ISLAMABAD: Two militants were killed and another was apprehended in an intelligence-based operation in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, the Pakistani military said late Sunday, amid a push to wipe off militancy from the South Asian country.
The gas-rich Balochistan province at the border of Afghanistan and Iran has been a scene of low-level insurgency by Baloch nationalists for more than two decades.
The separatists say they are fighting what they see as unfair exploitation of the province’s wealth by the federation. The Pakistani state denies it.
Pakistani security forces have been the main focus of separatist attacks, but in recent years they have also targeted Chinese interests, given Beijing’s increasing economic footprint in the region.
On Sunday, the military said it intercepted a group of militants in Mach area who opened fire on the security forces. An ensuing exchange of fire resulted in the killing of two suspects and the arrest of another.
“A cache of arms and ammunition has also been recovered. The clearance operation in the area continues to nab their remaining accomplices,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, said in a statement.
“The terrorists are linked with targeting of civilians in the area besides harassment of coal mine owners to extort money from them.”
The development came a day after the arrest of the founder of one of the most prominent separatist groups, the Baloch Nationalist Army (BNA), by Pakistani intelligence agencies. The BNA came into being after the merger of two separatist outfits, the Baloch Republican Army and the United Baloch Army.
Imam, the military said, had been “instrumental” in the formation of the Baloch Raji Aajoi Sangar (BRAS), an umbrella group of Baloch insurgent groups, and served as its operational head.
On Friday, the Pakistani government announced it would launch a fresh offensive to flush out militants from the country, amid months of political wrangling over elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) provinces.
It said the operation would help “rid the country of the menace of terrorism” that would be launched with a renewed vigour and determination.
