40 Pakistani soldiers killed in 25 operations across Balochistan, claims BLA
Quetta, Nov 5 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed responsibility for 25 operations across several areas of Balochistan over the past few days targeting Pakistani forces that resulted in the death of 40 security personnel and injuries to dozens of others, local media reported.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, BLA spokesperson Jeeyand Baloch claimed that the group carried out a series of attacks between October 26 and November 3 against Pakistani military personnel, intelligence operatives and armed groups it described as “death squads”.
He said that the attacks involved both field operations and intelligence-based operations, with several military and logistical vehicles destroyed.
According to the BLA, its fighters ambushed two Pakistani military vehicles in Kharan district on November 3, attacking a convoy at Zomi area in the morning and another at Nauroz Qalat later that night. The group claimed that the Zomi attack killed at least three personnel.
It also said a military installation at Rotinko was targeted with heavy weapons, causing casualties and material losses, The Balochistan Post reported.
The group further claimed responsibility for attacks in Ahmad Wal and Mastung on November 2. It said three personnel were killed and several wounded when troops moving on foot and in vehicles were targeted in Ahmad Wal.
In a separate incident near Madina Hotel on the main highway in Mastung, the BLA claimed that more than four personnel were killed and several others injured in an assault on a military convoy.
The BLA claimed that four personnel were killed and at least seven were critically injured in an attack on a military convoy near Sajid in Washuk district on October 28.
Another attack on a military vehicle in Panjgur’s Gowargo area the same day left one security personnel dead and several injured.
It further claimed that its fighters killed more than nine personnel and wounded several others in an ambush on a Pakistani military convoy of over 30 vehicles in Khuzdar’s Karkh area on October 26.
The convoy comprised vehicles belonging to the military, police, Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) and Anti-Terrorism Force (ATF), along with vehicles assigned to the Deputy Inspector General Imran Qureshi and the district’s senior superintendent of police.
The group also claimed that its fighters launched a heavy weapons assault on the main military camp in Nushki’s Ahmad Wal area on October 26, causing extensive damage.
On October 30, they ambushed a military truck convoy in the same locality, killing two personnel, injuring several others, and destroying one truck, the BLA stated.
The statement further highlighted operations aimed at disrupting military supply routes and commercial movement.
The group claimed responsibility for seizing a military logistics vehicle in Nushki’s Zarrin Jungle area on October 27 and another vehicle carrying rations and essential supplies for Pakistani forces on the Dalbandin-Yakmach highway on October 30.
It also said its fighters seized two commercial vehicles at Cheyahtar on the Quetta-Taftan highway on October 31, describing the action as part of an “economic blockade”.
A commercial vehicle was subsequently torched on the same route on November 2, according to the statement.
