Srinagar: At least 73 people, including 14 soldiers, were killed by militants in Pakistan’s Balochistan province on Monday after targeting police stations, railway lines and vehicles on highways. This is believed to be the biggest attack by the separatist rebels in the last few years. The militants mainly targeted vehicles, trucks on highways as well as railway lines and police stations. At least twelve militants were killed in retaliatory action by Pakistani security forces. Around 73 people were killed in two separate violent incidents in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Baluchistan on Monday. The first attack took place in Musakhail district when armed assailants attacked buses, trucks and vehicles and killed 23 Punjabi nationals, forcibly separating tourists and checking their identity cards. The attackers also set ten vehicles on fire before fleeing the scene. In another incident, armed assailants killed sixteen people, including four police officers and five civilians, in Kalat district. The attacks were part of a wider pattern of violence in Balochistan in which insurgents targeted railway tracks in Bolan, a police station in Mastung and vehicles in Gwadar. Fortunately, no casualties were reported in these other attacks. Besides, the BLA rebels also targeted the railway line connecting Pakistan with Iran. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack. The BLA is a separatist organization that has long targeted workers and individuals, the military or the police, from the East Punjab province of Pakistan. Other terrorist groups are also active in the area due to which the security situation is more confused. Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the attack as barbaric and promised to punish the perpetrators. Twelve militants are said to have been killed in an operation by Pakistani security forces. It is worth mentioning that some extremist organizations in this province have been opposing Pakistan’s occupation of Balochistan in advance and have been targeting workers coming from Pakistan’s Punjab and other provinces. Earlier this year on April 11, 11 workers were killed in a similar manner in Naushki in Balochistan and nine Chinese engineers who were working on Gwadar Port were also killed earlier. Earlier crops in this province. Fed up with the government-army and police atrocities, the people carried out a peaceful movement. However, now armed organizations have carried out the biggest attacks. Openly challenged the government.