Seven Pak soldiers, civilian killed in two terror attacks in Balochistan

Seven Pakistani soldiers and a civilian driver were killed in two separate terror attacks in the restive Balochistan province, an official statement said on Tuesday.

Terrorists targeted a vehicle of the Frontier Corps using improvised explosive devices in the Pir Ghaib area on Monday night, killing six Pakistan Army soldiers, including a junior commissioned officer, said Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistani military.

The soldiers were identified as Naib Subedar Ihsan, Ullah Khan, Naik Zubair Khan, Naik Ijaz Ahmed, Naik Maula Bux and Naik Noor Muhammad.

A civilian driver Abdul Jabbar was also killed in the attack.

In a separate incident in Balochistan's Kech, another soldier, identified as Sepoy Imdad Ali, was killed during an exchange of fire with the militants.

The incident took place early in the morning when security personnel were clearing the area for fencing the border.

This is the second terror attack on the Pakistani soldiers in 10 days in the restive province.

On May 9, six soldiers, including a major, were killed in Buleda area when their vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device.

Resource-rich Balochistan in southwestern Pakistan borders Afghanistan and Iran, but it is also Pakistan's largest and poorest province, rife with ethnic, sectarian and separatist insurgencies.

Baloch nationalists are active in the Balochistan province and often target the security forces and people from other provinces, especially Punjab.