The Baloch Liberation Army in Pakistan has reinforced its claims of taking seven Pakistan Army personnel hostage by releasing a purported video of the men. The video has challenged the reported denials by the Pakistani military that the men were not their soldiers.
The fresh footage, which appeared on social media, shows the soldiers of the Pakistani army kneeling on the ground, wearing military fatigues and holding their purported identity cards. Armed men could be seen standing near them.
The BLA had earlier issued a seven-day deadline till February 22 for a prisoner exchange, failing which the BLA had said they would execute the soldiers. Only three days now remain in the deadline and any negotiations are to take place.
India Today reported that the Pakistani army has purportedly claimed that none of its soldiers was missing or taken hostage by the militants. The fresh visuals online are in direct contradiction with the claims of the Pakistani army.
Also, the fact that the hostage army men are displaying their official service cards as well as their national identity documents makes the BLA video a little more believable than the claims of the Pakistani army. The men are claiming they were formally recruited, issued identification, and deployed by the army. The number of total hostages is, however, eight, instead of the earlier claims of 7 hostages.
One of the soldiers, visibly emotional, said, “I fight for Pakistan, and today the Pakistani Army does not own me.” He questions how the army can deny that they are its personnel, asking tearfully, “How can the army say that we are not their personnel?”
As of now, Pakistan's military or government has not issued any fresh response to the latest video. While Pakistan has designated BLA as a terrorist organisation, the group seeks independence for Balochistan, a province in Pakistan's Southwest bordering Afghanistan.
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