Pakistan’s Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) said on Monday it foiled what it described as a planned attack by a Baloch armed group, killing five suspects during an operation in the Dasht area of Mastung district.
“A major intelligence-based operation was conducted by CTD Quetta in Dasht after receiving information about the presence of armed men,” a CTD spokesperson said.
He said the suspects, alleged to belong to the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), were planning to block the Quetta–Sibi highway and carry out “subversive activities”.
CTD teams cordoned off the area, after which an exchange of fire took place, the spokesperson said.
“During the encounter, five terrorists were killed, while their accomplices managed to flee by taking advantage of the rugged and mountainous terrain,” he said.
The spokesperson added that arms and ammunition, including five sub-machine guns with live rounds, seven hand grenades and three motorcycles, were recovered from the scene.
However, Baloch advocacy groups and human rights activists called for an independent inquiry into the incident, citing long-standing allegations of extrajudicial killings in Balochistan.
Rights groups have previously accused Pakistani forces, including CTD, of killing people in staged encounters after they had been forcibly disappeared, a charge the authorities deny.
“In Balochistan, many people who were earlier forcibly disappeared have later been shown as killed in encounters,” a local rights activist said, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “That is why such incidents always raise serious questions.”