QUETTA, Nov 23: Nawabzada Mir Gazeen Marri said on Friday that the body of his younger brother Mir Balach Marri was in the custody of his colleague and it would be temporally buried in Afghanistan.

Gazeen Marri, who lives in Dubai, told the BBC that a close colleague of Balach had informed him about his death and he considered the information reliable.

“The body of my brother would be buried at a place which is out of enemy’s reach,” Mr. Gazeen said. He said he would have liked Balach to have been buried in Pakistan, but it was not possible at present because Balochistan was in a state of war.

Nawabzada Gazeen rejected reports that Mir Balach had been killed in an attack by Nato forces or in a clash with Brahmdagh Bugti. He said that these rumours were being spread by the government to mislead the people.

He said that the death of Balach would be a temporary setback for the resistance, which would become more effective in future.

“Balach Marri was not a robber or a criminal but he was fighting for the cause of the Baloch people and the rights of his province. His death would prove a wake-up call for many other people,” Gazeen said.

APP adds: Balochistan Frontier Corps Inspector General Major General Salim Nawaz denied that any operation was in progress in Balochistan and said that Balach Marri might have been killed in inter-factional feuds.