Nushki (Pakistan), Mar 16 (UNI) At least 11 people, including three soldiers and four militants, were killed and 35 others wounded in an explosion triggered by separatists and retaliatory shooting by security forces in Pakistan's violence-hit Balochistan province on Sunday, security sources said.
The outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) carried out an IED blast and a suicide attack on the Frontier Corps (FC) convoy in the morning, security sources told Geo News.
Three FC soldiers and two citizens died on the spot in the attack. Later, two others succumbed to their injuries in the hospital, taking the toll to seven.
In an immediate response, security forces killed three attackers, while the suicide bomber was blown apart.
Heavy contingents of security forces have cordoned off the area, the sources said.
The injured were shifted to Nushki Hospital soon after the explosion. Several of the wounded were in critical condition, they added.
According to the hospital administration, an emergency has been declared at Mir Gul Khan Naseer Teaching Hospital to handle the situation.
Furthermore, as per the police, the injured were being shifted to Quetta via helicopter.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi expressed sorrow while condemning the targeting of innocent people — terming it as "extreme brutality".
The incident comes days after a major terrorist attack in the Mushqaf area of the Bolan district in Balochistan.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces, both located in Pakistan's borders with Afghanistan, have faced the brunt of the terrorist attacks, The two provinces accounted for over 96% of terrorist attacks and deaths in Pakistan in 2024 as per a Global Terrorism Index 2025 report.
Dozens of militants, affiliated with the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), blew up a railway track and assaulted Jaffar Express on Tuesday, carrying more than 440 passengers — who were taken hostage.Twenty six passengers were killed.
The security forces, after a complex clearance operation, killed 33 attackers and rescued the hostages.
The country witnessed a sharp increase in terror attacks in January 2025, surging by 42% compared to the previous month, according to data released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), a think tank. UNI SSP