Pakistan Army captain killed, 2 soldiers injured in Balochistan IED blast

A Pakistan Army captain was killed and two soldiers suffered injuries after their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device (IED) planted by terrorists in Balochistan's Gichik area.

The injured soldiers were shifted to a medical facility in Khuzdae, the Pakistan military's media affairs wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Sunday.

Balochistan has witnessed an uptick in violence in restive Balochistan.

Earlier this week, two children were killed and four others, including a Chinese national, were injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up targeting a vehicle carrying Chinese nationals in Gwadar.

Recently, fighting between the Pakistan security forces and Baloch insurgents intensified in the region.

Balochistan is a resource-rich but least developed province of Pakistan where a movement for freedom has been ongoing for the past several decades.

Many Balochs believe that the region was independent before 1947 and was forcibly occupied by Pakistan.

In its 2020 Country Reports on Human Rights, the US State Department has highlighted significant human rights issues in Pakistan, including unlawful or arbitrary killings by the government and forced disappearance of Pashtun, Sindhi and Baloch human rights activists.

( With inputs from ANI )