Pakistan: 18 soldiers killed in fighting with separatists

Pakistani troops fought insurgents who set up roadblocks in the restive northwestern region of Balochistan, leaving 18 paramilitaries and 23 rebels dead, officials said on Saturday. Three other Pakistani soldiers were seriously wounded in some of the heaviest clashes in recent years.

The onslaught was claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a militant organization behind rising violence in the Balochistan province that borders Afghanistan and Iran.

A vehicle carrying unarmed border troops "came under gunfire from 70 to 80 armed assailants who had blocked the road," a police official told the AFP news agency. The official was speaking on the condition of anonymity.

The Pakistani military said the casualties occurred after troops engaged the insurgents who erected barricades on a key highway in Kalat, near the border with Afghanistan.

The security forces "successfully removed the roadblock" following the overnight clashes, the military said in a statement.

The military confirmed 18 soldiers died in the operation and vowed that "the perpetrators, facilitators and abettors of this heinous and cowardly act, will be brought to justice." Security forces recovered the bodies of 12 insurgents, the military said.

Troops also killed another 11 insurgents in an operation that was still underway, the military added.

Attacks on the rise

Pakistan's Balochistan province is currently witnessing a surge in deadly attacks, fueled by demands for independence and control over local resources.

A Sunni Muslim ethnic group who live on both sides of the Iran-Pakistan border, and also in parts of southern Afghanistan, over 10,000 Baloch have disappeared since 2011, according to Amnesty International.

Rich in resources but poverty is rife

Efforts for autonomy or independence have been met with violent suppression on both sides of the border. In Pakistan, such efforts are viewed as attempts to fragment the nation — while in Iran the situation is further complicated by the Baloch being a Sunni Muslim minority in a predominantly Shiite country. 

The largest Baloch militant group, the BLA, is backed by the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

The TTP are a separate group from the BLA, with the TTP being allied with the Afghan Taliban.

Balochistan is rich in natural resources such as gold, diamonds, silver, and copper — yet the local population remains among the poorest in Pakistan.

jsi/wd (AP, AFP)