Seven people were killed and three others were injured in two separate firing incidents in Panjgur and Kharan districts of Balochistan, on Wednesday.
According to reports, during anclash between two armed groups, five people were killed while three others were injured in at Dam in Parom area of Panjgur.
Confirming the incident, Deputy Commissioner Panjgur said that five people were killed in shooting. However, he did not say anything about the motives behind the incident.
The bodies and injured have been shifted to the DHQ. The identity of dead and injured has not been ascertained yet.
However, a Baloch journalist, Salam Sabir tweeted saying that seven people were killed in a clash between Jaish-ul-Adl and Maqbool Shambezai’s death squad over a drug issue in the Parom area of Panjgur.
According to reports, Maqbool Shambezai is head of a “death squad” in Panjgur region on patronage of Pakistan Army. The Baloch nationalists allege that Pakistan army has given free hand to these squads for drug dealing, smuggling and robberies in exchange for targeting Baloch pro-independence activists to tackle the independence movement of Balochistan.
It is to mention that Jaish-ul-Adl on the other hand, is a militant group based in Western Balochistan (currently a province of Iran). The group is responsible for several attacks against Iran military and government installations. The group claims that it is a “pro-independence” group fighting for independence of ‘Sistan wa Balochistan’ Province and greater rights for Balochs.
Aforementioned province is the second largest and poorest province in Iran. The population comprises the Baloch who form a majority in the province.
Some argue that Jaish ul-Adl’s ideology is more based on ‘Salafi Jihadism’. The group is considered as religious group because there’s a substantial concentration of Baloch people who are Sunni which differentiates them religiously from Shia Iranians.
There are also reports of Pakistan army secretively backing Jaish-ul-Adl to have its influence on other side of the border.
Iran believes that the group is linked to Al Qaeda. Reportedly the group also maintains ties with ‘Ansar- ul-Furqan’ which is another Baloch Sunni armed group operating in Iran.
Meanwhile in another news from Kharan, two persons were shot dead by unidentified armed men. Both the deceased belong to the Jhal Magsi and have been identified as, Mir Muhammad and Baloch Khan, said to be farmers by occupation.