Pakistan’s military has launched intelligence-based operations in the southwestern Balochistan province in response to attacks by insurgents that killed over 50 people this week, the army said on Friday.
In a statement, the army said five insurgents were killed and three others wounded in the three operations it had launched in the province.
“Operations will continue until all perpetrators, facilitators and abetters of these atrocious acts are brought to justice,” the statement said.
Ethnic Baloch insurgents earlier this week hit several civil and military targets in a coordinated string of attacks. The army said it retaliated, killing 21 militants.
Past Incidents
Similar attacks in Balochistan have been claimed by the BLA, such as the killing of seven barbers in Gwadar in May, and killings of several people abducted from a highway in April .
In a separate incident in Musakhel district, local officials reported that at least 23 civilians were killed after attackers identified them as being from Punjab, and 35 vehicles were set on fire. In Kalat, a police post and a highway were targeted, resulting in the deaths of 10 people—five police officers and five civilians. On the same day, rail traffic to Quetta was halted due to explosions on a rail bridge in Bolan, which connects the provincial capital to the rest of Pakistan, as well as on a rail link to neighboring Iran, according to railway official Muhammad Kashif.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed responsibility for one of its deadliest attacks in recent years as it seeks to win secession of the resource-rich province, home to major China-led projects such as a deep-water port and a gold and copper mine.
Balochistan province has experienced ongoing unrest for years, with multiple armed factions active in the region. Human rights organizations have condemned Pakistan’s response to the uprising, citing cases of enforced disappearances and other forms of state repression. The recent attacks along the highway connecting to Punjab came shortly after the BLA issued a warning for people to avoid highways in the province.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said the attacks were aimed at hurting the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), an over $65 billion scheme to develop road, rail and port infrastructures in Pakistan that is part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Beijing has condemned the attacks.
(With inputs from Reuters)
