Pakistan on Wednesday vowed to revenge the recent killings in southwestern Balochistan province after three militant attacks claimed 42 lives, including 38 security personnel and four civilians, in four days.
“We will hunt you and hurt you everywhere,” military spokesperson Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said in an address on state television on Wednesday, AFP reported.
Chaudhary said 54 militants had also been killed and signalled further military operations as he accused India of backing the militants.
Pakistan has accused India of supporting the Baloch separatist movement on several occasions, though New Delhi has denied any involvement.
Three attacks in four days
The recent spate of attacks began on the night of July 4 and 5 when Fitna al Khawarij terrorists attacked the civilian population in Hanna Urak, Chaudhry said at a press conference in Rawalpindi, PTI reported.
Fitna al-Khawarij is used to refer to the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its affiliates by Pakistani officials. Four civilians were killed and six injured in the first attack.
In the second incident, terrorists late Monday night carried out a multi-directional attack on a police check post, set up to guard a Pumping Station in Mangi Dam in Ziarat district, in which nine policemen, including two station house officers (SHOs), were killed.
At least 15 terrorists were killed in a retaliatory clearance operation following the attack, ISPR official said.
Police officials taken hostages
The militants took police officials as hostages, making the subsequent operation by paramilitary Frontier Corps, army personnel and other law enforcement agencies (LEAs) complicated, Chaudhry said. Eighteen policemen were killed by the terrorists.
The operation was going on and so far 11 terrorists have been killed, he said.
Another major clash broke out on Wednesday when when terrorists of the banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) outfit attacked an army convoy in Bela areas.
The convoy was attacked, in which 11 soldiers, including one junior commissioned officer, died even as the forces killed 14 BLA terrorists, he said.
In other operations, the security forces killed six terrorists in Kharan and another eight terrorists in Dalbandin, all of whom belonged to the BLA.
A separatist insurgency for years in Balochistan province has been a major cause of concern for Pakistan and its internal stability. Separatist militants target state forces and foreign investment and infrastructure projects in the mineral-rich province that borders Afghanistan and Iran.
