At least nine police personnel, including two station house officers (SHOs), were killed and 20 others were reported missing after armed men attacked police deployed near the Mangi Dam Project in Ziarat district, officials said.
The attack took place in the Mangi area, where police personnel had been deployed for the security of the Mangi Dam Project Phase III. Officials said an exchange of fire continued for several hours.
Ziarat Superintendent of Police Abdul Qudoos Dahwar said several personnel were initially reported missing following the attack. Some later returned safely, while 20 remained unaccounted for and efforts were underway to trace them.
The dead included Mangi SHO Muhammad Hussain, Kowas SHO Sohbat Khan and seven other police personnel, according to the SP. Their bodies were taken to the District Headquarters Hospital in Ziarat.
The other personnel killed were identified as Jahan Mir Khan and Muhammad Ashraf of Kuch Police Station; Azad Khan and Muhammad Sadiq of Mangi Police Station; Mansoor Ahmed of Ziarat Police Station; Sher Muhammad of Kowas Police Station; and Saifullah of the Anti-Terrorism Force Wing.
Deputy Commissioner Ziarat Abdul Qudoos Achakzai said the personnel belonged to different police stations and had moved towards the area after receiving information about the attack to assist their colleagues.
A police official, speaking to Urdu News on condition of anonymity, said dozens of armed men carrying advanced weapons descended from the surrounding mountains on Monday morning and encircled police personnel deployed at the dam project.
The attackers later surrounded a nearby police station, the official said, adding that reinforcements from neighbouring stations and local residents reached the area and heavy fighting broke out.
According to the official, the clashes continued for between 15 and 20 hours. The attackers were armed with automatic weapons, rocket launchers and hand grenades.
The official claimed that the surrounded police personnel ran out of ammunition by the evening, after which some were taken away by the attackers.
Personnel sent from nearby districts reached the outskirts of the area during the night but were unable to advance because armed men had taken positions in the surrounding mountains, the official said.
The attackers reportedly withdrew by dawn.
Local residents claimed the number of missing or abducted people could be higher than 20 and included both police personnel and civilians who had travelled to the area to assist during the attack.
Meanwhile, Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind claimed that a joint clearance operation had been completed and that 15 militants were killed.
He said personnel from the Frontier Corps, Balochistan Police, Counter Terrorism Department, Special Operations Wing and Anti-Terrorism Force took part in the operation.
Rind said DSP Ghulam Sarwar and several other officers had safely reached Kuch Police Station through difficult mountainous terrain. He added that Constable Rizwan had also been recovered.
The government did not release further details or evidence regarding the reported deaths of the 15 attackers.
Following the incident, residents staged a protest at Ziarat Cross and blocked the N-50 highway connecting Quetta with Ziarat, Zhob and Dera Ismail Khan.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
Rind blamed the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, commonly known as the Pakistani Taliban or TTP, for the attack but provided no evidence supporting the claim.