Suicide blast in Balochistan: BLA claims 5 Pak soldiers dead

At least five Pakistani soldiers were killed and more than 10 injured after a deadly explosion rocked a Pakistani Army convoy in Balochistan’s Noshki, reports said. The blast is suspected to be a suicide blast and the number of casualties is likely to go up.

Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a prominent separatist group in Pakistan’s Balocishtan province, has claimed responsibility for the deadly ambush and also claimed that at least five Pakistani soldiers have been killed. The blast occurred on the Noshki–Dalbandin highway and the injured were taken to the Noshki Hospital.

“A convoy of security forces consisting of seven buses and two cars were attacked. There are five fatalities and more than 10 injuries. One of the busses has been hit by a vehicle-borne IED (improvised explosive device), possibly a suicide attack, the other was targeted by a rocket-propelled grenade while moving from Quetta to Taftan,” an official said on condition of anonymity.

BLA spokesperson Jiyand Baloch confirmed that a suicide attacker targeted a bus followed by firing on another bus. While the BLA claims a higher number of casualties in the latest attack; independent sources confirm at least seven casualties and at least 21 injuries as of now. Security forces have cordoned off the area and an investigation into the blast has been initiated.

The suicide attack on the army convoy comes days after the BLA hijacked a train carrying more than 400 passengers travelling from Quetta to Peshawar. After a two-day standoff between the militants and security forces, the attackers were reportedly neutralised and the clearance mission was concluded.

Pakistan’s troubled Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces have witnessed a major surge in targeted attacks on security forces, with over 40 firing raids, grenade attacks, suicide bomb attacks and IED explosions in the last 24 hours in both KP and Balochistan.