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QUETTA:
As Balochistan reeled from a fresh wave of violence, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Saturday blamed India for a coordinated terror campaign in the province.
Speaking to the media alongside Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti late Saturday night, Naqvi said the attacks bore the hallmarks of external planning and support. “These were not normal terrorists. India is behind these attacks. I can tell you for sure that India planned these attacks along with these terrorists,” he said.
He said authorities would pursue every individual involved, as well as those directing them from behind the scenes.
“We will expose them in the world — the face with which they meet the world and the face with which they support terrorists,” he said.
Naqvi added that India was the “main country” behind terrorism, saying that it was not only providing financial support to the terrorists but was also aiding them in planning and strategising.
For his part, Bugti thanked Naqvi for immediately travelling to Quetta in the aftermath of the attacks.
“We chaired a high-level security meeting and visited the injured at the Combined Military Hospital,” the chief minister said.
“In terms of the incident itself, information has yet to come but I want to say that the operation is pretty much over,” he said. Bugti also condemned the killing of women and children belonging to a Baloch family hailing from Khuzdar in Gwadar’s labour colony.
He praised law enforcement and security personnel for their response to the attacks.
“The terrorists’ morale was declining. To raise morale, they executed this attack but the lethality was very low,” the CM said.
“The rebuttal by security forces was superb,” he added, stressing that the state’s resolve “could not be weakened”.
Naqvi also held high-level discussions on the law and order situation in Quetta, while Bugti reiterated that the sacrifices of the martyrs “would not go in vain”, according to an official statement.
It said the minister and the chief minister visited Police Lines to offer funeral prayers for the martyrs and to meet their families.
“The people and security forces of Balochistan are brave and courageous,” Naqvi was quoted as saying.
“Our soldiers took comprehensive and effective action against terrorists. The sacrifices of martyrs cannot be forgotten, and the nation salutes them.”
CM Bugti was quoted as saying, “The sacrifices of our martyrs will not go in vain. The state has always stood with the oppressed and will continue to do so.”
