Armed assailants attacked a checkpost in Balochistan’s Ziarat district on Monday night, martyring nine police personnel and abducting five others.
According to Ziarat Superintendent of Police (SP) Abdul Qudoos, the attackers stormed the police post, triggering a gun battle in which nine police personnel were martyred. He said the attackers had taken five police personnel with them after the assault, adding the bodies of the martyred officers had been shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital.
In a subsequent clearance operation, per Balochistan government spokesman Shahid Rind, security forces and police killed 15 terrorists belonging to Fitna al-Khawarij, the state’s term for the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.
Rind said the terrorists had paid a heavy price for attempting to undermine peace in Balochistan, adding the security forces and police had foiled their malicious designs. “There will be no safe haven for terrorists in Balochistan, and every attack will receive a decisive response,” he said, adding intelligence-based operations targeting terrorists would continue across the province.
The spokesman vowed the sacrifices of the police officers and personnel martyred in the Ziarat attack would not go in vain.
In a statement, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi strongly condemned the attack by India-sponsored terrorists and paid tribute to the cops who embraced martyrdom. Extending condolences and sympathies to the families of the martyred policemen, he prayed for them to be granted patience and strength.
“Those who sacrificed their lives for peace are the pride of our nation,” he said, adding the sacrifices of the martyrs would never be forgotten. He maintained such cowardly attacks could not sabotage peace or weaken the country’s resolve against terrorism.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also condemned the attack, paying tribute to the police personnel martyred in the attack. Praying for elevation of their ranks in paradise, he paid tribute to the security forces for killing 15 terrorists.
“The attack by Fitna al-Khawarij has once again proven that these people are enemies of Balochistan’s development, peace, and the prosperity of its people. The sacrifices of the martyrs will not go in vain, and accountability will be sought for their blood,” he said. “We will not allow anyone to damage the peace of Balochistan. The war against the terrorists, who are enemies of peace, will continue until they are completely eliminated,” he added.
The attack triggered protests in Ziarat, with local tribes, transporters and relatives of the martyred police personnel staging demonstrations and blocking key national highways linking Balochistan with Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.