QUETTA: One person was killed while 10 others were injured on Sunday night after militants carried out two attacks in southwestern Pakistan, police and government officials said.
The attacks began on Sunday evening, when militants first attacked a police checkpost in Nohsar, an area located on the outskirts of Quetta. The second attack took place at Quetta’s Saryab Road, when militants targeted a checkpost manned by the paramilitary Frontier Corps Balochistan force.
Militants targeted the checkposts with guns and Under Barrel Grenade Launchers (UBGL), the police official said.
“One civilian was killed and 10 other pedestrians were injured during the attacks at Saryab Road,” a senior police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media, told Arab News.
Balochistan has been the site of a long-running insurgency that has intensified in recent years, with separatist militants frequently attacking security forces, government officials and interests, as well Chinese nationals.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. However, ethnic Baloch separatist groups, mainly the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), have claimed similar attacks in Balochistan in the past.
The police official said the situation was “under control” after the attacks.
In a separate statement, a Balochistan government official said the attacks were successfully thwarted by security forces, forcing militants to flee.
Babar Yousafzai, an aide in the provincial home department, said “terrorists” belonging to “Fitna-Al-Hindustan,” [a term Pakistan’s military and government both use for Baloch separatist outfits], attempted to launch attacks at Saryab Road and Nohsar.
Yousafzai said police and law enforcement agencies responded decisively to both attacks.
“Terrorists associated with Fitna-Al-Hindustan fire upon innocent civilians following a strong response by the security forces,” he said.
According to Yousafzai, only five civilians suffered minor injuries in both attacks.
Meanwhile, local media reports said another militant attack took place at the Dasht area in district Mastung. A senior railway police official confirmed, on condition of anonymity, that a railway track had been partially damaged on Sunday.
He said security forces were conducting a clearance operation in the area.
“We have also received reports and a picture of a partially damaged railway track but the railway staffers are yet to be allowed to visit the site due to the security clearance operation in that area,” the railway police official said.
Imran Hayat, the divisional superintendent of the Pakistan Railways Quetta Division, told Arab News that train operations from Quetta have been suspended for one day due to “essential maintenance” of the railway track that links Quetta with Sibi city.
Hayat did not elaborate as to what work was required on the railway track.
The attacks took place less than 24 hours after armed men stormed the residences of “pro-government tribesmen” in Balochistan’s remote Panjgur district bordering Iran, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Javed Ahmed told Arab News on Sunday.
That attack left five civilians and six militants dead, he said.
The BLA is the most prominent separatist group in Pakistan. It launched deadly attacks in multiple districts of Balochistan in January 2026, killing over 50 including members of Pakistan’s armed forces.
Ethnic Baloch separatist militants accuse Islamabad of denying locals from the provine a share in the resources of the province, an allegation the state denies.
