Coordinated militant assaults across Pakistan’s Balochistan province have left over 250 dead, with fighting continuing as security forces pursue the attackers.
QUETTA: More than 250 people have been killed in coordinated attacks launched by separatists across Pakistan’s Balochistan province.
A senior security official, speaking anonymously, said “197 terrorists have been killed in the ongoing counter-terrorism operations”. He added that at least 36 civilians and 22 security personnel were also killed.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the province’s most active militant separatist group, claimed responsibility for the weekend assaults. The US-designated terrorist organisation said it targeted military installations, police, and civil administration officials in gun attacks and suicide bombings.
Sporadic clashes were still taking place in some districts after militants stormed banks, jails, police stations and military installations. Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti said all attacked districts had been cleared by security forces.
“We are chasing them, we will not let them go so easily,” Bugti told a news conference in Quetta.
Pakistan has battled a Baloch separatist insurgency for decades in the mineral-rich province bordering Afghanistan and Iran. The BLA has intensified attacks on Pakistanis from other provinces and foreign energy firms working in the region in recent years.
Last year, separatists attacked a train carrying 450 passengers, sparking a deadly two-day siege. The United Nations on Tuesday called the recent attacks “heinous and cowardly”.