JAMMU: Armed men of the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) blew up a police station, set fire to several government offices and briefly detained police officers after entering a town in Balochistan’s Pishin district on August 20, local sources said. The video of the police station being blown up was widely shared and soon became viral all over Pakistan.
The Pakistani authorities, the official spokesman of the provincial government of Balochistan, or any official media handles, did not say anything about the BLA attack. In the recent past, such attacks aimed at government owned buildings, bridges and gas pipelines have been carried out by various Baloch nationalist armed groups.
On Thursday, heavily armed fighters took positions at several locations in Saranan and remained in the town for several hours. They seized government-issued weapons and equipment from the police station before destroying it with explosives and also set fire to offices, including the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) office, the sources said.
Pakistani policemen detailed by rebels, weapons looted
Several police officers were detained during the operation, sources said, adding that the fighters also spoke with local residents. They told the locals not to go near the police station, set up demolition charges and then blew it up as everyone watched.
In a statement issued after the attack, BLA spokesperson Jeeyand Baloch said the group’s fighters had gained “complete control” over Saranan and taken control of the police station, NADRA office and other government buildings.
Jeeyand said the police personnel taken into custody were subsequently released and that the fighters had seized “a large quantity of arms and ammunition” from the police station before destroying the building in an explosion. Further details of the operation would be released to the media later, he added.
The BLA releases the videos of most of its attacks through their official channel Hakkal. In its videos, and press statements, complete details of various attacks carried out by its fighters, casualties suffered by BLA as also security forces are given. The BLA had previously claimed similar attacks on police facilities in Pishin and neighbouring Qilla Abdullah in June.
Road blockades, commercial vehicles seized
Also on Thursday, armed fighters set up blockades, seized commercial vehicles and disrupted traffic on major highways in Kalat, Mastung, Kharan, Chagai and Washuk. Pakistani security forces were targeted in an ambush in Kalat leading to a heavy exchange of fire. However, no details of casualties, if any on either side, were not available.
According to local sources, armed fighters established a blockade at Dasht Baba in Kalat and seized a company container along with its cargo. The container was later moved to an undisclosed location. Pakistani forces advancing into the area in armoured vehicles were subsequently ambushed, the sources said.
The attack came a day after Pakistani forces personnel travelling on foot near Makai in the Manguchar area of Kalat were targeted with an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) as they advanced towards their posts. Sources said six Pakistani forces personnel were killed in the explosion. One of them was identified as Imdadullah, a resident of Wanda Chakri in Lakki Marwat.
Separately, a tribal elder, Sardar Shah Zaman Khan Alizai, and his son reportedly went missing during a blockade established by armed fighters at Surgaz on the Quetta-Karachi highway in Mastung district.
Sources said the two were travelling from Mastung to Quetta when fighters checking vehicles at the blockade took them away along with their Vigo vehicle.
Official confirmation of the incident was still awaited, and neither police nor the district administration had issued a formal statement at the time of publication.
Bridge destroyed on Kharan-Karachi highway
Meanwhile, armed fighters used heavy machinery to destroy a bridge on the Kharan-Karachi highway in the Sotkagan area of Kharan. A large section of the bridge was destroyed, resulting in the suspension of traffic along the highway, according to local reports.
Reports from Chagai said armed fighters attacked trucks carrying commercial goods from the Taftan border to other cities in Pakistan and set two of the vehicles on fire. Armed fighters also established a blockade in Washuk and seized two commercial vehicles after stopping them, according to sources from the area.
The incidents come amid repeated attacks on vehicles transporting oil and gas from Iran and minerals, including coal, from Balochistan, as well as Pakistani forces deployed to protect such transport.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) earlier announced what it described as an “economic blockade” after claiming control over sections of highways several months ago. Since then, dozens of attacks have been reported along routes used for the transport of oil and gas from Iran, coal and other minerals from Balochistan, and commercial goods.
