BLA kills tribal elders invited for peace talks

QUETTA:

At least eight people including two tribal elders and six of their gunmen were killed in an improvised explosive device blast in the Marwar area of Bolan district on Thursday. The banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack.

According to the Balochistan Levies, a convoy of tribal elders Mir Gul Khan Marri and Bahwal Khan Marri was its way home when it was hit by an IED. The explosion killed Mir Gul Khan and Bahawal Khan and their six guards on the spot. Two vehicles of the victims were destroyed in the blast, a senior official of the Levies told The Express Tribune.



According to sources some BLA persons had deceived Gull Khan by inviting him for negotiating a surrender and killed him on the way back.

The provincial government with the consent of security forces and Islamabad has offered an amnesty scheme for insurgents that lay down their arms and become law abiding citizens.

However, the BLA insurgents, in total disregard of traditional values invited the Marri elders to discuss surrender only to kill them by design.



Scores of Marri tribesmen rushed to the spot followed by heavy contingent of Levies who shifted the bodies and mounted a search operation in the area.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 30^th, 2015.