19 June 2017•Update: 20 June 2017
By Islamuddin Sajid
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan
At least two navy officers were killed and three others wounded when armed gunmen on motorbikes opened fire on them in southwestern Balochistan province on Monday, according to an official statement.
The incident took place in Jiwani city in the province’s Gwadar district.
The officers were said to be on their way back to their base after bringing iftar dinner items from the city when they came under attack, the navy said in a statement.
Balochistan Home Minister Sarfaraz Bugti told Anadolu Agency over the phone that suspected terrorists were trying to disturb the ongoing mega-projects in the province through such attacks.
"Our enemies are behind these attacks but our forces are here and we will eliminate these terrorists from the region," Bugti said.
A search operation has been launched in the area to apprehended the attackers, he added.
The mineral-rich Balochistan province is the gateway to the multi-billion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project. As part of the project, China is also developing the Gwadar port where hundreds of Chinese and Pakistani officials and laborers are working on developmental projects.
The latest attack adds to the toll of recent spate of attacks in the province. On May 24, two Chinese nationals were kidnapped from the provincial capital Quetta and later beheaded by suspected Daesh terrorists. Also in May, at least 10 laborers employed to construct a road were killed by armed men in Gwadar.
The latest attack in Pakistan’s Gwadar district comes days after an alleged terrorist threat was thwarted in Iran’s Chabahar.
India, Iran and Afghanistan are building the Chabahar Port in the strategic Iranian port city, apparently to counter Pakistan and China Gwadar port plan.
On June 14, Iranian officials said two suspected terrorists were killed in Chabahar city in Sistan-Baluchistan province while five others were arrested, including two national from a neighboring country, according to Tehran Times.
On June 9, The Economic Times said in its report that Tehran was considering a plan to link the strategically-located Chabahar port with various intra-Central Asia transport corridors.
Chabahar currently connects India with Afghanistan by road and plans are on by Tehran to build a rail link with New Delhi’s support.
The Iranian government also plans to link Chabahar with various Central Asian transport corridors to open up a second route for India’s outreach to landlocked Afghanistan and Central Asia republics.
