Instability in Pakistani areas linked to Afghanistan

Pakistani Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani Friday said that instability in the country's southwestern Baluchistan province and largest commercial city of Karachi was linked to instability in Afghanistan. Talking to reporters in eastern Multan city, he said that the situation in Baluchistan and Karachi was linked to the on-going fight against militancy and the situation in the neighboring country Afghanistan. The situation across the western border, said the Prime Minister, has worsened the law and order in the country and all the law enforcement agencies had been instructed to exchange information with one another and convey to the provincial governments concerned so that they could take pre-emptive steps. While Karachi, known as the country's economic jugular vein, is reeling through unabated violence, Baluchistan is also facing a low-level insurgency by the nationalist militants. Violence in Karachi is multidimensional as not only rival political and ethnic groups are involved but also criminal gangs and mafia are resorting to target-killings. In Baluchistan nationalist militants are demanding more provincial autonomy and increase in royalties from natural resources extracted from their lands.