QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — A remotely-detonated bomb killed three workers doing a survey for a local oil exploration company in southwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, police said.

Local police official Mohammad Hussain said the bombing near the town of Dera Bugti in the Baluchistan province also wounded five surveyors.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but small nationalist groups and separatists have claimed previous such attacks in the province. Islamic militants also have a strong presence in Baluchistan.

The latest violence came a day after assailants ambushed a convoy of paramilitary troops, killing six of them in the Awaran district of Baluchistan. No group has claimed that attack either.</s>QUETTA, Pakistan — A Pakistani government official says gunmen killed six paramilitary troops and wounded two in an ambush on a security convoy in the country’s southwest.

Hasil Khan, a local administrator in Awaran district of Baluchistan province, says the convoy came under an attack by gun fire and rocket-propelled grenades in the district’s Mashki area on Monday.

He says the convoy was on patrol when the attack happened and that a search is underway for the attackers.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack but the blame will likely fall on Baluch separatists fighting in the region.

Islamic militants also operate in Baluchistan province, which has been the scene of low level insurgency for over a decade. The separatists demand a larger share of provincial resources or complete autonomy from Islamabad.</s>QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — Attacks in Pakistan on Monday killed six members of the country's paramilitary force and two policemen, officials said.

In southwestern Baluchistan province, gunmen ambushed a convoy of paramilitary troops and wounded two in an ambush on a security convoy in the country's southwest.

Later Monday, an attack in the country's North Waziristan region left two policemen dead.

Hasil Khan, a local administrator in Awaran district of Baluchistan, said the convoy came under an attack by gun fire and rocket-propelled grenades in the district's Mashki area. The troops were on patrol when the attack happened, Khan said, adding that a search was underway for the attackers.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack but blame will likely fall on Baluch separatists fighting in the region.

Islamic militants also operate in Baluchistan province, which has been the scene of low level insurgency for over a decade. The separatists demand a larger share of provincial resources or complete autonomy from Islamabad.

In North Waziristan, the attack that killed two policemen took place in the Boya area, according to Mohammad Ayaz Khan, the region's top government administrator.

He said a government official, Rehmat Hussain, and a policeman were also wounded in the attack.

Last month, government official Hameedullah Khan was killed in a similar attack in the same area.</s>Suspected insurgents in southwestern Pakistan on Monday ambushed and killed six paramilitary soldiers.

 

 Officials said the rocket-and-gun attack on a Frontier Corps patrol in the troubled Awaran district in Baluchistan province also wounded two soldiers.

 

 There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attack in a district where militants linked to outlawed separatist Baluch Liberation Front (BLA) are active.

 

 Several insurgent groups are operating in the natural-resource rich largest Pakistani province, which borders Afghanistan and Iran. Pakistani officials say sustained security operations over the years have weakened the militants.

 

 Insurgents linked to the Taliban also allegedly use Baluchistan as a shelter for plotting attacks inside Afghanistan, charges Islamabad rejects.

 

 The province hosts several mega infrastructure-related projects being built under a multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, or CPEC, cooperation deal. The Chinese-operated Arabian Sea port of Gwadar, which is central to CPEC, is also located in Baluchistan.

 

 Pakistan has trained and deployed a special military-led unit of thousands of soldiers to protect the CPEC projects against insurgent attacks.</s>Six members of Pakistan’s paramilitary force and two police officers have been killed in separate attacks in the country's southwest and northwest, officials say.

Two paramilitary troops were also injured on July 2 when gunmen ambushed their convoy with gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades in the southwestern province of Balochistan, said Hasil Khan, a local administrator.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in Awaran district.

Resource-rich Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan and Iran, has been plagued by sectarian violence, Islamist militant attacks, and a separatist insurgency that has led to thousands of casualties since 2004.

In the North Waziristan tribal region, officials said a July 2 attack left two police officers dead.

A government official and a police officer were also wounded in the attack, according to Mohammad Ayaz Khan, the region's top government administrator.

Islamic militants had sanctuaries in North Waziristan until a 2014 Pakistani Army offensive, after which most militants escaped to Afghanistan. They continue to carry out sporadic attacks.
Militants ambush a paramilitary convoy in Awaran, Baluchistan, Pakistan and kill six people.