In Balochistan’s Mastung, tensions have escalated following the dismissal of 30 Levies personnel by the Deputy Commissioner. This includes 12 officers terminated today, in addition to 18 dismissed two days earlier. The official notifications were issued by the Deputy Commissioner’s office and listed the names of the dismissed personnel.
Sources allege that the state seeks to use local Baloch Levies personnel as human shields for non-local Frontier Corps (FC) forces, enabling the FC to continue activities allegedly linked to theft, abduction and other serious crimes with impunity. The Levies’ refusal to provide security to the FC is reported to be the primary reason behind the terminations.
The names of the 12 Levies personnel dismissed today are:
- Shadi Khan
- Daleel Khan
- Niaz Muhammad
- Abdul Haq
- Kamal Uddin
- Muhammad Gul
- Asif Ali
- Abdul Rehman
- Mujeeb Ur Rehman
- Meer Gul
- Syed Mashooq Shah
- Najeeb Ullah
The crackdown comes in the aftermath of a major operation by the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) on June 21. BLF fighters carried out a coordinated assault during which they took control of the Levies Station, the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) office and the Assistant Commissioner’s office in the Kardgap area of Mastung.
During the operation, BLF fighters reportedly captured Levies personnel, seized weapons, and set fire to government offices and equipment. The group also torched the NADRA office, as part of what it described as resistance against the Pakistani state’s presence in the region.
Analysts and local observers believe the dismissal of Levies personnel is less about operational failure and more a punitive measure meant to discourage dissent within local security forces who refuse to comply with directives that put them in conflict with their own communities.
