Quetta, April 16 (IANS) The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed that it has killed 29 Pakistani military personnel in 14 attacks conducted between April 3-14 in several parts of Balochistan province, local media reported on Thursday.
In a statement, BLA spokesperson Jeeyand Baloch said that the group carried out operations in Panjgur, Kharan, Surab, Washuk, Uthal, Mastung and Jhal Magsi, targetting military convoys, checkpoints and supply lines, The Balochistan Post reported.
Jeeyand Baloch said the attacks included ambushes, Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) and what he termed as drone strikes. He mentioned that highways and checkposts were taken under “full control” by BLA during some operations, while 13 Levies and police personnel were arrested and later released.
The group claimed that the deadliest attacks included an ambush in Surab on April 6, where seven personnel were killed, an IED attack on a convoy in Washuk, which claimed lives of eight personnel, and coordinated attacks in Kharan on April 11 which killed nine personnel.
The group said its aerial unit “QAHR” conducted drone strike in Mastung on April 9, which claimed lives of two personnel and injured two others in what he said was a targetted attack on a military camp.
The BLA said it targetted supply vehicles in Panjgur, seized Levies checkposts in Jhal Magsi and detained police personnel in Kharan, taking their weapons before releasing them, as per the report.
According to the statement, three BLA fighters were killed during clashes in Surab on April 6.
The BLA said the recent operations marked what it termed a “decisive phase” in what it said its war for the “defence of the Baloch motherland.”
In the statement, the group stated, “Through these recent operations, our war for the defence of the motherland has now entered a decisive phase, where the land, highways, air and seas are proving to be graveyards for the enemy.”
The group urged Pakistan forces to abandon what it described as a “colonial war” and return to their homes in Punjab and not continue what is said was as an “unnatural and forced occupation.”
On March 29, the BLA claimed that it had conducted 14 attacks across various districts of Balochistan between March 19 and March 28, stating that the operations “resulted in the deaths of 18 personnel of the occupying Pakistani army and left several others injured.”
According to BLA spokesperson Jeeyand Baloch, “14 diverse operations” were carried out by the groups’ fighters in the Washuk, Kharan, Kalat, Mastung, Surab, Khuzdar, Quetta, Turbat, and Barkhan regions of the province, The Balochistan Post reported.
He said that BLA fighters attacked military camps, convoys, and checkpoints, adding that they “successfully took control of various checkpoints, detained personnel, and confiscated weapons and military equipment”.
The spokesperson further said that two BLA fighters were killed during the operations in what were described as “direct clashes with the occupying forces”.
–IANS
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