HYDERABAD, Sept 6: The All Sindh Mari Baloch Ittehad has demanded that the army operation in Balochistan should be stopped forthwith and all the youth who were arrested and made to disappear be released or produced before the relevant courts.

Speaking at a news conference at the press club here on Wednesday, the convener of the Ittehad, Ghulam Qadir Mari, said the Kohlu operation and the assassination of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti had shocked the entire country.

He said, so far four army operations had been conducted in Balochistan.

Ghulam Qadir Mari said the people of Sindh and Balochistan were one and demanded that the army operation should be called off not only in the interest of Balochistan and Sindh, but also in the interest of entire country. Otherwise, it might lead to the 1971 situation with similar consequences, he said.

He alleged that hundreds of youths in Sindh and Balochistan had been kidnapped and made to disappear. He feared that they might have been killed and demanded that they should either be released or produced in the relevant courts of law and given in judicial custody.

Others present at the press conference included Fateh Khan Mari, Gul Mohammad Khan Mari, Mir Shahdad Khan Talpur, Jam Saqi and others.

Earlier, a large number of people belonging to the Mari Baloch Ittehad staged a protest demonstration outside the press club against the killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti and raised slogans.