A major suicide attack took place on Friday evening on the Pakistani Coast Guard camp in Panwan area of Jiwani in Gwadar district. The attacker entered the camp directly with a truck full of explosives. Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) claims that the entire camp was destroyed in the blast and its fighters also killed the remaining soldiers, in which more than 30 security personnel are claimed to have been killed. Pakistan has not yet officially confirmed this number. But this attack once again brings to the fore the same question which is now difficult to ignore. Gwadar Port, which Pakistan and China have been calling the backbone of the $62 billion trade corridor for the last two decades, is today not able to ensure the safety of its soldiers.
A security crisis that continues to deepen
This is not the first incident. Even before this, BLA had attacked the Gwadar Port Authority complex and the nearby Turbat Naval Base. Through these attacks, the organization has been continuously demanding China to leave CPEC and completely exit Balochistan. Many security experts believe that the purpose of these attacks is to send a message to China that its investments are not safe, because the targets that were targeted were considered the most secure.
If we look at the whole picture and not just one incident, the situation appears more serious. Earlier this year, a Coast Guard patrol boat was attacked near Jiwani, in which three soldiers were killed. This was the first confirmed attack on a maritime security vessel in the region. After this, BLA also announced its separate naval wing, which made it clear that this is not a one-time action but a part of the new strategy.
This year, BLA also deployed a drone unit. This means that now the organization has shown the ability to attack from all three fronts – land, air and sea. Due to this, Pakistan is having to strengthen security arrangements in all three directions, while it is already facing pressure on one front. Friday’s attack is even more worrying because this time no boat or patrol vessel was targeted, but a secure camp built directly on land. This means that now the rebels are able to directly attack even strong military bases.
Even on the economic front, Gwadar is far behind expectations.
Even if we look beyond the security crisis, Gwadar’s economic performance has not come close to the big promises that were made to it. About 90 projects were planned under CPEC, but only 38 have been completed by 2026, while about one-third of the projects have not even started yet. In Gwadar itself, the economic transformation that has been talked about for years has seen only a few limited projects like a master plan, some basic infrastructure and a small commercial institute completed. The big economic changes that were promised are still not visible on the ground.
If security risk increases, business will also be affected.
The international insurance market assesses the risk of any area and decides the premium accordingly. As the risk increases, the cost of insurance also increases. And when insurance becomes too expensive, shipping companies start looking for alternative ports and routes.
In ports where shipping becomes increasingly expensive and risky, traffic naturally begins to decline. In areas where there are suicide attacks on security camps and frequent attacks on coast guard ships, insurance companies do not consider the risk to be low. If the area around Gwadar comes to be considered a high-risk zone, its already weak business model will come under even more pressure. The biggest strength of any port is its safe shipping. If the same comes under question then it becomes a question not only of security but also of its existence.
The resentment of the local people is also continuously giving strength to the rebellion.
The BLA campaign did not start suddenly. Baloch nationalists have long said that CPEC is a project to benefit the federal government of China and Pakistan rather than the local people. They allege that the resources and sea coast of Balochistan are being used, but the local population is not getting its benefits.
In response, Pakistan heavily militarized the entire area around Gwadar and also created a Special Security Division for the protection of Chinese citizens. Although this was considered a necessary step from security point of view, it further increased local dissatisfaction. The result was that with more security came more resentment and then the number of attacks also increased. This cycle does not seem to be broken yet and Friday’s attack is the latest example of this.
A corridor still searching for its purpose
Supporters of this project say that such large infrastructure projects take decades to succeed. His argument is that with time connectivity will improve and business will also increase. In principle this is not wrong. But when the security camps of a port are being blown up in suicide attacks, the rebels are continuously attacking in new ways and the government is still not able to fully guarantee the safety of the security personnel deployed there, then it is no longer easy to keep this argument strong. If the port, which is responsible for the security of its coastline and its own coast guard, is not able to do this, then it becomes difficult to see it as the global trade gateway that it was promised.
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