Pakistani military forces have reportedly launched a large-scale military operation in Balochistan’s Dera Bugti region on Sunday. The government officials confirmed that the search operation was conducted to recover the Missing “footballer” who had been kidnapped by unidentified persons from the area a day earlier.
According to reports, Pakistani forces launched a massive military operation in Gandoi, Sonari Mit, Sardarpati, Bishk, Dam, and Lagardavan areas of Sui and Ach areas of Dera Bugti district. The forces have reportedly forcibly detained ten individuals from different areas during house raids and moved them to undisclosed locations. Sources have said that more than 50 vehicles and eight combat helicopters are being used in the ongoing operation.
The ten detainees have been identified as Aziz Bugti, Suleiman Bugti, Sharif son of Ghaus Bugti, Farooq son of Brahim Bugti, Ali Bakhsh son of Ali Khan Bugti, Babal Bugti, Lota Bugti and his brother Deen Mohammad, sons of Jawansal Bugti, Mirzhan Bugti and his nephew Hashim son of Sori Bugti.
It’s pertinent to mention that Hashim’s father Sori Bugti was forcibly disappeared, killed, and his body was dumped in the wilderness in 2008.
The district administration of Dera Bugti confirmed the incident and said that the law-enforcement officials have arrested seven suspects in connection with the kidnapping of six footballers in the Sui area of Balochistan.
Meanwhile, the Baloch Republican Party (BRP) confirmed that Pakistani forces are continuously shelling and bombing the civil population in the operation and the group alleges that at least five civilians have been killed in the operation. However, the TBP could not independently verify the allegations due to complete blockage and internet service suspension in the area.
Taking to the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Pakistan’s caretaker Interior Minister Sarfaraz Bugti claimed that an operation is underway to recover six football players kidnapped from Dera Bugti.
He said that the entire area was being cordoned off and an operation was underway to recover the hostages. Sarfraz Bugti further said that orders were issued to the security agencies to take every possible step for recovery.
Meanwhile, the armed Baloch “pro-independence” group Baloch Liberation Tigers (BLT) claims to have clashed with Pakistani forces in different areas during the ongoing operation in the Dera Bugti. The group claims to have killed dozens of Pakistani troops and damaged a helicopter which later crashed near the Pakistani camp in the area, the group claimed.
The group took responsibility for detaining the six “footballers”, claiming that they were agents of Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI who were spying in Balochistan disguised as footballers. The group said that the six detainees have been involved in several military operations in the area and the “enforced disappearances” of innocent Baloch youth in Dera Bugti.