All eight of the militants who had attacked a compound outside the vital port of Gwadar were killed by the security forces on Wednesday, according to officials.
Despite a decades-long separatist conflict, China has made major investments in the mineral-rich southwest province of Balochistan, including the development of Gwadar.
According to government commissioner Saeed Ahmed Umrani, the militants assaulted the Gwadar Port Authority (GPA) complex, which consists of offices of government departments, intelligence agencies, and paramilitary forces, close outside the port, armed with firearms and bombs.
According to him, the militants tried to rush the compound and initiate shooting attacks after exploding multiple devices.
Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti announced that eight militants had been “neutralized by security forces” in a post on the social media platform X. He continued by stating that “the message is loud & clear.”
There will be no mercy from the state for anyone who chooses to use violence.
According to Umrani, there were reports of at least one soldier being murdered and several being injured. The military withheld information.
In a statement, the most well-known separatist organization in Balochistan, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), claimed accountability for the attack and said that its fighters had targeted Pakistani intelligence agencies’ buildings.
In the past, the BLA has attacked Chinese and Pakistani interests in the area as well as other places.
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is a component of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative and includes energy and road projects, depends on the deep-water port.
Several Baloch militant groups in the nation have attacked Chinese targets in previous years.
Security forces in the Mach and Kolpur districts of Balochistan killed over a dozen BLA attackers in January after successfully thwarting terrorist strikes.
The military’s advertising branch, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), announced that several terrorists, including suicide bombers, attacked the Mach and Kolpur complexes in Balochistan.
At least nine terrorists have been eliminated as a result of the efficient response from law enforcement.
On the other hand, two innocent civilians and four brave security personnel lost their lives in a brutal shooting confrontation.
Terrorists ambushed two security force cars in November while they were traveling from Pasni to Ormara in the Gwadar district.
The attack claimed the lives of at least fourteen soldiers.
Since 2006, Balochistan has been engulfed in a violent separatist insurgency that has been made worse by years of militant, sectarian, and ethnic violence.
Both military and civil authorities have frequently asserted that to undermine Pakistan for their geopolitical goals, “hostile agencies” have also been supplying terrorism fuel.
When Kulbhushan Jadhav, a serving Indian Navy commander, was apprehended by Pakistani intelligence agencies in the Mashkhel region of Balochistan after crossing over from neighbouring Iran in March 2016, it was determined that “hostile agencies” had been engaged.
