Six paramilitary soldiers were killed and four wounded in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan in a roadside bomb attack on their vehicle, according to officials from the region.
The incident happened in the Bolan district, some 80 kilometres southeast of the provincial capital Quetta late yesterday evening
“Six Frontier Corps personnel were killed in a roadside bomb blast while four others received injuries and have been sent to hospital,” according to Deputy Commissioner Bolan Murad Kasi.
The bomb apparently hit the vehicle during a routine patrol.
Although no group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, in recent years the province has seen both Islamic violence as well as violent demands for autonomy by Baluch separatists.
Three weeks ago, six soldiers were killed in a similar roadside attack, which was later claimed by the Balochistan Liberation Army, a Baloch separatist group.
Mineral-rich Balochistan, bordering Afghanistan and Iran, is the largest of Pakistan’s four provinces, but its roughly seven million inhabitants have long complained they do not receive a fair share of its gas and mineral wealth.
