It is speculated that the terrorist outfit, Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), is responsible for Sunday’s explosion at a busy bus station in Multan, killing 10 people and leaving 60 injured. The Punjab Central Police Office confirmed that the explosives were planted in a vehicle and the bomb was detonated either by a remote control or a time device. This pattern of planted bombs is consistent with the previous incidences of terrorist attacks carried out by the BLA.
The BLA has been one of main terrorist organisations that had been successful in breaching the security around Lahore, one of the busiest cities in the country. The blast in Multan proves that although the level of security has been hyped up around the province, the BLA militants are still capable to launch bomb attacks in the most developed Punjab province. Even though five arrests have been made in connection with the Multan blast, the terror that has settled in a relatively peaceful city like Multan and that too right before Eid, is condemnable.
The Rangers operation against the terrorist cells of Punjab was a much needed and welcomed move. Two suspected militants of the BLA have been arrested recently for a spate of targeted killings including the murder of a veteran journalist and two colleagues last year in Quetta.
These militants confessed to having carried out 27 murders. Rumors have also floated of the killing of Dr Allah Nazar Baloch, the leader of outlawed BLA. Another seven terrorists belonging to the banned organisation were apprehended by the intelligence agencies in the area of Dalbandin, Balochistan. These recent events do indicate that the Multan blast was perhaps an act of retaliation by the BLA, who have been targeted with renewed vigor by the security forces.
While we have barely been able to keep up with the threat of the Taliban in Punjab, the BLA presents an additional and growing problem. Over the last year the government and military has been trying to contain the problem of terrorism and sedition in Balochistan. It seems that it is too late; the problem has not been contained.