2024-02-02T13:25:52+00:00
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/ The Pakistani army announced on Friday that 24 Baloch militants, whom it describes as “separatists”, were killed this week in the Balochistan region, since they launched attacks in a remote area in southwestern Pakistan.
On Monday night, militants launched an attack on a government facility complex in Mach, located about 200 kilometers from the Iranian border in Balochistan province.
“These terrorists were subsequently tracked down in operations and liquidation which have now ended after the area was cleared and secured,” a statement from the army’s media office said.
Four security personnel and two civilians were killed during the attack and subsequent raids.
The Balochistan Liberation Army, a banned ethnic Baloch group, claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on social media.
More than a dozen grenade and gun attacks have been reported in the region ahead of elections scheduled for next Thursday.
Pakistan’s Election Commission said the general vote would go ahead as scheduled, after calling an urgent meeting of security officials on Wednesday.
At least two candidates were killed during the election campaign, which is not new in the South Asian country, whose elections are often marred by violence, with militant groups targeting candidates and rallies, as well as personal vendettas.
Islamabad has been fighting ethnic separatist factions for decades in Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest and poorest province despite its abundance of natural resources.
Locals say they do not get their fair share of the wealth from oil and gas reserves, and the region consistently ranks near the bottom of Pakistan’s development indicators.
Human rights groups say the military campaign in Balochistan includes enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.