(Islamabad) Ten Pakistani soldiers were killed this week in a shootout claimed by separatists at a checkpoint in Balochistan, a southern province of the country, according to the Pakistani army on Thursday.
Posted at 3:32 p.m.
“Intense exchanges of fire” took place, which claimed the lives of these soldiers, during the attack on the checkpoint in the district of Kech, on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, the army said in a statement. communicated.
One assailant was killed and several were injured by the soldiers, she said, adding that a “clean-up operation” to “hunt down the perpetrators” had led to the capture of three armed men.
In a statement to AFP, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) separatist group claimed responsibility for the assault and said the death toll stood at 17 in the ranks of the army.
“The enemy’s weapons and other military equipment were seized and the post was set on fire,” the Baloch separatists said in the statement, confirming that one of their own militants was killed in the clash.
A spokesman for Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said he felt “profound sadness” over the incident.
“Every drop of soldiers’ blood guarantees the security of the country,” his office said in a statement.
Last week, another separatist group in the region, the Baloch Nationalist Army (BNA), carried out a bomb attack that killed three people in Lahore (east), Pakistan’s second largest city.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s poorest province, is the scene of ethnic, sectarian and separatist violence. It is rich in hydrocarbons and minerals, but its population – about 7 million inhabitants – complains of being marginalized and despoiled of its natural resources.
It has been rocked intermittently for decades by a separatist rebellion. Jihadist groups also operate there.
In Balochistan, major construction sites of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), an infrastructure project for which China must spend more than 50 billion US dollars, have come out of the ground, including its flagship, the water port depths of Gwadar.
These Chinese projects have often created strong resentment in the province, especially with separatist groups who believe that the local population does not benefit from them, with most jobs going to Chinese labour.
Last April, a suicide attack in a luxury hotel hosting the Chinese ambassador in Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, left four dead and dozens injured. The ambassador was not injured.