Clashes with militants in southwestern Pakistan kill 5 troops and 7 militants
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $1.44 a week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $5.77 plus GST every four weeks. After 52 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — Clashes with insurgents in southwestern Pakistan’s embattled Balochistan province on Wednesday killed five soldiers, including an army major, the military said. An outlawed separatist group said it had attacked the soldiers.
According to the military, security forces launched an operation in the province’s district of Barkhan to rout out insurgents that Islamabad claims are backed by India. The province’s outlawed separatist Baloch Liberation Army, or BLA, issued a statement saying its fighters had attacked the troops, triggering a shootout.
Among the military deaths was an army major, the military said, adding that the fighting also left seven militants dead.
Resource-rich Balochistan — Pakistan’s largest but least populated province — has long faced an insurgency by separatist groups as well as attacks by the Pakistani Taliban. The BLA, which the United States designated a terrorist organization in 2019, has carried out numerous attacks targeting security forces and civilians in the province in recent years.
The military described the killed militants as members of ″ Fitna al-Hindustan,” a term Pakistani authorities use for Indian-backed insurgents.
India has repeatedly denied supporting militant groups inside Pakistan.