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Today's Paper | November 28, 2024

Published 06 Jan, 2014 09:39pm

Minister rules out presence of Afghan Taliban in Balochistan

QUETTA: Terming reports about presence of Afghan Taliban as baseless and far from reality, Balochistan Home Minister Mir Sarfaraz Bugti on Monday said that there is no Taliban Shura in Quetta.

“No sign of Afghan Taliban factor in the province,” he told reporters, adding that foreign hands were involved in the prevailing unrest in Balochistan, Pakistan's least developed and area wise the biggest province.

The home minister’s statement has come two days after the foreign press reported the killing of two Taliban leaders in Quetta.

“I have no information about the killing of Taliban leaders,” Bugti responded to a question regarding the reported killing in the Balochistan capital.

Commenting on prevailing law and order situation in Balochistan, Sarfaraz Bugti admitted that the government has not been able to ensure 100 per cent implementation of writ of the government in the province.

“Writ of the government is there, but in some places there are problems,” he said.

The provincial minister condemned the terminology of “angry Balochs” and demanded that the state must bring an end to its dual mindset when it comes to deal with what he called miscreants.

“We must call terrorist as terrorist,” he said.

Bugti said innocent people were being targeted and it was high time for the government to ensure the protection of precious human lives. Following efforts of the government the ratio of organised crime has reduced and police have demonstrated better performance in recent days, he added.

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