At least 11 people were killed in two separate blasts in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province on Thursday, officials said, underscoring the growing wave of militancy in the mineral-rich region bordering Afghanistan and Iran.
A suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a convoy of paramilitary soldiers in Dasht , near the Iranian border, killing five people, including three troops, according to two local government officials who spoke to AFP. The separatist Baloch Liberation Army ( BLA ) claimed responsibility for the attack.
In a separate incident the same evening, a blast near an Afghan border crossing killed six labourers, local official Imtiaz Ali Baloch told AFP. No group immediately claimed responsibility for that attack.
Baloch istan has long been a flashpoint for violence, with separatist groups waging a decade-long insurgency against the Pakistani state, alleging exploitation of local resources and discrimination against the Baloch people. The military has responded with a sweeping counter-terrorism campaign, which rights groups say has involved enforced disappearances and arbitrary detentions.
Earlier this month, 15 people were killed in a suicide bombing claimed by the Islamic State group at a political rally in the provincial capital, Quetta .
A suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a convoy of paramilitary soldiers in Dasht , near the Iranian border, killing five people, including three troops, according to two local government officials who spoke to AFP. The separatist Baloch Liberation Army ( BLA ) claimed responsibility for the attack.
In a separate incident the same evening, a blast near an Afghan border crossing killed six labourers, local official Imtiaz Ali Baloch told AFP. No group immediately claimed responsibility for that attack.
Baloch istan has long been a flashpoint for violence, with separatist groups waging a decade-long insurgency against the Pakistani state, alleging exploitation of local resources and discrimination against the Baloch people. The military has responded with a sweeping counter-terrorism campaign, which rights groups say has involved enforced disappearances and arbitrary detentions.
Earlier this month, 15 people were killed in a suicide bombing claimed by the Islamic State group at a political rally in the provincial capital, Quetta .
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