QUETTA: The government in Pakistan’s restive southwestern Balochistan has banned people from traveling at night on major highways across the province, notifications from multiple deputy commissioners said this week, as it grapples with surging militant attacks.

As per notifications dated Mar. 27 from the deputy commissioners of districts Zhob, Nushki, Gwadar, Musakhel and Kachhi, public and private transport have been banned from traveling across major highways in Balochistan from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 am. 

The ban covers several significant highways, including the Quetta-Taftan highway which connects Pakistan to Iran, the Loralai-Dera Ghazi Khan Road, the Sibi Road, the Coastal Highway, and the Zhob-Dera Ismail Khan Road. 

“As per directives from the Balochistan Home Department and in light of the current situation, from Mar. 27 until further notice, all citizens are informed that they should avoid traveling on the Zhob-DI Khan National Highway from 6 p.m. to 6 am,” a notification from the district’s deputy commissioner said. 

“Passengers and transporters will be stopped at the New Bus Stand.”

The decision has been taken amid a surge in militant attacks in Balochistan, including an alleged suicide blast on Saturday that targeted a protest camp in Mastung. The blast followed a deadly train siege earlier this month that ended in around 60 deaths, half of whom were separatists behind the assault.

Pakistan has been battling a separatist insurgency in Balochistan for decades, where militants target state forces and foreign nationals in the mineral-rich southwestern province bordering Afghanistan and Iran.

A suicide blast in Nushki district this month killed five, including three paramilitary soldiers, in the province. Militants in Balochistan have also frequently targeted laborers and commuters from the eastern Punjab province. 

At least five passengers from Punjab were forcibly offboarded from passenger buses heading to Karachi from Gwadar on Wednesday, after gunmen checked their identity cards and killed them near the southwestern town of Pasni.