Militants hit Pak minister, police officer's homes in Balochistan

Armed militants attacked the residences of a senior minister and a deputy commissioner and stormed a police checkpost in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province, police said.

A senior police official said armed militants attacked the residence of Balochistan Minister for Finance and Mineral Resources Mir Shoaib Nosherwani with a hand grenade in his native town of Kharan late on Thursday night.

The armed men came on motorcycles and drove away after hurling the hand grenade, he said.

No casualty has been reported in the incident, he said.

In a similar incident, the militants attacked the residence of the Kalat deputy commissioner with a hand grenade on Thursday night, injuring one police constable on duty at the gate.

 

In the third incident, the armed militants attacked the police checkpost in Mastung town on Thursday night and set fire to machinery and equipment of a cement factory in the vicinity before escaping the scene, authorities said.

A police official confirmed the attack took place at a time when the security personnel were changing at the checkpost.

The official said the militants snatched guns, ammunition, wireless sets and motorcycles before putting equipment in the cement factory on fire.

The official said the militants escaped well before security personnel reached the scene.

However, there were no casualties in the attack, the official said.

He said the armed militants suspected of being members of outlawed separatist groups on Thursday also carried out a similar operation in Khuzdar, an area in the Balochistan province.

He said the militants robbed a bank and burnt a police station before escaping from there.

Security and political think tank groups say that since last year the separatist groups operating in the province have become increasingly bold and stepped up their terror attacks on security forces, installations, and civilians working in Balochistan from other provinces.

Balochistan is a big province in terms of land and most of this land is in rough mountainous terrains and remote areas and it becomes easier for these militants to carry out their attacks, one security analyst said.

Balochistan, bordering Iran and Afghanistan, is home to a long-running violent insurgency. Baloch insurgent groups have previously carried out several attacks targeting CPEC projects.

The BLA accuses China and Islamabad of exploitation of the resource-rich province, a charge rejected by the authorities. It has fought a long-running insurgency for a separate homeland.