Dozens of militants attacked a police post in southwestern Pakistan late Monday night, leading to a fierce gun battle. As a result of the assault, nine police officers were killed and several others were wounded, the Associated Press reported.

The attack took place late Monday in a remote area of Ziarat district in the restive province of Balochistan, where attacks by armed groups on security forces have increased in recent months.

According to police, the attackers also abducted eight law enforcement officers, but all of them were later freed during a security operation.

Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind said the subsequent operation ended with the killing of 15 militants. He stressed that intelligence-based operations against armed groups would continue and that the authorities were determined to respond firmly to any attacks against the security forces.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. However, suspicion is expected to fall on the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), which is banned in Pakistan. The organization had previously claimed responsibility for a suicide bomber attack on a security post in the coastal city of Jiwani. According to local media, three security personnel were killed in that incident, although the government neither confirmed nor denied the report.

Authorities also confirmed that over the weekend armed men attacked civilians on the outskirts of Quetta, the provincial capital. Following that, residents of several localities began a sit-in protest near the city, demanding stronger security measures and protection from further attacks.

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi blamed militants with links to India for the latest attack, but presented no evidence to support his claims.

India has repeatedly rejected Islamabad’s accusations that it supports separatists in Balochistan or the Pakistani Taliban group.

In addition to the attack on the police post, another incident occurred on the outskirts of Quetta on Tuesday: two children were killed and another child was injured after an unexploded roadside device detonated. According to local police officer Mohammad Hassan, the children mistook the explosive device for a toy, found it and brought it home, where it exploded. Who planted the bomb has not yet been established, and the investigation is ongoing.

Balochistan — Pakistan’s largest but least populated province — has for many years remained a center of armed conflict involving separatist groups and the Pakistani movement Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan.

The Baloch Liberation Army, which the United States designated as a foreign terrorist organization in 2019, has in recent years been responsible for numerous attacks on security personnel and civilians across the province.