Balochistan insurgency: Seven insurgents killed in Dera Bugti clash

FC says slain militants were involved in deadly attacks

QUETTA: At least seven Baloch separatist militants were killed in an hours-long gunfight with paramilitary troops in the troubled Dera Bugti district of Balochistan on Wednesday, according to the Frontier Corps (FC).

The paramilitary troops also seized 20 improvised explosive devices, 20 boxes of ball bearings, 30 detonators, four small machineguns and a rocket launcher from the hideouts of the militants in the Haideri Nallah Pirkoh area of Dera Bugti, a spokesperson for the FC said.

“A massive search operation was conducted in Haideri Nallah Pirkoh on a tip-off about the presence of militants in the region,” he said. The militants hiding there triggered a gunfight with the troops that lasted for several hours, he added. “These militants were involved in deadly attacks and sabotage on gas pipelines,” he said.

IGFC Maj-Gen Sher Afgun appreciated his force for the successful operation. “Those working on foreign agenda in Balochistan will never achieve their evil designs,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 12^th, 2015.