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The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has taken complete control of Surab city of Pakistan, news agency ANI has reported. The BLA, as part of a large-scale armed operation, has also targeted state installations in the city.
A statement by the group's spokesperson Jeeyand Baloch, said that BLA launched a coordinated operation on May 31 and took over major administrative, military and financial facilities of the Pakistani state in Surab. ANI reported that the operation lasted for more than three hours.
The BLA members reportedly took positions across Surab and seized control of the Levies and police stations. They also took control over the Deputy Commissioner's office, a government guest house and local bank branches.
BLA claimed it has paralysed state's infrastructure and has damaged facilities. The group also said that they have set fire to three vehicles belonging to the security forces, warehouses, guest house and banks in the city.
BLA has also arrested several police personnel and Levies and confiscated 30 Kalashnikov rifles along with other weapons and military equipment from state facilities. The statement further added that Assistant Deputy Commissioner Hidayatullah Buledi also attempted to confront the BLA fighters and was then detained. BLA locked him in a room where he eventually died due to suffocation. BLA has described it as accidental.
BLA also established checkpoints on the Quetta-Karachi and Surab-Gidar highways, which further restricted state movement in the region. BLA has further reiterated that this operation is part of its broader struggle for Baloch national liberation, vowing to continue targeting all symbols and institutions of the Pakistani state.
(With ANI inputs)
