18 Pakistan paramilitarios killed in an ambush in the southwest volatile

Eighteen paramilitaries were killed and three others seriously injured in an attack in the province of southwest Baluchistan of Pakistan, police and military said on Saturday.

Security forces have been fighting sectarian, ethnic and separatist violence for decades in impoverished but rich in minerals, which limits Afghanistan and Iran.

A vehicle “carrying paramilitaries of the unarmed border” near Mangochar, a city near the Afghan border “, was under the shots of 70 to 80 armed assailants who had blocked the road,” a police officer told the AFP, speaking under condition of anonymity.

The night attack killed 17 of the passengers and a paramilitary who came to his aid, he said, confirming reports from local sources.

Three other paramilitaries were seriously injured and two unharmed, he added.

A military statement confirmed that 18 paramilitar had been killed in what he described as “a cowardly act of terrorism.”

No one has assumed the responsibility of the attack so far.

The military statement said that 12 of the attackers were killed when the security forces and the police responded to the night assault.

The attacks have increased in the volatile province in recent months, often against security forces.

Six people were killed in a bombing in January claimed by the Baluchistan Liberation Army (Bla) separatist.

Bla frequently claims mortal attacks against security forces or Pakistani from other provinces, especially punjabis in Baluchistan.

The militants have also directed energy projects with foreign financing, especially from China, accusing the strangers of exploiting the region rich in resources while excluding residents in the poorest part of Pakistan.

In November, the Bla attributed the responsibility of a bombing at the Quetta main train station that killed 26 people, including 14 soldiers.

The group also attributed the responsibility of the coordinated attacks of dozens of assailants in August who killed at least 39 people, one of the highest tolls in the region.

Violence has also increased another part of Pakistan’s border regions since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021.

Pakistan has accused the Taliban government of not defeating the militants who launch attacks from the Afghan floor, a position that denies.

More than 1,600 people were killed in attacks in 2024, the most fatal year in almost a decade, including 685 civil and military security forces, according to the Center for Research and Security Studies, an analysis group based in Islamabad.