Balochistan Home Minister Ziaullah Langove addresses a press conference in Quetta. PHOTO: EXPRESS
QUETTA: Balochistan Home Minister Ziaullah Langove said on Tuesday that two suspected terrorists of banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) involved in the kidnapping of a provincial minister’s son were killed in an encounter with personnel of Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) in Pishin.
Addressing a press conference in Civil Secretariat Quetta, Langove said CTD in coordination with other security forces conducted a raid on an Afghan refugee camp near Surkhab last night and killed the two terrorists identified as Pir Shazuddin and Zakirullah.
The home minister was accompanied by Balochistan CTD Deputy Inspector General Aitzaz Goraya and Quetta Deputy Inspector General Abdul Razzaq Cheema.
“The terrorists were involved in various bomb blasts in Pishin, attacks on security forces and kidnapping for ransom,” said the provincial minister.
Briefing on the operation, Langove said that the security forces were searching for terrorists’ hideouts and found explosives-laden jackets, locally manufactured bombs and other weapons during the operation.
Responding to a question, the home minister also claimed to have identified terrorists behind the Ghousabad mosque suicide attack, which had left 15 people dead.
“Security forces concerned are working on the operation and the terrorists will be arrested soon,” he said.
Langove also presented data of attacks in the province.
According to the minister, in 2019 eight cases of suicide attacks and 28 cases of target killings took place in Balochistan.
13 incidents of suicide attacks and 42 cases of targeted killings were recorded in the province in 2018, a much higher figure compared to that of 2019.
Without naming anyone, the home minister said it was an open secret as to who was behind the terrorist attacks.
Responding to another question, the provincial minister said, enemies of peace and progress in Balochistan and Pakistan attempted to destabilize the country.
The provincial home minister condemned that terrorists took refuge in Afghanistan using the land against Pakistan.
“Afghanistan helped terrorists involved in suicide attacks and bomb blasts in Pakistan,” he added.
In 2016, unidentified armed men kidnapped then Balochistan Provincial Minister for local government Sardar Mustafa Khan Tareen’s son, Asad Khan Tareen.
Initial reports revealed that Asad was abducted when he was returning from Pishin Cadet College where he worked as warden. The site had been cordoned off by Frontier Corps and police officials as further investigation was underway.
He was reportedly taken across the border in Afghanistan. Sources revealed the victim’s vehicle and cellphone were recovered from the site where the abduction took place.
After three months, Asad was recovered from an area of Qila Abdulla district close to the Pak-Afghan border.
According to sources, Asad’s release was not the outcome of a security forces’ operation. His kidnappers had released him, but it was not clear on what conditions, they added.
They said the kidnappers released him in the Dolangi area close to the Pak-Afghan border, some 85km off Qila Abdullah district’s Gulistan town, from where he contacted his father. Mustafa Tareen along with then Pishin Deputy Commissioner Abdul Wahid Kakar and personnel of Levies force rushed to the area to receive his son.
Family members confirmed his release and said that Asad had been brought to Pishin amid tight security.
After receiving information about his release, thousands of people, including tribal elders and workers and leaders of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) reached the residence of Mustafa Tareen in Pishin.
Mustafa Tareen was the chieftain of the Tareen tribe and a leader of PkMAP.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 29th, 2020.
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