Latest news with #BalochLiberationArmy
India Today
2 days ago
- Politics
- India Today
North-East India reels under flood fury, rescue ops intensify
3:19 Baloch fighters have claimed major attacks on the Pakistan army in and around Quetta. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has reportedly taken control of various police stations and posts in the Mustang area. Two Pakistan army personnel have allegedly been killed. The Quetta-Karachi main highway has been blocked for several hours. This comes after a senior Pakistani politician, Maulana Fazlur Rahman, recently stated that many areas of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are not under the control of Pakistan's administration or army.
India.com
3 days ago
- Politics
- India.com
What weapons does Baloch Army use against Pakistan Army? They get these weapons from…
BLA (File) In a massive news for South Asia, Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist armed group fighting for Balochistan's independence from Pakistan, reportedly captured the city of Sorab, a city located in Pakistan's Balochistan province. The separatist army has reportedly captured important institutions of the city including government offices, banks, and police stations, in a swift three-hour operation. However, a question that may have come to the mind of many of readers is that what weapons does the Baloch Liberation Army use and most importantly, how do they procure those weapons. As per media reports, the BLA possess American and Russian-made weapons and it is being speculated that many of these may have come from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, using arms left behind by the US military. Also, many reports quote Pakistani officials as saying that the Baloch fighters obtain these weapons from the black markets in Iran and Afghanistan. Getting to the details of the weapons, the BLA reportedly uses these weapons: M240B machine gun: M240B is A US Marine Corps machine gun firing 7.62 mm NATO rounds, with a range of up to 2 km. M16A4 rifle: Also used by US forces, capable of firing 700–950 rounds per minute. RPG-7 launcher: A Russian-made, shoulder-fired anti-tank weapon, widely used globally since its introduction in 1961. Seven Pakistani soldiers were killed on in a terrorist attack in the south western province of Balochistan, the Pakistan Army said. 'Terrorists belonging to the Baloch Liberation Army targeted a security forces' vehicle with an improvised explosive device in general area Mach, Kachhi district,' according to a Pakistan Army statement. The army said seven soldiers were killed in the attack and the sanitisation of the area is being carried out to eliminate any terrorist present in the area, the army said. The militants were killed in the Kech and Ziarat districts during a fresh crackdown against militant elements in the province. (With inputs from agencies)
Arab News
3 days ago
- General
- Arab News
Roadside blast kills two tribal leaders, injures seven in southwestern Pakistan
QUETTA: A blast triggered by an improvised explosive device (IED) killed two tribal leaders and injured seven others on Saturday in a remote mountainous town in Quetta district, located in Pakistan's restive southwestern Balochistan province, a senior police official said. The roadside blast took place in Mangla, an area of the Hanna Urrak valley located some 35 kilometers from the provincial capital of Quetta, when a convoy of tribal leaders was passing through the area. 'Sardar Abdul Salam Bazai and Sardar Nafay Bazai, accompanied by their companions, were heading toward a mining site when a powerful explosion hit their vehicle,' Naveed Khan, Station House Officer (SHO) in the area, told Arab News. 'Both the tribal elders were killed on the spot,' he continued. 'Police have commenced an investigation into the IED blast, while the injured have been shifted to Quetta city.' No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. However, Balochistan has witnessed a surge in separatist violence in recent months, including attacks on a passenger train and a school bus carrying children. The latest attack took place on the day Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif was in Quetta and addressed a grand jirga of influential Baloch leaders alongside senior military officials. Pakistan has blamed the recent surge in militant violence in Balochistan on 'Indian proxies,' calling groups like the Baloch Liberation Army 'Fitna Al-Hind.' New Delhi denies any involvement in backing Baloch ethnic separatist groups in Pakistan's southwestern province, which shares borders with Iran and Afghanistan and has witnessed an insurgency for decades. Speaking to Arab News, Dr. Arbab Kamran Kasi, head of the Trauma Center in Quetta, confirmed that those injured in Saturday's attack were brought to the medical facility. 'Seven injured were brought to the center and are now in a stable condition,' he said.
India.com
3 days ago
- Politics
- India.com
Pakistan: BLA fighters claim 'complete control' over Surab city in Balochistan
Quetta: The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) freedom fighters on Saturday claimed that they have taken complete control of Surab city in the Balochistan province of Pakistan, paralysing all military, administrative, and financial structures of the 'enemy state' just as the Pakistani Army Chief Asim Munir was visiting the provincial capital Quetta. Confirming the development, the spokesperson of BLA Jeeyand Baloch highlighted that the operation continued for more than three hours on Friday, during which 'freedom fighters' took up positions at all the important locations and highways in the city. He stated that the fighters took control of the Pakistani Levies (paramilitary force) station, police station, Deputy Commissioner (DC) office, guest house, and bank, and damaged 'enemy' infrastructure. 'During the operation, Freedom fighters arrested Levies and police personnel and seized 30 Kalashnikovs, along with other weapons and war equipment from the security posts at the police stations and DC office. These personnel were later released on conditional concessions based on their Baloch identity. Freedom fighters set fire to three vehicles of the enemy forces, state warehouses, a guest house and three banks, while two vehicles were taken into custody,' read the statement issued by the BLA. According to the statement, during the takeover of the DC office, Assistant Deputy Commissioner Hidayatullah Buledi attempted an attack the fighters, upon which fighters subdued him without causing any casualties and locked him in a room, adding that he died due to suffocation in the room, which was a completely accidental incident. 'Furthermore, BLA has taken complete control of Surab city and set up checkpoints on the Quetta-Karachi and Surab-Gidar main highways, further tightening restrictions on state movement through snap checking. This operation is a continuation of BLA's resolve to destroy every institution, every symbol, and every force of the occupying Pakistani state. We once again make it clear that our struggle will continue until Baloch national liberation is achieved,' the statement concluded. People from Balochistan are currently fighting for their independence from Pakistan. Various human rights organisations of Balochistan have time and again highlighted the repression by Pakistani forces in the province, which includes violent raids on the homes of Baloch leaders and civilians, unlawful arrests, enforced disappearances, the 'kill and dump' policy, detention under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, and the filing of fabricated police cases. Earlier this month, the BLA released a media statement titled 'A New Order has Become Inevitable in the Region', urging the world to recognise Pakistan as the creator of terrorists and a terrorist entity. It said that the history of Pakistan, currently facing diplomatic isolation for failed military policies, has been written with the patronage of broken promises, back-stabbing and terrorism. 'Pakistan is a breeding ground for global terrorists, is a centre for state-sponsored development of deadly terror groups like LeT, JeM and ISIS. Pakistan's ISI promotes these terror groups for terrorism purposes, a nuclear state with violent ideology. The Baloch nation without any external, military and financial support is able to defeat the world's seventh largest nuclear state. BLA has rendered the enemy helpless on every front. There can never be a lasting peace without the elimination of Pakistan,' read the statement.
Arab Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Arab Times
One dead after insurgents briefly seize control of city in southwest Pakistan and loot a bank
QUETTA, Pakistan, May 31, (AP): Dozens of armed separatists briefly seized control of a high-security area in a city in southwestern Pakistan on Friday, killing a government official and looting a bank before fleeing, police and officials said. Hidayat Buledi, a local government official, was killed and his home was set on fire in the attack on Sorab, in the Balochistan region, local police chief Hafeez Ullah said. He said Buledi was "martyred' while trying to protect women and children trapped inside the burning house during the assault. Ullah said several insurgents were killed in the shootout with police. The outlawed Baloch Liberation Army, or BLA, which was designated a terror group by the United States in 2019, claimed responsibility for the attack. In a statement, BLA said its fighters had taken control of key government buildings in Sorab. Ullah dismissed the claim, saying the insurgents fled when security forces responded to the assault. He said the attackers stormed Buledi's home and also set fire to several residences of government officials. Four civilians were injured. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack, saying the assailants targeted civilians, including women and children. Shahid Rind, a spokesman for the Balochistan government, blamed Indian proxies for the attack without offering any evidence. There was no immediate comment from New Delhi. Sorab, a city known for its apple and grape orchards, is located near a key China-Pakistan trade route, which includes roads and rail systems to link western China's Xinjiang region to Pakistan's southwestern Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea.
