By Mashal Khan

ISLAMABAD (TSAT) - Shari Baloch, an M.Phil Scholar who carried out suicide bombing attack on Chinese citizens last week in Karachi, the southern port city of Pakistan, was forced by her husband to carry out a terrorist attack to avoid any harm to the children.

On Tuesday, at least four people including three Chinese nationals were killed in a suicide bombing attack at Karachi University when Shari Baloch targeted a van of Chinese nationals near Confucius Institute — a Chinese language teaching center at the University.

A Baloch terrorist group, Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack and said it was the first suicide attack carried out by a female terrorist. 

According to initial investigations, Shari’s husband who is a dentist, forced her wife to join the BLA terrorist group.

She joined the Majeed Brigade of BLA two years ago and received militant training in their camp.

Last year, the terrorist group also posted her photos along with some other females from their camp and praised them to join the terror organization.

However, Shari changed her mind last year and returned to her home to live with her two kids, according to security officials.

But her Husband Haibattan Bashir forced her to go back to the camp.

Shari was well-educated woman who graduated from Balochistan University and later did her M.Phil from Allama Iqbal University, and was also teaching in a local school.

However, she was absent from school since 2020 and the education department sent her a show-cause notice as well. But she didn’t respond nor joined back to her job.

“When Shari told her husband that she wants to live with her kids and didn’t want to become a terrorist to kill innocent people, her husband threatened her that he would kill her kids if she did not return to BLA camp,” said a security official on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak with media.

She was forced and sent back to the camp to live with militants while this act was against the Islamic teachings and also against the local culture in which a woman lives with strangers alone.

“Baloch people has been fighting for centuries but they have never used women. It is a shame that we started using women in this war,” said Sarfraz Bugti, a prominent Baloch politician, parliamentarian, and former interior minister of Balochistan.

He condemned the Karachi suicide bombing, targeted innocent Chinese and Pakistani citizens, and said terrorism is condemnable whether such attacks are carried out by educated men and women or illiterate persons.

Security agencies have foiled many terrorist attempts aimed to carry out terrorist attacks and have also arrested many terrorists who were either directly involved or were abettors. Some rights activists and journalists inside and outside the country without knowledge of the matter keep calling these arrested suspects as “missing persons”.

“If this woman was caught before the attack, her children would have been taken out and placards would have been waving all over demanding that their mother is among the Missing Persons,” Bugti added.

He added that some depressant drugs have been recovered by the law enforcement agencies from Shari Baloch’s home that paralyze the mind and thinking ability. Her husband has been giving those depressants to his wife so should couldn’t think about her family and children and could execute the suicidal attack without any panic attacks.

“It’s evident that she was forced to use those drugs which prepared her for a terrorist attack,” he added.

Several Baloch politicians and tribal leaders including Farah Azeem Shah, spokeswoman of the Balochistan government, Wadera Gulam Nabi Shambani, former district chairman, and Mir Jamal Kalpar strongly condemned the Karachi attack and called it against the Baloch norms and culture.

- Shari Baloch's family background

Sharif’s family enjoys a luxurious life as her father served in different positions including Registerar in Turbat University, Member of the provincial ombudsman office in Balochistan, and Director WASA.

One of her brothers is civil administration officer serving as Tehsildar, another one is an officer in Grade 16 and the third brother is serving in the local judiciary.

Her husband Hibattan Bashir is working as a dentist while her two kids Mehrosh, five years old girl and her son Mir Hassan is two years old. Her two cousins are doctors while another is a lecturer in a local colleague. Her uncle is an author while another one retired as a professor from the education department.

“Being a Baloch woman, I strongly condemn the Karachi blast and I request all the Baloch people to not fall in hands of terrorists,” said Farah Azeem Shah.

“These terrorists are working for foreign forces who want to destabilize our country and the Baloch nation will never allow these elements to destroy our future,” she added.

Mir Jamal Kalpar, a prominent Baloch leader also called on Baloch people to stand in front of these terrorists who are playing in hands of foreign forces and want to create hurdles in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which is a game-changer project.

“CPEC is our bright future which will help Balochistan to become the business hub in this region but our enemy is creating all sorts of problems through these terrorists because they don’t want to see a prosperous Balochistan,” he said.

The multi-billion-dollar CPEC -- a network of roads, railways, and pipelines will connect China's strategically important northwestern Xinjiang province to the port of Gawadar in Balochistan.

While the corridor will give China easy access to Africa and the Mideast, it will make Pakistan earn billions of dollars and spur business activities along the road network.

The project will resolve Balochistan's socio-economic issues and the province will become a business hub.

However, India and US opposed the CPEC as it will connect the whole region from Gawadar to China, Afghanistan, Central Asian Republics, and the Middle East with each other.

Analysts believed that CPEC has a bright future for Pakistan which will not only connect the South Asian country with other regions but it can help Pakistan become an economic power in the future.