Pakistan Taliban militants kill 4 police in Pakistan's Balochistan
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Officials say the militants opened fire on a pre-dawn patrol in Kuchlak and were still on the run.
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A photo showing the location where clashes took place between militants and police in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province (Social media)
Four police officers were killed on Tuesday during clashes with militants in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, police confirmed, hours after four people died in a bomb blast in the region's capital.
Officials said militants identified by police as being from the Pakistan Taliban opened fire on a pre-dawn patrol in Kuchlak, and were still on the run.
"Militants opened fire on a police team from a compound killing four policemen," senior local police official Muhammad Zohaib told AFP.
"One terrorist was also killed during the exchange of fire, while the remainder escaped," he noted.
Counter-terrorism department official Aitzaz Goraya said that the militants were from Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which is separate from Afghanistan's Taliban but shares a similar ideology.
The TTP had agreed with the Pakistani government on a ceasefire in June 2022. However, both parties have made several claims that the truce was ignored, with numerous clashes taking place.
On Monday four people were killed -- two police and two civilians -- by a motorcycle bomb in a busy market of Balochistan's capital, Quetta.
That attack was claimed by the Balochistan Liberation Army.
Pakistan has been battling a years-long insurgency by militants in Balochistan who are demanding a bigger share of the province's wealth, as well as attacks by the Pakistan Taliban.
It is noteworthy that China is investing in the area under a $54 billion project known as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, upgrading infrastructure, power, and transport links between its far-western Xinjiang region and Pakistan's Gwadar port.
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