6 hours ago
Last Updated:May 04, 2025, 22:17 IST
BLA militants set fire to multiple govt buildings and blocked the Quetta-Karachi highway in a major strike in Kalat’s Mongochar area.
A security personnel stands guard near charred truck containers torched by armed separatist group Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) at central Bolan district in Balochistan. (IMAGE: AFP/REPRESENTATIVE)
The Baloch Liberation Army launched a large-scale attack in Kalat’s Mongochar area and cut off the Quetta-Karachi highway and set fire to government offices, news agency DD News said.
Armed BLA militants blocked traffic on the Highway, stopped buses and cars, and then torched multiple buildings, including NADRA, the Judicial Complex and the Bank.
The group’s Fateh Squad claimed the assault and called it part of their “liberation struggle".
In a separate strike, BLA fighters ambushed a police van carrying prisoners from Gadani to Quetta. They freed at least 10 inmates and took five policemen hostage. The van and two officers were later released.
Security forces launched a counter-operation and reopened the highway.
“The prisoners were released later but five policemen have been kidnapped," a senior police official in the area said.
Between 30 and 40 gunmen blocked a major highway that cuts across Balochistan province overnight on Friday, intercepting a prison van being transported by a police team, the police official said.
Pakistan has been battling a separatist insurgency in Balochistan for decades, where militants target state forces, foreign nationals, and non-locals in the mineral-rich southwestern province bordering Afghanistan and Iran.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the most active group in the region, claimed the assault in Kalat district.
The BLA has previously targeted energy projects receiving foreign financing — most notably from China.
In March, the group seized a train, taking hundreds of passengers hostage and killing off-duty security forces in a three-day siege.
Location :Islamabad, Pakistan
First Published:News world Pakistan’s Baloch Separatists Shut Down Quetta-Karachi Highway, Kidnap Policemen
