ISLAMABAD: Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfaraz Bugti on Thursday announced new capacity-building measures for the provincial police and said more than 500 militants had been killed this year amid escalating violence in Pakistan’s restive southwest.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest but poorest province, has long been plagued by an insurgency that has intensified in recent months, with separatist militants increasingly targeting security personnel, government officials, infrastructure and non-local residents.
The province is strategically significant for its vast mineral wealth and as a transit hub for the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), with groups like the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) demanding independence while accusing the central government of exploiting local resources, a charge Islamabad denies.
“We are strengthening our intelligence, we are strengthening our leadership, and the day will come that the police will stand on their feet,” Bugti said during a news conference in Quetta.
He said the province was consolidating specialized counterterrorism and rapid-response units under a unified police structure, while members of the paramilitary Levies Force who opt not to transfer to the police would be offered voluntary retirement with benefits.
