QUETTA – Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) chief Dr Allah Nazar Baloch has been killed in an operation by the security forces – according to unverified reports, Balochistan Home Minister Safraz Bugti disclosed on Tuesday.
“According to unverified reports, Dr Allah Nazar has been killed – I say unverified because we have not yet received any evidence of his being alive ever since the Frontier Corps conducted a series of operations. There has been no human intelligence, no sign of life,” Bugti said while addressing a press conference at Civil Secretariat Quetta.
The separatist leader’s killing has been rumored since July 18 this year, when security forces conducted an operation in Balochistan’s Awaran district. He said that the security forces also destroyed communication centre being used by the terrorists. This centre was situated at the top of a hill.
The minister said that it has been disclosed that the terrorists used mobile phone sims of Afghanistan, India and various European countries. Bugti also announced the arrest of seven suspected terrorists in an operation conducted by security forces in Balochistan’s Dalbandin region.
Dr Allah Nazar – the leader of the Baloch Liberation Front belonged to a middle-class family from Mashkay in the Awaran district. He is the only leader of the main insurgent groups who is engaged in fighting on the ground in Balochistan.
The BLF has previously claimed responsibility for the murder of 20 labourers in Turbat on April 11. The group’s area of operations stretches largely across Awaran, Panjgur, Washuk, Turbat and Gwadar districts in southern Balochistan.
Following the earthquake in Awaran in late 2013, the Pakistan Army has made considerable headway in accessing parts of the district that were hitherto ‘no-go areas’ due to risk of insurgent.
