Gunmen shot and killed six construction workers overnight in the volatile southwestern Baluchistan province, Pakistani police said Saturday, October 14, 2023.

Police officer Hidayatullah Dashti said gunmen opened fire overnight at eight construction workers in the city of Turbat, about about 606 km south of Quetta — the capital of the province. Two survived, he said, and were hospitalisd for treatment.

Mr. Dashti said the workers were part of a private construction project in the city.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

For nearly two decades, Baluchistan has been the scene of a low-level insurgency by the Baluchistan Liberation Army and other separatist groups demanding independence from the central government in the capital, Islamabad. Baluch separatists also often target people from Punjab.

Punjabi and Sindhi workers were previously targeted.

Although the government says it has quelled the insurgency, violence in the province has persisted.

Islamic militants also operate in the region.

New Delhi:

India has reiterated that matters pertaining to Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are “purely internal” and Pakistan cannot comment on its domestic matters. The strong remarks came a day after Pakistan’s caretaker Prime Minister Anwarul Haq Kakar raised the Kashmir bogey at the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

“Pakistan has become a habitual offender when it comes to misusing this August forum to peddle baseless and malicious propaganda against India,” Petal Gahlot, First Secretary for second committee of General Assembly, said on Saturday.

Pakistan does so to deflect the international community’s attention away from its own abysmal record on human rights, she said.

“J&K Purely Integral To India”

Pakistan’s Mr Kakar yesterday said Kashmir is the “key to peace” between the two neighbours.

“We reiterate that the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir are an integral part of India. Matters pertaining to the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are purely internal to India. Pakistan has no locus standi to comment on our domestic matters,” she asserted in response.

India tore into Pakistan for having the “world’s worst human rights records”, especially those of the minority and women. “Pakistan would do well to put its own house in order before venturing to point a finger at the world’s largest democracy,” Ms Gahlot said.

She sought to remind Pakistan its “glaring example of systemic violence against minorities” – the incident in August in which several churches and Christian houses were burnt down in Faisalabad district.

An estimated 1,000 women from minority communities are kidnapped, forcefully converted and married off in Pakistan every year, Ms Gahlot said cited a report by Pakistan’s own Human Rights Commission.

“Take Action Against Mumbai Attack Perpetrators”

India also slammed Pakistan for providing a safe haven to terrorists and called on its government to take action against the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attack.

“Pakistan has been the home and patron to the largest number of internationally prescribed terrorist entities and individuals in the world,” she said. “Instead of engaging in technical sophistry, we call upon Pakistan to take credible and verifiable action against the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks whose victims await justice even after 15 years.”

India also listed three steps that Pakistan must take to ensure peace in South Asia: “First, stop cross-border terrorism and shut down its infrastructure of terrorism immediately. Second, vacate Indian territories under its illegal and forcible occupation. And third, stop the grave and persistent human rights violations against the minorities in Pakistan,” said Ms Gahlot.

Nine soldiers were killed earlier in a suicide attack by the outlawed TTP terror group in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Image for representation purpose only. File
| Photo Credit: AP

A Pakistan Army Major and a soldier were killed in a gunbattle with militants during an intelligence-based operation in the restive northwest tribal district bordering Afghanistan, the army said on September 2.

The incident happened two days after nine soldiers were killed in a suicide attack by the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terror group in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

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The clash occurred in Miran Shah in North Waziristan tribal district on Friday when the forces engaged in an operation on a tip-off, said Inter-Services Public Relations, the army’s media wing.

According to the statement, the army was attacked by the militants which led to an intense exchange of fire between the two sides, killing a Major and a soldier. One terrorist was also killed and another injured in the exchange of fire.

The army said a clearance operation was underway in Waziristan for the elimination of militants.

Thursday’s suicide attack by TTP militants on a security forces convoy killed nine soldiers and injured 20 others in the Bannu district of the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Recently, Pakistan has been hit by a wave of terrorist activities orchestrated by the outlawed terror outfit.