The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) said on Monday its fighters killed eight Pakistani soldiers, including a captain, in a roadside bombing in Kech district, while the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) claimed responsibility for a separate ambush in Kolwah.
BLA spokesperson Jeeyand Baloch said fighters detonated a remote-controlled improvised explosive device (IED) against a vehicle of the army’s 125 Wing in the Shand area of Mand, Kech.
He said the blast destroyed the vehicle and killed all eight personnel on board, including Captain Waqar Kakar, Naik Junaid, Naik Asmat, Lance Naik Khan Muhammad and Sepoy Zahoor Ahmed.
The Mand bombing is the latest in a wave of IED strikes in southern and central Balochistan this month. The BLA has earlier claimed responsibility for similar attacks in Zamuran, Tump and Kalat, releasing videos of several explosions.
Based on the group’s claims, released footage and local reports, more than 40 Pakistani security personnel are estimated to have been killed in IED and other armed attacks since the start of September.
Following the Mand attack, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi travelled to Turbat to attend funeral prayers for the slain soldiers at the Frontier Corps headquarters.
Officials said he arrived on a special aircraft and would remain in the city briefly for the prayers before returning to Islamabad.
The BLA also said its fighters ambushed troops in the Marao area of Mastung on Saturday, forcing survivors to retreat, and destroyed surveillance cameras near the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Noshki on Friday night. The group claimed it shot down a quadcopter and exchanged fire with Levies personnel who tried to intervene.
The group warned that while it had previously shown leniency toward Levies and police due to their majority-Baloch composition, those forces would be treated as legitimate targets if they obstructed operations.
Meanwhile, BLF spokesperson Major Gwahram Baloch said the group’s fighters attacked a military convoy in Kolwah’s Dok area on Sunday, killing two soldiers and injuring three others. He said the convoy was returning from an operation in which homes were allegedly demolished, set ablaze and civilians subjected to violence.
Local sources also reported that at least one woman was seriously injured during the Kolwah military operation.
A Pakistani military spokesperson, however, said the operation targeted hideouts of BLF members Qadir Kaka and Shehzad. He alleged the men had “established secret bases among the local population and were involved in target killings, extortion and attacks on security forces.”