Pakistan: 27 Police Personnel Killed in Deadly Balochistan Ziarat Attack
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ISLAMABAD (Terror Monitor) — The death toll from the militant attack on a police checkpoint in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province has risen to 27 police personnel after authorities recovered the bodies of 17 officers who had been abducted during the assault.
Police confirmed that the bullet-riddled bodies of the abducted officers were recovered from the Zarghoon Ghar area. According to the military, security forces killed 26 militants during retaliatory operations.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said the attack took place on July 6, when militants assaulted a Balochistan Police checkpoint near a pumping station in Ziarat district.
He said the checkpoint was responsible for protecting a water pipeline and pumping station supplying water to the provincial capital, Quetta.
According to the military spokesman, police personnel at the checkpoint resisted the assault, killing 15 militants, while 10 police personnel, including two Station House Officers (SHOs), were killed during the initial attack.
Lieutenant General Chaudhry said Pakistan Army and Frontier Corps (FC) reinforcements were dispatched immediately after the attack, but before they arrived, the militants abducted 17 additional police personnel from the checkpoint. He added that all of the officers stationed there were local recruits.
He said security forces pursued the attackers and surrounded them but refrained from using air power because the abducted officers were being held hostage.
According to the ISPR chief, once the militants realized they were encircled, they killed all 17 hostages on Wednesday, July 8.
Following the recovery of the bodies, the total number of police personnel killed in the attack rose to 27.
The military further stated that a total of 26 militants were killed during the operation.
Meanwhile, the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for seizing a police vehicle and dozens of government-issued weapons during the attack.
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