2 troops among 7 killed in southwest Pakistan blasts

KARACHI, Pakistan

At least seven people, including two army personnel, were killed and three others injured in explosions in southwest Pakistan, the military said Thursday.

Two army personnel, including a major, were killed when an improvised explosive device was detonated during a security operation in the Harnai district of southwestern Balochistan province.

Three suspected terrorists were also killed in the operation, the army said in a statement.

In another explosion on the outskirts of the picturesque Ziarat district, two civilians were killed, and three others injured in a roadside explosion in southwestern Balochistan province.

There have been no reports about the nature of that explosion.

Mineral-rich Balochistan has long been a hotbed of violence, with separatist organizations targeting security forces and civilians from other provinces.

Twenty-eight people were killed and 40 injured in a suicide blast at a railway station in the provincial capital of Quetta last week.

Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, is strategically important due to its rich copper, zinc and natural gas reserves.

The province is also a key route of the $64 billion mega project Pakistan-China Economic Corridor (PCEC), which aims to connect China's strategically important northwestern Xinxiang province to Balochistan’s Gwadar port through a network of roads, railways and pipelines for cargo, oil, and gas transportation.

Baloch separatists, however, who have allegedly been involved in kidnapping and murdering Chinese workers in the recent past, oppose the project.​​​​​​​