Bugti says 145 terrorists killed in 40 hours across province

‘We will fight this war’: Balochistan CM

QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti on Sunday expressed the firm resolve to eliminate terrorists after a spate of coordinated attacks across the province, adding that 145 militants were killed within a span of 40 hours.

The military’s media affairs wing said terrorists of Fitna-al-Hindustan carried out a spate of attacks across Balochistan on Saturday, responding to which the security forces killed 92 terrorists.

The state has designated Balochistan-based terrorist groups as Fitna-al-Hindustan to highlight India’s alleged role in terrorism and destabilisation across Pakistan.

Addressing a press conference in Quetta on Sunday, CM Bugti said 145 terrorists were killed in 40 hours, adding that their bodies were in the custody of the authorities.

“This is the highest number since Pakistan is facing this war on terror,” he highlighted.

“Our 17 law enforcement people, including police and FC and one Navy personnel, were martyred, and our civilian casualties are 31, including some injured,” CM Bugti said.

In his press conference, CM Bugti also said that the state shared the grief of bereaved families and assured that the welfare of the martyrs’ children was the government’s responsibility.

“We had intelligence reports that this kind of operation is being planned, and as a result of those, we had already started pre-operations a day before, in which around 40 terrorists were killed in Shaban and Panjgur,” he detailed.

The chief minister noted that the terrorists had planned to attack Quetta from Shaban, adding that the forces were “very vigilant”.

CM Bugti termed the Gwadar incident, where he said five women and three children were killed, as the “most painful”. After the press conference, he also played video statements of those injured in Gwadar.

Noting that a narrative of independence had been created, he said terrorists were using the Baloch on India’s instructions.

However, he added, “Except for Nushki, where it took us some time to disengage them. Nushki is completely clear now.”

CM Bugti said tracing and combing operations were underway and vowed, “We will not let them go.”

Asked about reports of the Nushki deputy commissioner being abducted, the chief minister confirmed that the official was “at a safe place and had escaped their grip” when he last spoke with him.

“No city was taken over,” he clarified in response to a query, recalling that he visited various areas in Quetta. “Not a single bank was looted.”

Detailing an attempt to target a police station, the chief minister said terrorists were forcefully using “children as human shields”.

The Balochistan CM also assailed attempts to frame terrorism as a “political issue”.

“Is BLA (Balochistan Liberation Army) a registered party with whom you have to hold a dialogue? […] They purely want to impose their ideology on us with the force of guns and push the Baloch into a futile war. […] You are linking this war with deprivation and rationalising this violence too.”

He asserted that “rationalising this violence in the name of ethno-nationalism was a direct support to BLA”.

Bugti then asked what some people wished for to be the outcome of such a dialogue. “As a result of dialogue, they want us to surrender? We will not. We will fight this war for a thousand years,” he affirmed.

“We are not ready to surrender even for a second. They can carry out a thousand such attacks. They can destabilise us, but they cannot take an inch from us. This Pakistan is not for breaking away. These people cannot do it. And neither can their masters.” Staff Report