Heavy casualties, desertions force Pak army to recall ex-soldiers for deployment in Balochistan

New Delhi: The Pakistan security establishment has issued an urgent directive recalling retired army personnel for re-enlistment to combat severe manpower shortages caused by heavy casualties and desertions in the conflict-ridden regions of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

The Inspector General of Frontier Corps, Balochistan (North), in an official communication, has asked the retired soldiers to immediately report and get re-enlisted immediately.

An official said that this communication indicates two things. Firstly, the Pakistani Army is facing an acute manpower shortage due to the heavy casualties inflicted by groups such as the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the official said. "The other reason for such communication could be that the Pakistan Army is preparing to intensify operations in these regions. Groups such as the BLA and BLF have significantly upgraded their capabilities and have also introduced women suicide units, which have already carried out successful attacks against security forces," the official said. Pakistan has set an October 30 deadline for the return of the ex-army personnel. Pakistan observers say that the establishment has become desperate. Although it may try and project that it is looking to intensify operations to finish the problem, in reality, there is a massive manpower shortage.

In September alone, these separatist groups have carried out 94 attacks against the security forces. The BLA claimed that in these attacks, it has managed to kill 105 personnel of the Pakistani security forces. "This indicates that there are huge losses that the establishment has suffered, as a result of which their manpower is down," the experts say. (IANS)

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