ISLAMABAD: Five soldiers, including a captain, were killed in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province this week, the military’s media wing said, as Islamabad struggles to contain surging militancy.
The IED blast took place when security forces were moving for a sanitization operation in Sher Bandi area of the southwestern Kech district on Sept. 15, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement on Monday. The ISPR said the casualties included Captain Waqar Ahmed, 25, Naik Amat Ullah, 35, Lance Naik Junaid Ahmed, 29, Lance Naik Khan Muhammad, 29 and Sepoy Muhammad Zahor, 28.
“During follow up sanitization operation five terrorists of Indian proxy, Fitna Al Hindustan, were sent to hell,” the ISPR said.
The military’s media wing commonly uses the term “Fitna Al Hindustan,” meaning “India’s mischief,” in the local language to establish a link between separatist militants in Balochistan with the Indian state.
India denies it is involved in fanning militant activities in Pakistan’s Balochistan and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) provinces.
