9 Pakistani soldiers, including an officer, killed in Balochistan attack

At least nine Pakistani soldiers, including an Army captain, were killed in an attack on Monday in the restive Balochistan province.

The attack, which took place near the Green Chowk in the Basima area of Washuk district, involved gunmen firing at a military police van and quick response force (QRF) unit moving through the area, according to CNN-News 18.

Baloch fighters, who are waging a self-determination movement to free the Balochistan province from Pakistani rule, are believed to be behind the attack, the report said, adding that the fighters fled after carrying out the attack.

In recent months, armed groups opposed to the Pakistani rule have ramped up their campaigns. Late last month, unidentified gunmen killed three Frontier Corps personnel in in Karak district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Earlier in the month, dozens of fighters launched simultaneous attacks on Pakistani security personnel in various parts of Balochistan and killed at least eight security personnel.

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For decades, Balochistan has been home to a raging movement against the Pakistani rule. Some groups waging the self-determination movement have taken up arms, such as the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), and are waging a bloody insurgency against what they reject as illegitimate rule by Pakistan over their homeland.

Pakistan has responded to the Baloch movement with systematic violence and repression, which has involved forced disappearances and killings of scores of activists and political and civil society leaders over the decades.

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Elsewhere in the country, particularly in the tribal northwest, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has been running a movement against the Pakistani regime. The group frequently carries out attacks inside Pakistan and has killed hundreds of Pakistani security personnel in recent years.