Quitta: Nine police personnel were martyred, and five others were abducted after armed assailants attacked their checkpoint in Balochistan’s Ziarat district late on Monday, police said.

Ziarat Superintendent of Police (SP) Abdul Qudoos said the attackers stormed the police post in Mangi area of the district, triggering a gun battle in which nine police personnel were martyred.

The official confirmed that the attackers took five police personnel with them after the assault. He said the bodies of the martyred officers had been shifted to the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi strongly condemned the attack by India-sponsored terrorists and paid tribute to the cops who embraced martyrdom.

The interior minister extended his condolences and sympathies to the families of the martyred policemen and prayed for them to be granted patience and strength.

“Those who sacrificed their lives for peace are the pride of our nation,” Naqvi said, adding that the sacrifices of the martyrs would never be forgotten.

He also said such cowardly attacks could not sabotage peace or weaken the country’s resolve against terrorism.

The attack also triggered widespread protests in Ziarat, where local tribes, transporters and relatives of the martyred police personnel staged demonstrations at Ziarat Cross and other locations.

The protesters blocked key national highways linking Balochistan with Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, police said.

The N-50 highway connecting Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the N-70 linking Punjab remained closed, leaving hundreds of passenger buses and freight vehicles stranded.

The attack comes amid a renewed wave of terrorism in Pakistan, particularly in the provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — bordering with Afghanistan.

On May 24, at least 14 people, including three Frontier Corps (FC) personnel, were martyred and several others injured in a blast near the railway track at Chaman Phatak in Quetta.