QUETTA, March 20 — Baloch separatists armed with guns and bombs attacked Pakistan’s strategic Gwadar port, key to the multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, today, with seven militants shot dead by security forces, a government official said.
China has invested heavily in mineral-rich Balochistan, including developing Gwadar, despite a decades-long insurgency.
The militants stormed the complex in the rugged southwestern province which houses offices of different government departments, intelligence agencies and paramilitary forces, said Saeed Ahmed Umrani, a government commissioner.
“Attackers carried out many blasts,” he told Reuters, adding that it was followed with a gun attack. He said the army and police were responding to the attackers.
He said he had received reports that seven of the attackers had been killed, adding authorities were trying to confirm reports of a soldier’s death.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the most prominent of several separatist groups in Balochistan, claimed responsibility for the assault in a statement, saying its militants attacked Pakistan intelligence agencies’ offices.
The BLA has previously been involved in attacks on Pakistani and Chinese interests in the region and elsewhere.
Pakistan’s military and interior ministry did not give any details on the attack.
The deep-water port is key to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that also encompasses roads and energy projects and is part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Chinese targets have previously come under attack by several militant groups in Pakistan.
In August, gunmen attacked a convoy of Chinese workers in Gwadar, an operation also claimed by the BLA. — Reuters
