At least eight suspected terrorists were killed on Wednesday by Pakistani security forces on the outskirts of Quetta in the restive Balochistan province. A spokesperson of the Balochistan counter terrorism department (CTD) told the media that the CTD had carried out an intelligence-based raid near Darakshan on the outskirts of Quetta, in which the militants were killed.
The spokesperson said eight bodies were found at the site, where the gunfire took place between CTD officers and the militants. “Apparently, some of them might have managed to escape as we have evidence at the spot, suggesting they were other militants as well,” he said. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi also confirmed the killing of the eight terrorists.
The spokesperson said they had got intelligence reports that a group of militants belonging to an insurgent group (which he didn’t identify) had reached Quetta from Mastung to carry out a big terror strike in the city.
Last month, at least 15 security officials and 18 civilians were killed as armed militants launched coordinated attacks across the province. In four days of violent clashes between the militants and security forces, around 206 terrorists were killed, according to the military’s media wing.
The southwestern province has seen a rise in terror attacks by insurgent groups, with the Balochistan Liberation Army claiming responsibility for the strikes last month in which several police stations, frontier corp check posts, banks and government buildings were targeted.
The insurgent groups have been carrying out separatist movements since the last two decades, however, in the last 2-3 years the intensity of the attacks has gone up. Policeman, customs officer killed in militant attack in NW Pakistan.
2 killed as militants attack police station
Two government employees were killed and two others injured as militants attacked a police station and a custom office located along the CPEC in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in northwest Pakistan on Wednesday. The attackers also fired at passenger buses travelling on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) route in Dera Ismail Khan district and set ablaze a customs vehicle during the assault, causing panic in the area.
The militants opened fire with automatic weapons on the Yarik police station and the customs office in the vicinity in the area bordering South Waziristan when police constable Mohammad Bilal and customs official Israr Khan were killed.
Security personnel returned fire, prompting the assailants to flee. A search operation was launched in the surrounding area. Earlier in the month, at least four policemen were killed when armed militants attacked a police party in Paniala’s Wanda Budh area of Dera Ismail Khan district.
Meanwhile, in another incident on Wednesday, the police, in coordination with the bomb disposal squad (BDS), defused a 40-kg remote controlled improvised explosive device (IED) planted at Nala Pul along the Lakki–Mianwali Highway, connecting Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with the Punjab province.
A police spokesman said the IED was installed at a highly sensitive public location with schools and institutes of higher education nearby. The IED was concealed inside a drum containing more than 40 kg of explosive material, the police said, adding that two detonators, a 12-volt battery and an electronic circuit were also recovered from the site.
Also read: TTP attack in Pakistan: 35 killed
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