QUETTA (Kashmir English): A severe internal rift within the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) has erupted into violence, resulting in the targeted killing of Hayat Khan, the elder brother of high-ranking BLA social media operative Bahot.
According to reports, Khan was killed on the orders of BLA commander Bashir Zeb in response to a kidnapping that was not authorized by him.
The execution signifies the intensification of efforts towards achieving structural control and power within the banned group.
The lethal internal conflict began when Dr. Abdul Razzaq Sabir, the vice chancellor of Gwadar University, Syed Manzoor Ahmed, the pro-vice chancellor of the same institution, and two other faculty members were kidnapped. The incident occurred while they were traveling to Quetta.
Kidnapping of VC is linked to his wife’s side tribal feud with Bahot and Hayat Khan, and is more of a personal matter.
However, this kidnapping was not sanctioned by Bashir Zeb, and therefore, a brutal lesson was considered necessary by him. More target killings and shoot-down orders are expected in the coming days by the fighting groups and factions.
