34 militants killed in Balochistan

Islamabad: Pakistani security forces on Saturday killed 34 suspected terrorists in an operation in Kalat district of insurgency-plagued southwestern Balochistan province, the provincial government said.

Balochistan’s Home Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti told a news conference in the provincial capital, Quetta, that the dead included a key commander of a banned outfit, Abdul Nabi Bangulzai.

He said the operation started two days ago on an intelligence tipoff about the presence of anti-state elements in the area.

The ministers said the militants eliminated in the operation were involved in an attack last year in the province’s Mastung in which 20 bus passengers were killed.

He said a huge cache of arms and ammunition, gold plates, cash and computers were recovered in the Kalat operation.

According to the minister, one security personnel was martyred and two injured.

The mineral-rich province, which borders both Afghanistan and Iran, suffers from a long-running low level separatist insurgency involving militant groups from the ethnic Baloch community.

Pakistan accuses India of interference in Balochistan through its intelligence agency.

In March, the security agencies claimed arresting an Indian spy named Kubhushan Yadav, described as an officer of Indian navy working with Indian intelligence agency RAW.

In a confessional video statement shown to media in Islamabad, Yadav spoke about his involvement in aiding insurgents in Balochistan.

New Delhi had confirmed the nationality of the arrested man but said he was a retired naval officer with no links with the government and that he may have been abducted from a territory of Iran where he had been engaged in business.

Pakistan has said it is considering Indian request for consular access to Yadav.