Separatist militants killed at least 39 people in “coordinated” attacks mostly targeting ethnic Punjabis in southwest Pakistan on Monday (Aug 26), government officials said.
In one of the attacks, dozens of militants stopped vehicles on a highway in Balochistan province and shot dead 23 people, one of the worst shootings in the region in years.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the most active militant separatist group in the province, claimed responsibility for the overnight operation in a statement sent to AFP.
Government officials reported deadly attacks in at least three impoverished districts of Balochistan, where security forces are battling sectarian, ethnic and separatist violence.
“We confirm 39 people were killed in multiple coordinated attacks carried out by BLA terrorists,” Shahid Rind, spokesman for the Balochistan provincial government, told AFP.
In Musakhail district, around 30 to 40 armed men stopped 22 buses, vans and trucks one by one on the highway connecting Punjab with Balochistan, senior official Najibullah Kakar told AFP.
“Vehicles going to or coming from Punjab are being checked, and people from Punjab are being identified and shot,” he said.
In its statement, the BLA claimed to have carried out operations “on highways across Balochistan,” targeting only security personnel.
The group's statement early Monday warned Baloch people to stay off the roads, adding that their “fight is against the occupying Pakistani military.”
Militants also blew up a railway bridge in Bolan district, which links the province with Punjab and Sindh. Six bodies were found near the site, said Javed Baloch, a senior government official in the district.
Ten people were killed in Kalat district, including four paramilitary officers and one policeman who were responding to the incident, provincial government spokesman Rind said.
Nabi Baksh, from the Levies paramilitary force that works with police, said gunmen stormed a hotel and targeted a figure suspected of having links to the security forces.
Balochistan is Pakistan's poorest province despite its vast untapped natural resources. It lags far behind other parts of the country in terms of education, employment and economic development.
In recent years, Baloch separatists have actively attacked Pakistanis from neighboring provinces working in their territory. They have also targeted foreign energy companies they see as exploiting the region's resources.
The Punjabis are the largest ethnic group in Pakistan and are dominant in the military. The Punjabi-dominated military is currently engaged in fighting against armed factions in Balochistan.
The BLA frequently targets security forces, while attacks on civilians often go unacknowledged.
Pakistan has seen a surge in militant attacks since the Taliban government returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021. The surge has mostly occurred in the northwestern border province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as well as in southwestern Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan and Iran.
There were at least 170 militant attacks that killed 151 civilians and 114 security personnel in Balochistan last year, according to the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies.
Islamabad accuses Kabul's new rulers of failing to eradicate militants who took refuge in Afghanistan, who then attacked Pakistan.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed “deep sorrow and condemnation of the terrorist attack” in a statement released by his office on Monday (26/8). (ah/rs)
