Pakistan Security Forces Kill 75 Insurgents in Balochistan After Wave of Attacks
Pakistani security forces, backed by military helicopters, have killed 75 insurgents in days-long operations against an outlawed separatist group blamed for a series of attacks on troops, police, and civilians in Balochistan province, officials said on Friday.
The announcement came a day after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited Quetta, the provincial capital, and told the families of 42 people killed in the attacks that their sacrifices were not in vain and that those responsible would be brought to justice.
This week's violence has raised concerns that separatist groups once considered relatively small are expanding their reach in the restive province.
According to the Balochistan government, the operations involving the army, the Frontier Corps, and police began late Monday after dozens of fighters from the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) attacked a police post near Mangi Dam, which supplies water to millions of people in Quetta and surrounding areas.
Nine police officers and 15 attackers were killed in the initial assault. The attackers abducted 18 police officers, who were later found blindfolded and shot dead after fleeing into nearby mountains.
Pakistan has alleged that both the BLA and the Pakistani Taliban have sanctuaries in Afghanistan and receive support from India. Authorities in Kabul and New Delhi have denied these allegations.
The government has approved compensation of 11.1 million rupees (about $39,000) for the family of each police officer killed in the attacks.
Balochistan, Pakistan's largest but least populous province, has long faced a separatist insurgency led by ethnic Baloch groups seeking greater autonomy or independence. It has also seen attacks by the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which is separate from but allied with the Afghan Taliban.
