Several Baloch militant groups launched a series of attacks targeting Pakistani military and police forces across different parts of Balochistan over the past few days, resulting in heavy casualties and damage to infrastructure, local media reported on Tuesday.
The Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) claimed responsibility for an attack on a Pakistani military camp in the Shadi Kaur Dam area of Pasni in Gwadar district on Monday, using light machine guns, rockets and other automatic weapons.
According to BLF spokesperson Major Gwahram Baloch, the attack was executed from multiple locations, resulting in the deaths of two Pakistani military personnel and injuries to several others. He added that the camp's infrastructure was also destroyed.
In a separate attack on Monday, the BLF said it mounted a "coordinated and intense" assault targeting Pakistan's Frontier Corps main camp in the Lond Nausham area of Kohlu district, The Balochistan Post reported.
The group further stated that its fighters surrounded the camp and attacked with rocket launchers and automatic weapons, with several rockets hitting inside the compound, causing "heavy casualties and material losses".
In another incident, the Baloch Republican Guards (BRG) said it carried out an attack targeting a police patrol near the Mir Hassan police station in Naseerabad district.
BRG spokesperson Dostain Baloch stated that its fighters planted and detonated explosives using a remote-controlled device as a police vehicle passed by, adding that the blast led to casualties and damage to the vehicle.
Meanwhile, another armed group, the United Baloch Army (UBA), reportedly launched an attack on a Pakistani military surveillance system in the Mach area of Kachhi district in Balochistan on the evening of March 1.
UBA spokesperson Mazar Baloch claimed that its fighters demolished a surveillance tower situated between Aab-e-Gum and Geshani, near a main Pakistani army camp.
He said the tower had four cameras used to track fighters' movements and detect potential attacks, adding that the strike left all cameras "completely inoperable".
The groups vowed to continue attacks targeting Pakistani forces until what they described as the "liberation of Balochistan".
The latest incidents, following the January 31 launch of the second phase of armed resistance 'Operation Herof' by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), mark a large-scale escalation of attacks against Pakistani forces in the conflict-ridden province.
Meanwhile, Afghan forces have carried out retaliatory strikes on Pakistani military bases following recent air raids by the Pakistan Air Force inside Afghanistan, as fighting along the volatile Durand Line entered its fifth consecutive day.
The Afghan Defence Ministry said its forces targeted several key military locations near the 2,600-km Pakistan-Afghanistan border, including areas linked to Kabul, the Ali-Sher district in Khost, Jalalabad and Kandahar.
The escalation marks the latest surge in tensions along the Durand Line, where hostilities have intensified since Pakistan's February 21-22 strikes on what it described as terror camps.
According to Afghan officials, their forces have captured multiple Pakistani military posts in Kandahar province, specifically in the Spin Boldak and Shorabak districts.
Three posts were reportedly seized in Spin Boldak, resulting in the deaths of three Pakistani soldiers and the capture of one serviceman. In addition, two Pakistani posts were taken over in the Ali-Sher district, Afghanistan-based TOLOnews reported.
Over the past four days, both the Pakistani and Afghan militaries have engaged in cross-border targeting of each other's positions. Although the clashes are described as the heaviest in years, officials indicated that the intensity has somewhat subsided compared to the initial phase of the confrontation.
The current round of hostilities began last month when Taliban-led Afghan forces launched retaliatory operations against Pakistani military installations, following Pakistan's actions targeting militants inside Afghan territory.
On Monday, the Afghan Defence Ministry announced that its forces had destroyed a Pakistani armoured tank in Paktika province after it allegedly fired shells indiscriminately toward Afghan territory.
Ministry spokesperson Enayatullah Khowarazmi said Afghan troops have killed more than 100 Pakistani personnel and captured over 25 military posts so far, according to Reuters.
Afghan police also stated that Pakistani fighter jets attempted to bomb Bagram air base near Kabul but were thwarted by Afghan air defence systems.
No casualties or damage were reported in that incident. Bagram previously served as the largest US military base in Afghanistan during the two-decade-long conflict in the country.
The ongoing confrontation underscores the deepening instability along the Durand Line, with both sides accusing each other of aggression as military engagements continue across the shared border.
(With inputs from IANS)
