Seven soldiers martyred in bomb attack, firing incidents

QUETTA: Terrorists attacks in Balochistan martyred seven troops, officials said Tuesday. In one of the Balochistan attacks, terrorists used a remotely-detonated bomb to ambush a convoy of troops assigned to protect an oil and gas facility on Monday night.

The attack, in a remote area of the town of Pir Ghaib, martyred six soldiers, including a Junior Commissioned Officer and acivilian driver, and wounded four, intelligence and security officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to reporters.

The casualties were brought to a military hospital in Quetta. The martyrs included Naib Subedar Ihsan Ullah Khan, Naik Zubair Khan, Naik Ijaz Ahmed, Naik Maula Bux, Naik Noor Muhammad and driver Abdul Jabbar.

The ISPR said in a statement the attack happened as troops were returning to camp. It said that later a separate incident, an exchange of fire with militants martyred one soldier, Sepoy Imdad Ali, in the Mand area of Kech district.

Hours after the first attack, Mureed Baloch, a spokesman for the terrorist outfit, United Baloch Army, claimed responsibility. In a statement, he said the group targeted soldiers assigned to protect engineers of an oil and gas facility in the region.

Earlier this month, another separatist group targeted troops with a roadside bomb in an area of Balochistan near Iran’s border, martyring six soldiers, including an army major. Pakistan at the time said the attack happened as troops, assigned to look for smuggling routes and militants, were returning to camp from a mountainous border district in the province.