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ISLAMABAD: Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfaraz Bugti on Thursday announced new capacity-building measures for the provincial police and said more than 500 militants had been killed this year amid escalating violence in Pakistan’s restive southwest.

Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest but poorest province, has long been plagued by an insurgency that has intensified in recent months, with separatist militants increasingly targeting security personnel, government officials, infrastructure and non-local residents.

The province is strategically significant for its vast mineral wealth and as a transit hub for the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), with groups like the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) demanding independence while accusing the central government of exploiting local resources, a charge Islamabad denies.

“We are strengthening our intelligence, we are strengthening our leadership, and the day will come that the police will stand on their feet,” Bugti said during a news conference in Quetta.

He said the province was consolidating specialized counterterrorism and rapid-response units under a unified police structure, while members of the paramilitary Levies Force who opt not to transfer to the police would be offered voluntary retirement with benefits.

The chief minister also noted the government was working to revive police morale through revised pay packages and new welfare measures for the families of officers killed in the line of duty.

He said the provincial government was relying on merit-based recruitment to further strengthen the force.

“There will be no political pressures on you, there will be no political influence on you,” Bugti said while referring to the police. “But the results should be that people should feel the difference: that people should go toward peace, people should go toward brotherhood from the police.”

He acknowledged that Pakistani security forces were suffering losses in the province, though he added that so were the militants.

“On a daily basis, four to five hardcore terrorists are being killed everywhere,” he said. “And this year, only this year, more than 500 terrorists have been killed in Balochistan.”

Bugti said local policing and community-based intelligence would be key to restoring security in the province.

“We will cut our stomachs and fulfill your resources,” he added. “Because the thing that Balochistan needs the most right now is peace. And if there is peace, there will be development and other things as well.”

MELBOURNE, Australia: A promising 17-year-old Australian cricketer died on Thursday after being struck by a ball, with his family saying they were “utterly devastated.”

Ben Austin was in the nets with a helmet on before a Twenty20 game in Melbourne on Tuesday when he was hit in the neck while facing a ball-throwing device.

He was rushed to hospital in critical condition.

“We are utterly devastated by the passing of our beautiful Ben, who died earlier on Thursday morning,” his father Jace Austin said in a statement.

“This tragedy has taken Ben from us, but we find some comfort that he was doing something he did for so many summers — going down to the nets with mates to play cricket.

The teenager was not wearing a stem guard, which protects the neck, ABC News said, citing cricket authorities.

Austin was an emerging bowler and batter, considered by his Ferntree Gully Cricket Club as a “star cricketer, great leader and an awesome young man.”

Players from both teams wore black arm bands for the Women’s World Cup semifinal on Thursday between Australia and hosts India.

Deaths in cricket are rare.

The most recent high-profile one in Australia came in 2014, when Test star Phillip Hughes was killed when hit in the neck by a rising ball during a domestic Sheffield Shield game.

His death stunned Australia and the world cricket community, sparking an outpouring of grief and ushering in stronger protocols around concussion and better safety equipment.

Cricket Victoria chief Nick Cummins told ABC there were similarities between the two tragedies.

“The ball hit him in the neck in a similar accident that Phil Hughes suffered 10 years ago,” Cummins said.

Cricket Australia chair Mike Baird said his heart “was broken” and lessons needed to be learned.

“Clearly there are things we have to learn from this,” Baird told reporters. “But right now we are concerned about the family and trying to support them in every way.”