21 Ferrari commanders among 434 lay down arms
QUETTA - As many as 434 Ferraris, including 21 commanders, 16 sub-commanders of Baloch Republican Army (BRA), Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and other proscribed outfits, surrendered before Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Sanaullah Zehri and Southern Command Commander Lt-Gen Aamir Riaz on Friday.
“We have decided to join the national mainstream and work for the prosperity and development of Pakistan after realising that we were mistaken, exploited by vested interests and misguided by their foreign agenda,” the ex-militant commanders said at a ceremony held on this occasion. They pledged to work for the nation’s wellbeing.
Balochistan Assembly Speaker Raheela Hamid Khan Durrani, Commander Southern Command Lt-General Aamir Riaz, Inspector General of Frontier Corps Balochistan, Maj-Gen Nadeem Ahmed Anjum, ministers and high security officials and MPAs attended the ceremony held at the assembly lawn.
Spokesman for the Balochistan government, Anwarul Haq, said the number of those laying down arms in the province, as part of political reconciliation, has risen to 1,500.
Addressing the ceremony, Chief Minister Sanaullah Zehri hailed the decision of the militants.
He told them a bright future was awaiting them in Balochistan and hoped more Ferraris would enter the national mainstream. He said China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was going to prove a blessing for the country as well as the province and ensure a prosperous future for the coming generations.
“The Ferraris have martyred innocent civilians at the behest of Indian intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW),” noted the chief minister.
Earlier, the chief minister handed the national flags and bouquets to the Ferrari commanders while taking weapons from them.
Lt-Gen Aamir Riaz, addressing the event, welcomed the decision of the Ferraris of laying down arms. He said some a handful of people were playing into the hands of anti-Pakistan elements to create law and order situation in Balochistan.
AFP adds: Around 500 Baloch rebels Friday surrendered to the government as authorities pursue their development agenda linked to the ambitious China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in Balochistan.
Some 487 militants from four Baloch rebel organisations, including at least eight senior commanders, laid down their arms at an official ceremony in Quetta.
The militants pledged their allegiance to the state of Pakistan at the ceremony.
"These militants had killed my own son and brother but I have forgiven them. The state of Pakistan also forgives them and I welcome them to be part of Balochistan's CPEC project," said Chief Minister Sanaullah Zehri at the ceremony.
"We will arrange employment for you. Nobody will be allowed to destroy peace in the province," he said.
"We were misled by Brahamdagh Bugti. We have now come to know that he works for India. Why should we fight in our own country for another country," said Sarbaz Baloch, former spokesman of BRA, who has been fighting for 15 years.
Bugti is an exiled Baloch leader based in Europe who has applied for asylum in India, Pakistan's arch rival.
THREE CHILDREN INJURED IN GARBAGE BLAST
At least three poor children yesterday sustained burns in an explosion on a garbage heap in Quetta’s Zarghoon Road when they were trying to find usable things from there.
The explosive material had been concealed in a garbage heap by miscreants at Zarghoon Road, which exploded when one of the children picked it up.
Two brothers, Agha Muhammad, 12 and Boor Muhammad, 14, and Atif Shah, 10, received burns. They were shifted immediately to Civil Hospital Quetta for treatment.
“The injured children have been admitted to Civil Hospital’s Trauma Centre and are being provided with all the best available medical facilities,” Dr Waseem Baig, the spokesman for the hospital, told The Nation.
On receiving information, law enforcers reached the blast site, collected evidences and started investigation.
In another incident, a worker died and another was wounded in Dukki coal mine blast, said the levies official. The wounded was shifted to hospital and the body of the deceased mine worker was handed over to his heirs.
Meanwhile, the security personnel during a raid in Pak-Afghan border area in Dalbandin recovered arms and ammunition from a hole on Friday.
As per details, the security forces conducted a raid on tip-off in Dalbandin and detained hidden arms from a hole which were to be used for subversive activities. However, no arrest was reported during the raid.
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