QUETTA: Baloch separatist militants have targeted a dam construction site and a Levies check post in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan in two separate attacks, a senior official confirmed Saturday, abducting six laborers and seizing weapons just days after Pakistan announced a comprehensive operation against armed factions in the province.
The attacks occurred late Thursday night along the border of the remote Nushki and Kharan districts.
Pakistan’s largest but sparsely populated province, Balochistan borders Afghanistan and Iran and is central to the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects. The region has been the site of a low-level insurgency by separatist militants for over two decades, though violence has intensified in recent months.
In August, the province witnessed a series of coordinated attacks that killed over 50 people.
“Unknown armed men attacked a dam construction site in Nushki district on Thursday night and abducted six laborers,” Additional Chief Secretary Home Shahab Ali Shah said while speaking to Arab News. “The laborers were working for a private construction company.”
“In another incident, armed men attacked a Levies check post at Zarin Jungle area and snatched three submachine guns from the soldiers,” he continued, adding that no loss of life was reported in the attack.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a prominent militant group in the province, claimed responsibility for the attacks on Friday, saying the group seized weapons from the Levies and “arrested” construction company personnel.
“BLA fighters captured a post of the Pakistani Levies force on the highway at Zarin Jungle and seized the weapons,” it said in a statement. “At the same time, different squads of fighters conducted a snap-check on the highway and arrested five personnel working on a construction project.”
It added the BLA had destroyed the construction company’s machinery and equipment by setting them on fire.
Rich in land and mineral wealth, Balochistan is otherwise an impoverished region, prompting separatist groups to accuse Pakistan of exploiting provincial resources, including gold and copper.
Pakistan denies the allegations and says the government is carrying out several development projects in the region to ensure its prosperity and improve the quality of life of its residents.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif approved a “comprehensive military operation” in Balochistan against the separatist outfits involved in attacks on Pakistani security forces after a suicide bombing at the Quetta Railway Station killed about 25 people, including army troops.
Baloch separatists have also been involved in targeting Chinese workers in Pakistan, prompting Beijing to urge authorities in Islamabad to provide them with foolproof security.
Gunmen attack checkpoint, abduct six laborers in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province
https://arab.news/vubpj
Gunmen attack checkpoint, abduct six laborers in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province
- The Baloch Liberation Army claims responsibility for twin attacks in Nushki district this week
- Pakistan has announced an operation against Baloch separatists targeting Chinese nationals
Over 50 feared dead in Karachi shopping plaza fire, officials say
- Search teams recover 14 bodies as officials warn toll may rise sharply
- Traders seek urgent compensation after 1,200 shops destroyed in blaze
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani authorities warned on Monday the death toll from a massive fire at a shopping plaza in Karachi could exceed 50, as recovery operations continued a day after the blaze destroyed over 1,200 shops in one of the city’s busiest commercial districts.
The fire broke out late Saturday at Gul Plaza in Karachi’s Saddar business area and spread rapidly through multiple floors. Firefighters battled for more than 24 hours to bring the blaze under control, which was fully extinguished by Monday, officials said, with cooling and debris removal now underway.
Deadly fires in commercial buildings are a recurring problem in Karachi, a city of more than 20 million people, where overcrowding, outdated infrastructure and weak enforcement of fire safety regulations have repeatedly resulted in mass casualties and economic losses.
During a meeting at the Chief Minister’s House on Monday, officials briefed Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah that 14 bodies had so far been recovered from the site, while the overall death toll could climb significantly as debris is cleared.
“Estimated fatalities could exceed 50,” the Sindh chief minister’s office said in a statement, quoting officials who briefed Shah on the scale of the disaster.
Shah was told that the shopping plaza, built over roughly 8,000 square yards, housed around 1,200 shops, leaving an equal number of traders suddenly without livelihoods. Shah said all affected shopkeepers would be rehabilitated and announced the formation of a committee to recommend compensation amounts and a recovery plan.
“The Gul Plaza building will be rebuilt, and we want to decide how the affected traders can be given shops immediately so their businesses can resume,” Shah said, according to the statement.
Officials said firefighting operations involved 16 fire tenders and water bowzers, with 50 to 60 firefighters taking part. The Karachi Water Board supplied more than 431,000 gallons of water during the operation, while Rescue 1122 ambulances reached the site within minutes of the first alert.
Authorities said access constraints inside the building, along with intense smoke, hampered rescue efforts in the early stages of the fire. A firefighter was among those killed, officials said, noting that his father had also died in the line of duty years earlier.
The provincial government ordered an immediate forensic investigation to determine the cause of the blaze, directing the chief secretary to notify a fact-finding committee. Shah also instructed that debris removal begin without delay so recovery teams could continue searching for victims.
The tragedy has also heightened anxiety within Karachi’s business community.
The Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has formed a dedicated committee to document losses, coordinate relief and press the government for compensation, saying preliminary assessments indicate more than 1,000 small and medium-sized businesses were completely destroyed.
Ateeq Mir, a traders’ representative, has estimated losses from the fire at over $10 million.
“There is no compensation for life, but we will try our best that the small businessmen who have suffered losses here are compensated in a transparent manner,” Shah told reporters on Sunday night.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has offered full federal support to provincial authorities, stressing the need for a “coordinated and effective system” to control fires quickly in densely populated urban areas and prevent similar tragedies in the future.
Battling large fires in Karachi’s congested commercial districts remains notoriously difficult. Many markets and plazas are built with narrow access points, encroachments and illegal extensions that block fire tenders, while buildings often lack functioning fire exits, alarms or sprinkler systems.
Although safety regulations exist, enforcement is sporadic, allowing hazardous wiring and flammable materials to go unchecked — conditions that enable fires to spread rapidly and magnify human and economic losses.
