QUETTA: Balochistan Home Minister Mir Sarfaraz Bugti has claimed that the chief of banned militant organisation Baloch Liberation Front (BLF), Dr Allah Nazar, has been killed during a an operation in Awaran District, his hometown. Bugti made the disclosure at a press conference at Home Department along with Home Secretary Akbar Hussain Duranni. He announced that he has information about the death of BLF head Dr Nazar who, along with other Baloch militants, was fighting a guerrilla war against Pakistani forces from his hometown in Balochistan. The home minister said a huge communications centre operated the militants who were on the payroll of Afghan and Indian intelligence agencies has been destroyed in Dalbandin, a town in Chaghai District which shares the border with Afghanistan and Iran. “I cannot confirm the death, but we do have information that the head of BLF, Dr Allah Nazar, has been killed in Awaran operation,” the home minister told the reporters. “The operation was successful, as many key militants were killed. There has been no trace of Dr Nazar after the Eid operation,” he said. “At least seven terrorists were arrested during the raid and a huge quantity of SIM cards and antennas was recovered,” Bugti said, adding that the communications centre was located high in the mountains. “Security forces recovered 600 international SIM cards and 1,000 antennas,” he revealed. “According to unverified reports, Dr Allah Nazar has been killed … I say unverified because we have not yet received any evidence of his being alive ever since the Frontier Corps conducted a series of operations. There has been no human intelligence, no sign of life,” Bugti said. The separatist leader’s death was rumoured since July, but the reports were denied by a BLF spokesman at the time. Bugti said the arrested militants were being interrogated by security agencies with regard to their involvement in acts of terror in Balochistan. Dr Allah Nazar Baloch had been leading the banned BLF in various parts of Balochistan, targeting security forces, vital national installations and pro-government personalities for over a decade. He said banned organisations linked with RAW, Afghan intelligence agency, Tehreek-e-Taliban Afghanistan, al Qaeda, Baloch separatists, Jundhullah and weapon dealers were using the communications centre. “The terrorists used mobile numbers for international handlers and for terrorist activities in Balochistan and other parts of Pakistan.” “The SIM cards were from Afghanistan, India, Iran, UK, USA, Gulf and Europe,” he said.