Arms discovery in Iraqi Embassy - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The 1973 Arms discovery in the Iraqi Embassy in Pakistan refers to an armed conflict between the State of Pakistan and the Iraqi Embassy situated in Islamabad

Islamabad

Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...

. The conflict ended with a successful special military operation led by Pakistan's Special Service Group (SSG) and the Pakistan Army Rangers

Pakistan Rangers

The Pakistan Rangers are part of the Paramilitary forces of Pakistan, and consists of members of the Pakistan Army under the direct control of the Ministry of the Interior of the Pakistan Government. The Rangers are an internal security force with the prime objective to provide and maintain...

. Following the incident, the Iraqi Ambassador and his staff were expelled from Pakistan as personae non gratae.

Background

Relations between the Baloch people

Baloch people

The Baloch or Baluch are an ethnic group that belong to the larger Iranian peoples. Baluch people mainly inhabit the Balochistan region and Sistan and Baluchestan Province in the southeast corner of the Iranian plateau in Western Asia....

and the State of Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

had historical roots and were strong before the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

invasion of Iraq. Following the 1971 war and the partition of East Pakistan

East Pakistan

East Pakistan was a provincial state of Pakistan established in 14 August 1947. The provincial state existed until its declaration of independence on 26 March 1971 as the independent nation of Bangladesh. Pakistan recognized the new nation on 16 December 1971. East Pakistan was created from Bengal...

, Iraq collaborated with the Soviet Union to launch a covert operation to provide military aid to the Balochi nationalists in Pakistan and Iran. The aim of this exercise was to destabilize the two countries by helping dissident Baloch parties in their struggles to seek independence from the Pakistani and Iranian States. The operation remained successful during the early 1970s, but ultimately failed when there was a dispute amongst the Nationalist leaders involved in this operation. The dispute took place when Balochi leaders Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo and Ataullah Mengal

Ataullah Mengal

Sardar Ataullah Khan Mengal , popularly known as Sardar Ataullah Mengal, is a well-known political and feudal figure of Pakistan hailing from Balochistan. He has been campaigning a nationalist and separatist movement in Pakistan for over four decades. He is the head of the Shahizai Mangal tribe...

of National Awami Party

National Awami Party (Wali)

The National Awami Party was formed after a split between Maulana Bhashani and Khan Wali Khan ostensibly over Bhashani's siding with China and Professor Muzaffar Ahmed along with Khan Abdul Wali Khan sided with U.S.S.R in the Sino-Soviet split...

refused to accept the demands of Akbar Bugti to establish himself as the Governor of the Province of Balochistan

Balochistan (Pakistan)

Balochistan is one of the four provinces or federating units of Pakistan. With an area of 134,051 mi2 or , it is the largest province of Pakistan, constituting approximately 44% of the total land mass of Pakistan. According to the 1998 population census, Balochistan had a population of...

Operation

On the midnight of 9 February 1973, the Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

i authorities

Military Intelligence of Pakistan

In Pakistan Defence Forces, the Directorate-General for the Military Intelligence , is a Pakistan Defence Forces intelligence agency and that is responsible for the military counter-intelligence. It also refers specifically to the intelligence components of the Pakistan Armed Forces. Unlike the...

were informed by Akbar Bugti regarding a weapons shipment that had been smuggled into the Iraqi Embassy with the help of the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

. On 10 February 1973, the Pakistani authorities started their preparations to launch a quick military operation. After limited hours of planning, a operation took place in which the Iraqi Embassy was stormed, led by the Special Service Group and aided by the Pakistan Army Rangers

Pakistan Rangers

.

In 9 February 1973, at midnight, Akbar Khan Bugti had revealed to Pakistan

Pakistan

i authorities

Military Intelligence of Pakistan

about weapons shipment smuggled from Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

by help of Iraq

Iraq

which kept in the Iraqi embassy in Islamabad

Islamabad

. In 10 February 1973, the Pakistani authorities began to prepared to launch a quick military operation. After limited hours of planning, a special military operation was led by Special Service Group accompained by the Pakistan Army Rangers

Pakistan Rangers

to storm the Iraqi embassy. Following this incident, authorities discovered 300 Soviet submachine gun

Submachine gun

A submachine gun is an automatic carbine, designed to fire pistol cartridges. It combines the automatic fire of a machine gun with the cartridge of a pistol. The submachine gun was invented during World War I , but the apex of its use was during World War II when millions of the weapon type were...

s with 50,000 rounds of ammunitions and large amount of money that was to be distributed amongst Baluchi separatist groups.

Aftermath

Following this incident, the nationalist leader Sher Mohammad Marri

Sher Mohammad Marri

Sher Muhammad Bijarani was a Baloch nationalist tribal chief. He fully favoured a struggle against Pakistan. He had very close link with Kabul, Moscow.Sher Muhammad Marri also known as Babu Shero, Shero Marri, General Sherof and Baluchi Tiger....

visited Baghdad

Baghdad

Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...

. Newspapers reported that the arms were intended to be given to Balochi separatists in both Pakistan and Iran to fuel tentions amongst the two states and the dissident tribes. A few months later, it was also reported that in reality, the arms were not found in the Iraqi Embassy but in the Iraqi consulate in Karachi

Karachi

Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...

. Some authorities predicted that the discovery of these weapons would muster greater support for the government from other ethnic groups in the country. A military operation was also launched in Baluchistan shortly after this incident. This counter-insurgency operation finally ended in 1977 after the deaths of thousands of civilians, Balochi separatists and Pakistani military personell. Despite this setback, Iraq continued to support underground activities to empower Balochi nationalists.

External links

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Background

Operation

Aftermath

See also

External links