Quetta, May 16 (IANS) The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed responsibility for 18 attacks across Balochistan targetting Pakistani forces, which resulted in the death of 31 personnel, including a senior officer, local media reported on Saturday.
In a statement, BLA spokesperson Jeeyand Baloch said that the group’s fighters killed the Pakistani soldiers in a series of attacks carried out between May 4 and 14 involving Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blasts, ambushes, and highway blockades.
According to the statement, the attacks were carried out in several regions of Balochistan, including Zamuran, Noshki, Mastung, Kalat, Kech, Gwadar, Panjgur, Dalbandin and Chamalang, with seven members of ‘state-backed’ armed groups and alleged military intelligence operatives killed.
The BLA said one of the major attacks occurred in Chamalang when its fighters struck a Pakistani army convoy in the Bala Dak area on May 13 after receiving “precise intelligence” provided by “ZIRAB”, the group’s intelligence wing.
The statement said the attack began with a remote-controlled explosive device that destroyed one vehicle, followed by a “heavy-armed assault” on another vehicle, killing eight Pakistani army personnel, including an officer, Tauseef Bhatti.
In the Sheikh Wasil area of Mastung, the BLA claimed that its fighters attacked a convoy of 20 large vehicles on the Quetta-Taftan Highway, along with their security detail, disabling eight mineral-carrying vehicles and killing six soldiers.
The group also claimed that its fighters imposed a blockade on stretches of the Quetta-Taftan Highway between Lag Aap and Khazangi in Dalbandin for over two hours, adding that three men connected to the “Siah Dik” project were detained and the Reko Diq project vehicle was seized.
In Noshki, the BLA said that its fighters set up blockades and carried out snap-checking at Sar Mal and Jorkain for several hours. It added that army vehicles attempting to head towards Sar Mal were targeted, resulting in the destruction of one vehicle and the death of three soldiers.
The group claimed that another major operation was launched in the Dringarh area, Mastung, on May 14, where its fighters gained control of the area, seized the local police station and other government buildings, and took weapons and ammunition.
In Panjgur, the group said two men identified as members of a “state-backed” armed group were killed on the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) route.
“Their flowing blood is a testament to the fact that as long as even one son of the Baloch soil is alive, the occupying state and its exploitative projects will never find permanence,” the BLA said, remembering the five fighters killed in the recent clashes with Pakistani forces.
–IANS
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