News / Pakistan

Pakistan kills 13 militants in southwestern province of Balochistan

Monday, 13 April 2015 3:33 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 13 April 2015 3:33 PM ]

File photo shows a Pakistani security personnel identifying the bodies of militants killed in an operation at a hospital in Quetta on December 19, 2014. ©AFP

At least 13 militants have been killed in an operation by the Pakistani paramilitary forces in the country’s southwestern province of Balochistan.

Officials announced Monday that the paramilitary forces managed to kill 13 members of the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF), a separatist group operating in the region which has carried out high-profile attacks against civilians and the security forces over the past years.

The group claimed responsibility for a deadly Friday attack in Turbat district about 1,000 kilometers (650 miles) southwest of Quetta, the provincial capital of Baluchistan. The assault killed 20 construction workers whom the terrorists said had migrated from elsewhere in the country.

An operation was launched by security forces immediately after the incident with paramilitary groups dispatched to the mountainous area to search for the militants. Thirteen militants were killed in the fighting which is reportedly continuing in the restive region.

“Security forces have killed at least 13 militants who killed the laborers," said a spokesman for Pakistan's paramilitary forces, adding that a senior commander of the BLF was among those killed in the fighting while another commander was captured alive.

Balochistan’s Home Secretary Akbar Hussain Durrani has confirmed the fatalities inflicted on the militant group.

BLF launches regular attacks on migrant workers and government installations in Balochistan, a province largely known for its rich resources of gas and mineral wealth but also for its widespread anti-government militancy. Pakistan accuses the neighboring India of having a hand in the militancy, with some describing it as New Delhi’s response to Islamabad’s alleged interference in Kashmir.

Balochistan has been also the scene of fierce sectarian violence in its Pashtun-dominated northern belt with the Baloch population hoping to finally gain independence from Islamabad.

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