Zürcher Nachrichten - Pakistan seeks out perpetrators after deadly separatist attacks

Around a dozen sites remained sealed off, with troops combing the area a day after militants stormed banks, jails, police stations and military installations, killing at least 31 civilians and 17 security personnel, according to the chief minister of Balochistan province.

At least 145 attackers were also killed, he said.

That figure includes more than 40 militants that security forces said were killed on Friday.

Pakistan has been battling a Baloch separatist insurgency for decades, with frequent armed attacks on security forces, foreign nationals and non-local Pakistanis in the mineral-rich province bordering Afghanistan and Iran.

Mobile internet service across the province has been jammed for more than 24 hours, while road traffic is disrupted and train services suspended.

Typically bustling Quetta, the provincial capital, lay quiet on Sunday after being rocked by explosions, with major roads and businesses deserted and people staying indoors out of fear.

Shattered metal fragments and mangled vehicles littered some roads.

"Anyone who leaves home has no certainty of returning safe and sound. There is constant fear over whether they will come back unharmed," Hamdullah, a 39-year-old shopkeeper who goes by one name, told AFP in Quetta.

- 'Our blood is not cheap' -

The chief minister, Sarfraz Bugti, told a news conference in Quetta that all the districts under attack were cleared on Sunday.

"We are chasing them, we will not let them go so easily," he said.

"Our blood is not that cheap. We will chase them until their hideouts."

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the province's most active militant separatist group, claimed responsibility for the attacks in a statement sent to AFP.

The group, which the United States has designated a terrorist organisation, said it had targeted military installations as well as police and civil administration officials in gun attacks and suicide bombings.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, who flew to Quetta late on Saturday to attend funerals, claimed without offering any evidence that the attackers were supported by India.

"We will not spare a single terrorist involved in these incidents," he said.

Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif likewise claimed at a news conference on Sunday that the attackers had links to India and pledged to "completely eliminate these terrorists".

India denied any involvement.

"We categorically reject the baseless allegations made by Pakistan, which are nothing but its usual tactics to deflect attention from its own internal failings," foreign ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said on Sunday.

- 'Broad daylight' -

Saturday's attacks came a day after the military said it had killed 41 insurgents in two separate operations in the province.

The insurgents released a video showing group head Bashir Zaib leading armed units on motorcycles during the attack.

Another clip claimed to show the abduction of a senior official from Nushki district.

The BLA said in a statement to AFP on Sunday that the official had been released.

In another district, militants freed at least 30 inmates from a local jail, while seizing firearms and ammunition. They also ransacked a police station and took ammunition with them.

"It was one of the most audacious attacks in the region in recent years, as unlike other attacks, it took place in broad daylight," Abdul Basit at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore told AFP.

"It is alarming that militants, with coordinated manpower and strategic acumen, have now reached the provincial capital," he added.

Several of the BLA's videos featured women insurgents, while Defence Minister Asif said at least one of the suicide bombers was a young woman.

"They continue to showcase women strategically in high-visibility attacks," Basit said.

Pakistan's poorest province and largest by landmass, Balochistan lags behind the rest of the country in almost every index, including education, employment and economic development.

Baloch separatists accuse Pakistan's government of exploiting the province's natural gas and abundant mineral resources, without benefiting the local population.

The BLA has intensified attacks on Pakistanis from other provinces working in the region in recent years, as well as foreign energy firms.

Last year, the separatists attacked a train with 450 passengers on board, sparking a deadly two-day siege.

W.Vogt--NZN