Armed fighters attacked Pakistani forces in Balochistan’s Noshki and Dalbandin, killed a police officer at a checkpost in Bolan and carried out a highway blockade and vehicle seizure elsewhere, police and local sources said.
A convoy of Pakistani forces was ambushed near Sultan Charai in Noshki on Thursday, with the attackers using heavy and automatic weapons, local sources said.
The sources reported casualties among the forces, but there was no immediate official confirmation of the number killed or wounded.
Several attacks were also reported around Dalbandin. Armed fighters targeted Pakistani forces and a convoy of commercial vehicles on the Quetta-Taftan trade route, where gunfire and explosions continued for more than 40 minutes, according to local sources.
Vehicles belonging to Pakistani forces were separately attacked in the Chehater area, prompting an exchange of fire, while another attack targeted forces at Bartagzi. There was no immediate official account of casualties or damage from the incidents.
Police sources said a freight bus carrying goods from Quetta to Dalbandin was intercepted in Chagai district overnight Thursday into Friday. The attackers took the bus and its crew to an undisclosed location.
Freight and fuel tanker vehicles parked at a market in Chehater were also fired on, damaging their tyres, local sources said.
In neighbouring Kharan district, fighters blocked the main highway between Albat and Patkin, halting traffic and searching vehicles. The blockade lasted several hours and caused queues along the route.
Separately, fighters attacked the Dosa Cross police checkpost on the Balanari National Highway in Bolan late at night, took control of the post and seized weapons.
Police sources said one officer, identified as Hafiz Abdul Rasheed, was killed.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Baloch armed groups are active in several of the areas where the incidents were reported and have previously claimed attacks on Pakistani forces and vehicles associated with mineral transportation.