QUETTA, April 9: At least four security personnel were killed and two others seriously injured in an ambush by militants near Tartani area, in Kohlu district, some 200km east of here, on Monday.
Security forces retaliated with an operation and claimed to have arrested around a dozen armed militants, four of whom had been injured in an exchange of fire.
Inter-Services Public Relations chief Maj-Gen Waheed Arshad confirmed the death of three security personnel and said that two others had been injured.
Sources said that security forces had launched a search operation in areas between Sibi and Tartani against militants blowing up electricity towers and railway lines. When a convoy was near the Tartani area it was attacked with heavy weapons and rockets.A security vehicle was blown up with a remote-controlled bomb, killing the four soldiers and causing injuries to two others.
The sources said that the vehicle was completely destroyed and the four personnel were killed on the spot. The injured soldiers were taken to Sibi for treatment.
Official sources said that after the attack, security forces took position and returned fire. There was a heavy exchange of fire for more than two hours in which four militants were injured. “Security forces have arrested 11 militants,” the sources said. The four injured militants were also taken to Sibi.
The sources said that during the operation security forces had also seized a huge quantity of arms and ammunition.
Security personnel who were killed in the ambush have been identified as Amanat Ali, Hakim Ali, Mohammad Faisal and Anjum Mumtaz, and the injured as Mohammad Asghar and Mohammad Tufail.
Official sources said that more troops had been sent to the area for a massive search operation.
Meanwhile, a caller identifying himself as Beeberg Baloch and a spokesman for the banned Baloch Liberation Army, claimed responsibility for the attack. Speaking to newsmen in the Quetta Press Club on satellite phone, he said that 14 security personnel had been killed and many injured in the attack on the military vehicle.
However, official sources denied the claim and said that only four soldiers had been killed in the attack.
