By Staff Reporter
KECH: Gunmen linked to the banned Balochistan Liberation Army abducted a woman from her home in the Balicha area of District Kech in restive Balochistan province on Wednesday evening, official sources said, in a brazen daylight operation that points to the persistent threat posed by separatist militants to civilians in the region.
The incident unfolded between 4:30 pm and 4:45 pm when a Toyota Corolla pulled up outside the house, according to the sources. Armed militants bundled the woman, identified only as Nargis, into the vehicle and sped off. Her husband and nephew quickly set off in pursuit and caught up with the car near Nasirabad, the sources said.
As they approached, one of the abductors stepped out wielding a Kalashnikov rifle. Reinforcements soon arrived on motorcycles, escalating the standoff. The relatives were beaten during the clash, and the militants seized their mobile phones before making their escape with the woman, the sources added.
Such tactics, involving coordinated backups and the use of automatic weapons in populated areas, are typical of BLA operations aimed at sowing fear among locals, the sources said. The abduction lays bare the risks faced by ordinary residents, particularly women, in Balochistan, where insurgent groups have long been accused of using civilians to advance their causes through coercion and intimidation.
Security officials have also pointed to what they describe as misleading accounts pushed by entities connected to the BLA, including the Baloch Yakjehti Committee, which they say obscure the militants’ role in fueling unrest. Police and security forces have mounted a search for Nargis, with teams following up on all available information to track down the perpetrators and secure her release, the sources said.
Militants have targeted security personnel, infrastructure projects and civilians in a bid to disrupt government control, drawing repeated military responses from Pakistani authorities. The military labeled the militants as “Fitna al Hindustan”, a term Pakistani officials use for Baloch separatist groups they accuse India of backing to destabilize the country by targeting security personnel. Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by area, which shares porous borders with Iran and Afghanistan, has been a hotbed for a long-simmering separatist rebellion. Groups like the Balochistan Liberation Army and the Balochistan Liberation Front, outlawed by Islamabad as a terrorist organizations, have waged a low-level insurgency for years, demanding greater autonomy or independence and accusing the central government of exploiting the province’s vast natural resources while neglecting its people.
Pakistan has long pointed the finger at India for fueling the unrest, a charge that has strained relations between the nuclear-armed neighbors. The tensions have played out in a cycle of cross-border allegations, with Islamabad saying that Indian intelligence agencies provide support to the militants as a proxy war.
No immediate claim of responsibility emerged for the abduction, but the sources attributed it to the BLA based on the assailants’ methods and eyewitness reports. The investigation continues.
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