Friday, February 21, 2025 {HMC} Islamabad — A separatist group operating in the unstable southwestern region of Pakistan has claimed responsibility for an attack that killed seven passengers, according to officials.
Pakistani security forces have long been engaged in a conflict with ethnic insurgents and separatist groups in the resource-rich yet impoverished province of Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan and Iran.
Attacks have significantly increased in recent years, particularly targeting personnel from the Punjab region, the most populous and rapidly growing area of Pakistan, which also serves as the main recruitment center for the country’s military.
The separatist group, Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), claimed responsibility for the attack on Tuesday evening, stating that their target was “Pakistani military and intelligence agencies.”
“The BLA claims responsibility for this operation and issues a warning to all enemy military agents,” said a statement released by the group.
However, a senior local government official, Saadat Hussain, told AFP on Wednesday that seven workers from Punjab were shot dead after the tires of the bus they were traveling on were exploded, and they were taken off the vehicle.
Groups such as the BLA are engaged in an armed insurgency demanding greater autonomy for Balochistan, the largest yet least populated province of Pakistan.
The separatists argue that Balochistan’s natural resources are being exploited, while the local population sees minimal benefits, and the wealth generated is invested elsewhere.
According to statistics from AFP, at least 68 people have been killed in attacks in Pakistan this year, most of them military personnel targeted by insurgent groups opposing the government.
Last year was the deadliest in Pakistan in the past decade, with attacks rising and more than 1,600 people killed, according to the Islamabad-based Center for Research and Security Studies.
Most of the violence from armed groups occurs in the western regions of Pakistan, which border Afghanistan and Iran.
