Deadly BLA Attacks Hit Multiple Targets in Pakistan’s Balochistan Province
In Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan, at least 10 security personnel were killed in coordinated attacks by the Baloch Liberation Army at 12 locations early Saturday. The attackers targeted police stations, prisons, and paramilitary force installations. The army said that 99 people were killed in retaliatory operations. The US-based news agency AP reported the news.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said in a statement that 10 members of the security forces lost their lives after coming under attack at multiple locations. At the same time, he praised the security personnel who killed 37 attackers in counter-operations.
Provincial Health Minister Bakht Muhammad Kakar said that attacks began across the province at nearly the same time. In the capital Quetta, two police officers were killed in a grenade attack on a police vehicle, and an emergency was declared at all government hospitals to deal with the situation.
In Mastung district, more than 30 prisoners were freed after an attack on a jail. In Nushki district, an attempted attack on a paramilitary force headquarters was foiled. In Dalbandin, grenades were thrown at the office of a government administrator, but the attackers fled due to the swift response of the security forces. Attempts to attack security checkpoints in Balincha, Tump, and Kharan districts were also unsuccessful. Police also thwarted attempts to abduct passengers in Pasni and Gwadar.
Pakistan has also claimed that these groups are using Afghanistan to carry out attacks inside the country, although Kabul has denied the allegation.
