Pakistan: Five Soldiers, Seven Militants Killed in Clashes

At least five soldiers and seven militants were killed in clashes in Pakistan’s turbulent south-western province of Balochistan, officials said on Thursday. An improvised explosive device detonated near a convoy of paramilitary Frontier Corps troops and was followed by a clash with militants, they said. “Five soldiers were killed and another was critically wounded,” a senior official told AFP. “During the operation, a group of terrorists was located and engaged by troops. During fire exchange seven terrorists were killed,” the army’s media wing said in a statement. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the province’s most active militant separatist group, claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement sent to AFP. The group, which the United States has designated a terrorist organization, said it had targeted military installations as well as police and civil administration officials in gun attacks and suicide bombings. The BLA has intensified attacks on Pakistanis from other provinces working in the region in recent years, as well as foreign energy firms. Last year the separatists attacked a train with 450 passengers on board, sparking a deadly two-day siege.