OSINT SUMMARY, Baluchistan Pakistan, April 19, 2016
Pakistan authorities confirmed that more than 140 militants have downed their arms in southwestern Baluchistan province.
More than 140 disillusioned militants surrendered themselves to the Pakistani authorities in Kalat district south of the provincial capital Quetta on Monday 18th April 2016 in what Islamabad views as a major victory in the militancy-riddled province.
According to a statement by Provincial government spokesman Anwaar ul Haq, the militants who laid down their arms were from groups, including the Baluchistan Liberation Front (BLF), the Baluchistan Liberation Army (BLA) and the Lashkar-e-Baluchistan.
Haq also added that two commanders, who were relatives of Allah Nazar Baluch, the BLF chief, were among the militants.
“According to them, they were disillusioned from the fight, because they joined thinking that it was for a national cause, but within a year or two, they realized … that the movement was directionless,” Haq said in a statement.
Pakistan has been facing militancy challenges since the country joined an alliance with the United States coalition on war on terror in 2001.
In the Pakistan’s troubled northwestern tribal regions, the military has been engaged in a major counter offensive against militant hideouts since June 2014, when a deadly raid on the Karachi International Airport ended the government’s peace talks efforts with the pro-Taliban militants.
