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QUETTA:
As Balochistan recovered from a new wave of violence, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Saturday accused India of a coordinated terrorist campaign in the province.
Speaking to the media alongside Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti on Saturday evening, Naqvi said the attacks bore the mark of external planning and support. “These were not normal terrorists. India is behind these attacks. I can tell you with certainty that India planned these attacks with these terrorists,” he said.
He said authorities would pursue everyone involved, as well as those who directed them behind the scenes.
“We will expose them to the world – the face with which they meet the world and the face with which they support terrorists,” he said.
Naqvi added that India was the “main country” behind terrorism, saying it not only provided financial support to terrorists but also helped them in planning and strategizing.
For his part, Bugti thanked Naqvi for immediately traveling to Quetta in the aftermath of the attacks.
“We chaired a high-level security meeting and visited the injured at the Unified Military Hospital,” the chief minister said.
“Regarding the incident itself, the information has not yet arrived but I want to say that the operation is practically over,” he said. Bugti also condemned the killing of women and children belonging to a Baloch family originally from Khuzdar in Gwadar Labor Colony.
He praised law enforcement and security forces for their response to the attacks.
“The morale of the terrorists was down. To boost morale, they carried out this attack but the mortality rate was very low,” the CM said.
“The rebuttal from the security forces was superb,” he added, stressing that the state’s determination “could not be weakened.”
Naqvi also held high-level discussions on the law and order situation in Quetta, while Bugti reiterated that the sacrifices of the martyrs “would not be in vain”, according to an official statement.
The ministry and the chief minister visited the police lines to offer funeral prayers to the martyrs and meet their families.
“The people and security forces of Balochistan are brave and courageous,” Naqvi was quoted as saying.
“Our soldiers carried out a comprehensive and effective action against the terrorists. The sacrifices of the martyrs cannot be forgotten and the nation salutes them.”
CM Bugti was quoted as saying, “The sacrifices of our martyrs will not go in vain. The state has always stood with the oppressed and will continue to do so.”
