QUETTA: Suspected separatists hurled a hand grenade at a store selling Pakistani national flags in restive southwestern Balochistan province, killing one man and wounding four people, officials said Tuesday.
No one has claimed responsibility for the late Monday night attack in Quetta, the provincial capital, according to Wasim Baig, a spokesman for the provincial health department.
The separatist Baloch Liberation Army has claimed such attacks in the past. This year, it warned people not to celebrate Pakistan’s Independence Day on August 14, marking the date in 1947 when Pakistan got independence from British colonial rule when India was divided.
Earlier this week, the same separatist group claimed responsibility for the killing of two policemen in a roadside bombing in Quetta, indicating an uptick in violence ahead of the holiday.
On Tuesday in Quetta, security forces shot and killed five suspected separatists in an operation on the city’s outskirts, the provincial counter-terrorism department said. It provided no further details.
Small separatist groups have been carrying out a long-running insurgency in the province, demanding independence from the central government in Islamabad. Although Pakistan says it has quelled the insurgency in Balochistan, violence has increased in recent months.
The province also shares a long border with Iran and Afghanistan, and the Pakistani Taliban and Daesh have also maintained a presence in Balochistan.
In Pakistan, one killed in attack on store selling national flags
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In Pakistan, one killed in attack on store selling national flags
- Suspected separatists hurl a hand grenade at a store selling Pakistani national flags
- Baloch Liberation Army has warned people not to celebrate Pakistan’s Independence Day on August 14
Pakistan says operation against Afghan forces to continue until objectives are achieved
- Fighting started this week after Afghan forces attacked Pakistani military installations in retaliation for earlier strikes
- Afghan government spokesperson says air defense attacks were carried out Pakistan aircraft in Kabul on Sunday morning
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan military’s operation against Afghanistan forces along the border is still underway and will continue until all objectives are achieved, state media reported on Sunday citing security sources.
The latest round of clashes between the two sides began on Thursday night after Afghanistan’s forces attacked Pakistani military installations along their shared border.
The worst fighting between the neighbors in several years began after Pakistani airstrikes targeted what Islamabad described as militant hideouts inside Afghanistan earlier this month, triggering retaliatory fire along the frontier and sharply escalating long-running tensions. Islamabad accuses Kabul of sheltering Pakistani Taliban militants responsible for attacks inside Pakistan, an allegation that Afghanistan denies.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Saturday that 352 Afghan Taliban fighters had been killed and more than 535 wounded since the latest phase of hostilities began.
“The security sources said Operation Ghazb Lil-Haq is still underway and will continue until objectives are achieved,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported.
The state media said Pakistan’s army has taken control of an Afghan Taliban military post at the border in northwestern Pakistan.
It shared a video of what it said were Pakistani soldiers crossing into Afghanistan from the northwestern North Waziristan area to capture the Afghan post on the other side of the border.
Arab News could not independently verify the claims.
Earlier during the day, gunshots and explosions were reported in Kabul. Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said the sounds were the result of Afghan forces targeting Pakistani aircraft over the capital.
“Air defense attacks were carried out in Kabul against Pakistani aircraft,” Mujahid wrote on X. “Kabul residents should not be concerned.”
Since the conflict began this week, diplomatic efforts have intensified with several countries, including global bodies such as the European Union and United Nations, urging restraint and calling for talks.
