Balochistan moves to hold Ziarat operation inquiry

While security forces claim to have killed terrorists, nationalists say missing persons were slain

QUETTA:

The government of Balochistan on Wednesday wrote a letter to the registrar of the Balochistan High Court (BHC) to nominate a judge to conduct an inquiry into the Ziarat operation.

Earlier this month, the security forces killed nine terrorists over their involvement in the abduction and martyrdom of Lt Col Laiq Baig Mirza and a havildar. The military officer had been abducted while he was travelling to Quetta with his cousin.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that five of the nine terrorists belonged to the banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA). Baloch nationalist groups, on the other hand, claimed that they were missing persons who had been picked by security forces.

To ascertain the facts, the provincial government has said that it is ready to form a commission following a protest by the family members of the missing persons to conduct an inquiry into the operation.

The letter dated July 27, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune, was written by Balochistan’s Home and Tribal Affairs department.

It stated that the government of Balochistan intends to conduct a judicial inquiry by an honourable judge of the high court into the Ziarat operation under The Balochistan Tribunal of Inquiry Ordinance, 1969.

It noted that the family members of the missing persons had claimed that their relatives were killed in the said operation.

However, Balochistan’s Home Minister Mir Ziaullah Langove said that the security forces had actually killed terrorists involved in the kidnapping and murder of Lt Col Laiq.