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Pakistan sees deadly flare of violence with militant groups

December 26, 2022

A series of violent incidents has killed several Pakistani soldiers and wounded civilians in the country's southwestern border region. Attacks and clashes have been on the rise after peace talks with militants collapsed.

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People lay in hospital beds after being wounded in a grenade attack in Quetta, Pakistan
At least 11 civilians were wounded in the city of Quetta in grenade attacks on SundayImage: Arshad Butt/AP/dpa/picture alliance

Pakistan's military reported at least six soldiers were killed on Sunday in several clashes with militant groups in the southwestern province of Balochistan.

Security concerns have risen in recent weeks after peace talks collapsed between the government and the Pakistani Taliban.

What happened?

Three separate incidents in Balochistan province left several soldiers dead, including an army captain, according to the military's media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

Five of the soldiers were killed during a clearance operation in Kohlu district on Sunday.

Earlier in the day, a soldier and a militant were killed near the border with Afghanistan. A shootout erupted in the Sambaza area of the Zhob district, after a group of militants attempted to sneak into Pakistan. Two soldiers were also injured.

Security personnel investigate at the site of a suicide attack in Pakistan's capital Islamabad
Militants have increasingly been targeting security forces and civilians in Pakistan in recent weeksImage: Ahmad Kamal/Xinhua/IMAGO

Elsewhere in Balochistan, grenade attacks wounded 11 civilians in the provincial capital of Quetta. Another grenade attack in the town of Hub wounded three civilians, police said.

The attacks come just two days after a car bombing in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad killed a police officer.

Why is violence surging now?

The violence in Balochistan province, which borders both Afghanistan and Iran, has been on the rise since the Pakistani Taliban ended a cease-fire in November.

Known as the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, the group is separate from the Taliban in Afghanistan, but remains allied with them. The two groups share the same hardline interpretation of Sunni Islam.

The Pakistani Taliban have killed an estimated 80,000 people in decades of violence in the country.

Since the Taliban in Afghanistan seized power in August 2021 amid a pullout of US-led NATO forces, the Pakistani Taliban have grown emboldened.

The province is regularly targeted by militants, sectarian groups and nationalist separatists.

The surge in violence is also attributed to anger by militants and rebels over China's investment plans in Balochistan.

Beijing plans to connect Balochistan with China's Xinjiang province through a network of road and rail projects. China's government has been accused in a UN report of committing human rights violations against the Muslim minority Uyghurs in Xinjiang province.

rs/sri (dpa, AP)