Pakistan Army arrests chief of banned Baloch separatist group
Pakistan`s Army on Friday stated it has arrested a “excessive-fee target” and the founding father of a banned separatist institution withinside the usa’s restive Baluchistan province in a a success intelligence operation.
Gulzar Imam alias Shambay turned into apprehended in a cautiously deliberate operation that spanned months over diverse geographical locations, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the army`s media wing, stated in a assertion.
Resource-wealthy Balochistan province, bordering Iran and Afghanistan, is domestic to a long-jogging violent insurgency. Baloch rebel companies have formerly performed numerous bold assaults focused on the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects.
The army stated the captured terrorist turned into a “hardcore militant”, in addition to the founder and chief of the banned Baloch National Army, which turned into fashioned after the merger of the Baloch Republican Army (BRA) and the United Baloch Army (UBA).
The assertion, however, did now no longer divulge the precise region in which the militant turned into apprehended.
The ISPR defined the detainee as a “excessive-fee target” with suspected hyperlinks to “antagonistic” intelligence companies working in opposition to Pakistan.
The record of the arrest surfaced on an afternoon whilst Pakistan’s National Security Committee (NSC) chaired via way of means of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif turned into taking place.
Over the beyond few months, the regulation and order state of affairs withinside the usa has worsened, with terrorist companies executing assaults with close to impunity throughout the usa.
Since the talks with the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) broke down in November, the scary militant institution intensified its assaults, mainly focused on the police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and regions bordering Afghanistan. Insurgents in Balochistan have additionally stepped up their violent sports and formalised a nexus with the TTP.
According to the ISPR assertion, Imam turned into apprehended in “a excessive profile and a success intelligence operation”.
It said that the BNA had perpetrated severa violent terrorist assaults withinside the usa, inclusive of focused on the installations of regulation enforcement companies in Panjgur and Noshki.
“Imam additionally remained as deputy to Brahamdagh Bugti withinside the BRA until 2018.”
“His visits to Afghanistan and India also are at the record, at the same time as his linkages with antagonistic intelligence companies are being investigated,” it claimed.
“The arrest of Gulzar Imam is a critical blow to the BNA in addition to different militant companies, that have been trying to destabilise the hard earned peace in Balochistan,” the assertion stated.
