QUETTA: Separatist militants, affiliated with the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), have launched coordinated attacks in multiple cities of Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province and killed at least two policemen, a senior police official said early Saturday.
The attacks in the provincial capital of Quetta began at around 6am with a powerful explosion, followed by intense gunfire that lasted for two hours along with multiple explosions.
Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, is the site of a decades-long insurgency waged by Baloch separatist groups who often attack security forces and foreigners, and kidnap government officials.
A senior police official, who requested anonymity, told Arab News that the militants attempted to enter the city but police and other law enforcement agencies stopped them.
“The terrorists attacked a police mobile at Sariab road which resulted in the killing of two policemen,” he said. “Police and other law enforcement agencies denied space to the terrorists in Quetta city and a clearance operation is still going on.”
