QUETTA: Two police officials were killed and four security personnel injured in two separate attacks in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, authorities said on Friday.
In the deadliest incident, militants ambushed a police convoy traveling from Kalat to Quetta at Choto, a mountainous area along the Kalat-Quetta highway, according to Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind.
“Terrorists ambushed the police convoy at Choto while it was en route from Kalat to Quetta,” Rind said in a statement. “The convoy consisted of two trucks and two pickups.”
“Acting DSP [Deputy Superintendent Police] Abdul Razzaq and Constable Raza Muhammad were martyred in the attack,” he continued. “Constables Taj Muhammad and Khurshid Ahmed sustained injuries and were shifted to a hospital for treatment.”
Rind said security forces and police personnel had reached the site and launched a search operation, while the bodies and injured were being airlifted to Quetta by helicopter.
The statement noted a formal investigation had been launched, and those responsible would soon be brought to justice.
Separately, armed men attacked a paramilitary Levies check-post in the Sarband area of Mastung district, injuring two personnel, according to a Levies statement.
The assailants fled following retaliatory fire by Levies troops.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for either attack.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest and most resource-rich province, has long grappled with a low-level insurgency by separatist groups demanding greater autonomy and control over natural resources.
Attacks on security forces, government officials and non-local workers have intensified in recent months.
Earlier this month, dozens of militants stormed Mastung, vandalized government buildings and killed a teenager while injuring 11 others.
On Wednesday, three people were killed and 12 wounded in an armed assault on a passenger bus in Kalat district. The attack followed another incident in which nine passengers from Punjab were kidnapped and killed by militants.
