At least 11 Pakistani military personnel, including a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO), were killed after armed men ambushed a military convoy near Walpat in the Bela area of Balochistan on Wednesday, the Pakistani military’s media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said. The attack was carried out by the rebels belonging to the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), it said.
So far, 42 Army and police personnel have been killed this week in three attacks by the BLA and Tehreek Taliban Pakistan (TTP) armed cadres. The TTP cadres are officially called Fitna Al Khwarij (FAK) by the Pakistan media due to express orders issued by the government.
According to local sources, the convoy, comprising several military vehicles, was travelling along the Quetta-Karachi highway when armed fighters lying in ambush attacked it with rockets and automatic weapons. The attack left several other personnel injured, while the assailants also took away weapons and ammunition belonging to the soldiers killed in the assault, a report of The Balochistan Post said.
DG ISPR Holds Press Conference
Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry confirmed the attack during a press briefing in Rawalpindi. He said a Pakistani military convoy had come under attack in the Bela-Winder area near the N-25 highway. “The convoy was attacked, and one Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) and 10 soldiers were killed,” he said.
The military spokesperson said the attackers were fighters of the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and claimed that 14 BLA members were also killed during the ensuing fighting. The military provided no further details or evidence regarding the reported deaths of the 14 BLA fighters, and the claim could not be independently verified.
Local sources identified the personnel killed as Subedar Waheed; Naiks Saqib and Zaheer; Sepoys Sajjad, Waseem Akhtar, Shakoor, Waqar Noor and Usman; Lance Naik Qurban; and two others identified as Basharat and Bilal. The identities have not been officially released by the Pakistani military. Sources said the overall casualty figure could be higher than the toll confirmed by ISPR.
During the press conference, Chaudhry also confirmed the attacks in Ziarat and Quetta’s Hanna Urak area and said a total of 42 police and army personnel had been killed in three attacks across Balochistan this week. He added that 54 militants had been killed in the incidents.
Reacting to the killings of Pakistan Army personnel, Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Chief of the Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir said the armed forces remained fully aware of hostile intelligence agencies to destabilise Pakistan. He said that terrorism originating from across the border would be crushed with the “full might of the state”. Many of the armed rebels who died in encounters with the security forces have turned out to be Afghan nationals, besides Pakistanis themselves hailing from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
In a statement released by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the CDF reiterated that such proxy networks would not be allowed to undermine the country’s internal security or economic prosperity. He made the remarks at the National Defence University (NDU) in Islamabad during his address to graduating officers of the National Security and War Course, comprising participants from all services.
Attacks Blamed on Afghan Nationals
At his press conference, the DG of ISPR said that the “majority” of those engaged and killed “turn out to be Afghan”. He said that three of the four attackers in the June 27 on a Rangers camp in Karachi were Afghan. “The whole planning, equipping, everything was done from Afghanistan.”
Highlighting that the attacks took place in multiple locations, including Winder, Babrai and near Mangi Dam, the DG ISPR said there “is a scheme, mastermind, intent, logistics, operational sequence behind it”.
Stressing that Afghanistan was “providing the manpower for it”, he said, “You do not want Balochistan to prosper? Because you know that Balochistan is Pakistan’s lifeline and its pride. Because you know that Balochistan’s prosperity is a reality that no one can change.’’
