4 policemen killed in attack in SW Pakistan

By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD (AA) – Four policemen were killed during a clash with militants in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province on Tuesday.

The attack took place in the Kuchlak area near Quetta, Balochistan's capital, during a search operation launched following Monday's bombing, provincial Chief Minister Abdul Quddus Bizenjo said.

"The officers who were martyred during the encounter with the terrorists set an example of courage and bravery," he said in a statement.

Senior police officer Zohair Moshin said a terrorist who opened fire on policemen was also killed during the gun battle.

"During the operation, law enforcement personnel surrounded a house in Kuchlak, from which the terrorists opened fire on the officers, resulting in the tragic loss of four of them," Mohsin was quoted as saying by the local daily Dawn.

The latest incident occurred a day after four people, including two police officers, were killed and 11 others were injured in a bomb explosion targeting a security forces vehicle on a busy street in Quetta on Monday.

Though no group has yet claimed responsibility for Monday’s blast, outlawed Baloch separatist groups and militants of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, an umbrella organization of various militant groups, have long targeted security forces throughout the mineral-rich province.

Balochistan is Pakistan's largest but poorest province. Security forces have long been facing a low-intensity rebellion by Baloch separatists.

The province is also a key route of the $64 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which aims to connect China's strategically important northwestern Xinjiang province to Balochistan’s Gawadar port through a network of roads, railways, and pipelines for cargo, oil, and gas transportation.