Balochistan Chief Minister (CM) Sarfraz Bugti has lauded security forces for arresting a “would-be suicide bomber” as they foiled a terrorist attack on the country’s 78th Independence Anniversary, going on to introduce a detained individual who confessed to his connection to the banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA).

 

During a press conference in Quetta, CM Bugti revealed a recorded statement by Dr Mohammad Usman Kazi, who said he had a Master’s degree from the Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) in Islamabad, a PhD from Peshawar University, and was working as a Grade-18 lecturer. After releasing Kazi’s statement, the provincial chief executive noted that the information being shared was “not in great detail”, so ongoing investigation were not affected.

 

Explaining how the arrested lecturer was allegedly involved in facilitating the Nov 2024 Quetta Railway Station bombing, in which 32 were killed and over 50 were injured, CM Bugti said that Kazi facilitated the suicide bomber.

 

He maintained that Kazi’s mother was still receiving pension, which means she was a government employee. “His wife is also a government employee and he himself is a Grade-18 [officer] who pursued education and completed his PhD on Pakistani scholarship. His brother is an employee at Reko Diq, which means he was not deprived in any way,” CM Bugti added.

 

He critisiced the exploitation of narratives of marginalisation, questioning the claims of widespread deprivation, and said that such elements were also exploiting women to prepare them for suicide attacks.

 

The CM said that the outlawed BLA’s Majeed Brigade, which was recently designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) by the United States (US), operated in “three to four tiers”. He explained that the lowest tier was made of uneducated “footsoldiers,” the second involved women used for targeted killings in urban areas, while the top-most “sophisticated” tier included individuals like Kazi.

 

 “This is the first time when security forces have achieved such great success and arrested a leader of Majeed Brigade’s ‘sophisticated’ tier.”

 

He praised the security agencies, the Balochistan Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) and the police for saving the province from “huge destruction”.

 

‘I am deeply ashamed that I remained involved in these actions’

 

Earlier, Kazi, in his video statement, revealed that during his 2020 visit to QAU, he was introduced to three men linked to “an organisation”, two of whom were later killed. He said that two men, Dr Habetan and Feh Khaliq, then got him to join the militant group and had him meet with a man named Basheerzai.

 

“All these introductions were made through Telegram,” the lecturer confessed, adding he facilitated “three acts” on the group’s directives when he went to Quetta and that his alias in the organisation was Feh Hameer.

 

He recalled his facilitation of militants and the banned group on different levels and revealed he had also provided shelter to a man who was “about to be used in some event on August 14”. The lecturer also confessed to having bought a pistol that was used “in targeting security forces and government employees”.

 

“These are the acts I have done, the facilitation I have carried out. If it’s considered, the state has given us everything, respect, pride, a job… and even to my wife. But despite this, I went against the law and betrayed the state.”

 

He said he was deeply ashamed and the aim of the video statement was to inform the coming generations and the youth save themselves from these groups spreading anarchy.