Five killed in attack on dam construction site in Pakistan's Balochistan

QUETTA, Pakistan - Five people were killed in an attack by armed men on the construction site of a small dam in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, officials said on Tuesday, underscoring a worsening security situation in the mineral-rich area.

The province has seen an increase in strikes by separatist ethnic militants. This month, 21 miners working at privately run coal mines were killed in an attack.

"We accept responsibility for killing seven informers and instrumentalists in Panjgur, Kech and Quetta," said separatist militant group the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) in a statement emailed to journalists.

A decades-long insurgency in Balochistan by separatists has led to frequent attacks against the government, army and Chinese interests in the region to press their demands for a share in regional resources.

China runs a strategic deepwater port as well as a gold and copper mine in the province and has been working with Islamabad to improve infrastructure in the underdeveloped province. Several attacks have targeted migrant workers employed by smaller, privately operated mines.

The five dead, and two wounded, all worked at the construction site in Panjgur, spokesperson for the Balochistan government Shahid Rind said in a statement, saying the attack took place late at night.

A police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said close to a dozen assailants were involved in the attack and that the victims were watching over equipment at the dam construction site on behalf of a private contractor.

"Such cowardly attacks will not deter the government's resolve to develop Balochistan," Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a statement.

Besides the separatists, the region is also home to Islamist militants, who have become resurgent since 2022 after revoking a ceasefire with the government. REUTERS