Five Baloch militants killed in gunfights

QUETTA:

At least five Baloch insurgents and a paramilitary soldier were killed in separate raids by the Frontier Corps in Turbat, Barkhan and Gwadar districts of Balochistan on Saturday. Over a dozen suspected militants were also rounded up in these raids.

FC spokesperson Khan Wasay said that four insurgents – among them two key commanders of a banned Baloch insurgent group – were killed and two others wounded in a gunfight triggered by a raid in the Shadi Kor area of the troubled Turbat district. One paramilitary soldier also lost his life in the firefight.

The spokesperson added that the raid was carried after the paramilitary force was tipped off about the presence of militants from the outlawed Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) in the Shadikor area. He claimed that the dead militants included two commanders whom he identified as Mullah Badal and Izat. Three suspected militants were also detained in the search operation.

The FC spokesperson further claimed that the militants were involved in attacks on police, Balochistan Levies and FC, and in incidents of kidnapping for ransom.

In a second raid, a commander of another proscribed Baloch insurgent group was killed in a gunfight with paramilitary troops in the Bharkhan area. “Baloch Liberation Army Commander Bijar Khan was killed and two hideouts of the group were destroyed in the search operation,” the FC spokesperson said, adding that around 100 FC soldiers, backed by two helicopters, took part in the operation.

In a third raid, FC troops rounded up 11 suspected militants from different areas of Gwadar and Turbat.  The detained militants belong to outlawed Baloch militant groups. The FC spokesperson said they were involved in carrying out deadly attacks on security forces and government installations. They have been shifted to unidentified locations for interrogation.


Published in The Express Tribune, July 5^th, 2015.