Clashes with militants in southwestern Pakistan kill 5 troops and 7 militants

QUETTA (TIP): Clashes with insurgents in southwestern Pakistan’s embattled Balochistan province on Wednesday killed five soldiers, including an army major, the military said. An outlawed separatist group said it had attacked the soldiers. According to the military, security forces launched an operation in the province’s district of Barkhan to rout out insurgents that Islamabad claims are backed by India. The province’s outlawed separatist Baloch Liberation Army, or BLA, issued a statement saying its fighters had attacked the troops, triggering a shootout.
Among the military deaths was an army major, the military said, adding that the fighting also left seven militants dead. Resource-rich Balochistan — Pakistan’s largest but least populated province — has long faced an insurgency by separatist groups as well as attacks by the Pakistani Taliban. The BLA, which the United States designated a terrorist organization in 2019, has carried out numerous attacks targeting security forces and civilians in the province in recent years.
The military described the killed militants as members of Fitna al-Hindustan,” a term Pakistani authorities use for Indian-backed insurgents.
‘Baseless’: Nepal on reports of new restrictions on Indian tourists
Reacting to reports of new restrictions on Indian tourists travelling to Nepal, the country has dismissed them as baseless. The reports had created a perception that Nepal was trying to curtail tourist visits from India.
In a statement, the Nepal Tourism Board said, “The Board has expressed serious concern about the misleading and factually incorrect information being circulated by different media outlets and online platforms regarding travel regulations for Indian visitors to Nepal. Reports claiming that the Government of Nepal has imposed new restrictions requiring mandatory identity cards for Indians crossing the Nepal-India border, capped Indian tourist stays at 30 days, or authorised confiscation of vehicles for overstays are entirely false, baseless, and misleading.” The Government of Nepal has introduced no new policy restricting the duration of stay for Indian tourists, nor has any change been made to the open-border arrangements and bilateral understandings between Nepal and India, a statement said.