Frankenstein’s monster: How Pakistan handcrafted its own biggest internal security threats

The recent hijacking of the Jaffar Express, en route from Quetta to Peshawar in Pakistan by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) has garnered widespread media attention.

The incident has shed light on the ongoing unrest in Balochistan, a region rich in resources yet plagued by a longstanding insurgency seeking greater autonomy.

But it is not just Balochistan that is a major internal threat for Pakistan. There’s terrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and political instability due to regular protests over politico-economic issues.

Apart from being part of a major existential crisis for Islamabad, there another common thread connecting these issues: Like Mary Shelley’s tragic scientist, Pakistan has built its own Frankenstein’s creations– forces it can no longer rein in.

For decades, Pakistan’s own policies have sown the seeds of its current internal crises. From separatist insurgencies and Islamist militancy to political upheaval, the country’s ruling establishment has repeatedly created and then lost control of its own monsters.

The Balochistan insurgency

Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest and most resource-rich province, has been plagued by a separatist insurgency for decades. But far from being a simple rebellion, this crisis is a product of Pakistan’s own oppressive policies.

The tale stretches all the way back to 1948. Balochistan’s contested accession to Pakistan that year sowed the seeds of discontent.

The province has since endured five armed uprisings.

And Islamabad’s response has remained unchanged through all of them: paramilitary operations, enforced disappearances , and a near-total security state.

Economic exploitation has only inflamed the problem further.

Despite being the largest province in the country, and home to Pakistan’s vast natural gas and mineral reserves, Balochistan remains its most underdeveloped region.

Villages near gas fields lack access to their own resources, and the province receives a mere fraction of the billions in revenues it generates.

The Baloch people see the state extracting their wealth while leaving them in poverty– a grievance that has become a rallying point for separatist groups like the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) to mobilise support.

In response to protests, Islamabad– or specifically, the Pakistani military– never sets the stage for meaningful dialogue or negotiation. It believes responding with force is the way to go– fighting fire with fire.

With at least 7,000 activists and civilians allegedly abducted or killed since 2003, the Pakistani military’s iron-fisted approach has only deepened the resentment fueling the insurgency.

Pakistan’s own policies have made its rule in Balochistan appear less like governance and more like occupation.

The TTP and the jihadist blowback

If Balochistan represents a monster of economic and military repression, the insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a textbook case of policy blowback.

Pakistan’s decades-long flirtation with jihadist militancy has now turned against it with full force.

Pakistan’s support for Islamist fighters began in the 1980s during the Soviet-Afghan War, when it armed and trained mujahideen with US and Saudi backing. This strategy continued into the 1990s, when the Pakistani military helped the Taliban seize power in Afghanistan, believing a compliant regime in Kabul would provide “strategic depth” against India.

After 9/11, Pakistan publicly aligned with the US in the War on Terror while simultaneously shielding Taliban elements. This double game – cracking down on some militants while nurturing others– backfired big time. By 2007, militant factions in Pakistan’s tribal areas, angered by Islamabad’s selective counterterrorism, unified under Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and declared war on the state.

The TTP launched a campaign of terror, bombing schools, security forces, and civilians. The 2014 Peshawar school massacre, which killed 132 children, was one of its deadliest attacks. Military operations weakened the group, but the fall of Kabul to the Afghan Taliban in 2021 reignited its strength. Attacks in Pakistan, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, surged once again.

Now, Islamabad faces a monster it created—one that even airstrikes and border security measures have failed to suppress.

Imran Khan crisis: The establishment’s political monster

Beyond insurgencies, Pakistan is now battling a political crisis of its own making. The ouster and imprisonment of former Prime Minister Imran Khan have triggered mass unrest , exposing deep fractures within the country’s fragile democracy.

Pakistan’s military has long controlled the country’s political landscape, toppling civilian governments when they become inconvenient. Khan’s rise to power in 2018 was widely seen as engineered by the military, which viewed him as a pliable alternative to traditional political dynasties.

However, when Khan’s relationship with the generals soured in 2021, the same establishment that had once backed him orchestrated his removal through a no-confidence vote in 2022.

The backlash was swift. Khan’s supporters launched nationwide protests, some of which turned violent. His arrest in 2023 only intensified the crisis, as security forces cracked down on thousands of PTI members, journalists, and activists. The military’s attempt to silence dissent through mass arrests and media censorship has only fueled greater public resentment.

By attempting to manipulate politics, Pakistan’s establishment has created a monster of public discontent. The state’s crackdown on Khan and his party has triggered one of the most widespread and sustained protest movements in the country’s history. With institutions losing credibility and mass protests becoming routine, Pakistan is staring at political instability of its own making.