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pakistani separatists Balochistan The province claimed responsibility for nearly a dozen coordinated attacks in southern Pakistan early Saturday that targeted a high-security prison, police stations and paramilitary installations. Authorities said at least 10 security personnel and 58 insurgents were killed in the gunbattle.
While Baluch separatists and the Pakistani Taliban regularly target security forces in Balochistan and other parts of the country, coordinated attacks of this scale are rare.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said in a statement that 10 security officials were killed. He praised troops for killing dozens of insurgents after coming under fire at multiple locations across the province. Nearly 100 militants have been killed across Balochistan in the past 48 hours, including 58 on Saturday, authorities said.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack, during which some banks were also robbed. It released videos showing female fighters taking part in attacks, apparently as part of propaganda to highlight the role of women among militants.
Balochistan government spokesman Shaheed Rinder said most of the attacks had been foiled. The attack came a day after the military said security forces raided two militant hideouts this week in the country’s southwest, killing 41 insurgents in separate gun battles.
The province’s chief minister, Sarfraz Bugti, wrote on X that security forces were hunting the rebels. He said at least 700 rebels were killed by security forces last year.
According to Balochistan police and government officials, at least 37 attackers were initially killed and 21 others were tracked down and shot dead. Earlier on Saturday, authorities said insurgents had destroyed railway tracks, prompting Pakistan Railways to suspend train services from Balochistan province to other parts of the country.
Provincial Health Minister Bakht Mohammad Kakar said the attacks occurred across the province at almost the same time. He said two police officers were killed when a police car was attacked with a grenade. Quetta,provincial capital. The government declared a state of emergency in all hospitals.
Dozens of rebels also attacked a prison in the Mastone district and freed more than 30 inmates, police said. In other attacks, militants tried to attack the provincial headquarters of paramilitary forces in the Nushki region, but the attack was repelled, police said.
According to local authorities, the insurgents threw grenades at the office of the Dalbandin district government administrator, but a quick response by security forces forced them to flee. Police said attacks on security posts in Barrincha, Tumpu and Harran districts were foiled, while in Pasni and Gwadar insurgents tried to kidnap passengers on highway buses.
Kakar also blamed the violence on the BLA, which is banned in Pakistan and designated a terrorist organization by Pakistan. USA. The group has been behind a number of attacks in recent years and Pakistan says it receives support from Pakistan. Indiaone time charge New Delhi deny. Pakistan has repeatedly said that Baluch separatists, the Pakistani Taliban and other militants are using Afghan territory to launch attacks inside Pakistan. Kabul denies the claims.
Baluch separatist groups and the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, have stepped up attacks in Pakistan in recent months. The TTP is an independent organization but is allied with the Afghan Taliban, which returned to power in August 2021.
Balochistan has long been the scene of an insurgency by separatist groups seeking independence from Pakistan’s central government in Islamabad.
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Ahmed reported from Islamabad. Associated Press writers Babar Dogar in Lahore, Pakistan, and Ishtiaq Masood in Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan, contributed to this report.