August 14th, 2020
By: Asim Ahmad
Quetta:
While the nation was celebrating August 14, in Baluchistan a number of terrorist incidents shook the province. In particular, those stalls that were set up for Independence Day celebrations were the ones that were particularly targeted.
A stall put up near a check post on the RCD main road in the industrial city of Hub was targeted with a hand grenade. Six people, including security forces personnel, were injured as a result of the ensuing explosion.
A similar incident occurred on the Quetta Brewery road, where unknown persons threw hand grenades targetting a shop selling Pakistani flags and badges. The bomb killed a 10-year-old boy and injured six others.
Zia Lango, the home minister of Baluchistan, blamed India for this recent spike in terrorist incidents. According to Zia, the purpose of these activities is to disrupt independence activities.
“This trend stretches back years,” he said. “Every year Indian backed terror cells increase their attacks in August to diminish the spirit of independence. But our security agencies were well prepared this time. The security forces have arrested many Indian backed terrorists. But due to the ridiculously large amount of money being spent by the Indian side, some of their attacks have succeeded.”
Mastung, a major population center in Baluchistan, was attacked by terrorists merely a day before independence day. The pattern of the attack was the same as those which followed. A stall selling Pakistani flags was attacked by a hand grenade injuring five, including a woman.
But Liaquat Shehwani, the spokesperson for the Baluchistan government, believes that the security situation in Baluchistan has improved a lot compared to the previous years. According to him, the ‘few incidents’ that did take place were unfortunate but will be controlled shortly.
“Thanks to God, no major incident was reported this year,” he said. “According to a survey carried out by a private news channel in October last year, terror incidents in Quetta have actually fallen by a drastic 53 percent. We are working to improve our security infrastructure in light of the few terror incidents that took place this year,” explains Shehwani. “Whoever is responsible for these barbaric attacks will be brought to book,” he vows.
“These terrorist attacks were not able to diminish the spirit of independence in Baluchistan,” he added. “Despite these cowardly attacks, Independence Day celebrations in Quetta and the rest of Baluchistan are still being celebrated with nationalist zeal.”
