One dead after insurgents briefly seize control of a city in southwest Pakistan and loot a bank
QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — Dozens of armed separatists briefly seized control of a high-security area in a city in southwestern Pakistan on Friday, killing a government official and looting a bank before fleeing, police and officials said.
Hidayat Buledi, a local government official, was killed and his home was set on fire in the attack on Sorab, in the Balochistan region, local police chief Hafeez Ullah said.
He said Buledi was 'martyred' while trying to protect women and children trapped inside the burning house during the assault.
Ullah said several insurgents were killed in the shootout with police.
The outlawed Baloch Liberation Army, or BLA, which was designated a terror group by the United States in 2019, claimed responsibility for the attack. In a statement, BLA said its fighters had taken control of key government buildings in Sorab.
Ullah dismissed the claim, saying the insurgents fled when security forces responded to the assault. He said the attackers stormed Buledi's home and also set fire to several residences of government officials. Four civilians were injured.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack, saying the assailants targeted civilians, including women and children.
Shahid Rind, a spokesman for the Balochistan government, blamed Indian proxies for the attack without offering any evidence.
There was no immediate comment from New Delhi.
Sorab, a city known for its apple and grape orchards, is located near a key China-Pakistan trade route, which includes roads and rail systems to link western China's Xinjiang region to Pakistan's southwestern Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Toronto Star
an hour ago
- Toronto Star
Boulder suspect planned to kill group he called ‘Zionist,' but appeared to have second thoughts
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — A man in Boulder disguised as a gardener who wounded 12 people in an attack on a group holding their weekly demonstration for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza had planned to kill them all but appeared to have second thoughts, according to authorities. Mohamed Sabry Soliman had 18 Molotov cocktails but threw just two during Sunday's attack in which he yelled 'Free Palestine,' police said. He didn't carry out his full plan 'because he got scared and had never hurt anyone before,' police wrote in an affidavit.
Toronto Star
an hour ago
- Toronto Star
2 Japanese men were killed in northern China in a business dispute, police say
BEIJING (AP) — Two Japanese men were killed last month in the Chinese port city of Dalian because of a dispute with a Chinese business partner, police said Tuesday. The partner, a 42-year-old man surnamed Yuan, was arrested May 24, one day after the killings were reported to Dalian police.
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
2 Japanese men were killed in northern China in a business dispute, police say
BEIJING (AP) — Two Japanese men were killed last month in the Chinese port city of Dalian because of a dispute with a Chinese business partner, police said Tuesday. The partner, a 42-year-old man surnamed Yuan, was arrested May 24, one day after the killings were reported to Dalian police. Yuan is a long-time resident of Japan and did business with the victims in that country and the Japanese men were visiting China, a Chinese police statement said. The police statement did not say what the dispute was about or how the victims were killed. Two stabbing attacks on Japanese schoolchildren last year have raised concern among Japanese about traveling to and living in China. In one case, a 10-year-old boy died, and in the other, a Chinese attendant on a school bus was killed after she tried to prevent the assailant from getting on the bus. Dalian, once known as Port Arthur to westerners, was a Russian naval base that was taken by Japan during the 1904-05 Russo-Japanese War.
