ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday expressed his administration’s resolve to identify and punish the armed men who killed the deputy commissioner of Panjgur in the southeastern Balochistan province while he was traveling on the Quetta-Karachi National Highway near the Mastung district a day earlier.
Panjgur and Mastung are both considered restive regions due to militant violence. Two years ago, the separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) launched a coordinated attack on security facilities in Panjgur and Nushki districts. Similarly, about 50 people were killed and dozens of others injured in Mastung last September during a gathering to celebrate the birth of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
Panjgur Deputy Commissioner Zakir Hussain Baloch was on his way to Quetta when he was targeted by unknown assailants.
“Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has expressed profound grief over the martyrdom of Deputy Commissioner Panjgur Zakir Baloch in an attack in Mastung,” the state-owned Radio Pakistan reported.
“He said the persons involved in the attack will be identified and given exemplary punishment,” it added.
In a separate report, Radio Pakistan also informed a high-profile militant, Shambin alias Shehak, was killed by his own associates in the same province.
Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, is the site of a low-level insurgency for decades by separatists, who say they are fighting what they see as unfair exploitation of the province’s wealth by the federation.
The Pakistani state denies the allegation.
Pakistani PM vows justice after Panjgur deputy commissioner killed in Balochistan
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Pakistani PM vows justice after Panjgur deputy commissioner killed in Balochistan
- Zakir Baloch was on his way to Quetta when he was targeted by unknown assailants near Mastung
- A high-profile militant, Shambin alias Shehak, has also been killed by his own associates in Balochistan
