At least nine police personnel were killed in night-long clashes with militants in southwestern Pakistan, an official said on Tuesday.
The incident occurred in Ziarat district, also a tourist destination in Balochistan province, where police and militants clashed in the early hours of Tuesday, deputy commissioner Ziarat Abdul Quddus Achakzai told reporters.
The clash started after militants attacked a security checkpoint, Achakzai said, adding that the bodies of the slain cops were shifted to a local hospital.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but the outlawed separatist group, Balochistan Liberation Army, has long been involved in attacks on security forces and government installations in the restive region.
Security forces launched an operation in the region after the attack.
Balochistan, a mineral-rich region and a key route for the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, has long been plagued by separatist militancy.
Source: Anadolu Agency
--Agencies
