MASHKY: It was 6 O’clock on Monday morning as this correspondent suddenly woke to the loud sounds of explosion in the otherwise sleepy town of Mashky-Gajjar, as the army troops entered the town centre to take control where the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF), a banned separatist militant group, had been quite active and in recent weeks many separatists organisations had remained involved in helping thousands of quake-affected residents. As all hell broke loose this correspondent witnessed residents of earthquake-hit Mashky-Gajjar fleeing the city on motorbikes and taking shelter in makeshift huts as army troops entered the town. When this correspondent left the scene at around 5.30pm, foot soldiers were seen on the streets of Mashky, and helicopters were seen making rounds above the area. According to local contacts, the operation continued on its second day on Tuesday. The ongoing skirmishes are reportedly taking place in the outskirts of Mashky-Gajjar, a town in Balochistan’s southern Awaran district, which is one of the epicentres of a series of earthquakes that hit between Sept 24 and Sept 28, leaving more than 500 dead, 25,000 families homeless and 300,000 people affected.
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