QUETTA: Unidentified gunmen attacked an under-construction dam site in southwestern Pakistan late Monday night, killing five private security guards providing protection to laborers and construction machinery in Prom, a remote area of Panjgur district, the local Levies force said.
Pakistan’s Balochistan province, which shares porous borders with Afghanistan and Iran, has been a scene of low-level insurgency for decades. Ethnic Baloch nationalists have long accused the central government of exploiting the province’s natural resources without benefiting its population, though the state denies these allegations.
The late-night attack took place in an area where a private construction company was working near the Iran border, about 65 kilometers from Panjgur city, according to Abdullah Baloch, a Levies personnel who spoke to Arab News. He said the victims were guarding the laborers at the construction site.
“Five people from Panjgur, Quetta, and Sindh province were killed in the attack, and two others sustained bullet injuries and were shifted to a hospital,” he said.
Baloch added that the attackers torched the machinery belonging to a private company working on the dam before fleeing the scene.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. However, separatist militant groups have previously targeted laborers and attacked construction machinery in the Makran region of Balochistan.
In September, unknown armed men attacked a construction site in Musakhail district, setting six dozers on fire. Earlier this month, at least 21 laborers were killed in an overnight attack on coal mines in Dukki, sparking protests in the area.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the Panjgur attack, directing provincial authorities to identify and punish the perpetrators.
“No one can stop development in Balochistan with such timid attacks,” he said in a statement on Tuesday, adding that there is no space for such miscreants in Pakistan.
Dr. Anwar Aziz, district health officer Panjgur, confirmed that five dead bodies were brought to the hospital before being sent to their native towns.
“Two people with minor bullet wounds were treated and later discharged from the hospital,” he told Arab News.
Five private guards killed as gunmen attack dam construction site in southwestern Pakistan
https://arab.news/pusbd
Five private guards killed as gunmen attack dam construction site in southwestern Pakistan
- Attack took place near in the Iran border where a private company was working on the construction site
- The attackers torched the machinery belonging to the firm building the dam before fleeing the scene
Pakistan air chief highlights modernization as PAF marks seven years since India aerial clash
- Swift Retort was launched in 2019 after India attempted airstrikes following a Kashmir suicide bombing
- Air chief’s remarks come amid fierce clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan over cross-border militancy
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s air chief said on Friday the country’s air force had undertaken “comprehensive modernization and indigenization” in recent years, as he addressed a ceremony at Air Headquarters to mark seven years since an aerial confrontation with India.
Operation Swift Retort was launched on Feb. 27, 2019, a day after India attempted airstrikes inside Pakistan following a suicide bombing in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary troops.
Pakistan responded with aerial strikes across the Line of Control and shot down an Indian fighter jet in a subsequent dogfight, capturing one pilot who was later returned in what Islamabad called a gesture of de-escalation.
“PAF has pursued comprehensive modernization and indigenization to transition into a Next Generation Air Force,” Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu said, according to a statement circulated by the military’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations.
He added that the force had recalibrated its operational doctrine and rapidly inducted advanced combat and support capabilities, including indigenously developed unmanned systems, electronic warfare, space and cyber assets, establishing what he described as a “home-grown multi-domain kill chain.”
Sidhu said Pakistan remained committed to peace but would respond decisively to violations of its sovereignty.
“Pakistan is a responsible country which desires peace with honor,” he continued.
The remarks come amid renewed security tensions on Pakistan’s western frontier.
Islamabad earlier this week launched airstrikes inside Afghanistan targeting what it described as hideouts of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Daesh militants. Afghan authorities condemned the strikes and subsequently launched their own military response that led to fierce clashes between the two sides overnight.
Pakistan has frequently accused Kabul of allowing militant groups to use Afghan territory to carry out cross-border attacks on Pakistani civilians and security forces, an allegation denied by Afghan officials.
Pakistani authorities said earlier in the day small drones launched from the Afghan side were intercepted and brought down by the country’s air defense systems.
Sidhu said the PAF would continue to maintain a vigilant yet responsible defense posture to safeguard national sovereignty.
