Pakistani security forces hunt militants behind weekend attacks

By Saleem Ahmed

QUETTA, Feb 2 (Reuters) – Pakistani soldiers were hunting down separatist militants on Monday who stormed schools, banks, and security installations, killing nearly 50 people, in a series of coordinated attacks across southwestern Balochistan province, the military said.

The attacks at the weekend brought Pakistan’s largest province to a near standstill as the separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) struck nearly a dozen targets in one of their largest ever operations, killing 17 security officials and 31 civilians.

Pakistan’s military has killed 177 BLA fighters in three days of fighting, the interior ministry said on Monday.

Pakistan’s government and military have said the group has received support from India, threatening to escalate hostilities between the nuclear-powered neighbours who engaged in their worst armed conflict in decades in May.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said 22 more militants had been killed overnight in different areas of Balochistan, taking the total to 177.

“Security forces, police and intelligence agencies thwarted the nefarious intentions of terrorists by taking timely and effective action,” Naqvi said in a statement.

“The Indian agents and their facilitators will be completely eliminated.”

India’s foreign office had rejected the allegations on Sunday, saying Islamabad should instead address the “long-standing demands of its people in the region”.

OPERATION BLACK STORM

Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest and poorest province, has faced a decades-long insurgency led by ethnic Baloch separatists seeking greater autonomy and a larger share of its natural resources.

The group claimed it had killed 84 members of Pakistan’s security forces and captured 18 others. Reuters could not independently verify the claim. The military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Attackers dressed as ordinary civilians entered hospitals, schools, banks and markets on Saturday before opening fire, 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 said, adding militants had used civilians as human shields.

The banned BLA said the attacks were part of a coordinated operation dubbed Herof, or “black storm”, targeting security forces across the province.

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