Attack on security convoy in Pakistan kills 14: Military

An attack on a security convoy in southern Pakistan killed 14 troops on Friday, the military said.

Two vehicles carrying military personnel were “ambushed by terrorists,” a statement said, adding that 14 soldiers were killed.

Images seen by AFP from sources showed burned bodies strewn across the road.

The attack happened near the Balochistan fishing town of Pasni on a highway that follows the coastline from the Iranian border to the megacity of Karachi.

Balochistan is home to a decades-long insurgency by ethnic Baloch guerrillas fighting the government over accusations of exploiting the province’s rich gas and mineral resources.

Baloch people have long complained they do not get a fair share of the province’s profits, giving rise to several separatist groups.

A bomb blast earlier in the day targeting a police van in northwestern Pakistan killed five civilians and wounded 21 people, officials said.

The attack happened in Dera Ismail Khan, a city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near the Afghan border where militancy has spiked in recent months.