The intensity of attacks on army posts in Pakistan’s Gwadar port has increased once more. Two defence soldiers were killed in an attack on an army post in Gwadar recently.

The Baluchistan Post reports that four civilians were hurt in the incident in addition to the defence men.

The attack was reportedly a planned ambush on Pakistan’s bomb disposal squad in the Siyaji neighbourhood of Gwadar. Police officers were cited in the same source as confirming that the squad was attacked as they were their route to their designated outposts.

Nevertheless, no assertion was made regarding the attackers’ identities.

The Balochistan Post disclosed similar information in a post on X, saying, “Attacks against Pakistani military have intensified in Balochistan.” Targeted in Bolan since yesterday are FWO, a military engineering organisation, Mari Petroleum, a Fauji Foundation subsidiary, and a Pakistani military station. There have been several reported casualties.”

Prior to the current combat, which broke out after gunfire and multiple explosions were reported at Pakistan’s Gwadar Port Authority Complex on Wednesday, Dawn News reported, citing the military’s media wing, that at least two Pakistani soldiers and eight terrorists had died.

A statement from Pakistan’s Inter Services Public Relations stated that eight terrorists made an attempt to penetrate the Port Authority Colony.

“A large quantity of arms, ammunition, and explosives was also recovered,” according to the ISPR.The attack has been attributed to the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), namely the Majeed Brigade.

The Majeed Brigade claims that China and Pakistan are abusing the resources in the area and is against China making investments in the province of Balochistan. Multiple explosions were also reported as part of the attack, according to Makran Commissioner Saeed Ahmed Umrani.

When the heavy gunfire was still going on, a sizable detachment of police and security personnel had arrived on the area, he continued.

Captain Zohaib Mohsin (Retd), Gwadar Senior Superintendent of Police, originally reported that eight armed attackers were shot dead, but he then changed his statement to reflect that there were only seven.

The statement went on to say that no initial reports of injuries had been received and that seven employees of two UN agency on missions and three UN agencies with a base in Gwadar were “safe and accounted for.”

Important to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is the Chinese-controlled port of Gwadar. It is a component of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and consists of energy and transport projects worth billions of dollars.