At least 27 Pakistani military personnel were killed after Baloch insurgent factions carried out a series of deadly attacks against military personnel in Balochistan, according to the Balochistan Post.
In a statement posted online via Facebook, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) claimed its Fateh Squad conducted a suicide attack on a military transport bus within the Nimargh Cross in Kalat, resulting in 27 military personnel killed and several injured.
According to BLA’s spokesperson Jeeyand Baloch, the bus was transporting personnel from Karachi to Quetta and while civilians, including qawwali performers, were on board, they were not the intended targets, though Dawn, an English language newspaper, reported the civilian deaths of three individuals, including two qawwals.
In another instance, the BLA said it had killed two soldiers and inflicted seven injuries through the detonation of a remote-controlled IED in the Hazarganji area of Quetta. The Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) also reported two separate operations. On Tuesday. It reported that an IED explosion in the Khazina area of Kalat had killed four soldiers. On Wednesday, the BLF reported that a military unit had been ambushed in Gujro Kor area of Awaran, killing six in total, including Major Syed Rab Nawaz Tariq from Muzaffarabad.
A sniper unit was able to fire on the military convoy immediately after the ambush, effectively forcing it to retreat. The BLF denied claims by state media that three of its “fighters” had been killed, saying that Pakistani forces may have faked the encounters. A secular independence from Pakistan has existed on and off in Balochistan for many decades now, and even though Islamabad claims the rebellion has largely been subdued, this claim is challenged by ongoing militant violence.
