Reports have been received from the Kharan, Kalat, Surab, Noshki and Mastung districts of Balochistan of armed men setting up roadblocks, carrying out snap checks, opening fire, seizing policemen’s weapons and blowing up a hotel.
According to sources, armed men set up a checkpoint on the main highway in the Dali area of Kharan and systematically checked passing vehicles.
Likewise, reports have been received of armed men blockading the Quetta-Karachi national highway and carrying out snap checks of vehicles in the Dasht Goran area of Kalat.
There are also reports of armed men setting up a blockade in Surab district, where, according to eyewitnesses, women were also present alongside the armed men.
There are reports of armed men entering and carrying out attacks in the main town of Noshki district.
According to sources, armed men opened fire in front of a private bank in the town, disabling the bank’s security camera. No casualties or injuries have been confirmed in the incident.
The armed men then reached Tariq Chowk in the bazaar, where they disarmed two policemen present and seized their weapons.
Immediately after the incident, Noshki bazaar closed completely and business activity was suspended.
Shortly after the incident, a large contingent of security forces reached the bazaar and cordoned off the area; however, no position has come from the authorities.
Meanwhile, last evening in the Reki Boz area of Khad Kocha tehsil, Mastung district, unidentified armed men targeted Madina Hotel with explosives.
The blast was so powerful that the entire hotel building was flattened and an adjoining grocery shop was completely destroyed.
In addition, about 250 solar panels of nearby tube wells were damaged and the window panes of nearby houses were shattered, spreading intense panic in the area.
Although no organisation has yet claimed responsibility for these incidents, and no official or administrative position has emerged, the pattern of the attacks indicates that Baloch pro-freedom armed organisations are behind them. These simultaneous blockades and firing incidents in various districts raise serious questions about the government’s writ and administrative control in the region.
