By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Six security officials were killed in attacks on check posts and a patrol party in southwestern Balochistan province on Sunday, the government and military said, as violence flared in the restive southwestern province.
Gunmen opened fire on two check posts in Sherani district, killing four policemen and one Frontier Corps (FC) personnel, police officials said. They said one attacker was also killed and a search operation was launched.
In a separate incident, terrorists ambushed a patrol party near Hoshab, killing two soldiers, including a major, and wounding another, the military’s media wing ISPR said in a statement.
It said security forces were conducting a combat patrol based on intelligence about a group of terrorists involved in attacks on security forces and civilians and planting improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
The ISPR said security forces were still pursuing the attackers and vowed to thwart their attempts to disrupt peace and stability in Balochistan.
Balochistan Chief Minister Abdul Quddus Bizenjo and Home Minister Ziaullah Longove condemned the attacks and paid tribute to the martyred security officials.
Pakistan has seen an uptick in terror activities, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, after the outlawed TTP ended its ceasefire with the government in November last year.
Ethnic Baloch separatists have been fighting the government for decades for a separate state in the arid mountainous province that is Pakistan’s largest by territory but smallest by population and most impoverished.
Security forces have been the separatist militants’ main focus, though they have also targeted Chinese interests, given Beijing’s increasing economic footprint in the region.
On Saturday, a police constable was injured in a hand grenade attack at a “smart” police station in Quetta, the provincial capital. On June 24, a suicide bomber targeted a police van in Turbat, killing one policeman and injuring two others.
Last week, Inter-Services Public Relations Director General Maj Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said that the security forces conducted 13,619 intelligence operations this year in which 1,172 terrorists were killed or arrested. He said 95 soldiers embraced martyrdom in these operations.
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