A powerful roadside bomb exploded near a vehicle carrying Pakistani security forces in the volatile southwest of the country on Friday, killing two soldiers and wounding three, authorities said.
Hours later, the separatist Balochistan Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack in Kohlu, a district some 180 miles east of Quetta, Balochistan’s provincial capital. The group was designated a terrorist organization by the United States in 2019.
Balochistan province has seen an increase in violence of late, with militant and separatist groups claiming responsibility for the attacks.
FUNERAL SERVICE OF THE FORMER PRESIDENT OF PAKISTAN, PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, HELD IN KARACHI, WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF MORE THAN 2,500 MOURNERS
A bomb hits a vehicle in Pakistan, killing two soldiers and wounding three. (FoxNews)
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A local police officer, Lal Khan, said the victims were transported to a hospital in the area. A military statement identified the two killed as a commander and a captain and said they sacrificed their lives “in defense of the homeland against a threat from abroad.” The army said soldiers were conducting an operation at the time of the attack, but did not provide further details.
Separatist groups have been behind a longstanding insurgency and are fighting for Balochistan’s independence from the central government in Islamabad. Pakistan says it has put down the insurgency, but violence has continued along the country’s borders with Iran and Afghanistan.
