Pakistan’s military’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations reported at least six soldiers, including an army captain, were killed in three separate incidents of clashes with militant and insurgent groups in southwest Balochistan province.
By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: A series of deadly attacks killed at least six soldiers and wounded scores of civilians on Sunday in the latest violence in Pakistan’s southwest Balochistan province, officials and military said.
Pakistan’s military’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) reported at least six soldiers, including an army captain, were killed in three separate incidents of clashes with militant and insurgent groups in the mineral-rich province.
The military said a roadside bomb killed an army captain and four other soldiers during an anti-militant operation in the Kohlu district of Baluchistan. “Captain Fahad, Lance Naik Imtiaz, and sepoys Asghar, Mehran, and Shamoon were martyred in the blast,” the military said.
Police in Baluchistan also said three grenade attacks injured 14 people in separate incidents. Two grenade attacks injured 11 people in the provincial capital of Quetta, while a third attack in the industrial town of Hub wounded three civilians.
A woman and a child were among the wounded persons in the Quetta grenades attack whose condition is reportedly stable at the hospital.
Another attack in Quetta targeted a para-military frontier constabulary post. Police said unknown motorcyclists hurled a grenade that exploded some distance from the check post. “No casualty was reported in the blast.”
In Khuzdar, Kalat, and Turbat towns of Balochistan security forces were attacked in separate incidents. However, no loss of life or injuries were reported.
A soldier and a militant were killed near the border with Afghanistan, the military said, when a group of militants attempted to sneak into the country’s northwest, triggering a shootout.
The clash erupted in the Sambaza area of Zhob overnight. Two other soldiers were also injured in the exchange of fire. It said the area had already been under surveillance for days after intelligence reports that militants were using the route to sneak into Pakistan to target civilians and security forces.
“A group of the terrorists was intercepted in the early hours of Sunday and during the establishing of blocking positions to deny them escape routes, terrorists opened fire on the security forces,” the military statement said.
“As a result of a shootout, one terrorist was killed while Sepoy Haq Nawaz embraced martyrdom and two other soldiers got injured. The terrorists were supported by their facilitators from across the border as well through firing.”
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, though the province is regularly targeted by militants, sectarian groups, and nationalist separatists.
Baluch separatist groups have long waged a low-level insurgency in the region. While local Taliban, known as the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, ended a ceasefire last month and have sped up attacks on security forces over the last month.
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