Security forces kill ‘BLF commander involved’ in Turbat massacre

Security forces on Friday claimed to have killed a top militant commander near the site where bullet-riddled bodies of 15 men were found just two days ago in Balochistan’s Turbat district.

The banned Baloch Liberation Front (BLF), headed by Allah Nazar Baloch, had claimed responsibility for the killings from Punjab, supposedly aspiring to enter Europe illegally.

“FC Balochistan conducted an important intelligence-based operation near Alandur, Abdul Rehman village, Turbat on presence of terrorists,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.

According to the military’s media wing, the militants opened fire at the FC troops who had cordoned the area and during the exchange of fire, “Younas Taukali — one of the top 8 BLF commanders” was killed, some 25 kilometers north of the grisly incident site in the district.

The ISPR claimed that besides being involved in the killing of the 15 innocent people on November 15, the suspect is also accused of laying improvised explosive devices (IEDs) ambushing FC convoys and killing several other civilians, including “Rehmatullah Shohaz (founding member of BNM who had later surrendered), Ghulam Jan (Lala Nazir’s cousin), Akram Hayathuk, Habib Ullah and Saddam”.