Five security forces personnel, including a police inspector, were killed and several others injured in three different incidents reported from different parts of Balochistan. In an ambush at a police mobile van in the Sariab area late on the night of April 9, an inspector and two constables were killed. In two other incidents, pro-independence armed group Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) targeted Pakistani security forces in the towns of Jiwani (Gwadar district) and Noshki, leading to death of two Pakistani Army personnel.
Incidentally, after the March 11 hijacking of a Pakistani train Zafar Express in Balochistan, most of the Baloch insurgent groups were lying low. For several days, almost 21 days, there were no reports of any targeted attacks on the Pakistani security forces, barring some small incidents of disruption of traffic in the night hours in some of the highways connecting different parts of Balochistan. That deliberate silence by the pro-independence groups, as human rights activists led by Dr Mahrang Baloch held several protests, seems to be over with Wednesday nights attacks.
BLA spokesperson Jeeyand Baloch issued a statement to media outlets detailing the operations and their intended objectives. In the first incident, one Pakistani soldier was killed and four others were seriously injured in Jiwani as BLA men used a remote-controlled improvised explosive device (IED) to strike a vehicle belonging to the Pakistani security forces. In the second incident reported from Noshki, one Pakistani soldier of the Frontier Corps (FC) was gunned down. BLA statement said that the deceased man Zahir was working for Pakistani intelligence agencies in the guise of a rickshaw driver. Official statement from Pakistani officials, however, said that Zahir was on vacations and at his home.
Officials, who gave details regarding the incident in which the police inspector was killed, said the incident took place in the Mastung road area. The police personnel were sitting in a vehicle parked near a restaurant when armed men riding motorcycles ambushed them. “An Inspector and two constables lost their lives on the spot as they received multiple bullet injuries which caused their instead deaths,” a police officer said, adding that the driver was seriously injured in the attack.
Soon after receiving information about the incident police rushed to the site and shifted the bodies and the injured to hospital. The driver was identified as Khair Bakhsh while the other officials were identified as Inspector Abdul Wali, Constable Abdul Rehman and Constable Mukhtiar.
Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti condemned the attack and vowed that the blood of the martyrs would not go in vain. “The cowardly attackers will be brought to justice,” said CM Bugti. He claimed that an operation will be launched against the culprits and that no space will be left for such elements in the province.
In another incident, which has come to light on Thursday morning only, a man was seriously injured in a hand grenade attack in Kharan town late on Tuesday night. Police said unidentified men riding motorcycles threw a hand grenade near the Commissioner’s Office, which exploded at the roadside, resulting in injuries to a passerby.
According to the BLA statement, the first attack took place at dusk on the Coastal Highway in the Gabad area of Jiwani, where BLA fighters reportedly used a remote-controlled improvised explosive device (IED) to strike a vehicle belonging to the Pakistani security forces. The spokesperson claimed that one soldier was killed on the spot, four others were seriously injured, and the vehicle was heavily damaged.
The second incident reportedly occurred in the Qadirabad area of Noshki, where a serving Pakistani military personnel identified as Zahir, son of Gohar Khan Mengal, was shot and killed. The BLA alleges that the individual was not only part of the military but also worked with Military Intelligence (MI) under the guise of a rickshaw driver, gathering intelligence in and around Noshki.
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