Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest, but least developed province, which is home to over 13 million people, mostly Balochis.
The roots of the conflict, like India’s Kashmir issue, go back to the country’s independence.
When Pakistan was born in 1947, the rulers of the Khanate of Kalat, which was a princely state under the British and part of today’s Balochistan, refused to join the new nation.
Pakistan sent troops in March 1948 to annex the territory. Though Yar Khan, the then ruler of Kalat, later signed a treaty of accession, his brothers and followers continued to fight, triggering the first conflict between Balochis and the Pakistani Army.
