ISLAMABAD – The security forces on Thursday killed nine Islamic Statemilitants during an hours-long raid near Quetta in the restive southwest ofthe country that has been hit by repeated militant attacks this month,officials said.
Four members of the security forces were wounded in the operation, whichstarted early on Thursday morning in a mountainous area called QabuKoh-e-Mehran in the Mastung district, 47 kilometres from Quetta city. “Ninebodies (of Islamic State militants) have been brought to hospital fromMastung,” Waseem Baig, a spokesman for the Civil Hospital Quetta, told aforeign news agency.
Security forces acted after a sudden surge in militant assaults acrossPakistan during the holy month of Ramazan. Five policemen were killed inthe latest attack, on Monday night in Quetta, which was claimed by theIslamic State.
“We acted on intelligence reports of a Daesh hideout,” a senior official ofthe Counter Terrorism Department of Balochistan Police said, requestinganonymity for security reasons, using an Arabic acronym for the IslamicState.
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“A sizable cache of arms and ammunition, including rocket launchers, andseveral suicide vests were also recovered during the raid.” Variousmilitant groups as well as separatists fighting the central government areactive in Baluchistan, with frequent attacks on gas and transportinfrastructure and security posts.
On Saturday, the Balochistan Liberation Army, which seeks greater autonomyfor the province, claimed responsibility for an attack on a luxury hotel inthe Indian Ocean port of Gwadar, one of the focal points of the $60 billionChina-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
