In Kalat, BLA militants attacked security forces posts and government buildings late last night, while a private bank was also set on fire.
According to details, there have been reports of casualties as a result of armed men blocking the Quetta-Karachi highway and firing on vehicles.
According to officials, on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday, dozens of armed men opened fire on security forces camps and posts from nearby mountains in Mangchar tehsil of Kalat, about 110 kilometers from Quetta, and also fired rocket shells.
Deputy Commissioner Kalat Bilal Shabbir confirmed the attack and said that ‘the firing between security forces and terrorists continued for a long time. During this, traffic on the Quetta-Karachi highway was affected.’ However, he did not give further details. A Kalat Levies officer said on condition of anonymity that ‘the attackers were in dozens and they were armed with Kalashnikovs, rocket launchers and other weapons.’
They blocked the national highway connecting Quetta to Karachi at at least two places.
According to a Levies officer, during the blockade at Khazini, armed men opened indiscriminate fire on a Hiace van passing on the road, killing several people on board, although no one has officially confirmed the deaths so far.
Four people, including three security personnel, were also reported to have been injured in the firing incidents, one of whom was identified as Muhammad Sadtarin, a resident of Pishin. The injured passenger was travelling from Quetta to Karachi in a bus.
According to the Levies officer, the armed men also fired on a Levies vehicle that was on patrol.*
The Quetta-Karachi highway was closed from around 10 pm until early morning due to the exchange of fire between the attackers and the security forces.*
*The district administrations of Kalat and Mastung closed the highway at various places as a precaution and prevented other vehicles, including passenger buses, from travelling.
According to the Kalat Levies control, the Quetta-Karachi highway was opened for traffic after dawn and passenger buses and vehicles have left for their destinations.
According to the Levies, the armed men also set fire to a private bank in Mangchar Bazaar.
Earlier, Frontier Corps (FC) sources claimed to have foiled the attack and killed two BLA’S fingers.
Balochistan has seen an increase in such attacks by banned Baloch armed organizations in recent months.
*On the night of August 26 last year, militants blocked national highways in Kalat, Mastung, Musakhel and Bolan and searched passenger buses and vehicles, while security forces posts, Levies police stations and other government and private buildings were attacked, resulting in the deaths of more than 40 people.
Similarly, last month, dozens of armed men attacked and set fire to several government buildings, including Levies police stations and NADRA offices, in Tehsil Zehri of Khuzdar district, and fled after snatching weapons from officials.*