At least 12 Pakistani soldiers were killed and over 26 injured after a bus carrying Frontier Constabulary (FC) soldiers came under heavy gunfire in the Rakshani Mill area on the N-40 highway in Noshki, Balochistan province.
Following the attack, emergency measures were enforced in hospitals, and ambulances were seen moving in and out of the FC headquarters.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed responsibility for the deadly attack on the army convoy and claimed that at least 90 military personnel have been killed so far. Pakistani authorities have not yet responded to the BLA’s latest claims.
Sarfraz Bugti, the chief minister of Balochistan, condemned the attack. No one immediately claimed responsibility, but suspicion is likely to fall on the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army, which days ago ambushed a train, took about 400 people on board hostage and killed 26 hostages before security forces launched an operation and killed all the 33 attackers.
.Oil-and mineral-rich Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest and least populated province. Ethnic Baloch residents have long accused the central government of discrimination — a charge Islamabad denies.