Mastung: The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) has claimed that five individuals were killed during an operation in Mastung, Balochistan.
According to a CTD spokesperson, the individuals killed belonged to the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and were killed in an exchange of fire.
The spokesperson further claimed that the CTD had received intelligence that militants were planning to set up a blockade on the Sibi–Quetta highway in the Dasht area and target security forces and civilians. Following this information, surveillance of the area was initiated, during which the militants opened fire upon seeing CTD personnel.
According to the CTD, five militants were killed in retaliatory action, while their other accomplices managed to escape and are being pursued.
The spokesperson added that during the operation, five submachine guns (SMGs), seven hand grenades, and three motorcycles were also recovered.
The bodies of the killed individuals have been shifted to a civil hospital, and a case has been registered at the CTD police station.
However, independent sources have so far been unable to verify the affiliation of the killed individuals with any militant organization or confirm that they were killed in a shootout.
So far, the identities of those killed have not been disclosed.
It is noteworthy that operations conducted by Pakistani forces and the CTD in Balochistan have often been viewed as controversial, with allegations that individuals already in custody are killed and later portrayed as having died in encounters.
In the past, human rights organizations and families of missing persons have repeatedly raised concerns over such operations in Balochistan.
Several CTD operations are on record that were later proven to be fake, where individuals who had already been forcibly disappeared were killed extrajudicially, portrayed as armed militants and later formally identified as missing persons.
