Baluchistan, September 14: At least four people have been killed in a landmine explosion in southwestern Pakistan, as violence continues to take its toll in the conflict-riddled country.
The explosion occurred in Baluchistan province on Monday, after a bullock-cart hit a landmine on the road, killing two women and two children.
Two others were also wounded in the incident, a district police spokesperson told Press TV.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but the police believe it might be linked to the province’s powerful Bugti family.
Islamabad had previously said it had undeniable evidence of connections between terrorist activities and the Bugtis in the oil-rich but impoverished province. .
The government has, however, ruled out the presence of any pro-Taliban camps or hideouts in the region, attributing the terrorist moves to militants, infiltrating the country with arms and ammunition from neighboring Afghanistan.
The incident comes as instability escalates in the volatile South Asian country, despite an alleged victory by the Pakistani army in an offensive against pro-Taliban militants that was launched in the Swat valley and its neighboring areas this past April.
Also on Monday, authorities sacked some 365 paramilitary personnel for refusing to take part in the ongoing offensive against pro-Taliban militants in the Khyber tribal region in Northwest Pakistan.
The troops refrained from performing their duties, after facing threats by the notorious leader of a Taliban-linked group called “Lashkar-e-Islam”.
Mangal Bagh had earlier warned security personnel through a local radio channel to lay down their arms or face dire consequences.
The Lashkar-e-Islam fighters hold sway over the Khyber region as well as neighboring areas, and are affiliated to the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, an umbrella group of Pakistan’s pro-Taliban insurgents.
The country’s northwestern sector and remote tribal areas have been wracked by violence since hundreds of Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters spilled over the border in the wake of the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan.
Militant violence in Pakistan has surged over the past two years, raising fears of instability in the already-troubled region.
—–Agencies