Balochistan: Eight Killed in Attack on State Backed Death Squad’s Terror Base
SHAAL (QUETTA): The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed responsibility for a ten-hour operation against a camp belonging to a state backed death squad ring leader Qambar Khan Mengal in the Dasht-e-Goran area of Balochistan, saying that eight members of his group were killed and weapons and vehicles seized.
In a statement issued through its spokesperson, Azad Baloch, the pro-freedom resistance group said the operation took place on October 15 and lasted from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. The BLA said its fighters attacked the death squad camp, located approximately two kilometres from the residence of Qambar Khan and his son, Pasand Khan.
According to the statement, eight associates of Qambar Khan were killed, including Ahmad Nawaz, also known as Kamandan, while other members of the group fled the area. The BLA also claimed to have seized a substantial quantity of weapons and military equipment, along with two motorcycles and a vehicle abandoned during the fighting.
The group further added that its fighters shot down a Pakistani military drone that had been providing intelligence support to death squad members during the operation.
The BLA in its statement said that Qambar Khan and his associates were working with Pakistan’s Military Intelligence (MI) and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to target Baloch pro-independence activists. The charges outlined in the statement included harassment of local residents, illegal occupation of land, kidnappings for ransom, torture and killings in secret detention facilities, and participation in military operations against Baloch separatist fighters.
The group said information obtained during earlier interrogations of individuals associated with Qambar Khan’s network had helped its intelligence unit plan the operation. The statement also referred to four individuals identified as Abdul Rasool, Saeed Ahmed, Jameel Ahmed and Baro, whom the BLA described as informants sentenced to death. The organisation said it had published their video confessions on its official channel on October 12.
The BLA said that members of Qambar Khan’s group requested military assistance from Pakistani forces during the fighting. According to the statement, Pakistan deployed special commando units, helicopters, drones, armoured vehicles, heavy artillery and additional ground troops to the area to support the death squad network.
The group said its fighters maintained their positions despite the deployment of reinforcements and eventually forced their opponents to retreat.
The BLA also alleged that Qambar Khan’s group received protection, personnel and military support from Pakistani security agencies. It cited meetings between Qambar Khan’s sons, Pasand Khan and Balach Khan, and Ghulam Nabi Shambani, as a key associate of Sarfraz, the puppet Chief Minister, and the notorious head of a death squad in Dera Bugti.
The statement also criticised people who, while presenting themselves as supporters of freedom, showed sympathy towards Qambar Khan during the attack on the hideout of the death squad and state operatives. It described such sympathy as an injustice to the blood of Baloch martyrs and called the position an unwise decision.
The statement concluded:“Our struggle for the complete independence of Balochistan and against the operatives of the occupying state forces and their exploitative projects will continue with even greater intensity.”
