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This Monday, at least nine police officers were killed in a suicide attack targeting the truck that was transporting them in southwest Pakistan.
Mehmood Noteai, the Kacchi district police chief, told AFP that the victims were returning from a neighboring district, where they had provided protection for an agricultural fair for a week.
Balochistan is the large, poor and sparsely populated province in southwestern Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan and Iran. It has long been the scene of ethnic, sectarian and separatist violence.
The province is rich in hydrocarbons and minerals, but its population – around 12 million inhabitants – complains of being marginalized and robbed of its natural resources.
Tensions in Baluchistan revolve in particular around the important projects of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), for which China must spend more than 50 billion dollars (42 billion euros), with the flagship of the deep water port of Gwadar.
The police there are regularly the target of attacks carried out by local rebel movements or by the Pakistani Taliban of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Pakistan has been facing a deterioration in security for several months, particularly since the Taliban took power in Kabul in August 2021, particularly in the border regions of Afghanistan.
Reuters
