Karachi (TIP): At least two soldiers of the Pakistani Army were killed and eight Baloch terrorists were “sent to hell” when security personnel foiled an attempt by heavily armed Baloch insurgents to storm the Gwadar Port Authority complex in the restive Balochistan province, the military has said.
The port complex hosts several government and paramilitary offices and the strategically located Gwadar Port remains one of the focal points of the billion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Project.
A press release from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, said a group of terrorists attempted to enter the Port Authority Colony but were successfully thwarted by security forces personnel on March 20.
“Own troops employed for security responded immediately and effectively engaged the terrorists, and in ensuing fire exchange, all eight terrorists were sent to hell,” the statement said late on Wednesday.
Two sepoys were killed in the exchange of fire, the statement said.
A large quantity of arms, ammunition and explosives was also recovered from the possession of the militants from the separatist Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA).
Balochistan, bordering Iran and Afghanistan, is home to a long-running violent insurgency. Baloch insurgent groups have previously carried out several attacks targeting the USD 60 billion CPEC projects.
The BLA is opposed to China’s investments in Balochistan and accuses Beijing and Islamabad of exploitation of the resource-rich province, a charge rejected by the authorities.
Thousands of Chinese personnel are working in Pakistan on several projects being carried out under the aegis of the CPEC. BLA’s Majeed Brigade, which was formed in 2011, is a particularly lethal guerilla cell of the BLA.
It was named after a guard of former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who was killed while attempting to assassinate the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) founder. It has been alleged that the group also maintains sanctuaries in areas along the Pak-Iran border.
The brigade, which is the suicide squad of the BLA, mostly targets security forces and Chinese interests in Pakistan. It also claimed responsibility for the April 2022 suicide attack outside the Karachi University’s Confucius Institute. (PTI)