DERA BUGTI: At least 13 militants were killed after an overnight gunbattle with a pro-government tribal security force following an attack on the residence of Dera Bugti District Council Chairman Wadera Ghulam Nabi Shambhani in Bhei Looti, tribal sources said.
The attack was reported in the early hours of Saturday, with militants targeting the residence of Shambhani, a close aide of Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti, according to the sources.
The sources said the Bugti Aman Force, led by Shambhani’s brother Wadera Hidayat Shambhani, engaged the attackers in a prolonged exchange of fire that began on Friday night and continued until early morning.
The militants allegedly attempted to flee the area after the firefight, but members of the Bugti Aman Force pursued them. Thirteen militants were subsequently killed, the tribal sources said.
One member of the Bugti Aman Force was killed and three others were wounded in the fighting. The injured were shifted to Karachi for medical treatment, the sources said.
The sources described the response by the Bugti Aman Force as a swift counterattack that thwarted what they said was a major militant plan in the area.
There was no immediate independent confirmation of the reported militant death toll, and no militant group had publicly claimed responsibility for the attack at the time of publication.
The reported assault comes against the backdrop of a long-running separatist insurgency in Balochistan, where the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and other armed groups have targeted security forces, government institutions, infrastructure and figures perceived as aligned with the state.
The European Union Agency for Asylum says BLA factions and other Baloch insurgent groups have remained active in the province, with attacks targeting security forces, infrastructure, foreign investments and CPEC projects.
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Dera Bugti and surrounding areas have also witnessed attacks on pro-government tribal figures. Security databases document earlier attacks attributed to Baloch Liberation Army and other foreign funded groups against tribal elders regarded as government allies, including rocket attacks on the homes of pro-government Bugti elders in Dera Bugti.
The BLA-led insurgency has intensified in recent years, with the group carrying out attacks across Balochistan. Recent reporting has documented attacks against state and security institutions as well as officials, amid continued military and government efforts to counter the insurgency. Last month, Shfique Mengal house was also attacked.
