Officials reported that militants have launched an attack on a Pakistan naval airbase in Turbat, resulting in the death of at least one paramilitary soldier. Security forces retaliated, killing all five assailants.

This incident marks the second assault by ethnic Baloch militants on a military facility in southwestern Pakistan within the past week.

"We escaped a huge loss," Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's office stated,

According to a Pakistan Navy spokesperson, all five assailants were neutralized as they attempted to breach the base.

BLA claims attack

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), one of several separatist groups operating in Balochistan, claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement. The BLA has a history of targeting both Pakistani and Chinese interests in the region and beyond.

China has made substantial investments in Balochistan, particularly in developing the port of Gwadar, despite facing challenges from a longstanding separatist insurgency in the area.

The naval base targeted in the recent attack holds significance within the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a major infrastructure project that includes roads and energy initiatives. This corridor is integral to Chinese President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative.

Last week, Pakistani security forces thwarted a BLA assault on a complex near Gwadar, resulting in the deaths of two soldiers and all eight militants involved.

Attacks kill nearly 1,000 people in Pakistan in 2023 

In 2023, a series of militant attacks in Pakistan resulted in the death of approximately 500 civilians and a comparable number of security forces, marking the highest toll in six years, as per a recent report released in December.

The majority of terrorist attacks and casualties in 2023 were concentrated in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southwestern Balochistan provinces, which share borders with Afghanistan, according to a report from the independent Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) based in Islamabad.

The report highlighted that 2023 marked the deadliest year in a decade for Pakistani police and military forces, with over 500 personnel collectively lost in terrorist bombings and ambushes.

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