Islamabad, Feb 1: At least 14 paramilitary troopers were killed in a militant attack on a security post in the restive Balochistan province of southwest Pakistan, official sources said today.
The sources in the Frontier Corps told reporters in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, that 15 more troopers were injured in the attack in Sibi district late last night.
When troopers did not return to their barracks from a check post in Marawar area, 40 km from Quetta, last evening, other soldiers went to the post.
They found 14 bodies and injured troopers lying at the post, the sources said.
The sources said a helicopter was sent to the area after authorities in Quetta received information of the attack. The bodies and seriously injured troopers were airlifted to Quetta.
Additional security forces were sent to the area for a search operation but no one was arrested. The sources further said that the attackers burnt the security post.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack but such incidents are usually blamed on Baloch insurgent groups waging a violent campaign for greater autonomy and a say in the exploitation of the province's abundant natural resources.
The insurgents have stepped up attacks on security forces in Balochistan in recent weeks.
At least 14 Frontier Corps personnel, including two junior commissioned officers, were killed and nine more injured in an armed attack by Baloch militants close to the Iranian border in Turbat district last month.
