Gunmen killed nine police officers, and others are missing, following an attack on a checkpost at a dam project in Pakistan’s restive southwestern Balochistan province, officials said on Tuesday. “Nine policemen are dead and many are missing after an attack on a checkpost that was guarding the Mangi Dam project,” Abdul Qudoos, a senior district official, told AFP. A spokesman for the provincial government confirmed the toll, saying senior officers from several police stations were among the dead and blaming the attack on Islamist militants. Paramilitary, police and counter-terrorism personnel had “successfully carried out the joint clearance operations” against the militants, Balochistan’s government spokesman Shahid Rind said in a statement. Pakistan has for years been battling a separatist insurgency in Balochistan, where militants target state forces and foreign investment and infrastructure projects in the mineral-rich province bordering Afghanistan and Iran.

Full report : Nine policemen killed in clash with militants in Pakistan’s Balochistan.