Security forces in Pakistan’s Balochistan killed 12 terrorists belonging to the proscribed Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) in the early hours of Monday while thwarting a series of coordinated attacks across Balochistan province, said officials.
"Terrorists launched cowardly attacks at several locations in Balochistan," though the report did not specify the exact locations of the attacks. "Security forces and law enforcement agencies responded effectively," it added, noting that the operation will continue until all terrorists are eliminated.
Reports indicate it came after similar attacks on levies (Provincial Paramilitary Forces) and police stations in Mastung, Kalat, Pasni, and Suntsar late on Sunday night.
In a separate attack on Monday, terrorists killed 23 bus passengers in Balochistan. The terrorists first stopped the bus, offloaded all passengers, and then shot them at close range after checking their identity.
Reports also came in of explosions and grenade attacks in Sibi, Panjgur, Mastung, Turbat, Bela, and Quetta.
Armed men reportedly blew up a railway track connecting Pakistan with Iran in the bypass area of Mastung. Later, the BLA claimed responsibility.
Overnight violence across Kalat district left 11 people, including security personnel, dead and six others injured, according to Kalat Superintendent of Police (SP) Dostain Dashti.
In Pasni, unidentified men opened fire on a police station, injuring personnel and setting on fire three vehicles and motorcycles parked there.
Micscreants also chose the cover of darkness, stormy winds, and rain to ransack the Suntsar police picket and take away weapons issued to personnel on duty.
Officials said the attackers also stormed Levies Thana Khadkocha, where they took hostages, while in Kalat, they had an encounter with law enforcement agencies.
SP Dashti said four Levies soldiers, Ahsanullah, Ali Akbar, Rehmatullah, and Nasibullah, were killed in the clashes. Police sub-inspector Huzoor Baksh, a tribal elder, and two civilians also lost their lives, Dashti added.
SP Dashti said armed men attacked the hotel and residence of a tribal figure, Malik Zubair Mohammad Hosni, in the Mehlabi area of Kalat, killing him in the process.
The gunbattles were fought in separate areas of the Quetta-Karachi highway, even as traffic on the highway was halted.
An emergency has been declared in the hospital while the bodies and injured have been taken to the Kalat Civil Hospital, hospital official Ziaur Rehman said.
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