Pakistani security forces killed 145 militants in a 40-hour operation after coordinated gun and bomb attacks across Balochistan left nearly 50 people dead, the province’s chief minister said Sunday.
Authorities in the southwestern province are battling one of the deadliest flare-ups in years, as insurgents in the resource-rich province bordering Iran and Afghanistan step up assaults on security forces, civilians and infrastructure.
Attackers dressed as ordinary civilians entered hospitals, schools, banks and markets Saturday before opening fire, Pakistan's junior interior minister, Talal Chaudhry, said.
"In each case, the attackers came in dressed as civilians and indiscriminately targeted ordinary people working in shops," he said, adding militants had used civilians as human shields.
The banned separatist group Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying it had launched a coordinated operation dubbed Herof, or "black storm," targeting security forces across the province.
