Balochistan govt seeks nomination of judge for judicial inquiry into Ziarat operation deaths.

QUETTA -- The government of Balochistan on Wednesday wrote a letter to the registrar of the Balochistan High Court (BHC) seeking the nomination of a judge for conducting a judicial inquiry into the deaths during a recent operation conducted in Ziarat.

On July 16, nine terrorists were killed and a havildar was martyred during an operation against the killers of Lt Col Laiq Baig Mirza, an army officer who was kidnapped while travelling to Quetta from Ziarat along with his cousin, Umer Javed.

According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), five of the nine terrorists belonged to the proscribed Baloch Liberation Army (BLA).

However, BNP-Mengal, National Party and some Baloch nationalist groups had claimed that the five militants killed in the operation were actually missing persons and that they had gone missing after having been picked up allegedly by security forces.

Last week, Adviser to Balochistan Chief Minister on Home and Provincial Disaster Management Authority Mir Ziaullah Langove had stated that the five of the nine killed belonged to a terrorist organisation. However, he had also said their names were included...