QUETTA - Balochistan Frontier Corps (FC) Inspector General (IG) Major-General Ubaidullah Khan Khattak Saturday said the son of Khan Kalat Prince Muhammad Ahmedzai, while expressing his concern over the situation prevailing in Balochistan, had assured him to bring his father back into the national mainstream politics.
Briefing journalists at the FC Headquarters, Khattak said the Khan Kalat’s son during an interaction with him three months ago termed the situation in Balochistan as pathetic and stressed the need for improving it. “Prince Muhammad also expressed the desire that he wants to bring his father (Khan of Kalat) back into national mainstream politics,” he said, adding that it was a welcoming potential development and they would welcome any move by the Khan.
The FC chief said the Pakistan Day was celebrated with utmost enthusiasm throughout Balochistan as a large number of people took part in festivities held in connection with the occasion. He said besides social activities, the FC was playing its due role for improving law and order situation, adding that the FC along with police carried out search operation on March 20 in Quetta and arrested 104 accused persons involved in incidents of targeted killings, kidnapping for ransom, car snatching and other incidents. Therefore, no unpleasant incident was reported in the province during the Pakistan Day, Khattak added. Referring to law and order, the IG FC said 107 people, including FC and police personnel, were killed in 313 acts of terrorism and most of the casualties were reported in Quetta, Dera Bugti and Sibi. “39 gas pipelines and four power pylons were blown up in different incidents,” he added.
He informed reporters that five FC personnel were killed in Dera Bugti because one its member had contacts with terrorists, adding that 14 others were martyred in the Marwar area besides abduction of three, whose dead bodies were recovered later. “The sacrifices of FC personnel would always be remembered and the responsible people would be brought to justice,” he vowed. He said in another incident, over 40 terrorists, who had come from Waziristan, attacked a FC checkpost in Zhob district that resulted in death of three personnel while four others were snatched away.
Khattak said during the past three months, 66 people had been kidnapped from different parts of Balochistan for ransom. He told journalists that a survey on new gas reserves in Sui, Kharan and Barkhan had been completed and work would soon be started on these projects, extracting gas in a large quantity.
Maj-Gen Khattak said survey was also conducted in these areas in the past too, but efforts failed twice due to poor law and order, adding that work on coal project in Behlol Basti was smoothly underway.
He said an advertisement campaign was carried out for recruiting 1000 youths into FC for which 2500 people submitted their applications, adding that 815 youth had been recruited, including 100 in Khuzdar, 49 in Barkhan and 68 in Kohlu. “The applicants were very poor people and they were barefooted,” he said, adding that the real issue of Balochistan was poverty and those who were sitting in Europe and delivering political speeches could not provide the rights to people.
Khattak strongly refuted Shahzain Bugti’s recent interview in which he claimed that the FC arrested him in a fabricated case of arms smuggling and later Supreme Court released him after a suo moto action.
“Shahzain was himself present when weapons were recovered from his fleet and he offered his arrest after four-hour-long meeting,” he said.
He said during the raid, FC recovered weapons worth Rs 60 million and 16 unregistered vehicles which were still in the FC’s possession.