Kech targeted attack: BLF claims killing 11 ‘govt informers’

Govt official says men were killed in a clash between two groups

QUETTA: An outlawed Baloch separatist group claims to have killed at least 11 ‘government informers’ in an attack near the troubled Kech district of Balochistan. The Balgtar area, where the attack precisely took place, is located 300 kilometres from Turbat city, bordering Panjgur and Kech districts.

An administration official said that the men were killed in a clash between two groups. A Levies official  said the incident took place in a remote area of Balgtar at 6:00pm on Sunday. The bodies were handed over to their heirs for burial without any medico-legal formalities.

Balochistan Levies has opened an investigation into the incident.

A purported spokesperson for the banned Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement to the media. “BLF members carried out the attack on the convoy of Yaqoob Balgatri, Mullah Fazil and Zaman,” Gohram Baloch said in the statement.

He alleged that those killed were informers of government functionaries and involved in kidnapping for ransom and drug smuggling. He added that the BLF recovered nine Kalashnikovs, three pistols and three wireless sets from the convoy. “Those killed were informers of government functionaries,” the statement said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 23^rd, 2014.