Islamabad, July 8, (dpa/GNA) – Pakistan’s military said on Wednesday that dozens of people had been killed, in multiple clashes with militants in the south-western province of Balochistan.
Army spokesman Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, told reporters that there had been three major terrorist incidents in the past four days. In response to the attacks, at least 54 terrorists had been killed so far, he said.
Chaudhry said four civilians were killed during the first attack in the outskirts of the provincial capital Quetta. On Tuesday, nine policemen were killed and another 18 people who were taken hostage were killed. Then at least 11 soldiers were killed on Wednesday when an army convoy was ambushed by the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist group fighting for independence.
The spokesman said operations against the BLA and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban, were under way.
Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest province, bordering both Afghanistan and Iran. The region has borne the brunt of a recent increase in violence by Islamist militants and ethnic Baloch rebels fighting for independence.
GNA