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Pakistani Troops Come Under Deadly Militant Attacks

Ayaz Gul

   ISLAMABAD - Pakistani officials said Tuesday a roadside bombing of a
   military convoy and a separate clash with militants in southwestern
   Baluchistan province had killed at least seven troops and a civilian.
   An army statement said in one incident, paramilitary troops were
   heading back to their base camp after a "routine patrolling duty" late
   Monday when an improvised explosive device hit their convoy in the
   remote Pir Ghaib area and detonated. Six troops and their civilian
   driver were killed.
   Mureed Baluch, a purported spokesman for the so-called United Baluch
   Army separatist group, claimed it planted the bomb. He said in a
   statement to the news media the targeted Pakistani troops were guarding
   engineers of an oil and gas installation in the area.
   It was not immediately possible to verify the militant claim through
   independent sources.
   Separately, the Pakistani army said an overnight "exchange of fire with
   terrorists" in another Baluchistan district killed a soldier. It did
   not elaborate further, nor did anyone claim responsibility.
   Separatists often plot deadly attacks against Pakistani security forces
   and government installations in natural resources-rich Baluchistan, the
   country's largest and sparsely populated province. It shares Pakistan's
   border with Iran and Afghanistan.
   Earlier this month, a roadside bombing of a security convoy near the
   Iranian border killed six Pakistani soldiers, including a high-ranking
   officer. The slain troops were said to be monitoring illegal crossings
   on the largely porous border with Iran. Officials at the time alleged
   the attackers had come from the Iranian side.

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