Terrorist Attacks Rock Balochistan, Pakistan -15 Lives Lost

In a series of coordinated attacks on Monday, heavily armed terrorists targeted various locations in Pakistan's volatile Balochistan province, resulting in a tragic toll of 15 lives. The assaults, including one on a high-security prison in Mach town, situated approximately 70 kilometers from the provincial capital Quetta, left four law enforcement personnel and two civilians dead.

The Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) released a statement on Tuesday night, revealing that on the night between January 29 and 30, multiple terrorists, including suicide bombers, attacked Mach and Kolpur Complexes in Balochistan. Law enforcement agencies effectively responded, resulting in the killing of nine militants and the capture of three others.

The security forces thwarted the assailants' apparent attempt to breach the high-security central Mach Jail, where dangerous militants and death row prisoners are held. Unfortunately, four security personnel and two civilians lost their lives in the attacks.

The banned separatist group, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) Majeed group, claimed responsibility for the assaults. Following the attacks, a prolonged gunbattle unfolded between security forces and the attackers, who sought refuge in the mountains.

The caretaker Balochistan Information Minister, Jan Achakzai, reported that the final clearance operation in Mach is still ongoing, but the situation in the area has been stabilized.

This incident marks the deadliest attack by militants this year against security forces, with the BLA's threat of retaliation for Pakistani strikes on their camps in Iran earlier in January. Last year in November, at least 14 soldiers were killed in a militant ambush in Gwadar.

The recent attacks are believed to be a response to Pakistani strikes on what the country claimed were insurgent hideouts in Iran. The strikes in January were in retaliation for an Iranian strike in Pakistan, targeting a different Baloch militant group with similar separatist goals.

Balochistan province in Pakistan and Sistan-Baluchistan province in Iran have faced a persistent low-level insurgency by Baloch nationalists for over two decades. The violence continues despite the government's assertions of quelling the insurgency. The shared 900-kilometer border between Iran and Pakistan remains largely lawless, providing a breeding ground for smugglers and militants.

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