https://arab.news/7mxht
- Officials suspect Pakistani Taliban in the Sherani assault that left one Levies officer missing
- Gunmen also looted two armored vehicles carrying about $770,000 from Turbat to Gwadar
QUETTA: Militants killed a police officer and injured two Levies personnel in a coordinated overnight assault on a security post in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province, officials said on Wednesday, in one of two violent incidents reported in the resource-rich region
The attack took place on Tuesday night when gunmen described by authorities as militants of “Fitna Al Khawarij” stormed the Levies Thana Headquarters and Police Thana in Sherani town, Deputy Commissioner Hazrat Wali Kakar told Arab News.
The term “khawarij,” rooted in early Islamic history, is used by officials for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) fighters who mainly operate in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province but have also staged attacks in Balochistan.
“Levies and police personnel retaliated, engaging the militants in a fierce gunbattle,” Kakar said. “One police official, Aftab Ur Rehman, was killed in the attack and two Levies personnel, Kalu Khan and Abdul Wahid, were injured.”
“One Levies official, Azam, is still missing, and a search operation is underway in the area,” he continued.
Kakar said the attackers set a Levies vehicle ablaze and destroyed Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) stocks stored at the compound before escaping under the cover of darkness.
No group immediately claimed responsibility, but the TTP has carried out attacks in Sherani, which borders Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan district where the militant group frequently targets security forces.
In a separate incident on Tuesday afternoon, unidentified gunmen intercepted and robbed two armored vehicles carrying over Rs220 million ($770,000) for two private banks from Turbat to Gwadar, about 65 km from Turbat city, said Ilahi Bukhsh, a senior Levies officer in Dasht Khadan
“Six security guards with weapons were deployed with the money-carrying vehicles but the armed men intercepted and neutralized them,” Bukhsh said.
No group has claimed responsibility for the robbery.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by landmass and rich in mineral resources, has long faced an insurgency led by separatist groups who accuse Islamabad of exploiting its wealth while neglecting locals.
Pakistan denies the charge, saying it has invested in the province’s development.