Baloch group attacks Pakistan Coast Guards camp, claims killing 30 military personnel
Quetta, July 4 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed responsibility for an attack on a Pakistan Coast Guards camp in the Jiwani region of Balochistan’s Gwadar district that resulted in the death of over 30 security personnel and injuries to several others.
In a statement, BLA spokesperson Jeeyand Baloch said that the attack took place on Friday evening in the Panwan area of Jiwani, where a member of the group’s Majeed Brigade rammed an explosive-laden Mazda vehicle into a Coast Guards camp and detonated it.
“As a result of this powerful blast, the fortified colonial camp of the Coast Guards was completely turned into a heap of rubble,” the statement said.
The BLA’s media outlet, Hakkal, released a 43-second video which showed a truck entering the camp complex just moments before the powerful blast. Subsequent footage appeared to indicate that much of the facility was heavily damaged, The Balochistan Post reported.
The group said that the explosion was followed by an assault by its Fateh Squad fighters, who moved to the damaged camp from several directions and targeted surviving military personnel.
“Immediately after the attack, our organisation’s vanguard unit, the Fateh Squad, advanced rapidly and in an organised manner, launching an assault on the destroyed camp from all sides,” the statement said.
According to the group, its fighters engaged the remaining Coast Guard personnel at close quarters, raising the death toll of Pakistani military personnel killed during the attack to more than 30. It further said dozens were seriously injured, with some remaining trapped beneath the debris.
“Given the critical condition of the injured and the personnel trapped under the rubble, a further increase in the enemy’s casualties is highly likely,” the statement added.
The group stressed that the attacks against Pakistani forces would continue “with the same intensity” until “complete independence of Balochistan”.
Earlier this week, BLA claimed responsibility for 23 operations across several parts of Balochistan targeting Pakistani forces, during which 16 security personnel were killed, and several others were injured.
In a statement issued to the media, BLA spokesperson Jeeyand Baloch said that the operations conducted between June 21 and 30 targeted security forces, infrastructure, and vehicles associated with what the group described as “exploitative projects”.
The group also said that it targeted routes and commercial vehicles as part of what it termed an “economic blockade”.
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