The family members of “abducted” Faisal Basheer have called on the Pakistani state to negotiate with the Baloch Liberation Army for his release.
Faisal Basheer is one of the two alleged Pakistani intelligence officials who were recently “abducted” by the Baloch Liberation Army from Balochistan’s Harnai district. The two detainees were kept incommunicado for several days before BLA made a public statement, saying that it has spared the lives of the two men in accordance with international standards of human rights.
BLA said that it had received a tip-off that the Pakistani state is initiating a covert intelligence network in district Harnai to watch over the Baloch political and human rights activists. The group said that its Special Tactical Operations Squad carried out an operation and detained the two masterminds of the intelligence network before they could do any harm to anyone.
BLA also said that it is ready to swap the two detainees in exchange for the release of Baloch political prisoners, but the group has not named any prisoners yet. The Pakistani authorities have not yet responded to the offer.
The family members of detained Faisal Basheer took to the streets in their native hometown of Pattoki, Punjab, and demanded that the state would negotiate with BLA for his release.