18 Pak paramilitaries killed in Balochistan ambush

QUETTA, Feb 01 (AFP): Eighteen paramilitaries were killed and three others seriously wounded in an attack in Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province, police and the military said on Saturday.

Security forces have been battling sectarian, ethnic and separatist violence for decades in impoverished but mineral-rich Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan and Iran.

A vehicle "carrying unarmed Frontier Corps paramilitaries" near Mangochar, a city close to the Afghan border, "came under gunfire from 70 to 80 armed assailants who had blocked the road", a police official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The overnight attack killed 17 of the passengers and a paramilitary who came to their aid, he said, confirming reports from local sources.

Three other paramilitaries were seriously wounded and two escaped unharmed, he added.

A military statement confirmed that 18 paramilitaries had been killed in what it described as "a cowardly act of terrorism". No one has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.

The military statement said 12 of the attackers were killed when security forces and police responded to the overnight assault. Attacks have increased in the volatile province in recent months, often against security forces.

Six people were killed in a bombing in January claimed by the separatist Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA). The BLA frequently claims deadly attacks against security forces or Pakistanis from other provinces, notably Punjabis in Balochistan.

The militants have also targeted energy projects with foreign financing-most notably from China-accusing outsiders of exploiting the resource-rich region while excluding residents in the poorest part of Pakistan.