BNM spokesperson alleges Pakistani troops attacked the house of their party chairman Khalil Baloch in Panjgur district of Balochistan.
According to the spokesman of the Baloch National Movement, that the Pakistani army raided the house of party chairman Khalil Baloch in Khudabadan area of Panjgur and harassed women and children. “It is a sign that the enemy forces have lost sense and it is a continuation of Pakistan’s collective punishment tactics. Earlier, the state had targeted his close relatives and family to pressurize him,” the spokesman said.
He went on saying that this is not the first attack of this kind on BNM leadership, but the organization’s founding leader Ghulam Muhammad Baloch, Secretary-General Dr. Manan and numerous workers have been abducted, tortured, and killed. “Even to-date, many BNM leaders and activists, including Dr. Din Muhammad Baloch, Ghafoor Baloch, and Ramzan Baloch, are being held in Pakistan’s secret torture cells,” `Party spokesperson said.
The BNM spokesman further stated that such violence was a failed attempt to cow the Baloch leaders from the independence movement. “Targeting and terrorizing unarmed people is the cowardice of the enemy. In Balochistan, Pakistan has been pursuing a policy of collective punishment for several years. The attack on the house of Chairman Khalil Baloch in Khudabadan is the continuation of the same policy.” He added.
He said, similar attacks had taken place in the past. Not only the relatives of the leaders, activists, and sympathizers of the independence movement have been targeted but also their villages have been burnt. Just last week, the village of Baloch national leader Dr. Allah Nazar Baloch was bulldozed in Mashkay Mehi.
The spokesman said that such atrocities on the part of Pakistan have strengthened the morale of BNM, Baloch activists and have increased public support.
Similarly, in Panjgur on Friday, a Baloch journalist and two other politicians’ houses were attacked by a group allegedly backed by the state.
The family houses of the Baloch journalist and the politicians were attacked by unidentified armed people in Bonistan area of Panjgur. The victim journalist Safar Khan Baloch, affiliated with BNM’s media outlet Zrumbish, confirmed that the attackers entered his house and threatened the family members.
In a tweet he said: “members of state backed death squad raided my home in Panjgur this morning and tortured women and children. They threatened to kill my family members if I do not surrender. Such cruel and cowardly acts cannot stop my activism for an independent Balochistan.”
The other two houses belonged to BNM’s Ayub Asrar and Raheem Dad. The armed group forcefully entered the houses and mistreated women and children, the family members have alleged.
They claimed the attackers belonged to Shakeel alias Shako’s group who has formed a “death squad at the behest of the Pakistan Army”.
Related: Baloch journalist’s house attacked by “state-backed” group
“No movement can be suppressed by oppression and violence, nor can BNM leaders be put under pressure because we are carrying out a struggle with consciousness and with the help of the Baloch nation,” BNM statement read. It further read that the Baloch nation has made great sacrifices in this struggle and the result of these sacrifices will be the independence of Balochistan.