RAWALPINDI, July 26: The Baluchistan Solidarity Front (BSF), a broad-based coalition of progressive political activists, writers and ordinary citizens on Wednesday demanded end to “military operations and release of all political prisoners”.

It also advised the government to make sincere efforts for giving autonomy to the Baloch people over their own resources through a transparent political process.

In a statement the BSF spokesperson Alia Amirali said the government was unwilling to accept that the Baloch people had lost faith in the federal government’s hollow slogans of ‘development’ and ‘national security’ and it claimed that the support for the armed resistance was growing.

“It is clear that insurgency is spreading rapidly and there is absolutely no substance in the government’s claims that the ‘miscreants’ are limited to a few tribal areas and are operating only in the interests of a handful of self-interested tribal leaders.”

Alia Amirali said that support for armed resistance would increase if the government continued to suppress Baloch people’s democratic rights.