Encounter in Panjgur: Four suspected militants killed

QUETTA:

Four suspected Baloch militants were killed and seven others arrested following a raid carried out by the Frontiers Corps (FC) personnel in Panjgur district, a spokesman for the paramilitary force said on Saturday.

“A known rebel affiliated with the Baloch Liberation Front is among the four suspects killed in the operation,” the spokesman told The Express Tribune. He added that a large cache of arms was also recovered during the raid.

He did not disclose the names of the suspects killed and arrested in the operation.

Providing details, the spokesman said FC Balochistan launched a search operation in the Washbud area of Panjgur after being tipped-off on the location of suspected militants on Friday. He said that paramilitary troops came under heavy fire from the suspects while they were carrying out the search.



“The firefight continued for almost 36 hours,” he said.

According to the FC spokesman, the suspects used four women and four children as human shields while attacking the paramilitary troops with heavy weapons and hand-grenades.

Sources said the FC personnel succeeded in rescuing the women and children from the suspects’ custody. They were later handed over to the Panjgur district administration.

The Balochistan government was kept in the loop about the search operation, the sources added.

The Baloch Republican Party (BRP) condemned the raid and claimed the FC troops targeted an ‘innocent and unarmed’ family in Washbud. The party announced a shutterdown strike to protest against the incident.

A spokesman for the Baloch Republican Army said a woman was among those killed in the raid.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 26^th, 2014.