THE ongoing fighting between the Frontier Constabulary and Baloch militants in the Uch area of Dera Bugti has left over 40 dead, including nine FC men, which indicates that the area remains far from being pacified two years after an intensive operation that culminated in the killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti. Heavy weapons like rockets, mortars and machine guns have been used. Despite claims that two ferrari camps have been destroyed and a number of militant commanders killed there are reports of heavy contingents of the FC moving towards the area. It has been claimed that there is a foreign hand behind the insurgency in Balochistan and that both the US and India are unhappy over the construction of the Gwadar port with China's help as it would provide the latter a land route to the Middle East through Pakistan. It has also been maintained that Afghanistan has provided shelter to Baloch militant leaders. There are many who think foreign powers can succeed in their machinations only if sections of local population entertain strong grievances. The best way to put an end to militancy drawing support from perceptions of injustice is to remove the causes that give birth to it. Reliance on force alone can add to grievances on which the enemies of the country thrive. The PPP leadership had promised to undo the injustices of the past and announced that it would soon call an All Party Conference for this purpose. Later it released two Baloch nationalist leaders. Whatever goodwill the party leadership had thus acquired was, however, dissipated due to sheer inaction on its part. The government's authorization to the Army to make decisions on action in tribal areas has caused widespread worry. The involvement of the FC in curbing militancy is equally disconcerting because in case of its failure the next logical step would be the induction of the Army. Instead of passing the responsibility of decision-making on security issues to the Army, the elected government should enter into a dialogue with the nationalist parties of Balochistan.