Baloch Liberation Army Burns Installations Of Chinese Telecos In Pakistan; Detains Three Workers As Hostage

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has said in a statement that it set fire on installations made by Chinese telecom companies in Balochistan’s Quetta and detained six officials who were involved with their projects on 26 June, reports Hindustan Times.

BLA's spokesperson Azad Baloch also shared that though the group has released three of the six men, the remaining three continue to be under detainment as they were deemed suspicious by the outfit.

BLA has said that the three men under detainment will be released if the United Nations (UN) or international organisations including representatives of the Red Cross in Geneva act as guarantors for the release and provide assurance that they will not again work for spy networks of the Pakistan Army.

BLA has given the international organisations a time of 10 days to respond to their demands.

It should be noted that BLA had earlier warned the telecom companies against working as the "facilitators in expansionist ambitions of the imperialist powers".

As per the report, China set up a communications network in Pakistan using telecom giants Huawei, Netcom, Exeleron and ZTE to spy and trace Balochistan's citizens under the Universal Service Fund programme. The report further stated that these telecom companies set up towers in uninhabited hilly areas to exchange information about the Baloch separatist movement.

It should also be noted that Balochistan is the focal point of China's $60 billion Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Pakistan.