Separatists In Pakistan Crash Explosive-Laden Car Into Bus, 5 Paramilitaries Dead

On Sunday, separatists in southwest Pakistan killed a minimum of five paramilitary forces and injured over 30, police informed AFP, shortly after a train attack in Balochistan province resulted in multiple fatalities.

“There were seven buses in the convoy which was heading to Taftan (on the Iranian border). At Noshki, a car laden with explosives hit one of the buses,” said Mohammed Zafar, a police official in Noshki, a town in Balochistan.

He stated that five individuals were killed and 35 were injured. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the primary separatist organization in the region, took responsibility for the assault, stating that its suicide attack division conducted the bombing.

On Tuesday, the BLA targeted a train carrying 450 passengers, leading to a two-day standoff that resulted in numerous fatalities.

The train assault highlighted the cycle of violence in Balochistan, which shares a border with Afghanistan and where separatists claim that outsiders are exploiting the province’s natural resources. Additionally, police sources reported that three security personnel were killed Saturday evening in the adjacent Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The northwestern province has experienced an increase in assaults by the Pakistani Taliban since the Afghan Taliban, which shares a similar ideology and background, regained control in Kabul in 2021.

As per a tally, roughly 130 individuals, predominantly security personnel, have lost their lives in violence perpetrated by armed groups opposing the state since January 1, primarily in the western region near Afghanistan.