Pakistani security forces on Wednesday reportedly repulsed a bomb and gun attack by the militants on a complex that was outside the port of Gwadar, which took the lives of eight militants as well as two soldiers, the officials mentioned.

China has also heavily invested in the mineral-heavy province of Balochistan, including developing Gwadar, despite a decade-long separatist insurgency.

Equipped with guns as well as bombs, the militants stormed the complex that was based just outside the port and comprised offices of intelligence agencies, government departments, and paramilitary forces, per Saeed Ahmed Umrani, a government commissioner.

The militants successfully detonated several bombs before they launched a shooting attack and tried to storm the abovementioned complex, he informed Reuters.

In a post on X, Sarfraz Bugti, the Provincial Chief Minister, mentioned that about eight militants had been neutralized by security forces. He further added that the message is very loud and clear. And whoever decides to make use of violence will have no mercy from the state.

Two soldiers had also been killed, per a Pakistan army statement, which stated that the attack was thwarted successfully by the troops that were deployed at the facility.

The Baloch Liberation Army (abbreviated as BLA), the most prominent of many separatist groups in Balochistan, claimed responsibility for the assault in a statement, mentioning that its militants launched attacks on offices of Pakistani intelligence agencies.

The BLA has earlier been involved in many attacks on Chinese and Pakistani interests in the region and elsewhere. The deep-water port is crucial to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which encompasses roads and energy assignments and is also part of Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative.

China’s targets have earlier been the target of attacks by many Baloch-led militant groups in Pakistan, who state that they’ve been fighting for decades for a bigger share in the regional wealth of minerals and mines denied by the central government based in Islamabad.

Reference: Reuters