Baloch Separatist Leader Killed In Kandahar Attack: Reports

[Friends of Baloch]

Baloch Separatist Leader Killed In Kandahar Attack: Reports

The Ministry of Interior (MoI) on Wednesday said that at least six civilians were killed after a suicide bomber targeted a civilian vehicle in Aino Mina Township in Kandahar city on Monday.

Sources meanwhile said that Aslam Baloch, the leader of Baluchistan Liberation Army (BLA) was among those killed in the attack.

But, the Ministry of Interior has not confirmed the report.

“A number of civilians were killed as a result of the suicide attack in Aino Mina Township. They are six people and two others were wounded. It is said that a number of Baloch nationals were among those martyred,” said Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish.

While the Pakistani media reported that Asalam Baloch was the mastermind of suicide attack on Chinese embassy in the Pakistani port city of Karachi, a number of political experts described Baloch as a migrant in Afghanistan.

“Pakistan asked for serious suppressing of separatists on Afghan soil when the Afghanistan-Pakistan intelligence sharing agreement was signed. It had a big meaning. I hope that this agreement is not in the implementation phase or it is not executed in informal shape, because it would have devastative implications ahead, in the view of that, the Baloch was targeted by Pakistan’s ISI,” said political commentator Ajmal Balochzada.

The Baloch separatist Aslam Baloch was living in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province since 2005.

“The Baloch people are fighting very tough. The Pakistani military does not want them to be free, because they will lose 60 to 70 percent of Pakistan’s territory if the Balochis get freedom,” said political analyst Dawar Nadi.

Aslam Baloch has been one of the mainstream critics of the Pakistani government. He had sustained wounds in the past after a clash with Pakistani security forces.

Baloch Separatist Leader Killed In Kandahar Attack: Reports | TOLOnews

[Friends of Baloch]

Baloch separatist wanted for Chinese consulate attack killed in Afghanistan

Aslam Baloch and five Balochistan Liberation Army militants killed by a suicide bomber in Kandahar

Shah Meer Baloch | December 27, 2018

A Pakistani separatist militant wanted for the recent attack on China's consulate in Karachi was killed in a suicide bombing in southern Afghanistan this week.

Aslam Baloch, a founder of the Balochistan Liberation Army who survived previous attempts on his life in Pakistan, died in the blast in Kandahar on Tuesday along with five other senior members of the group.

The deaths were confirmed in a statement issued by the BLA and by a senior Pakistani security official. Aslam Baloch's killing "is very good for peace in Pakistan, particularly Balochistan”, the official told The National.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which was carried out by a suicide bomber who entered the house were the BLA militants were staying, according to Afghan media reports. A Pakistani official said the house was in an upmarket area of Kandahar.

The BLA is one of several groups fighting the government in a resurgence of separatist violence in Balochistan that began in 2003. The south-western province bordering Afghanistan and Iran has seen several bouts of insurgency since Pakistan gained independence from Britain in 1947.

Pakistan accuses Afghanistan and India of supporting and sheltering the insurgents, who in recent years have attacked Chinese targets to protest against Beijing-backed infrastructure projects in the province.

The deaths of the BLA militants in Kandahar adds credibility to the claims that Baloch militants use Afghanistan as a base, said Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the Asia Programme at the Woodrow Wilson Centre.

On the other hand, there are plenty of lawless areas in Afghanistan where militants of all stripes can find sanctuary without state support.

“Just because a Baloch militant commander is revealed to be in Afghanistan does not prove that he is an asset of the state, and receiving all the support that comes with such a status. But it does certainly amplify the possibility of state support from Afghanistan,” Mr Kugelman told The National.

Baloch fighters have long used Afghanistan as a refuge, but this could change if the US goes through with reported plans to start withdrawing its troops from the country, according to Malik Siraj Akbar, a Washington-based Baloch journalist and author of The Redifined Dimensions of Baloch Nationalist Movement.

“In 1970s and 80s, Pakistan used the [Afghan] mujahideen to harass and chase the Balochs, but this time, it seems Pakistan hunted [Aslam Baloch] down with the help of its Taliban proxies," Mr Akbar told The National.

He said a US troop withdrawal would give the Taliban, ISIS and Pakistan greater influence in Afghanistan and "bring a lot of destruction for the Baloch fighters as their safe spaces will most likely be eliminated for good”.

Baloch separatist wanted for Chinese consulate attack killed in Afghanistan - The National

[Friends of Baloch]

More

Suicide Bombing Kills Pakistani Insurgent Wanted for Attack on Chinese

By Taimoor Shah, Mujib Mashal and Zia ur-Rehman
Dec. 27, 2018

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — After the Chinese Consulate in a major Pakistani city was attacked by a squad of suicide bombers last month, Pakistani officials pointed fingers at the commander of a separatist group waging an insurgency in the southwestern province of Baluchistan.

On Tuesday, a suicide bomber killed that commander, Aslam Baluch, along with five associates in an upscale neighborhood of Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan.

No group claimed responsibility for the latest Kandahar bombing. But it is widely believed to be an act of revenge for November’s consulate assault, highlighting the cross-border trading of insurgents and attacks by proxy that remains at the heart of relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

To Afghan officials, Tuesday’s attack bore the hallmarks of an operation directed by Pakistan’s military intelligence service, the I.S.I.

“The bomber was sent and guided by the I.S.I.,” Maj. Gen. Tadin Khan, the police chief of Kandahar, said on Thursday.

Though not specifically named by the authorities, the Taliban, many of whose leaders are believed to live in Pakistan, have carried out suicide bombings in southern Afghanistan in the past. Afghan and Western officials have long accused the Pakistani military, particularly its intelligence service, the I.S.I., of providing covert aid and direction to the Taliban as a way to wield influence in Afghanistan.

A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, denied the group’s involvement, saying: “The incident in Kandahar and the killing of any Baluch has nothing to do with us.”

In October, General Khan’s brother, Gen. Abdul Raziq, the powerful police chief of Kandahar, was killed by a teenage infiltrator who authorities said had trained in Pakistan. General Raziq was a staunch critic of Pakistan for harboring Taliban leaders.

Pakistani officials, in turn, had accused General Raziq, who had a large network of informants and vast wealth, of stirring trouble in Baluchistan and assisting the Baluch separatists. Afghan officials confirmed that General Raziq had housed Baluch separatist leaders in Kandahar for years.

The Baluchistan Liberation Army, of which Mr. Baluch was a major commander, has waged armed resistance against the Pakistani state for more than a decade, protesting discriminatory treatment and demanding autonomy for the province.

The group has recently stepped up attacks against Pakistani military targets and Chinese targets. It sees China as an “oppressor” that is supporting the Pakistani government and plundering resources in Baluchistan. China is investing hundreds of millions of dollars to develop a port and an economic zone in the town of Gwadar in Baluchistan.

The rebel group has established a brigade to carry out suicide attacks, named after a Baluch militant who carried out a failed attack on a Pakistani prime minister in the 1970s. In one of its first operations, last August, Aslam Baluch sent his own son to target a bus carrying Chinese engineers.

Mr. Baluch arrived in Kandahar last week, according to some reports. He emerged from a meeting at a friend’s home in Aino Mina township on Tuesday, and as the participants walked to their cars, a suicide bomber approached and detonated his explosives.

“The explosion was powerful and close to us,” said Nida Mohammad, a shopkeeper near the house in Aino Mena. “We thought that a rocket landed from somewhere.”

Suicide Bombing Kills Pakistani Insurgent Wanted for Attack on Chinese - The New York Times

[maneatinglizard]

I highly doubt the main Afghan Taliban faction was involved. Probably ISI-funded “good Taliban” goons.

It sees China as an “oppressor” that is supporting the Pakistani government and plundering resources in Baluchistan. China is investing hundreds of millions of dollars to develop a port and an economic zone in the town of Gwadar in Baluchistan.

Funny how everyone can see this except for blind Pakistani nationalists. Gwadar is going to become a Chinese colony and the only Pakistanis that will see any benefit from it are political elites.

[marwat]

I highly doubt the main Afghan Taliban faction was involved. Probably ISI-funded “good Taliban” goons.



Funny how everyone can see this except for blind Pakistani nationalists. Gwadar is going to become a Chinese colony and the only Pakistanis that will see any benefit from it are political elites.

Hafiz saeed group jummat ud dawa is an ally of Taliban, and they do have reach within Afghanistan