The Federal Cabinet on Thursday approved an amendment to the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 through a summary sent by the Ministry of Interior.
With this approval, security forces in Balochistan will be granted special powers.
The amendment aims to provide legal protection to security forces for carrying out effective operations against terrorism.
The decision came in response to recent terrorist attacks in Balochistan on the night of August 25-26, during which over a dozen attacks were reported.
The attacks resulted in the death of 21 innocent civilians after their identity cards were checked, as well as 10 personnel from the Frontier Corps (FC) and other Pakistan Army soldiers.
Earlier in the day, Expressing deep dissatisfaction with the government’s handling of Balochistan’s issues, Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP) Chief Akhtar Mengal departed for Dubai following his resignation on Thursday.
Taking to X, previously known as Twitter, Mengal revealed that political parties had refused to accept his resignation, a move that left him perplexed.
“All political parties have rejected my resignation, which surprises me because I have already resigned and have no intention of remaining part of this Parliament,” wrote Mengal.
He went on to state that the political parties believed they could convince him to change his mind and seek his forgiveness for their mistakes.
However, Mengal stressed that the apology should be directed toward the people of Balochistan, not him. “They think they can change my mind and apologise for their errors, but they don’t need to seek forgiveness from me—apologise to the people of Balochistan. Acknowledge that you have hurt them by taking away their loved ones,†he asserted.
Mengal further mentioned the tragic cases of Sami Baloch and Dr Mehrang, saying “Apologize to Sami Baloch and Dr Mehrang for killing them when all they wanted was to talk. I am not just Akhtar Mengal; I am part of these people. When you apologise to them, you will be apologising to me as well.”
