Pak: Former chief justice shot dead, BLA accepts responsibility

Former chief justice of the Balochistan High Court Muhammad Noor Meskanzai was shot dead on Friday (October 14) while coming out of a mosque after offering his prayers.

The incident took place in the Kharan area of Pakistan’s Balochistan province.

Meskanzai who received multiple gun shot wounds, succumbed to his injuries while being taken to a hospital in Quetta, around 280 kilometers from the town of Kharan.

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A senior police official said that the former Chief Justice was critically injured in the targeted firing as he came out of the mosque. “He had offered his Isha prayers and was coming out of the mosque when unknown persons opened firing on him,” said DIG Police Nazeer Ahmed Kurd.

Kurd said that two other people were also critically injured during the firing, are in the hospital undergoing treatment. The police has started an investigation to find out the motive behind the targeted attack.

BLA accepts responsibility for the attack

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a Baloch ethnonationalist militant organization based in Afghanistan, has accepted responsibility for the attack on Muhammad Noor Meskanzai in Kharan.

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According to a press release by the BLA: “Former Chief Justice of Pakistan Shariat Court and Balochistan High Court Muhammad Noor Meskanzai was shot and killed by freedom fighters of Occupied Balochistan.”

The release further said that: “Muhammad Noor Meskanzai was a high profile target of the BLA which accepts responsibility for the attack. A detailed statement in this regard will be released soon.”

Kharan is considered as one of the most dangerous areas of the Balochistan province of Pakistan. The area has been hit by an ongoing terror campaign by insurgents and militants working against the government.

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Deadly attacks on security officials and installations, foreign nationals and locals from other provinces have increased in the last one year.

Earlier on Friday (October 14), a remote controlled bomb blast killed three people and injured four others in Mastung with the target apparently being a high profile tribal leader and politician who escaped unhurt.