30 Killed in suicide bombing in Pakistan
More than 30 members of Pakistan's paramilitary forces were reportedly killed in a suicide bombing targeting a joint forces military camp in the country's southwestern province of Balochistan.
The attack took place at the Panwan Camp in the coastal town of Jiwani, Gwadar district, leaving many others injured. However, the Pakistani government has not yet issued an official statement regarding the incident.
In a statement released on Saturday (July 4), the banned insurgent group Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack. According to the group, at 6:32 p.m. on the previous day, a member of its Majeed Brigade, Ataullah Baloch, also known as Azmal, breached all military security barriers and drove an explosives-laden vehicle into the camp before detonating it.
The BLA said the attack targeted the Panwan Coast Guard base in Jiwani using a Suicide Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device (SVBIED) as part of a coordinated military operation.
According to The Balochistan Post, BLA spokesperson Jeeyand Baloch said in a statement, "The powerful explosion completely reduced the heavily fortified Coast Guard camp to rubble."
The statement further claimed that immediately after the explosion, the group's advance unit, the Fateh Squad, swiftly launched a coordinated assault on the destroyed camp from multiple directions. The BLA asserted that the explosion completely devastated the installation and caused heavy casualties among security personnel.
The organization further claimed that more than 30 members of Pakistan's paramilitary forces were killed and many others seriously injured. It added that the death toll could rise further.
The BLA spokesperson also claimed that the number of casualties was likely to increase due to the critical condition of the injured and because some personnel remained trapped beneath the rubble. Following the suicide bombing, the group's armed units reportedly carried out additional attacks on the Coast Guard facility.
However, as of the time of publication, neither the provincial government of Balochistan nor Pakistan's federal government had issued an official statement confirming or commenting on the reported attack or the casualty figures.