Gun, Bomb Attacks in Pakistan’s Balochistan Leave Forty-eight Dead

(MENAFN) A series of coordinated gun and bomb attacks across southwestern Balochistan province in Pakistan have killed 31 civilians and 17 security personnel, the region’s Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti said.

In response, security forces reportedly killed at least 145 attackers during a 40-hour firefight.

The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the violence, asserting that dozens of soldiers were killed.

The attacks represent a significant escalation in a resource-rich but impoverished region long affected by an ethnic insurgency. Pakistan has accused India of supporting the BLA, a charge that Delhi has consistently denied.

Grenade and gun assaults in Quetta, the provincial capital, and other towns targeted hospitals, schools, banks, and marketplaces. Pakistan’s junior interior minister Talal Chaudhry said, “In each case, the attackers came in dressed as civilians and indiscriminately targeted ordinary people working in shops.” He added that civilians were used as human shields.

Attackers also fired on security installations, attempted suicide bombings, and temporarily blocked urban roads. Key administrative buildings and nearby roads in Quetta were sealed off, mobile phone networks were disrupted, and regional train services were suspended.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif praised the military’s response, pledging to “continue the war against terrorism until its complete eradication.”

The BLA said it launched a coordinated operation called Herof, or “black storm,” claiming to have killed 84 security personnel and kidnapped 18 others. These figures have not been independently verified, and Pakistani military officials have not commented.

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