Four security personnel were killed in an attack by Tehrik Taliban Pakistan (TTP) cadres in an attack carried out on a checkpoint in Spinwam tehsil of North Waziristan district on Monday. The attack took place in the Darweshta area of Spinwam early in the morning but more than 24 hours later, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) had not issued any statement regarding the incident on Tuesday.
As security forces retaliated after coming under attack from the TTP men, mostly Pushtuns, a heavy exchange of fire took place where both sides used heavy and light weapons. Four security personnel were killed and two others were injured. The bodies of those killed and the injured security personnel were airlifted to the Combined Military Hospital, Bannu.
Three TTP cadres were also killed in this attack and security forces cordoned off the area after the attack and started a search operation, according to some reports appearing in the Pakistani media outlets.
The military’s media wing ISPR issued a statement on Monday and said that 10 TTP men were killed in an encounter with security forces in Khyber district. A statement issued by ISPR said an intelligence-based operation (IBO) was conducted during the night between Sunday and Monday in the Bagh area of Khyber. The security forces “effectively engaged the terrorists’ location” and killed 10 of them.
ISPR added that a sanitisation operation was being conducted to eliminate any other terrorists found in the area.
Meanwhile, reports from Balochistan said that a convoy transporting minerals from the Saindak project came under heavy attack in the Mangochar area of Balochistan’s Kalat district on Monday. The 30 vehicle convoy was carrying copper extracted from a mine and was being transported to Karchi, a report in Balochistan Post said.
According to local sources, the convoy comprising around 30 vehicles was ambushed on the Quetta-Karachi National Highway by a large group of armed men. They first exploded an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) which struck an escort vehicle occupied by the security forces.
The assault by the rebels lasted at least 30 minutes, and there were explosions and heavy gunfire which caused serious damage to security forces, convoy personnel, and supply vehicles, the sources said. It is said that at least eight security forces personnel were injured in the attack, some of them seriously. An emergency was later declared at Shaheed Nawab Ghous Bakhsh Raisani Memorial Hospital in Mastung area.
This attack marks the second major attack on Balochistan’s highways in the past 24 hours. On Sunday evening, armed assailants reportedly set up road blockades in Bolan area. They then disarmed the guards of a Balochistan Assembly Member (MPA), snatching these weapons and clashed with Pakistani security forces.
The armed militants intercepted and temporarily held Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA) Liaquat Lehri. His security personnel were disarmed before the militants released him along with his guards after issuing a warning. It is pertinent to point out here that PPP headed by Bilawal Zardari Bhutto is the ruling party in Balochistan and headed by Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti.
The Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) claimed its armed cadres had carried out the Bolan operation. In a media statement, BLF spokesperson Major Gwahram Baloch said the group’s fighters established checkpoints on the Bolan-Sibi highway, including at Aab-e-Gum Green Hotel and Pir Ghaib Cross, on Sunday (February 23). A video of the BLF cadres disarming the security forces personnel and looting their weapons has been released by the group on X.
“BLF guerrilla fighters strategically engage on multiple fronts in their struggle for national liberation,”
Major Baloch said, adding that the group blocked the highway and seized government-issued weapons from the MPA’s security personnel. However, the MPA was allowed to leave and was treated “with dignity as a fellow Baloch’’.
During the operation, a Pakistani military pickup and an armoured vehicle reportedly arrived at the scene. BLF fighters fired rockets at the armoured vehicle, setting it on fire and injuring multiple soldiers. The group accused Pakistani forces of shooting at civilian vehicles, saying one passerby was killed and several others injured. Major Baloch claimed BLF fighters controlled the Bolan-Sibi highway from 5 PM until midnight before withdrawing.
Balochistan has witnessed an uptick in attacks on major highways in recent months, with armed groups setting up roadblocks, stopping vehicles, and ambushing convoys. Only last week, seven “Punjab-bound travellers” were reportedly forced off a vehicle and executed at a roadblock in Radkan, Barkhan district. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) later claimed responsibility for those killings, accusing the victims of being Pakistani military and intelligence personnel.
BLA spokesperson Jeeyand Baloch identified former Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Aashiq Hussain among those killed. In response to these escalating attacks, Pakistani authorities have introduced new regulations for national highways, including mandatory security escorts, night-travel bans, and convoy travel under armed protection.
Despite these measures, the armed attacks appear to be on the rise, prompting observers to question whether the state’s writ over Balochistan’s major routes is diminishing.
Meanwhile, another “pro-independence” armed group, the United Baloch Army (UBA), claimed responsibility for a separate attack in Bolan on the same day. UBA spokesperson Mazar Baloch said that on Sunday, around 8 PM, the group carried out a “severe attack” on a key Pakistani military checkpoint at Bibi Nani, causing what he described as “significant casualties and losses”.
UBA fighters reportedly detonated explosives on a gas pipeline in the same area, destroying a large section of infrastructure. Mazar Baloch said that attacks would continue “until the complete liberation of occupied Balochistan”.
