‘Mastermind’ behind fatal attack on Chinese consulate in Pakistan killed
- Baloch Liberation Army says commander Aslam Baloch and five others were killed
- Pakistan television station reports that separatists were killed in suicide attack across the border in Afghanistan
One of the alleged masterminds of an attack by a Pakistani separatist group on the Chinese consulate in Karachi last month has been killed along with five associates, the insurgent group said on Wednesday.
The Baloch Liberation Army, which opposes projects linked to China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” in resource-rich Balochistan, issued a statement on Tuesday confirming the death of Aslam Baloch, one of its leaders.
“The important BLA commander Aslam Baloch, along with five associates in the organisation were martyred in an enemy attack on Monday,” Jiand Baloch, a spokesman for the separatist group said in a statement that gave no further details.
Pakistan’s Samaa Television reported that Aslam was killed along with a number of his commanders in a suicide attack in Aino Maina in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, across the border from Baluchistan.
There was no claim of responsibility for the killings and a spokesman for the Pakistani foreign ministry did not respond to requests for comment.