BLA demands UN guarantee for the release of captured Pakistani Telecommunication workers

QUETTA: The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) in a statement to the media said that its fighters have captured six staff and set on fire the installations of Telecommunication companies at Margat’s Chokhobi Wadh area of Quetta Balochistan on June 26.

The spokesperson of the pro-freedom resistance organisation – Azad Baloch – have named the arrested workers as Gul Shah Khan, Abdul Aadi and Mehraj residents of Quetta, Zhob and Qila Saifullah respectively, and  Muhammad Yusuf, resident of Quetta, Amanat Ali, resident of Gujrat, Punjab, Rehmatullah, resident of Qila Saifullah.

He added that the first three men have been released on the same day whereas the latter three were found suspicious, are still in the custody of BLA.

Azad Baloch Baloch said, “Our organization has decided that if the United Nations or other international organizations, including representatives of the Red Cross in Geneva, act as guarantors for the release of the detained workers and assure us that they will not re-engage in such ‘exploitative project’ and spy networks of Pakistan army then they will be released.”

 The organisation has given the UN and other international bodies 10 days period to respond to their demand. ‘Otherwise, the arrested men will be presented before the Baloch National Court for non-compliance,’ BLA spokesperson said.

Otherwise, they will be brought before the Baloch National Court for non-compliance.

The BLA in its statement said that various telecommunication companies in Occupied Balochistan have been repeatedly warned not to act as facilitators in expansionist ambitions of the imperialist powers (Pakistan & China).

China, in collaboration with Pakistan, has set up a telecommunications network and is using other telecom companies, including Hawaii, and Subcon companies, (Netcom, Exeleron, ZTE)  to spy on and trace the movement of people in Balochistan. All of these projects are being funded through a well-organized project under the “Universal Service Fund”.

China has already to some extent implemented its economic and military ambitions against the will of the Baloch nation in the coastal city of Gwadar in occupied Balochistan, where the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project has been threatened by Baloch freedom fighters, due to which China and Pakistan are constantly trying new methods for Baloch genocide.

Telecom companies are installing mobile towers in uninhabited hilly areas of Balochistan at the behest of the Pakistani military. Under the guise of these telecom companies, China and Pakistan exchange secret information about Baloch freedom fighters and help the Pakistan army to intensify the ongoing military aggression and the abductions of Baloch youths in occupied Balochistan.

The Baloch Liberation Army statement claimed that the workers arrested in Margot Chokhobi Wadh were part of the same exploitative scheme.

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Council of Balochistan (HRCB) and Voice for Baloch Missing Persons’ chairman Mr. Nasruallah Baloch in their separate statements have appealed to the Baloch Liberation Army to release the arrested workers unconditionally on humanitarian grounds.