ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Pakistani military announced Wednesday that insurgents killed 18 police officers who had been held captive since earlier in the week, along with 11 soldiers who died in a separate attack in the troubled southwestern part of the country.
The bloodshed represents the latest flare-up in a region where armed groups have been intensifying their assaults on both security forces and civilians.
Military spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry stated at a televised press conference that the combined death toll since Monday has reached 42 people, with most of the victims being soldiers and police officers. He added that security forces had killed 54 insurgents across multiple operations during that same timeframe.
According to Chaudhry, the 18 officers had been in captivity since late Monday, when dozens of militants stormed a police post in Ziarat district in Balochistan province, killing nine additional officers in that initial assault. He identified the attackers as members of what the Pakistani government refers to as “Fitna al-Khawarij” — a label the government applies to the outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army, or BLA, which Pakistan claims receives backing from India. India has denied any support for insurgent organizations operating inside Pakistan.
The 11 soldiers who died Wednesday were killed when insurgents ambushed the vehicle they were traveling in along a highway in Balochistan, Chaudhry said, adding that armed groups have struck at civilians and security personnel across several areas since Monday.
His statements came shortly after the BLA claimed credit for a series of recent attacks on security forces in Balochistan, a province where the Pakistani Taliban — known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan — also holds a significant presence.
Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest province by land area but its least populated. It has been the site of a long-running separatist insurgency as well as repeated attacks by the Pakistani Taliban. The BLA, which was designated a foreign terrorist organization by the United States in 2019, has taken responsibility for a large number of attacks targeting both security forces and civilians in the province over recent years.
