AhlulBayt News Agency: Pakistan’s security forces have deployed helicopters and drones to regain control of a town in the country’s largest province after separatist insurgents seized key installations, leaving 58 people dead in the troubled region.
Police said on Wednesday that the confrontation followed a series of coordinated attacks by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) over the weekend, which brought much of the southwestern province of Balochistan to a near halt.
Security forces exchanged gunfire with BLA militants at more than a dozen locations, killing 197 insurgents during the clashes.
“I thought the roof and walls of my house were going to blow up,” said a resident living near the main administrative building in Quetta, describing the impact of a powerful morning explosion.
The BLA, considered the most active insurgent group in the region, launched one of its largest operations in years, attacking schools, banks, markets, and security facilities across the province. The assaults killed more than 22 security personnel and 36 civilians.
In the desert town of Nushki, home to around 50,000 people, insurgents captured the local police station and other security buildings, triggering a three‑day standoff. Police reported that seven officers were killed before forces regained control late Monday, while operations against the BLA continue elsewhere.
“More troops were sent to Nushki,” said a security official on condition of anonymity. “Helicopters and drones were used against the militants.”
Balochistan, a resource‑rich but long‑marginalized province, has been the center of separatist violence led by groups such as the BLA and other Takfiri militants. The BLA claims Islamabad exploits the province’s natural resources while neglecting its population.
Energy projects—especially those involving Chinese investment—have been frequent targets of BLA attacks, with the group arguing that foreign powers and Pakistan’s central government are plundering the region without benefiting its people.
The BLA claimed on Tuesday that 280 soldiers were killed during its “Operation Herof,” also known as Black Storm, though no independent verification was provided.
Security officials said the weekend attacks began at 4 a.m. on Saturday with suicide bombings in Nushki and the coastal town of Pasni, followed by gun and grenade assaults in 11 other locations, including Quetta.
During the siege, insurgents briefly seized at least six district administration offices and advanced to within one kilometer of the provincial chief minister’s office in Quetta.
Authorities warned that despite retaking key towns, BLA operations may continue across the province.
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