Khuzdar : The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed responsibility for the targeted killing of Atta-ur-Rehman Mengal identified by the group as a “deep-rooted agent” of the state-backed Death Squad and two of his associates, in the Aranji area of Wadh, Khuzdar.
In an official statement, BLA spokesperson Jeeyand Baloch said the operation was conducted jointly by the group’s intelligence wing, Zirab, and its operational unit, Fatah Squad. According to the spokesperson, the carefully planned raid was based on extensive intelligence gathering, surveillance, and monitoring of Mengal’s alleged role in the torture, abduction, extrajudicial killings and mass burials of Baloch political activists.
Zirab and Fatah Squad reportedly infiltrated Mengal’s circle and carried out the strike on June 22. The spokesperson claimed Atta-ur-Rehman had been a central operator in the state-sponsored proxy Death Squad network, working under the direction of his brother, Shafiq-ur-Rehman Mengal, and father, Naseer Mengal. He said Atta-ur-Rehman actively facilitated and coordinated deadly operations, including the forcible disappearance of youths, mass killings and identifying political activists’ identities for targeted violence.
The BLA statement asserts that under Mengal’s oversight, hundreds of Baloch youth were abducted, many murdered, and at least 200 bodies buried in mass graves citing the 2014 Tootak mass graves as part of the same broader network.
The statement added that decades earlier, on December 30, 2011, another assassination attempt on Shafiq Mengal was carried out by the BLA’s Majeed Brigade, during which the assailant sacrificed himself in a suicide attack, severely disrupting the Death Squad network.
The BLA clarified that the operation was not merely military but deeply rooted in political consciousness and collective resistance. It defined the campaign as a morally justified response to decades of targeted state repression and genocide against the Baloch people.
In conclusion, the BLA reaffirmed that it will not pardon those involved in the repression of the Baloch national movement. It emphasized that the killings of Atta-ur-Rehman Mengal and future actions against collaborators are calculated measures taken through disciplined and principled resistance.
