Armed fighters controlled sections of the Kharan-Karachi and Kharan-Quetta highways for two days, destroyed three bridges and clashed with Pakistani forces, while separate attacks and blockades were reported across several districts of Balochistan, local sources said.
The fighters entered Sarawan, Nauroz Qalat and Zarozai in Kharan district on Tuesday and maintained positions along the main routes into Wednesday, the sources said.
Two bridges on the Sarawan route were destroyed with explosives on Tuesday, while a third was blown up in Zarozai the following day, they added.
Clashes continued in Sarawan on Wednesday as Pakistani forces advanced in armoured vehicles and gunship helicopters carried out shelling in the area.
Pakistani officials said two armed fighters had been killed and explosives recovered during the operation. However, the claim could not be independently verified.
Separate attacks were reported in Turbat, Basima and Quetta on Tuesday.
Sources said armed fighters attacked a Pakistani forces post in the Hairabad area of Turbat, targeted forces attempting to advance in the Jurr area of Basima and established a blockade at Daghari Cross near Quetta.
At Daghari Cross, the fighters intercepted a pickup vehicle reportedly carrying rations to a Pakistani forces post. The drivers were later released, while the vehicle and supplies were taken away.
The attacks and blockades continued on Thursday along the Quetta-Taftan highway, where fighters seized seven heavy vehicles in the Sheikh Wasil area of Mastung and set two vehicles ablaze in the Mal area of Noshki.
No armed organisation had claimed responsibility for the incidents at the time of publication.
The attacks come amid a continuing series of assaults on Pakistani military convoys and mineral transport along major highways in Balochistan.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed several earlier blockades and attacks in Kharan, Quetta, Mastung, Noshki and Panjgur as part of what it calls an “economic blockade”.
“Until Balochistan is transformed into an inevitable economic burden for the occupying state, it is impossible to halt its blind military adventurism and the horrific cycle of Baloch genocide,” the BLA said in an earlier statement.