Balochistan Special Assistant for Home Affairs Babar Yousafzai has rejected a BBC Urdu report concerning the killing of four people in Sonaro area of Khuzdar, saying the report presented Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti’s remarks out of context and distorted the substance of his explanation.
Yousafzai, who was present during the Chief Minister’s video-linked interaction with senior journalists, said Bugti did not make the statement attributed to him in the manner portrayed by the BBC report.
“I condemn and reject the BBC’s statement,” Yousafzai said, adding that he was present when the Chief Minister spoke to senior journalists through a video link and could therefore clarify what was actually discussed.
According to Yousafzai, the Chief Minister was asked about an incident in Khuzdar and explained the circumstances in which terrorists operate in what he described as a grey area, where terrorists can move among civilian populations and make it extremely difficult for security personnel to immediately distinguish between ordinary citizens and attackers.
Yousafzai said this presentation failed to capture the broader context of the Chief Minister’s remarks. The discussion, he maintained, was not an attempt to justify harm to civilians but an explanation of the increasingly complex environment in which security forces are operating against terrorist groups.
“The terrorists cause harm to the public, and protecting the people is the first priority of our security forces,” Yousafzai said.
He further stressed that the situation in Balochistan cannot be understood simply by separating every incident into two categories of “security forces” and “civilians” without considering the tactics used by terrorist organisations operating in populated areas.
According to the clarification, Bugti’s point was that terrorists deliberately create circumstances in which ordinary people can become exposed to the consequences of terrorists attacks, while security personnel have to respond rapidly to threats and incomplete information.
Yousafzai also rejected any suggestion that the government or security forces regard civilian casualties as acceptable. He reiterated that the protection of civilians remains the foremost priority of the security apparatus.
The Chief Minister himself has recently stressed that security forces are operating under extremely difficult circumstances while maintaining that the fight against terrorism will continue. Bugti said on September 12 that the campaign against terrorists would continue until the last terrorist was eliminated and praised security forces for performing their duties under challenging conditions.
For the provincial government, the broader issue is not whether civilian lives matter they emphatically do but whether reporting on complex counter-terrorism incidents adequately reflects the circumstances in which they occur.
