https://arab.news/5zsxa
- Police confirm FC soldiers were moving in a convoy near Duki when an IED blast happened
- Earlier this month, unknown militants also killed 20 coal miners in the area with heavy weapons
QUETTA: Three Frontier Corps (FC) soldiers were injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province on Saturday, confirmed a police official, saying the incident took place in an area located 15 kilometers from Duki in Loralai Division.
Earlier this month, unidentified militants killed at least 20 coal miners in the area, using heavy weapons, sparking protests from labor organizations and halting mining operations amid heightened fear.
The attack in Duki occurred slightly over a month after separatist militants from the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) carried out a series of coordinated assaults in the province, killing more than 50 people, including highway commuters.
Hamayoun Khan, Station House Officer at the Duki police station, confirmed the paramilitary troops were targeted while traveling in a convoy through the mountainous area.
“Three soldiers of the paramilitary FC force were injured in the attack,” he told Arab News. “Some unknown individuals planted an IED in the steep Manday Tak area of the mountain.”
While no group has claimed responsibility for this attack, Baloch separatists have often targeted security forces in the region.
Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, has been the site of a low-level insurgency by separatist militants who accuse the government of exploiting the province’s mineral resources without benefiting local residents.
The government denies this and asserts it has launched several high-profile projects for the region’s development.