Militants in Pakistan storm a police station and set fire to banks, killing a boy

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — Dozens of militants armed with guns and rockets stormed a police station and set fire to two banks in restive southwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, killing a boy and wounding nine others before fleeing, officials said.

The boy died when the attackers fired on civilians indiscriminately during the attacks in Mastung, a district in Balochistan province, said Jan Mohammad, a local government administrator.

Mohammad said some of the insurgents were also killed in the shootout with security forces.

A provincial government spokesman, Shahid Rind, said a security operation had been launched to pursue the assailants.

No group immediately claimed responsibility, though suspicion is likely to fall on the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army, or BLA, which often targets security forces and civilians in Balochistan and elsewhere. The United States designated the BLA a terrorist organization in 2019.

Balochistan has long been the scene of a low-level insurgency by separatist groups seeking independence from the central government. The province is also home to militants linked to the Pakistani Taliban and the Islamic State group.