Pakan’s massive counter-offensive after wave of separat attacks in Balochan

The attacks came a day after Pakan’s military said ​it killed 41 militants in separate raids in Balochan. (Photo: AP)

At least 67 militants were killed Pakan’s security forces on Saturday in multiple cities across the southwestern province of Balochan. Some 10 police and security personnel and 11 civilians were also killed during the orchestrated militant attacks, Reuters, citing security officials, reported.

The attacks came a day after Pakan’s military said ​it killed 41 militants in separate raids in Balochan, ‌which borders Iran and Afghanan and has faced a decades-long separat insurgency.

The banned separat group Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attacks, ​saying it had launched them simultaneously across the province. The BLA said it had killed 84 Pakan security personnel.

Pakan’s Interior Miner Mohsin Naqvi, in a statement, condemned the attacks and praised security forces for repelling them, saying they had killed dozens of militants.

Security officials said armed men launched attacks in several urban areas, including the provincial capital Quetta and the port city of Gwadar, prompting operations the army, police and counterterrorism units.Story continues below this ad

Hospitals were placed on emergency footing in some dricts, officials said.

In Gwadar, militants attacked a ‌camp accommodating migrant workers, killing 11 people, Atta-ur-Rehman, a senior police officer, said, revising an earlier death toll of five. Those killed included five men, ‌three women and three children.

Security forces killed six militants in Gwadar after responding to the attack, he said.

Officials said the situation was ‌critical in Noshki, a drict of Balochan, after militants abducted the area’s top civil adminrator. He said in a social media video that he ‌was in the custody of ‍the militants. Reuters could ​not independently verify the video.Story continues below this ad

Armed men briefly blocked roads in parts of Quetta and a blast was heard near a high-security area, authorities said, though they later said the situation had been brought under control.