Islamabad, Pakistan - At least five people have been killed in a gun and bomb attack on a coal mine in southwestern Pakistan, officials say, the latest in an uptick of violence by ethnic Baloch separatists.

Two miners, two security personnel and a driver were among the dead after armed attackers stormed a coal mine on Thursday in Harnai district, about 70km east of the provincial capital of Quetta, deputy commissioner Azeem Dummar said.

"First unidentified armed men opened fire on two labourers working in [the coal mine], killing both on the spot," Dummar said.

As the security forces responded to the attack, a vehicle belonging to the paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) that was rushing to the scene was hit by a landmine explosion about a kilometre away from the coal mine, said Dummar. One FC soldier was wounded in the attack, he said.

Hours later, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), an armed separatist group based in Balochistan province, claimed responsibility for the attack.

"We want to make it clear to the local spies and death squad groups of Pakistan army that they will not be forgiven for their crimes," said Jeehand Baloch, a BLA spokesperson, in an emailed statement.

Baloch independence

The BLA and other armed groups have been fighting Pakistani security forces for more than a decade, demanding independence for the ethnic Baloch areas of Balochistan province, which they claim has been neglected by the Pakistani state and exploited for its mineral resources.

Balochistan, located in southwestern Pakistan, is the country's largest but least populated province, with rich deposits of natural gas, coal, metals and minerals.

Rights groups allege that Pakistani security forces have abducted hundreds of pro-freedom Baloch political activists and fighters in their fight to quell the rebellion.

The province is also the site of a major port, which is the culmination of the $60bn China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a major infrastructure and transportation investment by China in the South Asian nation.

The CPEC trade corridor will terminate at the Gwadar seaport, giving goods from southwestern China access to the Arabian Sea through Pakistan.

"Pakistan army along with several other companies is plundering Baloch national wealth," said BLA spokesperson Baloch. "Balochistan is a war-torn region and we will not allow any investments until the independence of Balochistan."

The attack on Thursday was the latest violence targeting security forces this year, as attacks by the BLA and its allies have ramped up.

Last month, Baloch separatist gunmen stopped a bus in southern Balochistan and killed 14 passengers.

The Baloch Raaji Aajoi Sangar (BRAS), an alliance of the BLA, Baloch Liberation Front and Baloch Republican Guard, claimed responsibility for that attack.

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Additional reporting by Saadullah Akhtar in Quetta </s> QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — A remotely-detonated bomb killed three workers doing a survey for a local oil exploration company in southwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, police said.

Local police official Mohammad Hussain said the bombing near the town of Dera Bugti in the Baluchistan province also wounded five surveyors.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but small nationalist groups and separatists have claimed previous such attacks in the province. Islamic militants also have a strong presence in Baluchistan.

The latest violence came a day after assailants ambushed a convoy of paramilitary troops, killing six of them in the Awaran district of Baluchistan. No group has claimed that attack either.

Baluch separatists have staged attacks for years, demanding a larger share of provincial resources and wealth or complete autonomy from Islamabad.

In a separate incident on Tuesday, a grenade was thrown at the election office of a candidate running for a seat in parliament, wounding 10 people, according to Ayaz Khan, an assistant commissioner in the town of Ramzak, in the northwest near the Afghan border.

He said the candidate, Aurang Zeb, who is from the party of former cricket star Imran Khan, was not present at the time of the attack.

It was the first violent incident ahead of the July 25 vote. </s> QUETTA, Pakistan: Six security officials were killed in an attack in southwestern Pakistan on Friday when their convoy came under heavy firing in a mountainous area near the border with Iran.

Pakistan's restive Baluchistan province has been hit by a number of attacks on security personnel but the number of large scale incidents has decreased significantly since 2016.

The province's information minister Zahoor Ahmed Buledi told Reuters that six members of the Frontier Corps paramilitary force in charge of security in the region were killed in "heavy" firing along a mountainous stretch of road in the Kech district.

Fourteen others were wounded. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Islamist militants linked to the Taliban, al Qaeda and Islamic State have been operating in the province, which borders Iran as well as Afghanistan. It also has an indigenous ethnic Baluch insurgency fighting the central government.

Last month, three men from the separatist Baloch Liberation Army stormed the Chinese embassy in Pakistan's southern metropolis Karachi, killing four people including two policemen.

They were shot and killed by police before they could force their way in in a car packed with explosives.

Baluchistan, which has rich mineral and natural gas reserves but remains Pakistan’s poorest province, is the site of a long-running rebellion by separatists who argue the state is taking over their lands and have targeted Chinese-funded projects.

In July, a suicide bomber detonated in the middle of a crowded election rally in the province, killing 128 people including electoral candidate Siraj Raisani. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the blast. </s> QUETTA, Pakistan — A remotely-detonated bomb killed three workers doing a survey for a local oil exploration company in southwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, police said.

Local police official Mohammad Hussain said the bombing near the town of Dera Bugti in the Baluchistan province also wounded five surveyors.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but small nationalist groups and separatists have claimed previous such attacks in the province. Islamic militants also have a strong presence in Baluchistan.

The latest violence came a day after assailants ambushed a convoy of paramilitary troops, killing six of them in the Awaran district of Baluchistan. No group has claimed that attack either.

Baluch separatists have staged attacks for years, demanding a larger share of provincial resources and wealth or complete autonomy from Islamabad.

In a separate incident on Tuesday, a grenade was thrown at the election office of a candidate running for a seat in parliament, wounding 10 people, according to Ayaz Khan, an assistant commissioner in the town of Ramzak, in the northwest near the Afghan border.

He said the candidate, Aurang Zeb, who is from the party of former cricket star Imran Khan, was not present at the time of the attack.

It was the first violent incident ahead of the July 25 vote. </s> May 11 (UPI) -- Gunmen killed at least one person Saturday after attacking a hotel in Gwadar, Pakistan, in response to Chinese presence in the region.

"Our fighters have carried out this attack on Chinese and other foreign investors who were staying in PC hotel," Jihand Baloch, a spokesperson for the Baloch Liberation Army, told Al Jazeera.

Zaver Pearl-Continental Gwadar is part of Pearl-Continental Hotels & Resorts, and is the largest chain of five-star hotels in Pakistan.

Gwadar is in southeast Pakistan, near the border with Iran.

Separatist group the Baloch Liberation Army, told officials that it sent four shooters to carry out the attack on Chinese workers and foreign investors at Zaver Pearl-Continental Gwadar.

All guests at the 114-room hotel safely escaped, according to military reports, although some reports dispute this claim, saying some guests were injured during the shooting.

Gwadar is home to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, which connects southwestern China and the Arabian Sea.

For more than a decade, the BLA has been attacking Pakistani security forces in a fight for ethnic Baloch regions to gain independence in the Balochistan province. The BLA says the Pakistani government has exploited and plundered for its minerals.

This episode follows an attack Thursday where BLA gunmen killed five people at a coal mine in Balochistan, a district in Harnai.

In April, gunmen from a coalition of Baloch separatist groups killed at least 14 people on a bus traveling from Gwadar to Karachi. </s> Four Christians were shot dead by unidentified gunmen in southwestern Pakistan on Monday, police said, in an apparent attack on the religious minority.

The incident occurred in a Christian-majority neighbourhood in the city of Quetta, capital of the Balochistan province.

"Three members of a family, including a woman, were killed when the motor rickshaw they were (in)... came under attack," Moazzam Jah Ansari, the police chief of the province, told AFP.

"The rickshaw driver, who was also a Christian by faith, is among the dead."

Police officials said this appeared to be a targeted attack on Christians in the area.

"Initial investigations suggest the people were ambushed because of their faith," Ansari said.

A child was injured in the attack and is receiving treatment at a hospital, officials said. Ghulam Ali Baloch, a local official, said her injuries were not life-threatening.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Islamist militants have in the past attacked Christians and other religious minorities in Balochistan.

In December last year, two suicide bombers blew themselves up at a Quetta church, which was packed with worshippers, killing nine people and wounding over a dozen.

In addition to Islamist extremists, ethnic Baloch militants have been fighting a low-intensity separatist insurgency in the province for years, often bombing infrastructure like railroads and power lines.

Christians make up less than two percent of Muslim-majority Pakistan's 200 million people, and have long faced discrimination and violence. </s> Three suspected terrorists have stormed a police station in Pakistan's Balochistan Province, sparking a gun battle that killed an officer and the assailants, authorities say.

 

 District police chief Jawad Tariq says at least one police officer was also wounded in the June 26 attack in Loralai district.

 

 Tariq says two suicide bombers detonated their vests and a third assailant was killed by police shortly after coming under attack.

 

 In a brief statement, the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility but gave no further details.

 

 Balochistan has been the scene of a low-level insurgency by separatists demanding more autonomy and a greater share in the region's natural resources, such as gas and oil.

 

 Pakistani militants also have a presence in Balochistan bordering Afghanistan.

Based on reporting by AP and dpa </s> At least six paramilitary troops were killed in southwestern Pakistan on December 14 when their convoy came under attack in a mountainous area near the border with Iran in the southwestern province of Balochistan, officials said.

Balochistan has been the theater of several attacks on security personnel recently, but the number of large-scale incidents has decreased significantly since 2016.

Six members of the Frontier Corps (FC) paramilitary force in charge of security in the region were killed in "heavy" firing along a mountainous stretch of road in the Kech district, the province's information minister, Zahoor Ahmed Buledi, said.

"Six FC men embraced martyrdom while 14 others were wounded in the gun attack," Buledi said.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Islamist militants linked to the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and Islamic State have been operating in the mineral-rich province, which borders Iran and Afghanistan. An indigenous ethnic Baloch insurgency is under way against the central government.

Last month, three men from the separatist Baloch Liberation Army stormed the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan's southern metropolis of Karachi, killing four people, including two police officers.

China is investing in the area under a $54 billion project known as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which aims at upgrading infrastructure, power, and transport links between its western Xinjiang region and Pakistan's Gwadar port.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP </s> Gunmen on motorbikes opened fire on construction workers, killing 10 in Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan, officials said Saturday.

Mineral-rich Balochistan has been plagued for decades by a separatist uprising and sectarian killings. Gunmen have previously targeted labourers seen as outsiders in the region.

"Two gunmen riding on motorbikes opened fire on a group of construction workers in Peshukan Ganz neighbourhood of Gwadar," local administration official Munir Zamari told AFP news agency.

The attack has been claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), an armed separatist group that has been fighting for an independent homeland for the ethnic Baloch.

"We accept responsibility for the Gwadar attack," BLA spokesperson Jeander Baloch said in a statement sent to Al Jazeera.

"This conspiratorial plan [CPEC] is not acceptable to the Baloch people under any circumstances. Baloch independence movements have made it clear several times that they will not abandon their people's future in the name of development projects or even democracy."

READ MORE: Does the China-Pakistan economic corridor worry India?

Balochistan is the largest of Pakistan's four provinces, but its seven million inhabitants have long complained they do not receive a fair share of its gas and mineral wealth.



The BLA is among a number of armed groups that have been fighting the Pakistani state for about a decade, targeting security forces and civilians, mainly in ethnic Baloch areas.

A greater push towards peace and development by Pakistani authorities has reduced the violence considerably in recent years.

The push includes starting work on a massive Chinese infrastructure project, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which gives Beijing a route to the Arabian Sea through Balochistan's deep sea port of Gwadar.
Suspected Baloch nationalist gunmen storm a coal mine in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing at least five people.