Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti announced on Monday that security forces had foiled a major terrorist attack planned for Independence Day by arresting an alleged “would-be suicide bomber.”
Speaking at a press conference in Quetta, flanked by senior officials, Bugti said that on August 14 militants had plotted to target citizens celebrating Independence Day. He praised the efforts of security agencies, the Counter-Terrorism Department, and police for preventing what he described as “massive destruction.”
Bugti played a recorded statement of the suspect, identified as Dr Mohammad Usman Kazi, a Grade-18 lecturer at the Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and Management Sciences. Kazi claimed to hold a Master’s degree from Quaid-i-Azam University and a PhD from Peshawar University, and said his wife was a government employee.
The chief minister alleged that Kazi had links to the banned Balochistan Liberation Army’s Majeed Brigade and was involved in facilitating the November 2024 Quetta Railway Station bombing, which killed 32 people and injured more than 50. According to Bugti, Kazi helped transport the bomber to the attack site before handing him over to another handler.
Rejecting the notion that militancy stems from deprivation, Bugti pointed out that Kazi came from a well-settled background: his wife and mother were government employees, he himself held a PhD through a state scholarship, and his brother was employed at the Reko Diq project.
Bugti detailed the BLA’s structure, saying the Majeed Brigade operated in multiple tiers: uneducated foot soldiers, female operatives used for targeted killings, and a “sophisticated” tier that Kazi allegedly belonged to. He called the arrest a breakthrough, noting it was the first time security agencies had captured a senior figure from the top tier.
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“This man could have misled countless students. His wife is also a teacher,” Bugti said, warning of the dangers posed by educated operatives.
He criticised political narratives portraying militants as victims of deprivation, saying such arguments, including those raised at a recent multi-party conference in Islamabad, amounted to “justifying the war against Pakistan.”
The MPC, hosted by the Awami National Party on Sunday, was attended by JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, BNP-Mengal, Jamaat-i-Islami, and other parties.