By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, (AA): At least six Pakistani paramilitary troops were killed and another two injured in an attack by separatists on a checkpoint in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, an official said Thursday.
The attack took place in Jiwani town in Gwadar district when a group of heavily-armed militants stormed a checkpoint killing five troops on the spot, while another succumbed to his injuries at hospital, Bashir Bungalzai, a local government official told reporters.
Two others were also injured in the attack, he added. No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, which is the latest in a string of ambushes on security forces in the mineral-rich province by the Baluch separatists that have been fighting for cessation from Pakistan.
The large Baluchistan province, which is also considered to cover parts of neighboring Iran and Afghanistan, is strategically important because of the rich resources of copper, zinc and natural gas, but has been beset by violence for over six decades, with separatists claiming that it was forcibly incorporated into Pakistan at the end of the British rule in 1947.
The province, especially its capital Quetta, has also been facing a deadly wave of sectarian violence for the past one decade.
Over 2000 people — mostly Shia — have been killed in targeted attacks and suicide bombings in Quetta and other parts of the province over the last ten years.
[Photo: Bus suicide attack in Quetta, Baluchistan last year in January. Attacks such as these against civilians and armed forces is common. Photographer: Stringer/AA]