Five people, including three Frontier Corps (FC) personnel, were killed and 30 others injured in a terrorist attack by suspected Baloch militants in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province on Sunday. Four terrorists, including the suicide bomber, were killed in counter-operations in Noshki district of the province.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack, and said 90 military personnel had been killed. Earlier last week, in the same province, the BLA militants ambushed the Jaffar Express, carrying 440 passengers, near the mountainous terrain of Gudalar and Piru Kunri in Bolan district on March 11. The militants killed 21 passengers and four paramilitary soldiers before the Army eliminated all 33 terrorists on March 12.
As regards the latest incident, a suicide attacker rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a convoy of Paramilitary Frontier Corp (FC) on the Nushki-Dalbandin National Highway; chief of the local police station Zafarullah Sumalani said adding that the initial investigations suggested that it was a suicide attack.
Sumalani also said evidence from the site of the attack suggested that a suicide attacker rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the FC convoy.
Soon after the attack, security forces launched an immediate counter-operation, killing four terrorists, including the suicide bomber, newspaper Express Tribune said.
It also quoted security sources to say that the attack was carried out by militants from the banned BLA.
Claiming that a total of 90 Pakistani military personnel were killed in the attack on their convoy on Sunday, a statement by the BLA said, “The Majeed Brigade, the Fidayee unit of the Baloch Liberation Army, targeted a convoy of the occupying Pakistani military a few hours ago in a VBIED Fidayee attack near Rakhshan Mill on the RCD Highway in Noshki. The convoy consisted of eight buses, one of which was completely destroyed in the explosion.”
It added, “Immediately after the attack, the Fateh Squad of the BLA advanced and completely surrounded another bus, systematically eliminating all military personnel on board, bringing the total number of enemy casualties to 90.”
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti all condemned the attack and expressed sorrow over the loss of lives.
Sharif, in a statement, said, “Such cowardly acts cannot shake our resolve against terrorism.” He also directed that the injured be provided with the best possible treatment. “Those who play with the peace of Balochistan would be brought to a tragic end,” Bugti said in an official release.
Minister Naqvi condemned the blast and extended condolences to the victims’ families and wished a swift recovery for the injured.
Denouncing the attack as an act of brutality, Naqvi emphasised that anti-state elements are attempting to destabilise the country and asserted that such cowardly acts would not shake the nation’s resolve, according to a statement shared by the Ministry of Interior on social media. Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind also condemned the attack “targeting innocents.”
Balochistan has witnessed an uptick in terrorist attacks over the past year. Bordering Iran and Afghanistan, Balochistan is home to a long-running violent insurgency.
Baloch insurgent groups frequently carry out attacks targeting security personnel, government projects and the $60 Billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects in this oil and mineral-rich province.
In the past, the railway tracks in this area have been attacked by Baloch militants using rockets or remote-controlled bombs, and the BLA claimed responsibility for most of the attacks.
