While global attention is fixed on the Mashriq, the war next to the side has put the daily life in Baluchistan.
Waqar Baloch, based in the border city of Jaheen at the Panjur de Baluchistan, was ready for his wedding next week. But for a boyfriend, his anxiety was of a different type: half of his family was in Iran, where Israel is fighting a war.
The ongoing confrontation between Tehran and Tel Aviv has sent waves through the Middle East, and both sides refuse to release their weapons. But while global attention is set at the MashriqThe conflict, which is feared to become a third World War, has interrupted everyday life in Baluchistan, the largest and most developed province of Pakistan.
The province, which shares a 909 kilometers border with Iran, has been staggering from food shortages, an increase in fuel prices, unemployment risk and the main security concerns since Iran-Israel’s war broke out. Families like Waqar are taking the worst part of these tensions.
“One of my paternal uncles is resident of Iran, and many of our family members live on the other side of the border,” he said Dawn.com. “They can no longer attend our wedding.”
Waqar added that several articles for their wedding, electronics, jewels and perfumes) were trapped in the border city of Paroom. However, he has decided not to change the wedding date, hoping that the situation will soon be dismissed.
Only a few days after the war broke out, Pakistan closed the border crossing points with Iran for an indefinite period. These include the Taftan of key trade and transit centers, as well as pedestrian routes in Danuk, Cheedgi and Jirak-Prom in Panjgur, Kech, Gwadar and Washuk District. Although the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the border was fully functional, the residents contradicted the statement, saying that all the crossing points had been closed.
For his part, Baluchistan’s Prime Minister Sarfraz Bugti presided over a high -level meeting on Sunday to guarantee the continuous supply of food, fuel and electricity in border cities, which have traditionally been based on Iran for supplies.
Cross -border trade
Zubair Baloch, a merchant in Panjgur, depends on the Iran border for his livelihood. The last days have been difficult for him to say the least.
“If this situation continues for a few more weeks, we will have to stop our children’s studies. We cannot pay their expenses or maintain our closed business,” he said.
Like Zubair, Hafiz Muslim, who lives in Mashkhel Border Town, feels that the watches have been reversed. “The markets are closed … we can listen to the Azan From the other side of the border, but we cannot visit the members of our family on the other side, ”he said.
There are many people like Zubair and Hafiz on both sides of the Pakistan-Iran border, which depend largely on cross-border trade. Any conflict in any country directly affects their livelihoods and the communities that live near the crosses.
“Most goods, edible products and construction materials in these areas are imported through formal and informal channels,” said Dr. Manzoor Baloch, economist and pro-vice chancellor of the University of Gwadar. “There is little for consumption, but there are great impacts on the trade chain of trade and businesses on both sides.”
Fuel and food crisis
The ongoing conflict in the Middle East has not only impacted trade, but has also severely restricted the movement of goods and people in the region, creating a shortage of daily needs in parts of Baluchistan, including the provincial capital, Quetta.
“Bakery articles such as cookies, cakes, babies milk and other kitchen needs in Baluchistan depend largely on Iran,” said Ghulam Hussain Baloch, a local merchant in the coastal city of Baluchistan de Gwadar. He added that many parts of Baluchistan also depend on Iran for liquefied natural gas (LNG), fuel and electricity.
Since the war broke out, Hussain said Dawn.comA fuel crisis has grabbed the province. “Due to this shortage, prices have shot up.” A 2024 joint intelligence report revealed that almost 10 million liters of Iranian gasoline and diesel entered Pakistan through land and sea. This fuel, which is normally sold for almost RS50-60 cheaper than local sources, is vital for the remote regions of Baluchistan, which are already impoverished and vulnerable, where even local supplies are difficult to deliver due to high transport costs.
“We cannot travel to other parts of the province,” said Hafiz. “I am especially worried that if someone falls seriously ill and needs an urgent treatment … How will we take them to hospitals in other parts of Baluchistan?”
Fuel shortage is also reaching agriculture with force, the only alternative livelihood for residents of border cities.
“The cost of running tractors and other machinery, such as water hole engines, has increased due to the scarcity of in progress in our native border regions, particularly in the graduation area of Panjgur,” said Waqar.
Fears do not say
However, the area most affected by the Israel-Iran War is the Makran division, which depends mainly on the neighbor of electricity. Energy cuts in cities such as Gwadar, Tobat and Pajgur could severely affect daily life, mainly hospitals, companies and schools that depend on it.
Fida Hussain Dashti, resident of the Keh district and former president of the Baluchistan Chamber of Commerce, said Dawn.com That the divisions of Makran and Rakhshan of the province also depend completely on informal trade with Iran. “In recent days, fresh vegetables and products ready for export to Iran are trapped here,” he lamented.
Another growing concern, Dashti continued, is the potential influx of refugees if the conflict continues. He recalled how the same in the 1980s affected the local economy and interrupted ties between Baloch’s families across the border.
“The arrival of a large number of displaced people can overwhelm the border communities already impoverished here and, ultimately, emphasize the deeply rooted tradition of the ‘Baloch hospitality’,” he said.
Threat of increase in militancy
In recent decades, both the Baluchistan of Pakistan and the province of Iran-Va-Baluchistan have witnessed secular militancy and the ethnocurnal armed conflict. On this side of the border, the militants seek “separatism.” On that side, the struggle is mainly for the rights of Muslim populations and Sunni balls.
In the midst of current tensions, several secular Baloch militant groups with cross -border ambitions seem to be preparing to ‘take advantage of the opportunity’, according to security analysts. Among them are the Ethno-Religious Jaish-Ul-Adl (Army), the Baloch Nationalist Army (BNA-Beebarg) and the Baluchistan Free Movement (FBM). These groups have openly indicated or announced their intention to take advantage of the Iran-Israel conflict in the region.
“The war runs the risk of diverting both the attention and resources of Iran of the province of Sistan-Falochistan of Iran,” said Malik Siraj Akbar, a journalist who has widely covered armed conflicts in Baluchistan. Dawn.com. “The trajectory of this situation will be significantly influenced by Pakistan’s position towards war. If the United States presses Pakistan to avoid supporting Iran, the border regions shared with Iran can become increasingly vulnerable to attacks by Sunni militant groups.”
In such a scenario, he continued, it is unlikely that Pakistan will take energetic measures against these groups, since they identify more for their Sunni religious identity than by their ethnic roots Baloch.
Speaking about the impact of war and the thrust factors on other Baloch militants operating in Pakistan, Akbar said: “The government is expected Seams of the brave, the seams of the base of the values, but it is a large number of limits of Montrionista, of security and is a transverse fixation, the coasts of the seams of the base of the values and the safety of the seams of the strengthened.
“An alliance between Baloch’s nationalists and Sunni militants would be temporary, but does not offer a long -term promise due to their ideological differences.” It would be an attempt to “stretch their resources” of Baloch’s secular militants to jump to it, he said.
“Ironically, the collapse of the current Iranian regime would go against the interests of Baloch’s nationalists in Pakistan because it would lead to the emergence of Sunni extremists who would probably act as the Taliban did with the nationalists Pashtun in KP and Fata,” added the analyst.
For now, however, the local population on both sides of the border waits with barley breathing, since they expect the fire announced by the president of the United States, Trump to have and can return to their daily life.
Image of heading: Iranian cargo trucks intersect at the Pakistan-Iran border in Taftan, Baluchistan, amid the current conflict between Israel and Iran. – AFP
