Pakistan releases family of top Baloch militant commander

Karachi: Pakistan's Balochistan province government has released the recently detained wife and children of a top Baloch militant commander who is accused of targeting security forces in the restive southwestern state.

Balochistan Home Minister Mir Sarfaraz Bugti said three women and three children, including the family of Dr Allah Nazar, the chief of the banned Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) - were arrested while travelling illegally into Pakistan from neighbouring Afghanistan last month.

He said that all women and children had been released in keeping with the Baloch traditions.

"The other women included sister of Aslam, alias Acho, commander of the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) who was killed in a security operation, and wife of Dileep, another leading commander of the BLF," Bugti was quoted as saying by the Express Tribune.

"The security forces handed over all the women and children to Chief Minister Nawab Sanaullah Zehri and we have released them. Allah Nazar's wife left for Karachi with his (Nazar's) brother Mehrullah," he told reporters in the provincial capital Quetta yesterday.

The minister said that during investigation, it was revealed that the women were involved in distributing funds to the banned Baloch outfits.

"Despite committing crimes of illegally crossing border and distributing funds among terrorists, the government treated them with respect," he said.

The minister rejected the rumours that the women were abducted. "They were arrested," he insisted.