Founder of the banned Baloch National Army (BNA), Gulzar Imam alias Shambay, has been captured following a successful intelligence operation, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) announced on Friday.
Describing Imam as a “high-value target,” the military’s media wing said he was a “hardcore” militant with suspected links to foreign intelligence agencies operating against Pakistan. It said he had been located after “months” of efforts, adding it had spanned “various geographical locations.”
Stating that the BNA had been responsible for dozens of violent terrorist attacks across Pakistan, including attacks on law enforcement agencies in Panjgur and Noshki, the ISPR claimed that Imam had also served as deputy to Brahamdagh Bugti in the Baloch Republican Army (BRA) until 2018. It said that he had also been instrumental in the formation of the Baloch Raji Aajoi Sangar (BRAS) and remained its operational head.
“His visits to Afghanistan and India are also on the record; his linkages with hostile intelligence agencies are being investigated,” it said, adding that the foreign agencies had tried to exploit him to work against the state of Pakistan and its national interests. “The arrest of Gulzar Imam is a serious blow to the BNA as well as other militant groups, which have been attempting to destabilize the hard-earned peace in Balochistan,” it said, stressing that the arrest of a militant leader of such stature demonstrated “the capability and resolve of the LEAs to uproot the menace of terrorism as well as speaks volumes about the successes garnered through supreme sacrifices of unsung heroes.”
Following the collapse of a peace deal with the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) last year, there has been a visible resurgence in terrorism nationwide, especially in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. According to various reports, insurgents in Balochistan have formalized a nexus with the TTP and are now collaborating in attacks targeting law enforcement agencies.