Quetta, Sep 27 (IANS) The Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) has claimed that nine Pakistani military personnel were killed in attacks carried out by the group’s newly formed female unit, the Karima Armed Assault Division (KAAD), local media reported on Sunday.
In a statement, BLF spokesperson Major Gwahram Baloch said that six personnel were killed and several others were injured in an attack carried out by KAAD fighters on a three-vehicle Quick Response Force (QRF) convoy on the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) highway in Jusak near Turbat in Balochistan province on September 22, The Balochistan Post reported.
He said that BLF’s Qurban unit also supported KAAD’s operation, adding that both units repelled an attempt by Pakistani forces to encircle them and covered their withdrawal. According to the statement, several Pakistani military vehicles were severely damaged in the attack. BLF spokesperson said that Qurban unit fighter Chakar Murad, alias Dileep Jan, was killed during the attack.
Gwahram Baloch said that KAAD fighters established blockades at three points on the Quetta-Karachi highway in Manguchar tehsil of Balochistan’s Kalat district. According to the statement, two Pakistani military personnel were killed after the KAAD fighters carried out an attack on Pakistani forces approaching from Manguchar bazaar in an armoured vehicle and two other vehicles.
According to the statement, several Pakistani military vehicles were damaged. BLF spokesperson said that Pakistani forces’ attempt to encircle the group’s fighters led to another exchange, in which a Pakistani security personnel was killed while several others were injured.
Separately, the Baloch Republican Army (BRA) claimed responsibility for an attack on a Mari Energies Limited site in the Beh Loti area in Balochistan’s Dera Bugti. Three company employees were killed, and several others were injured in the attack carried out by BRA fighters using rockets and heavy weapons, according to the statement released by the group’s spokesperson Sarbaz Baloch.
Sarbaz Baloch said that a fight erupted between Pakistani forces and members of what the group termed a local state-backed armed group after the attack on the Mari Energies Limited site. According to the statement, nine Pakistani military personnel were killed, and three members of the armed group were killed in the attack. The BRA said six fighters of the group lost their lives, The Balochistan Post reported.
Meanwhile, the Baloch Republican Guards (BRG) claimed that its fighters took control of Haji Shehr and destroyed a police station there with explosives. The group claimed that BRA fighters entered Eri Shehr, took control of government buildings there and withdrew from there after completing the operation.
These latest incidents come against the backdrop of escalating attacks by Baloch armed groups targeting Pakistani military and police forces across Balochistan in recent days, resulting in heavy casualties and damage to infrastructure.
Earlier on Wednesday, BRG claimed that it had carried out an attack against an armed group it identified as a state-backed “death squad” in the Kachhi Qalandar area of Kachhi district, The Balochistan Post reported.
BRG spokesperson Dostain Baloch, in a media statement, said that the group’s fighters encountered the death squads while conducting a routine patrol. He said that the armed men linked to death squads tried to obstruct their movement, prompting the fighters to respond with an attack. The spokesperson claimed that the death squad members escaped from the spot, leaving behind their weapons.
–IANS
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