Karachi Stock Exchange Attack Claimed By Baloch Liberation Army; In 10 Points What The BLA Is All About

Karachi Stock Exchange Attack: Baloch Liberation Army, is the largest insurgent group mostly operating in Pakistan’s Balochistan province and has carried out several terror attacks in Pakistan over more than a decade.

Image: ANI

Karachi stock exchange terror attack: The terror attack in Pakistan at the Karachi Stock Exchange that has killed five people including security personnel, has been claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army, which is the largest insurgent group mostly operating in Pakistan’s Balochistan province. The unidentified militants allegedly of the BLA, opened indiscriminate fire and lobbed hand grenades at the main gate of the multi-storey building as they tried to storm it, Pakistani media reports said. The police and Rangers' officials arrived at the scene and killed all the four terrorists near the entrance gates. Here are ten things to know about BLA:

• It is the armed wing of the separatist Baloch movement and has the support of mainstream leaders of Baloch movement, though they never acknowledge in public.
• Since the year 2004, the BLA has been involved in a violent armed struggle against Pakistan for what it claims self-determination for the Baloch people.
• It is listed as a terrorist organisation in Pakistan, the United Kingdom and the United States.
• The Baloch Liberation Army became publicly known during the summer of 2000, after it claimed credit for a series of bombing attacks on Pakistani authorities.
• On 11 May 2019, the BLA had claimed responsibility for an attack on the Zaver Pearl-Continental Hotel in the port city of Gwadar.
• The Quaid-e-Azam residency in Balochistan, where Muhammad Ali Jinnah spent the last days of his life was attacked in 2013, and was nearly demolished. The attack was claimed by BLA.
• The primary motive of the group is to seeks independence from Pakistan and wishes to form a separate state of ‘Greater Balochistan’, on the grounds that Pakistan has been exploiting its resources without giving due price or facilities to the local tribes.
• It is reported that in the past, the BLA was influenced by radical Marxist ideology. Several claims then linked it to erstwhile Soviet Union’s intelligence agency KGB during the 1970s.
• Afghanistan has acknowledged that they have been providing hidden support to the BLA. Several of its commanders have been given shelter in Afghanistan earlier.

Watch: Spot visuals of the attack at Karachi Stock Exchange