11 killed in separate blasts in Pakistan’s Balochistan, insurgent group claims one attack

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At least 11 people were killed in two separate blasts in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province on Friday, officials said, underscoring the growing wave of militancy in the mineral-rich region bordering Afghanistan and Iran.A suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a convoy of paramilitary soldiers in Dasht, near the Iranian border, killing five people, including three troops, according to two local government officials who spoke to AFP. The separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack.In a separate incident the same evening, a blast near an Afghan border crossing killed six labourers, local official Imtiaz Ali Baloch told AFP. No group immediately claimed responsibility for that attack.Balochistan has long been a flashpoint for violence, with separatist groups waging a decade-long insurgency against the Pakistani state, alleging exploitation of local resources and discrimination against the Baloch people. The military has responded with a sweeping counter-terrorism campaign, which rights groups say has involved enforced disappearances and arbitrary detentions.Earlier this month, 15 people were killed in a suicide bombing claimed by the Islamic State group at a political rally in the provincial capital, Quetta.