Four people target killed in Balochistan

The Baloch Hal News

QUETTA: A day after the killing of two Baloch political activists in Khuzdar district in  a firing incident allegedly by the security forces on Friday, four more non-Balochs were killed in various cases of target killing in different parts of Balochistan on Saturday in an apparent backlash of Friday’s killings.

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) accepted responsibility for the killings.

According to the details, unidentified persons opened fire on two Punjabi settlers in Ghoseabad Police area at Satellite Town in the provincial capital. The victims were standing outside on the road when unknown motor cyclists opened fire on them. As a result, one citizen Malik Ifthakar died on the spot after being shot while another person, who was identified as Malik Tahir, received serious injuries. Tahir succumbed to the injuries when he was shifted to Quetta Civil Hospital.

Family members and relatives of both the murdered citizens came to the hospital where the dead bodies were handed over to them by the authorities after the completion of necessary legal and medical formalities.

In another case of target killing, a Punjabi settler was gunned down in Khuzdar district on Saturday after unknown attackers opened fire on him. Mohammad Iqbal, a resident of Sailkot district in Punjab, was on Umar Farooq Chowk. Having sustained serious injuries in the attack, the victim died in the hospital after succumbing to the injuries.

Police in Khuzdar said they had registered a case against unknown people and begun the search for the murderers. However, no progress was made in arresting the perpetrators. The slain citizen was reported to be a resident of Punjab province. His dead body was handed over to the family members by the authorities of Khuzdar civil hospital.

Meerak Baloch, a spokesman for the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a shadowy organization that champions the cause of an independent Balochistan, called various newspaper offices and accepted responsibility for the killing of three Punjabis in Quetta and Khuzdar.

Another man was killed in Mastung district on Saturday in a similar case of target killing. Police in the area said, one citizen identified as Mohammad Ismail was on his way home after closing his shop when unidentified attackers ambushed and killed him. The immediate cause of the killing in Mastung could not be ascertained. Police in the area said they were hunting for the elements responsible for the killings.

Situation in most districts of Balochistan remained tense on Saturday after the killing of two nationalist activists in Khuzdar allegedly by the Frontier Corps (FC) after opening of fire on a political rally of the Baloch Students’ Organization (BSO).