At least 11 people, including six militants and five civilians, were killed in two separate attacks in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, a senior police official said on Sunday.
Balochistan has been the site of a long-running insurgency that has intensified in recent years, with separatist militants frequently attacking security forces, government officials and interests as well as residents and people from other provinces.
The attacks, which began at around 12am, targeted the residences of “pro-government” tribesmen in Khudabadan and Ramkan neighborhoods of Balochistan’s Panjgur city and lasted for three hours, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Javed Ahmed told Arab News.
“Five residents of Panjgur city were killed in the midnight ambushes,” he said. “Six terrorists were also killed as [security forces pursued the terrorists].”
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, but ethnic Baloch separatist groups have in the past targeted tribal leaders and residents they considered “state-backed.”
“The bodies of the civilians were shifted to the hospital and later handed over to the heirs for burial,” DSP Ahmed told Arab News
This was the second attack targeting civilians in the same city in a little more than a month. On Feb. 24, at least six people were killed after gunmen targeted residents near the Pakistan-Iran border, authorities said.
The separatists, who have waged a series of deadly attacks in Balochistan in recent years, accuse the central government of stealing the region’s resources to fund development elsewhere in the country. The Pakistani government denies the allegations and says it is working for the uplift of local communities in Balochistan.
Earlier this month, the Pakistani interior ministry said it would deploy two wings of Federal Constabulary paramilitary force, comprising 3,000 troops, to Balochistan in a bid to bolster security and establish peace in the insurgency-hit region.
