Heavily armed Baloch rebels attacked two camps in Pakistan’s restive southwestern province of Balochistan in stepped up assaults, killing one Pakistani soldier and injuring another officer, the Pakistan Military confirmed, adding four insurgents were neutralized in the attaco.

The first attack came on Wednesday evening in Panjgur district where insurgents attacked a security outpost, resulting in the death of a soldier, the ISPR, the media wing of the military, was quoted as saying by Dawn.  

In the second attack, which came hours later after the first one, insurgents blasted the headquarters of Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force, in the Naushki district of Balochistan. The military said the security forces “promptly responded” to the attack and killed four insurgents. One officer was injured in the firefight, it added.

The Wednesday attacks—fourth and fifth attacks in two weeks' time—were later claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA). The Military, however, gave no information on the number of attackers involved in the attacks.

In the last few months, there ha been a significant increase in insurgents’ attacks both in the northwestern tribal region and Balochistan, with insurgents repeatedly mounting heavy casualties on security forces. The erstwhile FATA region of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, known stronghold of the TTP insurgents, is witnessing an increase in targeted bombings and assassination.

Housing just a little over five percent of the country’s total population, Balochistan is one of Pakistan's most resource-rich provinces that is having substantial deposits of coal, iron ore, marble, limestone, sulphur, chromite, and others.

Over half a dozen ethnic and other rebel groups operate in the province, accusing the Pakistani state of exploiting their resources with little benefit to the locals.

In the past few weeks, Baloch insurgents have intensified their operations and attacked security forces. On 25 January, ten soldiers were killed in an attack on a check post in Kech district. Last week, four people were killed in an attack in the Bugti district. [Read More]

For years, Pakistan had been blaming India and the NDS, the now-defunct intelligence agency of the former US-backed Afghan government, for fomenting instability and separatism inside the country. With Pakistan-backed Taliban’s return in Afghanistan, Islamabad's claim runs hollow as violence keeps growing in the province.

[SAM]