Interior Ministry: UBA’s ‘ridiculous’ claim dismissed
“UBA’s claim is not only strange, it is also ridiculous,” says interior ministry spokesperson"
Pakistani security officials inspect the site of a bomb explosion in a fruit and vegetable market in Islamabad on April 9, 2014. PHOTO: AFP
QUETTA/ISLAMABAD:
The Interior Ministry has dismissed as ‘ridiculous’ a claim by the outlawed United Baloch Army (UBA) that its fighters carried out the deadly bombing at Islamabad’s fruit and vegetable market.
Initial investigations do not show any UBA link with the Islamabad blast, a spokesperson for the ministry said in a statement. “UBA’s claim is not only strange, it is also ridiculous,” he added. “The links of this incident lead somewhere else, according to investigations done by the security and intelligence agencies so far.” The spokesperson, however, said that whoever is responsible for this tragic incident will be pursued.
Hours earlier a purported spokesman for the UBA, Mureed Baloch, claimed credit for the attack.
“It was in retaliation for the ongoing security operations in Balochistan, torture, enforced disappearance and extrajudicial killing of Baloch political workers and torching of the houses of armless people in the province,” he told Quetta-based journalists via satellite phone from an undisclosed location.
He also claimed that UBA fighters had shot down a helicopter of security forces in the Mastung area of Balochistan which was engaged in a military operation. The same group had claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s train bombing in Sibi.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 10th, 2014.
The Interior Ministry has dismissed as ‘ridiculous’ a claim by the outlawed United Baloch Army (UBA) that its fighters carried out the deadly bombing at Islamabad’s fruit and vegetable market.
Initial investigations do not show any UBA link with the Islamabad blast, a spokesperson for the ministry said in a statement. “UBA’s claim is not only strange, it is also ridiculous,” he added. “The links of this incident lead somewhere else, according to investigations done by the security and intelligence agencies so far.” The spokesperson, however, said that whoever is responsible for this tragic incident will be pursued.
Hours earlier a purported spokesman for the UBA, Mureed Baloch, claimed credit for the attack.
“It was in retaliation for the ongoing security operations in Balochistan, torture, enforced disappearance and extrajudicial killing of Baloch political workers and torching of the houses of armless people in the province,” he told Quetta-based journalists via satellite phone from an undisclosed location.
He also claimed that UBA fighters had shot down a helicopter of security forces in the Mastung area of Balochistan which was engaged in a military operation. The same group had claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s train bombing in Sibi.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 10th, 2014.