Naqvi vows to prosecute all terrorists involved in Balochistan violence

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Saturday directly held India responsible for the recent attacks in Balochistan, alleging that New Delhi was involved in planning and supporting the incidents and vowing to expose what he described as its role before the international community.

At least 92 terrorists were killed today as security forces repelled a series of coordinated attacks in several locations across Balochistan, and 15 security personnel were also martyred in action. With the latest deaths, the number of terrorists killed in the last two days stands at 133.

These brazen and synchronized attacks were carried out by hordes of heavily armed terrorists in 12 cities, including Quetta, Noshki, Dalbandin, Kalat, Gwadar, Pasni, Tump and Mastung. Security sources said: “Fitna al-Hindustan– a general term used by officials to refer to banned Baloch terrorist groups – was behind the deadly assaults, which came a day after the army claimed to have killed 41 terrorists in two targeted operations in Balochistan’s Panjgur and Shaban areas.

In a video statement released alongside Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti, the interior minister said the manner in which the attacks were planned and carried out, as well as the response of the police, the Frontier Corps (FC) and the Pakistan Army, reflected the scale and severity of the threat.

“Behind every attack there is a story. The way our soldiers defended themselves and the way the terrorists were hunted down shows that none of them managed to escape,” he said, adding that the attackers were neutralized so that no one could escape.

Naqvi praised CM Bugti’s role, calling him courageous and saying his leadership at the front had boosted the morale of the security forces.

The Home Minister paid tribute to the FC, police and army for confronting what he called terrorism, saying it was important for the world to understand that these were not “ordinary terrorists”, while reiterating his allegation that India was behind the attacks.

“India is behind these attacks. I can say with certainty that India planned them with these terrorists,” he said, adding that authorities would prosecute everyone involved and leave no one indifferent.

He said authorities had almost all the information about who organized the attack and where they were operating from. “We will expose them to the world – the face with which they meet people publicly and the face with which they support terrorists,” Naqvi said.

He alleged that India was providing financial support to the militants as well as assistance in planning and strategy. However, he expressed confidence that such efforts would fail, as had been the case in the past.

Reaffirming determination to eliminate terrorism, Naqvi said the federation and provinces would act together against militancy. Referring to CM Bugti, he said the prime minister could say that terrorism in the province has been resolved decisively.

CM Bugti thanked the Interior Minister and said that after learning about the incident, he immediately went to Quetta, where a high-level meeting was held and visits were made to the Unified Military Hospital to inquire about the injured.

He said the operation was complete, although further details were still being compiled. Condemning the killing of women and children belonging to a Baloch family in Khuzdar, he said terrorists entered a labor colony in Gwadar and carried out the attack.

The chief minister lauded the courage displayed by the FC, police and Army, saying the response of the security forces had been commendable. “Their (terrorists’) morale was down; they tried to carry out such a large operation just to boost their morale and tried to increase the size, but the mortality rate was very low,” he added.

Paying tribute to the martyrs and veterans, he said the rebuttal and response of the security forces has been superb, and added that even ten such attacks cannot weaken our resolve – whether it is the federal government, the provincial government, the armed forces or the police – we are in very good spirits.

“We just met the wounded; the spirit I saw in them and the spirit I saw after meeting the families of the martyrs: no one can twist even a single hair of this country.”

The two men had previously attended the funeral prayers of the police officers who were martyred during Saturday’s attacks.