QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) -Pakistan’s army said protesters taking part in a march in the southwestern city of Gwadar attacked security forces deployed to guard them on Monday, killing one soldier and injuring 16 others.
A nationalist ethnic Baloch movement has been demonstrating for the last two days in the port city, blocking a highway to press their demands for the release of members of their movement they say were detained by security forces.
The army said protesters assaulted military personnel who had been deployed to guard them, killing a soldier. “The unprovoked assaults by the violent protesters have resulted in injuries to sixteen soldiers, including an officer.”
The Baloch movement’s leader, Bebarg Baloch, said the army used force to break up the protest rally and several of the protesters were injured, including women and children.
He did not comment on the death and injuries reported by the military.
Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, where the port city of Gwadar is located, borders Iran and Afghanistan and has long been the scene of a low-level insurgency by separatist groups, who say they have been fighting for a greater share in the region’s rich mineral resources.
Provincial Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti told legislatures in a televised speech that the demonstration was a “conspiracy” to block a foreign investors’ delegation, which is due to visit the Gwadar next week.
He offered the movement talks to ensure peace.
“Our doors are open,” Bugti said in the speech.
The development of Gwadar’s port and many other projects in the region are part of the Chinese $65 billion investment as part of President Xi Jinping’s Road and Belt vision.
(Reporting by Saleem Ahmed in QuettaWriting by Asif ShahzadEditing by Tomasz Janowski)
