The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of Pakistan recently released a video statement of a young Baloch man, claiming that he was a member of a “pro-independence” armed group that claimed responsibility for the assassination of Federal Shariat Court Chief Justice Muhammad Noor Meskanzai in Kharan. The young man’s father slammed the CTD, saying that the security forces “forcibly disappeared” his son, and now they are framing him for Meskanzai’s assassination.
The CTD released the video of the Baloch youth on its social media pages, claiming that he was a member of the Baloch Liberation Army. The CTD claimed the young man, identified as Shafqat Ullah Yalanzai, had received training in Iran in 2020 and then sent on a mission to assassinate Justice Noor Muhammad Meskanzai.
Journalist Kiyya Baloch later clarified that in 2020, Shafqat Ullah Yalanzai was doing his intermediate. He also posted a copy of his result card alongside a screengrab of the CTD’s post on his Twitter account.
The young man’s father refuted the charges CTD had levelled against his son, claiming that he had found on social media that he is being framed for Meskanzai’s assassination.
Abdul Raheem Yalanzai said the security forces are framing his son because they have failed to track the real culprits. He said his family could not imagine killing someone like Noor Muhammad Meskanzai because of his meritorious services in Kharan.
He further said that unknown men had detained his son alongside two others, Jabir Ali Yalanzi and Najeeb Ullah Yalanzai, from the Gawash Khan road in Kharan on October 23. He said he had filed an FIR against his son’s disappearance at the Kharan police station. The two detainees were released on October 26, but Shafqat was kept in custody, he said.
He refuted the allegations against his son as “baseless” and “wrong”, saying that his family is being mistreated. He said his 19-year-old had recently passed the intermediate examination with good grades.
Abdul Raheem Yalanzai appealed to the Chief Minister of Balochistan, the Supreme Court Chief Justice, the core commander and other authorities for the safe release of his son. He said that this family should not be punished for crimes they never committed.
It should be noted Justice Noor Muhammad Meskanzai was assassinated by unknown assailants in Kharan on October 14. An offshoot of the Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that Meskanzai was a high-profile target.
Journalist Kiyya Baloch notes that BLA is divided into two factions – the larger and more known faction, headed by Bashir Zeb Baloch, operates throughout Balochistan and targets the Pakistani security forces and Chinese workers; while the less known faction harbours a more anti-Iran sentiment and opposes Iranian involvement in Sistan and Balochistan.
It was the second faction that took responsibility for the assassination of Meskanzai. “CTD’s claim that the [second] BLA faction responsible for Mekanzai’s killing has bases in Iran is false and utterly baseless”, Kiyya Baloch said.
Kiyya Baloch further said that BLA spokesperson Azad Baloch had clarified in past statements that the CTD had already killed Baloch “missing person”, framing them as the ethnonationalist fighters responsible for Meskanziai’s assassination. If they had already killed the culprits, how do they claim that Shafqat Ullah Yalanzai was responsible for Meskanzai’s murder?
The members of Kharan’s Yalanzai had claimed in a press conference that a mining company owned by “influential” landlords is trying to usurp their ancestral land, which stretches to a whopping 500 square kilometres. They said the Yalanzai tribe inhabits this land, and if it is forcefully captured, they will be rendered homeless.
The Yalanzi tribe had appealed to the government to intervene and stop the alleged usurpation. They warned that if their demands are not met, they will come out on the streets in protests.
A few days after the press conference, CTD detained three members of the Yalanzai tribe, claiming that they are associated with Baloch “pro-independence” groups. Shafqat Ullah Yalanzai was one of them.
Many suspects that the CTD arrested and “framed” the young man at the behest of the mining company which is trying to usurp the ancestral land of the Yalanzai tribe. This move is aimed at twisting the tribe’s hand and forcing them to relinquish their land to the company, they suspect.