Pakistani security forces thwarted an attempted hostage-taking after assailants attacked a police station in Kharan district in Balochistan province, the military said Friday.
The military said the attackers also targeted two banks during an assault a day earlier, looting millions of rupees and then trying to seize hostages at the police station.
In its statement, the military said security forces responded quickly enough to force the militants to retreat, and that the subsequent shootouts resulted in at least 12 militants being killed.
The military identified the assailants as “Fitna al-Hindustan,” a phrase the government uses for the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army, or BLA, and other separatist groups.
The statement also claimed the attackers were backed by India, but it provided no evidence. India has repeatedly denied Pakistan’s accusations that it supports separatists in Balochistan or Pakistani Taliban fighters.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi praised the security forces for killing the militants and foiling the attacks by insurgents in Kharan, according to the statement cited by AP.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest but least populated province, has long been the scene of insurgency by separatist groups as well as attacks by the Pakistani Taliban.
The Baloch Liberation Army has been behind numerous attacks targeting security forces and civilians across the province in recent years, and the United States designated the group a terrorist organization in 2019.