Islamabad, Pakistan - At least five people have been killed in a gun and bomb attack on a coal mine in southwestern Pakistan, officials say, the latest in an uptick of violence by ethnic Baloch separatists.

Two miners, two security personnel and a driver were among the dead after armed attackers stormed a coal mine on Thursday in Harnai district, about 70km east of the provincial capital of Quetta, deputy commissioner Azeem Dummar said.

"First unidentified armed men opened fire on two labourers working in [the coal mine], killing both on the spot," Dummar said.

As the security forces responded to the attack, a vehicle belonging to the paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) that was rushing to the scene was hit by a landmine explosion about a kilometre away from the coal mine, said Dummar. One FC soldier was wounded in the attack, he said.

Hours later, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), an armed separatist group based in Balochistan province, claimed responsibility for the attack.

"We want to make it clear to the local spies and death squad groups of Pakistan army that they will not be forgiven for their crimes," said Jeehand Baloch, a BLA spokesperson, in an emailed statement.

Baloch independence

The BLA and other armed groups have been fighting Pakistani security forces for more than a decade, demanding independence for the ethnic Baloch areas of Balochistan province, which they claim has been neglected by the Pakistani state and exploited for its mineral resources.

Balochistan, located in southwestern Pakistan, is the country's largest but least populated province, with rich deposits of natural gas, coal, metals and minerals.

Rights groups allege that Pakistani security forces have abducted hundreds of pro-freedom Baloch political activists and fighters in their fight to quell the rebellion.

The province is also the site of a major port, which is the culmination of the $60bn China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a major infrastructure and transportation investment by China in the South Asian nation.

The CPEC trade corridor will terminate at the Gwadar seaport, giving goods from southwestern China access to the Arabian Sea through Pakistan.

"Pakistan army along with several other companies is plundering Baloch national wealth," said BLA spokesperson Baloch. "Balochistan is a war-torn region and we will not allow any investments until the independence of Balochistan."

The attack on Thursday was the latest violence targeting security forces this year, as attacks by the BLA and its allies have ramped up.

Last month, Baloch separatist gunmen stopped a bus in southern Balochistan and killed 14 passengers.

The Baloch Raaji Aajoi Sangar (BRAS), an alliance of the BLA, Baloch Liberation Front and Baloch Republican Guard, claimed responsibility for that attack.

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Additional reporting by Saadullah Akhtar in Quetta </s> May 11 (UPI) -- Gunmen killed at least one person Saturday after attacking a hotel in Gwadar, Pakistan, in response to Chinese presence in the region.

"Our fighters have carried out this attack on Chinese and other foreign investors who were staying in PC hotel," Jihand Baloch, a spokesperson for the Baloch Liberation Army, told Al Jazeera.

Zaver Pearl-Continental Gwadar is part of Pearl-Continental Hotels & Resorts, and is the largest chain of five-star hotels in Pakistan.

Gwadar is in southeast Pakistan, near the border with Iran.

Separatist group the Baloch Liberation Army, told officials that it sent four shooters to carry out the attack on Chinese workers and foreign investors at Zaver Pearl-Continental Gwadar.

All guests at the 114-room hotel safely escaped, according to military reports, although some reports dispute this claim, saying some guests were injured during the shooting.

Gwadar is home to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, which connects southwestern China and the Arabian Sea.

For more than a decade, the BLA has been attacking Pakistani security forces in a fight for ethnic Baloch regions to gain independence in the Balochistan province. The BLA says the Pakistani government has exploited and plundered for its minerals.

This episode follows an attack Thursday where BLA gunmen killed five people at a coal mine in Balochistan, a district in Harnai.

In April, gunmen from a coalition of Baloch separatist groups killed at least 14 people on a bus traveling from Gwadar to Karachi. </s> ISLAMABAD: An attack on a luxury hotel in the southwestern city of Gwadar was a bid to "sabotage prosperity", Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan said Sunday, as police confirmed all the attackers had been killed.

At least one person was shot dead Saturday after gunmen stormed a luxury hotel in the southwestern Pakistani city of Gwadar, the centrepiece of a multi-billion dollar Chinese infrastructure project.

A Baloch separatist group, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), claimed responsibility for the attack via Twitter.

"Such attempts, especially in Balochistan, are an effort to sabotage our economic projects and prosperity. We shall not allow these agendas to succeed," Khan said in a statement issued by his office.

The Chinese embassy in Islamabad also strongly condemned the incident.

ALSO READ | Four killed as heavily-armed terrorists storm 5-star hotel in Pakistan's Gwadar

Local police said four gunmen who had stormed the hotel, shooting dead a security guard, had been killed overnight by security forces.

"All four terrorists were killed and security forces had taken complete control of the hotel building," a local police official in Gwadar told AFP via telephone.

His account was confirmed by a security source in Islamabad. The military had said on Saturday that there were three gunmen.

Mohammad Aslam, a police official in Gwadar, said Saturday that only staff were present in the building at the time of the attack.

The BLA is one of a myriad of insurgent groups fighting in tightly-guarded Balochistan province, which has been rocked by separatist, Islamist and sectarian violence for years.

The Pearl Continental, part of Pakistan's largest five-star hotel chain, is the only luxury hotel in Gwadar, frequented by foreign and Pakistani business delegations as well as diplomats.

It sits isolated on a ridge overlooking the Arabian Sea port city that was formerly a small fishing village, but now touted by officials as "the next Dubai" thanks to the multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Part of China's Belt and Road initiative, CPEC seeks to connect the western Chinese province of Xinjiang with Gwadar, with the development of the port as the plan's flagship project.

Gwadar will provide China with safer and more direct access to the oil-rich Middle East than the waterway trade route it currently uses through the narrow Malacca Straits.

But it has also drawn its share of attacks -- particularly from separatists who have long complained that residents of Pakistan's poorest and largest province do not receive a fair share of profits from its resources.

The BLA has targeted Chinese workers in Pakistan multiple times, including during a brazen daylight attack on the Chinese consulate in Karachi which killed four people in November last year.

At the time, the BLA branded Beijing "an oppressor".

Balochistan is tightly guarded by the Pakistani military, who have been targeting insurgents there since 2004. The army has been repeatedly accused by international rights groups of abuses there, but denies all allegations.

The attack was the second deadly attack in a prominent Pakistan city this week, after a suicide blast claimed by the Pakistani Taliban at one of the country's oldest and most popular Sufi shrines killed at least 12 people in the eastern city of Lahore. </s> Pakistan's Army says the death toll has risen to five people in the attack by insurgents on a luxury hotel in the country's Southwestern coast.

Three gunmen stormed the Pearl Continental hotel in the city of Gwadar on Saturday, killing three staff members, a hotel security guard and a special forces soldier.

A further six people, including two soldiers, suffered injuries.

All three gunmen were killed after an eight-hour shootout with Pakistan security forces.

Forces also completed a widescale military operation to defuse explosive devices left behind by the attackers.

The country's military forces released a statement on Sunday clarifying that there were only three gunmen involved and not four as previously thought.

A Baloch separatist group, the Baloch Liberation Army, claimed responsibility Saturday for the attack, releasing photos of the insurgents who it said took part.

Prime Minister Imran Khan called the attack an act of terrorism and praised the 'initial response by security guards and security forces' for preventing greater loss of life.

The Baloch Liberation Army have been waging armed struggle against the state of Pakistan since 2004 in a bid for self-determination for the Baloch people.

The Baloch are an ethnic minority group in Pakistan, with historical links to Persia, whose population is mostly located in the province of Balochistan.

Residents of Balochistan and other areas accuse the central government of favouring the country's Punjab province, home to some 60 percent of the country's 200 million people and most of the political elite.

Gwadar, where the attack took place, is within Balochistan.

Armed Baloch separatists carried out a dozen attacks last year against Chinese-linked projects in the past year.

Beijing is financing tens of billions of dollars' worth of megaprojects in Pakistan and is currently helping build a modern port in Gwadar, 600 kilometers (373 miles) west of Karachi. </s> Islamabad, Pakistan - At least three people have been killed and 28 wounded after a bomb exploded at a mosque in the western Pakistani city of Quetta.

The explosion took place inside a mosque before Friday prayers, city Police Chief Abdul Razzaq Cheema told Al Jazeera by phone, adding that at least three of the wounded were in critical condition.

Local police official Tauseef Farman told Al Jazeera an explosive device went off next to the prayer leader, who was among those killed.

The area was cordoned off by security forces shortly after the explosion, and a bomb disposal unit was conducting investigations, Cheema said.

Video footage from the scene showed debris from the blast strewn within the mosque, with ceiling tiles lying smashed on the floor.

Regular violence

Quetta is the capital of Balochistan, Pakistan's largest and least populated province; it is also rich in mineral and fuel resources.

It has seen regular violence in recent years, with attacks claimed by Baloch separatists, Pakistan Taliban and local affiliates of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) group.

The province has been at the centre of a series of recent attacks that have killed at least 10 people.

Last week, at least four policemen died when their vehicles were targeted by an explosion as they stood guard outside a mosque during evening prayers.

On May 12, Baloch separatist attackers stormed a five-star hotel in the southern port city of Gwadar, killing at least five people, including a Navy soldier.

Pakistani security forces engaged in an hours-long gun battle with the attackers, with the siege ending after three attackers were killed.

Balochistan is seeing a number of new infrastructure projects erected, including the port at Gwadar, as part of the $60bn China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, a joint venture between the Pakistani and Chinese governments. </s> Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) Armed attackers attempted to storm the Chinese consulate in the Pakistani city of Karachi on Friday morning, killing four people, authorities said.

Three attackers also were killed in the assault on the consulate in the city's high-security red zone, according to a Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman.

The Baloch Liberation Army, a separatist group, claimed responsibility in a tweet that included a photo of three unidentified men and the message: "Karachi: Fidayeen of BLA attacked the Chinese embassy in Karachi."

"Fidayeen" is an Arabic term that loosely translates as "one who sacrifices himself."

In a statement released after the attack, the group said its objectives were "clear -- we will not tolerate any Chinese military expansionist endeavors on Baloch soil."

Read More </s> At least four soldiers and an equal number of terrorists were killed in an attack by militants at a paramilitary training camp in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province.

Army said that four terrorists tried to storm the Frontier Corps training center in Loralai area of the province but they were challenged by the troops. After failing to achieve the primary target, the terrorists resorted to indiscriminate fire and entered a compound close to the check-post, it said.

Nobody took responsibility for the attack but Baloch nationalists and the Taliban militants often carry out such attacks. </s> The attack was claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), an ethnic insurgent group who opposes China's exploitation of natural resources in southwest Pakistan.

It is the most prominent attack against neighbor and ally China, which is pouring billions of dollars into the country as part of its vast Belt and Road initiative.

China "strongly condemned" the attack and asked Pakistan to take measures to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens and institutions in the country, as well as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) mega-project.

In another incident on Friday, at least 25 people were killed in a bomb attack in north-west Pakistan.

The blast outside the consulate occurred in a mostly Shia neighbourhood in Orakzai district.

Police say three gunmen tried to enter the building in the southern port city, but were intercepted by guards at a checkpoint, Karachi police chief Ameer Sheikh told AFP news agency.

"They were holding Kalashnikovs. First, they hurled a small (grenade) and then started firing," said Allah Bakhsh, a guard at a nearby house who witnessed the attack.

Police officials said two of their personnel were killed, along with a father and son from Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, who were seeking Chinese visas and were caught in the crossfire.

At least one of the attackers was wearing a suicide vest which did not detonate, another senior police official said.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told reporters in Islamabad that "all the terrorists have been eliminated", and that all 21 staff at the consulate during the attack had been taken to a safe location.

"Situation under control," the military's media wing added in a statement.

The attack was claimed by a separatist militant group from Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan, which is at the centre of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the major Chinese project in the country.

"We have been seeing the Chinese as an oppressor, along with Pakistani forces," the spokesman for the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), Geand Baloch, told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location, adding they were "destroying the future of Balochistan".

The BLA later emailed a statement to media in which it said the attack was "aimed at making it clear that China's military expansionism on Baloch soil will not be tolerated".

It warned the Chinese to leave or "be prepared for continued attacks".

The group is just one of the militant outfits operating in Balochistan, Pakistan's largest and poorest province, which is rife with ethnic, sectarian and separatist insurgencies.

Residents of the resource-rich province, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, have long complained that it does not receive a fair share of the profits made from its mineral wealth.

Prime Minister Imran Khan said Friday's attack would not undermine the Pakistan-China relationship, which he described in a statement as "mightier than Himalayas and deeper than Arabian Sea".

China, one of Pakistan's closest allies, has poured billions into the South Asian country in recent years as part of CPEC, a massive infrastructure project that seeks to connect its western province Xinjiang with the Arabian Sea port of Gwadar in Balochistan.

The project is one of the largest in Beijing's "One Belt One Road" initiative, comprising a network of roads and sea routes involving 65 countries.

Pakistan sees the project as a "gamechanger", but it presents an enormous challenge in a country plagued by weak institutions, endemic corruption and a range of insurgencies in areas slated to host the corridor.

The subject of economic dividends from CPEC is extremely sensitive in some of those areas -- particularly in Balochistan.

Since the beginning of the project militants have repeatedly attacked construction sites, blowing up numerous gas pipelines and trains, and targeted Chinese workers.

In August this year three Chinese nationals were among six wounded in a suicide attack on a bus transporting Chinese engineers working in Balochistan, in an attack that was also claimed by the BLA.

The Pakistani military has been targeting insurgencies in the province since 2004, and has been repeatedly accused by international rights groups of abuses there.

Islamabad regularly accuses its eastern neighbour India of funding and arming Baloch separatists, and of targeting development projects in the province, particularly CPEC.

India's foreign ministry swiftly condemned Friday's attack in a statement, saying: "There can be no justification whatsoever for any act of terrorism". </s> Attack was claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army, which has been fighting for an independent homeland for the Baloch.

Gunmen on motorbikes opened fire on construction workers, killing 10 in Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan, officials said Saturday.

Mineral-rich Balochistan has been plagued for decades by a separatist uprising and sectarian killings. Gunmen have previously targeted labourers seen as outsiders in the region.

"Two gunmen riding on motorbikes opened fire on a group of construction workers in Peshukan Ganz neighbourhood of Gwadar," local administration official Munir Zamari told AFP news agency.

The attack has been claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), an armed separatist group that has been fighting for an independent homeland for the ethnic Baloch.

"They were FWO [the military's construction arm] workers, working on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor," Shahshan Baloch, a BLA spokesman, told Al Jazeera.

 

The attack was carried out by four BLA fighters on motorcycles, said Baloch.

READ MORE: Does the China-Pakistan economic corridor worry India?

Balochistan is the largest of Pakistan's four provinces, but its roughly seven million inhabitants have long complained they do not receive a fair share of its gas and mineral wealth.

 

The BLA is among a number of armed groups that have been fighting the Pakistani state for about a decade, targeting security forces and civilians, mainly in ethnic Baloch areas.

A greater push towards peace and development by Pakistani authorities has reduced the violence considerably in recent years.

The push includes starting work on a massive Chinese infrastructure project, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which gives Beijing a route to the Arabian Sea through Balochistan's deep sea port of Gwadar.
Suspected Baloch nationalist gunmen storm a coal mine in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing at least five people.