AP

Pakistan: Areas cleared after militant attacks kill 9 troops

Feb 5, 2022, 11:04 AM | Updated: Feb 6, 2022, 6:52 pm

Army soldiers carry a national flag-wrapped casket of an army officer who was killed during a gunba...

Army soldiers carry a national flag-wrapped casket of an army officer who was killed during a gunbattle with militants in an area of country's volatile southwestern Baluchistan province, at a funeral prayer, in Faisalabad, Pakistan, Friday, Feb. 4, 2022. Twin attacks by separatists on Pakistani military posts in the the province triggered intense firefights that lasted hours and killed multiple soldiers and assailants, Pakistan's interior minister and the military said Thursday. (AP Photo/Abdul Majid)

(AP Photo/Abdul Majid)

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan’s military said security forces cleared two areas in a southwestern province of separatist militants after they attacked two army camps, leaving nine soldiers dead and six others wounded. Twenty militants were killed in intense, hours-long firefights and follow-up operations, it said.

The military statement issued late Saturday said militants attacked security forces camps in Baluchistan province in the districts of Naushki and Panjgur late Wednesday and both attacks were eventually repulsed.

A recently formed separatist group, the Baluchistan Nationalist Army, claimed responsibility for the attacks in a Twitter post.

The military said nine attackers were killed in Naushki, while four troops, including an officer, were killed. It said in Panjgur, security forces repulsed the attack after an intense exchange of fire and the attackers fled the area.

Security forces began an operation to hunt down the fleeing attackers and a curfew in the areas was imposed.

Four fleeing militants were killed in Panjgur, while four who were hiding elsewhere were killed in a Saturday operation when they refused to surrender, the military said. It said three other militants linked to the attacks were killed in the district of Kech on Friday. Five soldiers were killed and six others wounded in follow-up operations.

A spokesman for the Baluch Liberation Army, a separatist group that operates under the umbrella of the Baluchistan Nationalist Army, said its Panjgur and Naushki offensive came to an end after more than 70 hours.

“After the martyrdom of all sixteen suicide-attackers of the Majeed Brigade of the Baluch Liberation Army, ‘Operation Gunjal’ reached its conclusion,” said Jaend Baluch, the purported spokesman, in a message to reporters on WhatsApp.

Baluch said nine of the men attacked the Frontier Corps camp in Naushki and six stormed into the Panjgur camp.

Authorities say they have quelled an insurgency launched by Baluch separatists demanding independence from Pakistan in the southwestern province that borders Iran and Afghanistan. However, attacks on security forces and their installations have persisted. Separatists and militants have regularly staged attacks in Baluchistan in recent years. Last week, 10 soldiers were killed in an attack on a security post in the province.

The militant Pakistani Taliban group — Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP — also has a presence in Baluchistan. It is an umbrella group that is separate from the Afghan Taliban.

Also Sunday the military said that it returned fire after militants inside Afghanistan shot at a security post in the Kurram tribal district, causing heavy loses to the attackers. It said it lost five troops in the exchange, but gave no further details.

In its statement, the military said Pakistan expects the interim Afghan government will not allow further activity against Pakistan in the future.

In a separate statement Sunday, the military said security forces killed a would-be suicide bomber from the Pakistani Taliban in the district of Tank in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The killing was part of a continuing operation to eliminate militant accomplices in the area.

Separately, security forces arrested a militant during a raid at a hideout in in the Sarwakai area of the South Waziristan tribal district. The military statement said militant Allah Noor was trying to escape wearing woman’s burqa to hide his identify.

In the Makeen area of South Waziristan, troops seized arms, ammunition and communications gear and arrested four people who were transporting them.

___

Associated Press writer Zarar Khan and Asim Tanveer in Islamabad and Riaz Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan, contributed to this report.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP

Image: A cargo ship is stuck under the part of the structure of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after ...

Associated Press

Authorities identify 2 bodies recovered at site of Baltimore bridge collapse

A major bridge in Baltimore snapped and collapsed after a container ship rammed into it early Tuesday, and several vehicles fell into the river below.

2 days ago

Photo: Mountaineer Jim Whittaker has died at 95....

Gene Johnson, The Associated Press

Lou Whittaker, among the most famous American mountaineers, has died at age 95

Lou Whittaker, a legendary American mountaineer who helped lead ascents of Mount Everest, K2 and Denali, has died at age 95.

2 days ago

File photo: Former Sen. Joe Lieberman speaks in Washington on Jan. 18, 2024....

Associated Press

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, Democrats’ VP pick in 2000, dead at 82

Former U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who nearly won the vice presidency on the Democratic ticket with Al Gore in 2000, has died.

2 days ago

islamic state attack...

Vanessa Gera, The Associated Press

What we know after the Islamic State group claims responsibility for Moscow massacre

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for an attack on a suburban Moscow concert hall that killed at least 133 people.

5 days ago

Moscow shooting...

The Associated Press

Russia: 60 dead, 145 injured in concert hall raid; Islamic State group claims responsibility

Assailants burst into a concert hall in Moscow on Friday and sprayed the crowd with gunfire, killing over 60 people, injuring more than 100.

7 days ago

Photo: Britain's Kate, Duchess of Cambridge visits 282 (East Ham) Squadron, RAF Air Cadets, Cornwel...

Associated Press

Kate Middleton announces she has cancer, is undergoing chemotherapy

Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales, says she is undergoing chemotherapy to treat cancer. She has been out of view since Christmas.

7 days ago

Pakistan: Areas cleared after militant attacks kill 9 troops