Armed fighters continued to block a section of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) route in Balochistan’s Khuzdar district for a fourth consecutive day on Thursday, with fresh clashes erupting after Pakistani forces attempted to advance in the Karkh area, local sources said.
Sources told The Balochistan Post that the highway in Karkh, about 70 km (43 miles) from Khuzdar city, remained under the fighters’ control, with checkpoints in place and vehicles subjected to snap checks.
They said Pakistani forces advanced on foot from several directions on Thursday morning with drone support, triggering clashes that lasted more than three hours.
Gunfire and explosions were still being heard in parts of the area, according to local residents.
A day earlier, foot patrol personnel of Pakistani forces were targeted in a bomb blast in the same area. Local sources said two personnel were killed and another injured. However, there was no immediate official confirmation of the casualties.
Sources had earlier said a deputy superintendent of police, identified as Anwar, was taken from the Moola Cross area during the blockade and that his whereabouts remained unknown.
The blockade was first set up earlier this week, when two men alleged to have links with Pakistan’s intelligence agency were shot dead and another detained.
The latest clashes come days after the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) said it carried out an operation in Karkh on March 4, claiming its fighters had surrounded the town, set up blockades on entry and exit routes and attacked a police checkpoint at Moola Cross on the CPEC route.
The group said its fighters later entered the town centre, took control of several government buildings and detained a number of individuals, including a police officer, who it said was later released after questioning.
Khuzdar has seen increased armed activity in recent months, including in the Ornach area, where the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) earlier this year claimed to have captured Pakistani military personnel during the second phase of “Operation Herof.” The group later said seven of those personnel were killed after a proposed prisoner exchange failed to materialise.