The attack on a JUI(F) leader in Balochistan’s Mastung province is the second attack on the party in six weeks, the first being a blast at a party convention in Bajaur district in KP last month. That attack led to over 60 deaths, while no one has been reported killed in the Mastung attack. However, JUI(F) leader Hafiz Hamdullah was among the seven injured in this attack. He had escaped the Bajaur attack because he had not turned up despite bring scheduled to do so. That attack was claimed by the Islamic State-Khorasan Province. The Mastung blast has not been claimed so far.
It is worth noting that the blasts are coming just as Pakistan is about to get into elections. In the 2013 election, there were several attacks on election gatherings, with the ANP and PPP left unable to carry much activity. However, this time around, it seems that the JUI(F) is being targeted. It is worth remembering that party chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman himself was attacked in 2011, but survived, though nine others were killed. The JUI(F) has been considered ‘soft’ on the Talian and the TTP, being also of the same Deobandi school of thought. It has also been careful not to make any statement critical of the Taliban. There are three dimensions that need to be explored. First, are there any intra-Deobandi feuds taking a violent turn? The IS-KP does have a problem with the Afghan Taliban, whom it regarded as soft on the USA. Are there any intra-tribal or inter-tribal clashes playing out? And finally, Hafiz Hamdullah bears a closer examination; he has been involved in such an incident for the second time.
It should not be forgotten that this attack has taken place in a sensitive area. This is the area where sectarian militants and Baloch nationalists have made common cause. It is also the area where the province is attracting much attention from Chinese investors, and where Middle Eastern investors are using the Special Investment Facilitation Council mechanism to make investments. The generally destabilizing effect of the Taliban government should not be forgotten. It should not be forgotten that this is the area where they spent their exile while the USA occupied Afghanistan. The caretaker government should pay particular attention to this attack for it challenges both its prescribed task (the holding of elections) and what seems to be its self-appointed one (bringing in foreign investment).
