Balochistan Home Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti Saturday said that India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and its funded Lashkars (militias) were behind the Mastung killings. He was addressing a joint press conference along with Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik here at CM Secretariat. Bugti said on Friday night two helicopters took part in the operation against terrorists while on Saturday four were pressed into action.
"We have engaged them (terrorists) into a large area which has been cordoned off and now operation will move towards its conclusion." The main objective of the terror act, he opined, was to sabotage the national consensus built on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. "But we too have a message for the terrorists that they will fail in pitching people of Pakistan against one another," the minister said.
Earlier Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik condemned the tragic incident, saying it was a conspiracy to harm relations between brother communities. "We feared a strong reaction from the community who lost their men but fortunately the heirs of victims rose above their personal losses and joined hands with the government in its effort to arrest those involved."
He said the opposition leaders, government and its allies successfully persuaded the affected families to bury their loved ones. If the families had not accepted the government's appeal, the enemy would have succeeded in its plan to damage communal harmony, he added.
The chief minister said the government would compensate the grieved families by the amount more than that that was normally given in such cases. To a question, he said it was the responsibility of the state and the government to provide security to the people. The government would review security arrangements and devise a better strategy to ward off similar incidents in future, he added. While expressing gratitude to leaders of all opposition parties and communities, he said," Sanity prevailed and the province was saved from an inferno that might have devoured the democracy. It was a conspiracy against the democracy." Speaking on the occasion, Maulana Abdul Wasey of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl, who is also leader of the opposition in Balochistan Assembly, termed the Mastung incident an "international conspiracy". Though the number of those was not very big, but its impact was much greater than the incidents of Army Public School (Peshawar) and Safoora (Karachi) created. Jaffer Mandokhel of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, said that India should restrain its agents from carrying out terrorism in Pakistan. However, the enemy's designs had been foiled by the people by showing unity and rising above personal loss.
INP adds: Frontier Corps has launched a major operation against terrorists in Mastung area of Balochistan after the killing of 22 passengers and abduction of several others. The provincial Home Minister, Sarfraz Bugti, told media in Quetta Saturday that two helicopters and five hundred jawans are taking part in the operation. He said seven terrorists have so far been killed in the operation. The Home Minster said the operation will continue till elimination of the terrorists.
He said seven terrorists have so far been killed in the operation. The Home Minster said the operation will continue till elimination of the terrorists. He said Mastung incident is a conspiracy against China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project. Meanwhile, Balochistan government has announced three-day mourning in the province over Mastung tragedy. In Quetta, a complete shutter down strike was observed on the call of various political parties and Anjuman-e-Tajran. All shops and business centers were closed and traffic was thin on the roads.
Comments
Comments are closed.