At least 8 killed, 13 wounded in attack in southwestern Pakistan

Islamabad, Jun 1 (EFE).- At least eight people were killed, four of them soldiers, and 13 injured in an attack on a military post in the volatile Balochistan province in southwestern Pakistan, the Army said Tuesday.

The attack occurred late Monday, in the Pir Ismalil Ziarat area of Quetta city, where a group of insurgents attacked a Frontier Corps (FC) border post.

“4-5 terrorists killed while 7/8 are injured. During exchange of fire 4 brave FC soldiers embraced shahadat (martyrdom) while 6 soldiers got injured,” the Pakistani Army’s communication office, or ISPR, said in a statement.

Moreover, two other soldiers were wounded Monday in a separate attack as a military vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device in the province’s Turbat district bordering Iran.

The ISPR termed these incidents as “terrorist attacks” but did not mention any group suspected of involvement.

Balochistan, the largest and least populated region of the Asian country, bears witness to regular attacks by secessionist groups, as well as armed Islamist groups and mafia networks that operate across the country, making it one of the most unstable and unsafe regions in Pakistan.

In late April, in what was one of the latest major attacks in the region, five people were killed and 15 wounded in an attack by the Pakistani Taliban on a luxury hotel in Quetta, ahead of the arrival of the Chinese ambassador to Pakistan.

China has a widespread presence in Pakistan due to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, an ambitious infrastructure project financed by Beijing with a $60,000-million investment.

The CPEC, launched in 2015, finances the construction of a trade route that will connect Kashgar in the northwestern Chinese Xinjiang province with the Pakistani port of Gwadar that provides China a gateway to the Arabian sea. EFE

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