Why protest by ethnic Baloch has put Pakistan’s key port of Gwadar on edge

Islamabad, Pakistan — Tensions are high in Pakistan’s port city of Gwadar in the southwestern Balochistan province where an ethnic Baloch group has been protesting for days, following the arrests of some of their members and deadly clashes with security forces.

Gwadar is Pakistan’s only deep-sea port on the Arabian Sea, and is a key route of the $60bn China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

The latest tensions in the port city began on Friday after the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) gave a call to demonstrate against alleged human rights violations, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings of people in Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest and poorest province.

Home to approximately 15 million of Pakistan’s estimated 240 million people, according to the 2023 census, Balochistan is rich in natural resources, including oil, coal, gold, copper, and gas reserves, which generate substantial revenue for the federal government.

The ethnic Baloch allege that the Pakistani state has neglected their community and exploited the province’s mineral resources. The anger fuelled separatist sentiments, with the province witnessing at least five rebellion movements since the formation of Pakistan in 1947.

The latest wave of rebellion began in the early 2000s to demand a larger share of the province’s resources and even calls for complete independence. The Pakistani security forces have since launched a severe crackdown on the rebellion, killing thousands of people in the last two decades.

Gwadar, due to its economic prominence, has been a hotbed of violence by armed and separatist groups, the latest being in March this year, when eight men tried to enter the Gwadar Port Authority complex before they were killed by security officials.