QUETTA: A woman and her two children were killed in a land mine blast in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province on Monday, paramilitary officials said.
Balochistan has seen a decades-long insurgency against what separatists call the unfair exploitation of resources in the mineral-rich region. Most of the separatist groups operate independently, but some recent reports in local media have pointed to increasing cooperation between them and with the Pakistani Taliban, also known as the TTP.
Pakistani security forces have been the main focus of sepratists and other militants in the province, but in recent years they have also targeted Chinese interests, given Beijing’s increasing economic footprint in the region.
“Family members of Mohammad Ali were coming back to their home on Monday morning when they stepped on a land mine outside their residence, killing a woman and two children aged five and two years old,” Levies sepoy Abdul Rasheed told Arab News, saying the incident took place in Gabeen village in Kech district of Balochistan.
It was unclear who had laid down the land mine and when in a province where Baloch rebels frequently attack security officials, gas pipelines, electricity infrastructure and transport links.
“Government of Balochistan along with law enforcement agencies are taking concrete measures to wipe out terrorists and their facilitators,” Home Minister Mir Zia Langove said, “Human rights organizations working in Pakistan should raise their voice against the murders of women and children.”
