Armed men reportedly blocked highways, searched vehicles and carried out attacks on police and alleged state-backed militias in Balochistan’s Surab and Panjgur districts over the weekend.
In Surab, armed men reportedly blocked the Quetta-Karachi highway at several locations on Sunday and established checkpoints, where vehicles were stopped and searched for several hours.
Sources said armed fighters later attacked a police station in Surab city, with preliminary reports suggesting they briefly took control of the building and seized official weapons and vehicles.
The sources added that Pakistani forces sent to reinforce the area were also ambushed, while an armoured vehicle was also damaged. No casualties had been confirmed, although the police station sustained damage during the attack.
Local residents said heavy gunfire and explosions were heard across the city late at night and continued intermittently for an extended period.
Separately, armed fighters established a checkpoint near the Zarait area on the Panjgur-Chedgi route on Saturday and inspected passing vehicles.
Local sources said fighters fired on a trailer truck during the blockade, damaging its tyres.
In another incident in Panjgur, armed fighters attacked members of alleged state-backed militias, locally referred to as “Death Squads,” while they were travelling in four vehicles in the Parom area.
Sources said one of the vehicles came under direct fire and that casualties were feared, although no confirmed figures were immediately available.
Pakistani forces later arrived in the area in large numbers, after which an exchange of fire reportedly continued for some time.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the incidents in Surab or Panjgur.