Arrested ex-BNA chief urges militants to surrender their arms

A senior Baloch separatist commander in the custody of Pakistan's law-enforcement agencies on Tuesday urged militants in the restive Balochistan province to surrender their arms and embrace the path of peace.

Gulzar Imam, the founder and former chief of the banned outfit, the Baloch National Army (BNA), was arrested in April, in a major operation that the Pakistan Army described as a major counter-terrorism achievement against separatist insurgency in the region.

The BNA was involved in attacks against the country's security forces, including attacks on law enforcement agencies installations in Panjgur and Noshki.

The BNA was formed after the amalgamation of the Baloch Republican Army (BRA) and the United Baloch Army (UBA).

Imam remained deputy to Brahamdagh Bugti in Baloch Republican Army (BRA) till 2018.

''I was on the wrong path,'' Imam, who was presented before the media in Quetta, said on Tuesday.

The former rebel said he joined the armed resistance 15 years ago and remained actively engaged until his arrest last month.

He confessed that he had a chance to ''reflect on his actions'' during incarceration and reached the conclusion that violence was not the solution to the issues grappling Balochistan province.

''I was a contractor and believed that there is an unfair distribution of resources to the province,'' Imam, who hails from the Prom area of Panjgur district in Balochistan province, said.

He said the struggle for the rights of Balochistan was only possible through a change in the political mindset, and argued that an armed struggle would only push the region into further despair.

Balochistan Interior Minister Zia Langove, who was present with Iman during the press conference, said the government has always taken a proactive role in entering into a dialogue with militants.

Resource-rich Balochistan in southwestern Pakistan borders Afghanistan and Iran.

It is Pakistan’s largest and poorest province, rife with ethnic, sectarian and separatist insurgencies.

Baloch nationalists are active in the province and have targeted Pakistan's security forces and high-profile individuals from other provinces, especially Punjab.