Quetta (Pakistan), Feb 3 (AP): Armed assailants targeted two security posts hours apart Thursday in remote areas of Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province, triggering firefights that killed at least four attackers and a soldier, the military said.
Later, the newly formed separatist Baluchistan Nationalist Army claimed responsibility for the attacks in a post on Twitter.
The first of the two attacks happened in Banjgur, a district in the Baluchistan province, according to a military statement. It said a soldier died in the exchange of fire there.
Hours later, assailants tried to sneak into a security camp in Naushki in Baluchistan, but troops foiled the attempt and killed four attackers. One soldier was also wounded in the attack, the military said. It said intermittent exchange of fire has continued.
Baluchistan has been the scene of numerous separatists and militant attacks in recent years. The Baluchistan Nationalist Army was established last month, when two minor separatist groups — the Baluchistan Republican Army and the United Baluch Army — merged and vowed to continue attacks.
The latest violence comes a week after militants killed 10 soldiers in an attack on a security post in the town of Kech in Baluchistan, which has been the site of a long-running insurgency.
The separatists in the province have been demanding independence from the central government in Islamabad. Although Pakistani authorities say they have quelled the insurgency, violence in Baluchistan has persisted. (AP) SRY
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