By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Four security personnel and two civilians were killed in a clash with militants in southwestern Balochistan province, the military said on Tuesday, as it continued an operation against the attackers who had targeted two facilities in the area.
The Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, said in a statement that militants, including suicide bombers, had attacked the Mach and Kolpur complexes in Balochistan on Monday night, but were repelled by law enforcement agencies (LEAs).
“During intense exchange of fire, four brave members of LEAs, having fought gallantly, embraced martyrdom along with two innocent civilians,” the ISPR said, adding that nine militants, including three suicide bombers, had been killed and three wounded.
The ISPR said the LEAs’ “effective response” was a testament of their “unrelenting resolve in fight against terrorism” and that Pakistan’s security forces stood shoulder to shoulder with other LEAs to ensure peace and stability in the country.
Earlier, Interim Balochistan Information Minister Jan Achakzai said security forces killed six Baloch militants and thwarted three coordinated terror attacks in Mach town on Monday night.
The attacks were claimed by the Majeed Brigade, a faction of the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), which has been fighting for independence from Pakistan for decades.
Achakzai praised the security forces for their swift and effective response, and said the militants were among the “missing persons” who had joined the BLA.
“We commend the swift action taken by the Pakistan army and FC Balochistan in thwarting a terrorist attack in Mach, Balochistan. … BLA terrorists have been neutralized, ensuring the safety of our citizens,” Achakzai said on social media platform X.
Police said the militants fired at least 15 rockets from nearby mountains, targeting a security camp near the central jail, the Mach railway station, and a police station in the Gokurt area.
The security forces immediately returned fire and engaged in a gun battle that lasted for several hours.
The attacks plunged Mach, which is about 70 kilometers from the provincial capital Quetta, into darkness and disrupted traffic on the Quetta-Sibi Highway.
Shuja Kasi, the inspector general of prisons for Balochistan, said the rockets hit the walls of the residential colony of Mach jail, but did not cause any damage or injuries.
“Mortar shells and rockets exploded close to the walls of the colony,” he told the media. “The prison and its inhabitants are safe.”
The BLA, in a statement emailed to the media, claimed that it had killed 45 Pakistani soldiers in a “combined operation” by its Majeed Brigade, Special Tactical Operations Fateh Squad, and Intelligence Wing.
The group often exaggerates its attacks and the death toll inflicted, and there was no independent confirmation of its claim.
Social media users also shared footage purportedly showing the gun battle between the militants and the soldiers, but its authenticity could not be verified.
The Mach attacks came less than two weeks after Pakistan and Iran exchanged tit-for-tat airstrikes along their shared border in Balochistan and Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province, targeting what each side called militant hideouts.
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