syria’s long-time leader, Bashar al-Assad, was ousted by rebel groups in December. Hopes for a stable future in Syria are now overshadowed by the renewed unrest.
Recent Clashes
On Thursday (March 6), pro-Assad militias launched attacks on government forces in the coastal city of Jableh, a region dominated by the Alawite community — a Shia sect to which Assad belongs. The militias targeted security patrols and checkpoints, resulting in 13 fatalities among government personnel.
In response, government security forces cracked down harshly, killing scores of civilians. Armed Sunni fighters reportedly joined the violence, targeting Alawite civilians in what appears to be retaliation for past atrocities under the Assad regime.
In a televised address on Friday, interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa urged restraint. “Security forces should not allow anyone to exaggerate in their response… because what differentiates us from our enemy is our commitment to our values,” Sharaa stated. Despite his appeal, violence persisted.
Reports from Alawite villages describe gunmen attacking residents, with many men shot in the streets or at their homes. Witnesses recounted incidents of looting and arson in predominantly Alawite areas, according to the Associated Press.
Background to Syria’s Conflict
Syria’s unrest dates back to 2011, when the Arab Spring uprisings swept across West Asia. While Sunnis form the majority in Syria, power had long been concentrated in the hands of the Alawite minority under the Assad family’s rule. Economic inequality, unemployment, and rising prices fueled the protests, which escalated into a brutal civil war as Assad’s forces cracked down on dissenters.
The conflict was further complicated by the involvement of foreign powers, including the US, Israel, Turkey, Iran, and Russia, all backing different factions. Following Assad’s fall, Israel launched airstrikes in Syria to prevent advanced weaponry from falling into hostile hands.
On Sunday, Sharaa called for peace, emphasizing the need for national unity. “We have to preserve national unity and domestic peace… Rest assured about Syria, this country has the characteristics for survival,” he said in a video message.
However, with minorities deeply distrustful of the new Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) regime, and multiple armed groups with competing agendas still active, Syria’s path to stability remains uncertain.
Mir, a key conspirator who aided Pakistan’s ISI in the abduction of Indian businessman and former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav from Iran and a religious leader in POB has been shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Turbat.
According to police, armed men on motorcycles opened fire on Mufti Shah Mir as he exited the mosque, leaving him critically injured. He was rushed to Turbat hospital but succumbed to his injuries. Hospital sources confirmed that he had sustained two fatal gunshot wounds to the head and jaw.
Mir was deeply involved in gross human rights violations in POB. As a key figure in military-operated death squads, he played a significant role in the abduction and extrajudicial killing of numerous Baloch youth. He was also known for spreading religious extremism in Pak-occupied-Balochistan’s historically secular society, using violence and coercion to further his agenda.
His actions contributed to the ongoing Army-sponsored oppression in the region, where enforced disappearances and targeted killings remain rampant. Mufti Shah Mir, who had ties to the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), had previously survived two assassination attempts. Authorities have launched an investigation, but the identity and motives of the attackers remain unknown.
He may have said it out of conviction or perhaps to please Rawalpindi. But by demanding that former Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa “must be questioned about why he resettled these [Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP] militants,” Pakistan Defence Minister Khwaja Asif could well have unwittingly annoyed the top brass of the country’s all-powerful military [appropriately referred to as the “establishment”], which is well known for fiercely protecting the dubious actions of its leadership from public scrutiny.
Even at the cost of digressing, it would be in order to mention that some may argue that the arrest and ongoing court martial of former Director General [DG] of Pakistan Army’s spy agency Inter Services Intelligence [ISI] Lt Gen Faiz Hameed [Retired] contradicts claims regarding existence of some sort of covert arrangement within the Army that provides extra-constitutional immunity to Generals. While Lt Gen Hameed’s case may give the impression that as far as Rawalpindi is concerned, no one irrespective of rank is above the law, however, this notion is far from reality.
The fact of the matter is that the former DGISI’s trial is part of an elaborate plan entailing the killing of two birds with one stone conceived by Pakistan Army chief Gen Syed Asim Munir with twin objectives. One, securing his own position as Pakistan’s supreme leader by politically emasculating Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf [PTI] chief Imran Khan who has dared question Rawalpindi’s extrajudicial authority and is hence a potential threat, and two, avenging the humiliation of being unceremoniously removed from the prestigious post of DG ISI by Khan in 2019 to make place for the PTI chief’s favourite Lt Gen Hameed.
Returning to Defence Minister Asif’s demand for questioning Gen Bajwa, there’s no doubt that the Pakistan Army is, through omission/commission [or both], solely responsible for the massive influx of TTP terrorists in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [KP], particularly in Swat Valley in 2022. Readers would recall that in August that year, Swat Valley saw massive public protests against burgeoning presence of TTP fighters and this issue acquired such menacing proportions that it even came up for discussion in the National Assembly with Defence Minister Asif expressing serious apprehensions regarding success of the then ongoing peace talks between the Army and TTP that were cloaked in secrecy.
However, Pakistan Army’s media wing Inter Services Public Relations [ISPR] inexplicably played down this serious threat. It issued a statement that “During the past few days, a misperception about the alleged presence of [a] large number of proscribed-organisation TTP’s armed members in Swat Valley has been created on social media,” it outrightly rejected the same calling it “grossly exaggerated and misleading.” To give this big fat lie a semblance of authenticity, ISPR added that “Presence of a small number of armed men on a few mountain tops between Swat and Dir has been observed, located far away from the population.”
Since this deliberate attempt by Rawalpindi to deceive both the executive and public through an official communication occurred under Gen Bajwa’s charge, the defence minister’s view that the then Army chief should be questioned is perfectly in order as well as essential from the accountability angle. However, given the embarrassing details that would emerge should this happen, there’s no possibility of Gen Munir giving a go-ahead to this request. How damaging the disclosures could be can be gauged by the source-based revelation by British-Pakistani journalist Gul Bukhari that the Pakistan Army’s secret deal with TTP involved “signing away fundamental rights of citizens in return for peace”!
Furthermore, since no Pakistan Army chief has ever been asked to justify his ill-considered actions that harmed the nation, why should Gen Munir set a precedent that could threaten Rawalpindi’s vulnerability?
Field Marshal Ayub Khan didn’t have to explain the rationale of going ahead with ‘Operation Gibraltar’, a ludicrous military plan to wrest control of J&K by inciting a local insurrection orchestrated and led by regular soldiers disguised as razakars [civilian volunteers] that pushed Pakistan into a full blown war with India in 1965. Gen Yahya Khan was never called to give reasons for approving ‘Operation Torchlight’ in 1971, a pogrom that gave the Army unbridled powers to indiscriminately kill, maim, torture and violate civilians in what was then known as East Pakistan that accelerated the country’s dismemberment.
Gen Pervez Musharraf was the only Army chief who had to face charges of high treason, as the judiciary refused to be cowed down by Rawalpindi. But he never appeared in court, thanks to thepersonal intervention of the then Pakistan Army chief Gen Raheel Sharif. Gen Musharraf himself revealed that “I have been his [Gen Sharif’s] boss and I have been the Army chief before him. He helped [me] out …” He went on to elaborate that “Once he [Gen Sharif] got the government to relieve the pressure that they were exerting, the courts gave their judgment and allowed me to go abroad for treatment.”
True to its tradition of keeping the Army top brass beyond the reach of law, the Pakistan Army ensured that its former chief indefinitely extended his treatment period abroad so that he wouldn’t have to face a trial. And when Gen Musharraf took the impulsive decision to return and participate in elections as well as fight his court cases, Rawalpindi again came to his rescue. Dawn reported a source disclosing that the then DGISI Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha had “held a meeting with him [Musharraf] in Dubai and advised him not to return to the country as the situation is not conducive for his return.”
The constitution of Pakistan stipulates that “the Federal Government shall have control and command of the Armed Forces,” and as such the Ministry of Defence is empowered to order any serving/retired member of the armed forces to be called-in for questioning. So, when the defence minister is convinced that Gen Bajwa “must be questioned about why he resettled these [TTP] militants,” he can always order the same. However, there’s a catch- though it technically qualifies as a democracy with an elected government, in practice Pakistan has a unique military-dominant hybrid form of governance, where the Army and not legislature has the final say, and the ‘Dawn Leak’ incident exposes the absolute power the Pakistan Army enjoys.
Readers would recall that in 2017, when Dawn reported that the Pakistan Army top brass had been told by the government that “military-led intelligence agencies are not to interfere if law enforcement acts against militant groups that are banned or until now considered off-limits for civilian action,” all hell broke loose. Rawalpindi demanded that this news leak be investigated at the highest levels and action taken against those responsible and the Prime Minister’s Office [PMO] dutifully complied.
However, when the PMO released the inquiry report, DG ISPR, who was just a two-star General publicly scoffed the same saying, “Notification on Dawn Leak is incomplete and not in line with recommendations by the Inquiry Board. Notification is rejected.” Now, when a two-star General can outrightly “reject” a notification issued by the PMO, how can one expect the defence minister to have the courage to summon a four-star General [albeit retired], who had once headed the Pakistan Army?
U.S. President Donald Trump has thanked Pakistan for arresting an alleged mastermind behind the deadly 2021 Kabul airport attack, but in doing so, he missed the real story: Pakistan’s intelligence agency, ISI, has been actively fueling the very terror outfit it claims to have cracked down on.
Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), the terror group responsible for the devastating Kabul blast that killed 170 Afghans and 13 U.S. troops during the botched U.S. withdrawal, has deep roots in Pakistan. The Paki establishment has long used ISKP as a strategic weapon—arming and funding its operatives to target the Taliban while simultaneously using them to spread terror in India.
Just recently, India’s Gujarat ATS arrested an ISKP terrorist, Abdul Rehman, who was plotting an attack on the Ram Mandir. Investigations have revealed that Rehman was trained and funded by none other than Pakistan’s ISI. He joined ISKP nearly ten months ago, received training through online video calls, and participated in attack planning discussions from his shop in Milkipur. While India is actively dismantling ISKP’s network, Pakistan is merely staging arrests to appease Washington and ensure the flow of U.S. funds continues uninterrupted.
Trump’s announcement—made during his first address to Congress after returning to the White House—celebrated Pakistan for assisting in the arrest of “the top terrorist responsible” for the Kabul bombing. He declared that the terrorist was “on his way to face the swift sword of American justice,” while taking a jab at Joe Biden for the “disastrous and incompetent withdrawal” from Afghanistan.
The so-called “arrest” has been widely publicized, with reports identifying the suspect as Mohammad Sharifullah, also known as Jafar, an ISKP leader. But here’s the truth—Pakistan has not captured a mastermind; it has merely sacrificed a scapegoat. This is a well-documented Paki tactic: hand over one disposable terrorist while keeping the rest operational.
ISKP itself is nothing more than a Frankenstein’s monster created by Punjabi Paki establishment. Its leadership is stacked with former Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) members—many of whom defected after ISI’s crackdown on TTP intensified. The group’s founding emir, Hafiz Saeed Khan, along with other top commanders, were Pakistani nationals with deep ties to ISI-backed terror networks.
In a momentous recognition of the relentless struggle for human rights in POB, Dr. Mahrang Baloch, the fearless leader of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee, has been nominated for the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize. This marks an unprecedented moment in history, as the world finally turns its attention to the systematic atrocities, enforced disappearances, and brutal oppression inflicted upon the Baloch people by the Pakistan Army.
Confirming the nomination, Dr. Mahrang Baloch said, “This is an honor, but it is not about me. This award belongs to the thousands of forcibly disappeared Baloch and their families who continue to fight for justice.” Her words underscore a painful reality—a people silenced, abducted, and killed by a state that thrives on bloodshed and fear.
The nomination comes as Pakistan intensifies its crackdown on Baloch activists, forcibly disappearing men, women, and even children in its desperate attempt to crush the indigenous struggle for freedom. Under Dr. Mahrang Baloch’s leadership, historic long marches and protests have shattered the imposed silence, forcing the international community to confront Pakistan’s war crimes in Pak-occupied-Balochistan.
Baloch journalist Kiyya Baloch said that Dr. Mahrang’s nomination is a tribute to her extraordinary resistance against the military’s reign of terror. She has emerged as an unyielding voice in the face of Army-engineered abductions, extrajudicial killings, and relentless suppression. The nomination stands as an indictment of the Paki establishment’s decades-long colonial rule over Balochistan, where thousands have been dragged into unmarked graves, never to be seen again.
Dr. Mahrang Baloch is among 338 nominees worldwide, including 244 individuals and 94 organizations. Her recognition is a blow to the Paki establishment, which has tried repeatedly to silence her. In a blatant act of suppression, she was previously blocked at Karachi Airport from traveling to New York for a TIME Magazine event, where she was honored as one of the world’s 100 emerging leaders.
Her Nobel Peace Prize nomination is not just a personal victory—it is a statement that the world is finally listening. It is a symbol of defiance against Pakistan’s genocidal policies in Balochistan and a message to the military junta that its crimes will not go unnoticed forever.
The decades-long Pak Army gamble of fostering and shielding the Taliban is now exploding in Islamabad’s face, as fresh clashes erupted at the Torkham border crossing. New footage emerging from March 5 suggests that the Taliban targeted a Pak Army outpost north of Torkham Gate, likely using a mortar strike. Smoke rising from a mountain peak, analyzed through geolocation, points to a direct hit on a Paki establishment’s position.
A Taliban fighter, Ibrahim Wazirwal from Khogyano, Nangarhar, was killed in cross-border firing between Pak and Afghan forces. The Paki establishment, which played godfather to the Taliban for decades, now finds itself at war with its own former proxies—a classic case of terror blowback.
Sporadic skirmishes between Taliban militants and Pak border guards continue near Torkham, with both sides using heavy weaponry. Local report widespread panic among residents as rockets and shells landed on residential homes, causing significant property damage. The clashes, which erupted around 2:30 a.m. Kabul time on March 3, have left at least three Pak personnel wounded and killed a truck driver caught in the crossfire.
The Torkham crossing, a crucial trade and transit point, has remained closed for the past 10 days. Pak officials claim that the Taliban’s construction of outposts and border infrastructure is the reason for the shutdown, but Islamabad’s concerns come across as hypocritical. After all, it was Pakistan’s military-intelligence complex that enabled the Taliban’s resurgence, hoping to use them as a strategic tool in Afghanistan. Now, with the Taliban asserting themselves and rejecting Pakistan’s diktats, Islamabad is facing the inevitable consequences of its reckless policies.
The Baloch National Movement (BNM) has raised alarm over the worsening crisis of enforced disappearances in POB, stating that the situation has reached its most horrific level in history. In its latest report, BNM’s human rights wing, Paank, revealed that in just the first five days of this month, 48 Baloch individuals were forcibly disappeared by Pak forces. Of these, 35 were abducted after arrests in Kalat, while five others were subjected to custodial killings in different parts of the region.
BNM strongly condemned the escalating brutality of the Pakistan Army, for systematically targeting the Baloch people in an attempt to suppress their demand for independence. The organization stated that POB is facing a severe humanitarian crisis, with the Paki establishment engaged in what can only be described as genocide. The report highlights how the Baloch people have been subjected to abductions, extrajudicial killings, and systematic repression, while international bodies remain largely silent on these war crimes.
The spokesperson of BNM emphasized that thousands of Baloch have fallen victim to enforced disappearances, leaving entire communities in anguish. Families of the missing individuals, particularly women and children, have been relentlessly protesting, yet instead of addressing their demands, Pak forces respond with even more brutality. Peaceful demonstrators are met with violence, abductions, and threats, in a clear attempt to terrorize them into silence.
Genocide in POB
BNM made it clear that it will not remain silent in the face of these atrocities. The organization asserted that Pakistan has lost control over POB due to the resilience of the Baloch resistance. In response, the Pakistan Army has intensified its crackdown on civilians, resorting to widespread violence in a desperate attempt to maintain its colonial grip on the region. However, BNM warned that these tactics will only lead to further bloodshed and deepen the resolve of the Baloch nation to break free from Pak Army’s occupation.
The statement reaffirmed that the Baloch people will never retreat from their struggle for independence. The sacrifices being made demand a united and coordinated movement to achieve freedom. BNM warned that as long as Balochistan remains under Pakistani occupation, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings will continue.
BNM urged its members to stand in solidarity with the families of the forcibly disappeared, support their courage, and strengthen the unity of Baloch society. The organization also called upon its overseas activists to amplify the voices of the oppressed Baloch, expose Pakistan’s crimes on international platforms, and rally global support for an independent Balochistan.
In a significant move, BNM announced that it will hold programs on March 27 to mark the anniversary of Pakistan’s forced occupation of Balochistan. The central event will take place in Geneva, where BNM plans to launch a strong campaign to highlight Pakistan’s atrocities before the international community. The event aims to pressure global organizations to take action against Pakistan’s war crimes and its colonial stranglehold over Balochistan.
Despite the arrival of the holy month of Ramadan, teachers and employees of the University of Balochistan remain unpaid, struggling with months-long salary and pension delays. While Pakistan’s ruling elite and military establishment continue to siphon funds for their luxuries, the country’s educators—especially in Pak-occupied-Balochistan—are left to fend for themselves.
The Academic Staff Association, led by President Professor Dr. Kaleemullah Bareech, has condemned the injustice, highlighting that while federal and provincial occupying-government employees have already received their salaries along with bonuses, university staff remain deprived of their rightful dues. The delay is not just an administrative failure but a clear reflection of the Army’s discriminatory policies towards POB.
For years, the University of Balochistan has been grappling with a severe financial crisis, leading to continuous salary and pension delays. Shockingly, even the salaries for December 2024 have not been disbursed. The occupying-authority’s apathy towards the province’s educational institutions raises serious concerns about its priorities—while universities suffer, the Pakistan Army continues to receive an oversized budget, spending extravagantly on its generals and its brutal war machine against Baloch nationalists.
Teachers’ and employees’ unions have demanded an urgent resolution to this crisis, calling on the occupying-government to ensure timely salary and pension payments. However, given Paki establishment’s track record, their pleas are likely to fall on deaf ears. The Pak Army remains more invested in silencing Baloch voices through enforced disappearances and military crackdowns than in securing the livelihoods of those shaping the province’s future.
In yet another display of Pakistan’s systematic persecution of Afghan refugees, authorities in Pak-occupied-Balochistan have barred thousands of Afghan nationals from working in coal mines across multiple districts, including Dukki, Chamalang, Harnai, Quetta, and Mach. This ruthless crackdown is a cruel extension of Pakistan’s notorious “strategic depth” policy, which has destabilized Afghanistan for decades.
According to officials from the Department of Minerals, around 10,000 to 15,000 Afghan laborers were engaged in coal mining in these areas. Now, district authorities have ordered mine owners to expel them immediately and to refrain from hiring Afghan workers in the future. This draconian move threatens to cripple the region’s coal industry, as nearly half of its workforce comprises Afghan miners. With mass layoffs imminent, mine closures loom large, deepening economic uncertainty for thousands.
This crackdown lays bare the exploitative nature of the Punjabi Pakistan Army and its ruling elite, who have long profited from human misery. For decades, Pakistan has meddled in Afghan politics, orchestrated coups in Kabul, and fueled wars that have rendered countless Afghans homeless and vulnerable. The very refugees displaced by Pakistan’s military adventurism are now being arrested, extorted, and persecuted on Pakistani soil. Those who flee war find no respite—only further humiliation and harassment at the hands of the same regime responsible for their displacement.
The world must wake up to the Paki establishment’s calculated war crimes. The displacement of millions serves its military-industrial complex, ensuring a steady flow of bribes, forced labor, and profits. Afghan refugees remain the most tragic victims of this cycle—uprooted by Pakistan’s interference and then treated as criminals when they seek safety across the border. It is time the international community holds Pakistan accountable for its endless exploitation of vulnerable communities.
On Tuesday evening, two suicide bombers detonated explosives near the security barrier at Bannu Cantonment, a military base in Pakistan’s volatile Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The blasts allowed a group of attackers to storm the compound, triggering a violent clash with security forces. At least 12 people have been confirmed dead, including four children, and 30 others have been injured in the attack.
The assault took place just after Iftar, during the ongoing month of Ramadan, in what was clearly a planned attempt to breach the military installation. Local hospital officials reported that the victims lived in close proximity to the blast site, with nearby homes and structures heavily damaged by the explosions. The roof of a mosque near the scene also collapsed during the blasts, trapping several worshippers inside.
However, unconfirmed local reports suggest that some 14 HGB terrorists attacked the cantonment while there were two simultaneous explosions. Six terrorists were neutralised while six others were reportedly active.
Muhammad Noman, a spokesman for the Bannu District Hospital, confirmed that 42 victims had been admitted, including the 12 deceased. Some of the injured are in critical condition, though many others are reported as stable. Dr. Ahmed Faraz Khan, the hospital director, said that emergency medical teams were mobilized immediately, with all available staff called in to assist.
The attack was claimed by the Hafiz Gul Bahadur (HGB) faction, a group that recently merged with Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The TTP, an insurgent group that has escalated its attacks in Pakistan since the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan, is backed by the Afghan Taliban in its efforts against Pakistan. It must be noted that while it is not acknowledged by any of the two regimes, Taliban is using TTP against Pakistan while the latter is has increasingly relied on the ISIS-Khorasan Province (ISKP) to counteract the Afghan Taliban. This complex dynamic has resulted in rising violence in both Pakistan and Afghanistan, with cross-border implications fueling the unrest.
Since Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, the TTP has rampantly risen inside the Pak territory. Various small and big terrorist organizations has pledged allegiance to it in last two years and have widened the operational and logistical capabilities of TTP.
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