Tribal insurgency: Paramilitary troops kill four ‘Baloch insurgents’

BNF claims victims were innocent Baloch civilians.

QUETTA:

Paramilitary troops killed four suspected Baloch insurgents and arrested another seven after a firefight in Turbat district of Balochistan, which has been caught up in a deadly tribal insurgency.

“Acting on a tip-off, a Frontier Corps (FC) party raided a state-run school, which was destroyed by last year’s floods, in the Gaybun area, about 30 kilometres from Turbat city, before dawn on Friday,” an official of the Balochistan Levies told The Express Tribune.

The troops asked the suspected militants hiding inside to surrender. However, the militants opened fire on the raiding party.

“In the retaliatory fire from paramilitary troops, four suspects were killed,” a spokesperson for the Frontier Corps told The Express Tribune. “Another seven suspects were arrested.”

The FC spokesperson claimed that a huge cache of arms and ammunition was recovered from the deserted school which the militants were using as a hideout. Sources said the militants could be from one of the Baloch insurgent groups blamed for mounting attacks on security forces in Makuran division.

The bodies were shifted to a state-run hospital in Turbat where they were identified as Hassan s/o Sher Mohammad, Aslam s/o Shahsawar, Ali s/o Mohammad and Adam.

According to official sources, the suspects were wanted for their involvement in several attacks on security forces in Kech district.

The Baloch National Front (BNF) disputed the claim and alleged that security forces raided a house, killed four innocent Baloch civilians and whisked away several others. The party appealed for a shutterdown strike in Mekran, better known as Makuran, for Saturday to protest the killings.

Separately, the FC spokesperson claimed that the security forces have seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition during search operations in Naushki and Nasirabad districts. The haul included 11 small machineguns (SMG), three light machineguns (LMG), 14 rifles and 9 shotguns.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 28^th, 2012.