Quetta: The founder and head of an umbrella organisation for insurgents in the troubled southwest of Pakistan has been taken into custody, according to the military on Friday.

One of the key figures in the Baloch separatist insurgency is Gulzar Imam, also known as Shambay, who was apprehended as a "high-value target" in an intelligence operation, according to a statement from the military's media wing.

The military declared that "he has been a hard-core militant as well as the founder and leader of the banned outfit Baloch National Army BNA has been responsible for dozens of violent terrorist attacks in Pakistan including attacks on law enforcement agency installations," adding that his visits to India and Afghanistan are on record and that his suspected connections with hostile intelligence agencies are under investigation.

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The arrest of Gulzar Imam Shambay is a significant setback for the BNA and other militant organisations that have been attempting to undermine the difficult-won peace in Balochistan.

The Baloch National Army (BNA), an umbrella organisation for Baloch separatists, was formed last year as a result of the union of the United Baloch Army and Imam's faction of the Baloch Republican Army, both of which are components of the Baloch insurgency.

The province is Pakistan's largest in terms of land area and the most underdeveloped in terms of almost all social indicators; it borders Afghanistan and Iran.

It has been plagued for the past two decades by an insurgency motivated by resentment over the fact that its abundant natural resources are not rescuing its people from extreme poverty.

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In the resource-rich province, insurgents also oppose and target infrastructure projects associated with China's Belt and Road initiative. The infrastructure project for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has stoked discontent, with accusations that the massive inflow of investment does not benefit the locals.

The arrest of the BNA leader was a major setback for the BNA as well as other militant organisations in the area, according to Balochistan Home Minister Meer Zia Langove, who also told Arab News that "the government and security forces will continue action until we sweep out the last terrorist from this soil."

While Imam is a senior insurgent commander, his arrest is not expected to have a significant effect, according to experts.

According to journalist and Balochistan insurgency expert Shahzada Zulfiqar, "it was a success for the government and security forces because they could get information about the BNA's activities, other leaders, and group members and also bust out their domestic and international linkages."

But Imam wasn't by himself. There were still a lot of active commanders engaged in battle.

Abdul Basit, a research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, claims that the Baloch separatist movement's strength does not lie in its individual leaders but rather in the Baloch youth who are its driving force.

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According to him, the Baloch insurgency "is not dependent on one single commander, because the centre of gravity of Baloch insurgency lies on the ethnic grievances," he told Arab News, adding that Imam's arrest was still a success for the Pakistani government because he was regarded as one of the top three separatist commanders who had been leading the struggle against the government.