Pakistani army soldiers and other security officials examine a site following militants attack with guns and grenades, in Quetta, Pakistan. (Photo: AP) Balochistan militant attacks: Pakistan’s security forces killed 145 militants over a 40-hour period following coordinated attacks across Balochistan, the province’s chief minister said Sunday, as authorities grapple with one of the deadliest flare-ups in recent years, Reuters reported.
The chief minister said the violence claimed the lives of 17 law enforcement personnel and 31 civilians in the southwestern province.
Earlier, the Associated Press, citing Pakistan’s military, reported that militants carried out a series of suicide bombings and gun attacks across Balochistan, killing at least 33 people. Security forces, the military said, killed 92 attackers during subsequent counter-operations.
Officials said it was the highest number of militants killed in a single day in the province in decades.
The outlawed Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attacks.
The attacks began almost at the same time in several districts, targeting civilians, police stations, a high-security prison and paramilitary installations, officials said.
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Provincial Health Minister Bakht Muhammad Kakar said two police officers were killed when militants threw a grenade at a police vehicle in Quetta, the provincial capital. Hospitals across the province were placed on emergency footing.
In Mastung district, dozens of attackers stormed a prison and freed more than 30 inmates, police said. Militants also tried to overrun a paramilitary headquarters in Nushki, but the assault was repelled.
Grenades were thrown at a government office in Dalbandin, forcing attackers to flee after a security response, local officials said. Attempts to attack security posts in several other districts were also stopped.
Police said militants tried to abduct passengers from buses travelling on highways in Pasni and Gwadar.
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Rail services from Balochistan to other parts of Pakistan were suspended after tracks were damaged.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and the military said the attackers had support from India. There was no immediate response from New Delhi, which has denied similar allegations in the past.
The BLA later released videos showing women taking part in the attacks, which analysts described as propaganda.
Abdullah Khan, head of the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, told AP that such a large number of militants had “never before been killed in a single day” in Balochistan.
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The BLA is banned in Pakistan and listed as a terrorist organisation by the United States.
(With inputs from AP)
