17 killed as militants attack town in southwestern Pakistan— official

QUETTA: At least 17 passengers in a Karachi-bound van were killed in a southwestern Pakistani town this week when the vehicle came under fire during a gunbattle between militants and security forces, an official confirmed on Saturday. 

The attacks began late Friday when militants attacked three different spots in Mangochar town located in Balochistan’s Kalat district around 103 kilometers from the provincial capital of Quetta, Kalat Deputy Commissioner Bilal Shabbir confirmed. 

The attacks took place in Pidrang, Khazeni and Mangochar Bazar areas of the town, the deputy commissioner confirmed, where militants started conducting snap checking of passenger vehicles passing through the town.

Shabbir said the passenger van came under fire near the mountainous area of Khazeni, where armed men battled with paramilitary Levies and Frontier Corps’ personnel. 

“Seventeen passengers who were traveling to Quetta from Karachi were killed after a [Toyota] Hiace van came under fire during an intense gunbattle between security forces and armed terrorists,” Shabbir told Arab News. He said three FC personnel were injured in the attack. 

Shabbir said before the exchange of fire in Khazeni, militants had blocked roads near Soru’s mountainous curve which were leading to Mangochar Bazaar in an attempt to stop security forces’ movement. They also set a private bank on fire in the bazaar. 

“The bodies of the slain passengers were shifted to Quetta,” the deputy commissioner said. “We are investigating as to why they targeted a passenger van.”

Banned separatist outfit Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attacks in a statement. The group said its fighters have captured a Pakistani security forces camp in Mangochar. Arab News could not independently verify these claims.

Meanwhile, Assistant Commissioner Mangochar Ali Gul Hassan said security forces had taken control of the area and opened the Karachi-Quetta highway and its surrounding roads for traffic. 

 “Security forces have completed the clearance operation in the area during the early hours of Saturday and the Quetta-Karachi highway (N-25) is opened for traffic,” he told Arab News. 

Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by landmass and rich in mineral resources, has long faced a low-level insurgency led by separatist groups like the BLA, who accuse Islamabad of exploiting the province’s natural resources, such as gold and copper, while neglecting the local population.

Pakistani governments deny these allegations, saying that it has prioritized Balochistan’s development through investments in health, education and infrastructure projects.

The BLA has emerged as a significant security threat in recent years, carrying out major attacks in Balochistan and Sindh provinces while targeting security forces, ethnic Punjabis and Chinese nationals working on development projects.

The BLA launched coordinated attacks in Balochistan in August last year, killing over 50. Last month, dozens of fighters of the separatist outfit gained control of a small town in Khuzdar for hours and snatched weapons and vehicles from the local Levies force and set the Levies station on fire.

Violence by Baloch separatist factions, primarily the BLA, killed about 300 people last year, according to official statistics, marking an escalation in the decades-long conflict.