Five Baloch militant outfits banned

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The State Bank of Pakistan has been asked to freeze accounts and other assets of outlawed militant organisations,” said Interior Minister Rehman Malik. -File Photo
QUETTA The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and four other Baloch militant organisations have been banned and their accounts and other assets have been frozen.

This was announced at a press conference here on Wednesday by Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik who also said that targeted operation against the organisations would be launched.

Besides the BLA, the banned organizations are Baloch Liberation Front (BLF), Baloch Republican Army (BRP), Lashkar-i-Balochistan (LB) and Baloch Musallah Difa Organisation (BMDO).

The minister said that no organisation working with the word 'army' or lashkar in its name would be allowed to work in Balochistan. Provincial Home Minister Mir Zafarullah Zehri attended the press conference.

“The State Bank of Pakistan has been asked to freeze accounts and other assets of outlawed militant organisations,” Mr Malik said, adding that these outfits were involved in suicide blasts and rocket attacks and in killing of innocent people.

According to him, the government planned to launch an operation against militants in Balochistan, but backtracking a statement he had made here on Tuesday, he said it would not be a Swat- or Malakand-like operation. “It will be a targeted operation and security forces will act wherever the situation worsens,” Mr Malik said.

He said the federal government had empowered the provincial government to give police powers to the Frontier Corps wherever it needed them to maintain law and order. However, he said, all raids and actions against militants would be led by police. He said the chief minister had been given powers to deploy Frontier Corps in Balochistan whenever required.

The interior minister appealed to Baloch youths to abandon the path of militancy, come down from mountains and join forces to serve the country in uniform.

He said the enemy wanted to dismember Pakistan but the government would foil its designs with the support of the people. Some disgruntled youths said to be 'missing' were in fact in Afghanistan and after getting training there they were carrying out subversive activities in Balochistan, he added.

Answering a question, the minister said that terrorist activities of Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, Taliban and target killers would be brought to an end to give people a sense of security.

Mr Malik said the government was within its right to act against elements who were carrying out suicide, bomb and rocket attacks and killing and injuring innocent people.

“The government will fulfil its responsibility and protect people's life and property,” the minister said. He accused Afghanistan of sending people for carrying out subversive activities in Pakistan and the government had lodged a protest with Afghanistan and US authorities in that country.

“I personally conveyed the protest to President Hamid Karzai on the issue,” he said.

He said the government was taking steps to end the sense of deprivation among the people of Balochistan and, under the Aghaz-i-Haqooq Balochistan package, had provided jobs to 5,000 youths in Balochistan.

He said another 2,500 jobs would be provided in Frontier Corps and FCs recruiting centres would soon be set up in Turbat and Khuzdar.

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