“President Xi Jinping you still have time to quit Balochistan or you will witness a retaliation from Baloch sons and daughters that you will never forget,” the BLA commander threatens in a newly released video.
The video has been released only days after four members of Baloch Liberation Army’s Majeed Brigade stormed a five-star hotel in Gwadar and battled Pakistani commandos for 26 hours.
The deadly attack on 11th May at luxury hotel in Gwadar has intensified security concerns around Beijing’s major development drive in Pakistan, including a strategic deep-sea port.
The new video which was making rounds in social media on Saturday and was emailed to journalists on Sunday, a BLA commander can be seen surrounded by heavily armed persons wearing the same camo uniform as members of Majeed Brigade, the organisation’s suicide unit, which it calls its self-sacrificing squad.
“On 11th May, members of our self-sacrificing squad Majeed Brigade attacked Pearl Continental Hotel in Gwadar and inflicted heavy losses upon both Pakistan and China,” the BLA commander says in one of the only videos by the organisation in English language.
The BLA commander goes on saying that the motive of Gwadar attack was a simple and clear message to China and Pakistan to immediately withdraw from Balochistan.
He adds on that warnings were also given to China and Pakistan by BLA’s “martyr leader General Aslam Baloch” but China failed to pay heed.
“We once again make it clear that Gwadar and the rest of Balochistan belong to Baloch and it is our duty to protect our land and sea. The attack on Pearl Continental Hotel was part of our Zir Pahazag Operation. This is a continuous operation that has been initiated to safeguard the Baloch sea from China, Pakistan and other foreign powers,” the BLA commander says.
Addressing China, the BLA commander says: “China, you came here without our consent, supported our enemies, helped Pakistani military in wiping our villages but now it is our turn. Baloch Liberation Army guarantees you that CPEC will fail miserably on the Baloch land”
In one of the most direct and daring threats to China the BLA commander says that Balochistan will be a graveyard for Chinese “expansionist motives”.
The commander claims that a special unit has been formed in Majeed Brigade to particularly “attack Chinese officials and installations in Balochistan”.
He then directly addresses Chinese president Xi Jinping and threatens: “President Xi Jinping, you still have time to quit Balochistan or you will witness a retaliation from Baloch sons that you will never forget.
BLA commander concludes his video by saying “General Aslam Baloch’s mission will continue”.
General Aslam Baloch, the slain BLA leader and founder of Majeed Brigade, is widely credited for organisation’s recent transformation, which has seen unprecedented increase in its attacks. Aslam Baloch’s own son Rehan Baloch carried out the first suicide attack on Chinese in Chaghi.
This was followed by another attack on Chinese consulate in Karachi in November 2018.
The security situation in Balochistan has hamstrung China’s operation of the Gwadar deep-sea port by the Arabian Sea.
The project is a “central pillar” of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a US$62 billion network of roads, railways and pipelines linking Gwadar to northwest China’s Xinjiang region.