QUETTA: Around eight years after blowing Ziarat Residency, where Pakistan’s founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah spent his last days, his statue was destroyed in a terrorist attack by an outlawed terror outfit in Balochistan’s Gwadar.
Reports in local media quoting Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) officials cited that BLF militants destroyed Jinnah’s sculpture completely which was erected earlier this year.
A case has been lodged at the CTD Gwadar police station under section 7ATA other than the Explosives Act. Officials claimed that the terrorists planted an explosive device under the lifelike statue and later blew it up.
Meanwhile, no human loss was reported in the attack and the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) is looking into the incident. Law enforcement personnel also started a search operation and beefed up security in the port city. Additional contingents are also being deployed to avoid any incident.
DC Gwadar speaking with a news outlet said that the BLF militants entered the area as tourists while all men managed to escape as no arrest has been made so far. A high-level probe is underway while officials are looking into the matter from all angles.
A number of leaders including CM Punjab Usman Buzdar, and Balochistan Awami Party Senator Sarfraz Bugti condemned the attack. “The demolition of Quaid-e-Azam’s statue in Gwadar is an attack on Ideology of Pakistan. I request authorities to punish the perpetrators in the same way as we did with those behind the attack on Quaid-e-Azam residency in Ziarat”, Bugti wrote on his Twitter.
The demolition of Quaid-e-Azam's statue in #Gwadar is an attack on Ideology of Pakistan. I request authorities to punish the perpetrators in the same way as we did with those behind the attack on Quaid-e-Azam residency in Ziarat. pic.twitter.com/BQeeZjsHg3
— Senator Sarfraz Bugti (@PakSarfrazbugti) September 26, 2021
On the other hand, the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan also strongly condemned the act.
Earlier, Counter-Terrorism Department foiled Balochistan Liberation Army’s terror attack during an IBO in the outskirts of the provincial capital. A terrorist was also detained arrested during the operation while CTD seize explosives and weapons.
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