Balochistan interim minister sees 'neighbours blackmailing Pakistan’ in recent terror attacks

Amid a significant rise in terror attacks in the country, Balochistan's Caretaker Minister for Information Jan Achakzai has said that neighbouring countries are blackmailing Pakistan.

Addressing a press conference in Quetta on Sunday, the interim minister said: "Recent terror attacks have proved that the neighbouring countries are attempting to blackmail us."

Achakzai's remarks come as 14 soldiers were martyred after terrorists attacked two vehicles carrying security forces in Gwadar on Friday.

He also added that six Afghan nationals were involved in the Zhob terrorist attack.

"We all know that one day [before the attack on PAF's Mianwali base] RAW [operated social media] accounts were conveying advance congratulations and warning of a major incident," the provincial info minister said, adding, "Seeing the sophistication [of the attack] only RAW can mastermind [such attack]."

"[Given] the attack's location and strategic importance, it is evident that no ordinary terrorist [organisation] can carry out such an attack," he added while referring to the attack on Pakistan Air Force's (PAF) Mianwali base on Saturday.

A day earlier, security forces killed nine terrorists thwarting a major terrorist attack on the training base, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.

The country has witnessed a significant surge in terrorist attacks in recent times with the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other terrorist organisations intensifying their attack.

At least six people were killed and 20 were wounded, including two policemen, in a blast that targeted a police van in Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Friday.

On the same day, five soldiers were martyred in two separate intelligence-based operations (IBO) conducted by the security forces.

Meanwhile, three terrorists were neutralised — including a suicide bomber — by the security forces.

The Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), in a report released last month, noted that the security forces lost at least 386 personnel in the first nine months of 2023, marking an eight-year high.

In the third quarter of the current year, more than 400 people have been killed in nearly 200 terror attacks and counter-terror operations.

KP and Balochistan have been the primary centres of violence, accounting for nearly 94% of all fatalities and 89% of attacks (including incidents of terrorism and security forces operations) recorded during this period.