QUETTA: Two policemen were killed in a drive-by shooting in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, police said on Wednesday, as insurgents stepp up attacks in the resource-rich region bordering Afghanistan and Iran.
The shooting underscores the worsening security situation in Balochistan — Pakistan’s largest but least-developed province — where separatist and other militant groups have intensified assaults on police and security forces in recent months, targeting officials and infrastructure linked to the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The latest attack took place in Killi Ghareeb Abad near the Nushki city bypass, close to the Afghan border. It was the second assault on police in Balochistan’s Rakhshan division in less than a week, following the killing of senior officer Muhammad Qasim in Kharan district on Friday.
“Unknown armed men riding on a motorbike targeted the policemen identified as Ubaid Ullah and Abdul Razzaq who were going to perform their duties,” Nushki Station House Officer Zaheer Baloch told Arab News. “We have initiated an investigation and a search operation has started to hunt down the attackers.”
No group has claimed responsibility.
