It was not My Lai in Vietnam but Mehi in Balochistan early Tuesday morning, when Muslims break fast in the month of fasting called Ramadhan and the jihadi army of Pakistan was busy targeting the Baloch who they consider apostates. The seven dead included Safar Khan, a brother of Ho Chi Minh of Balochistan – Dr Allah Nazar, chief of the Baloch Liberation Front. Dr Allah Nazar’s two nephews Suleman Baloch and Zakir Baloch were also among at least seven killed. “According to latest reports, the security forces siege of Mashkay still continues,” Daily Sangar reported. Mehi is the ancestral village of Dr Allah Nazar, gold medal winning gynecologist and former torture victim in France-sized Balochistan. Gohram Baloch, spokesman for the BLF, who called newspaper offices on satellite phone, said, “After looting the army set the village afire.” The dead included Ramzan Baloch and Alam Khan Baloch. Two guests of Suleman Baloch were also killed. A large number of women and children were injured, the BLF said.
Pakistan heightened its military operation in Balochistan since the April visit of Chinese president Xi Jinping. President Xi promised Pakistan $50 billion if it helps connect Gwadar with Kashgar in Xinjiang province as part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor. The Chinese president had also expressed his concern over the security situation and in turn Pakistan launched an army battalion of 12,000 under a major general to protect the CPEC. Every day two to three Baloch opposed to the CPEC are being killed in Balochistan by the Pakistani security forces.
“The sarmachars launched counter attack on the Pakistan army from the adjoining mountains leaving two dozen Pakistan soldiers dead or injured,” the BLF said. Sarmachars in Balochi language means freedom fighters who are willing to give their lives for the liberation of Balochistan. Pakistan security forces had attacked Mehi, ancestral village of Dr Allah Nazar , many times in the past. Oslo-based leader of the Baloch National Movement Kachkol Ali Advocate condemned the army raid and the killings. “This is a brazen violation of the Rome Statues and Geneva conventions,” he said on phone from Oslo. The late icon of the Baloch liberation movement Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri named Dr Allah Nazar as his political successor, according to the late leader’s close confidante Wahab Baloch. “The BLF wants to make it clear on the Pakistani occupying state such brutalities and genocidal actions cannot crush the Baloch liberation movement,” the BLF spokesman said.
Pakistan army and the Inter Services Intelligence and Military Intelligence have been accused by premier human rights organizations of carrying out a massive kill and dump policy in Balochistan for the last five years, but the state atrocities have heightened since the visit of President Xi in April. China is eyeing the Gwadar port as a “pearl” in its strategy of laying out what it calls a “string of pearls” of naval bases on the rim of the Indian Ocean. Baloch in the USA who want to create awareness and highlight the brutalities in the backdrop of Chinese intervention in Balochistan, find their hands completely tied down because of lack of support. Meanwhile, Pakistan newspapers reported a number of sarmachars were killed in clashes between the Baloch Liberation Army and the United Baloch Army. The BLA is reportedly led by London-based Hyrbyair Marri while the UBA is led by his Dubai-based younger brother, Mehran Marri.
