Baloch insurgent groups have previously carried out several attacks targeting the USD 60 billion CPEC projects.The BLA is opposed to China’s investments in Balochistan and accuses Beijing and Islamabad of exploitation of the resource-rich province, a charge rejected by the authorities.Thousands of Chinese personnel are working in Pakistan on several projects being carried out under the aegis of the CPEC.BLA’s Majeed Brigade, which was formed in 2011, is a particularly lethal guerilla cell of the BLA.It was named after a guard of former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who was killed while attempting to assassinate the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) founder.It has been alleged that the group also maintains sanctuaries in areas along the Pak-Iran border.The brigade, which is the suicide squad of the BLA, mostly targets security forces and Chinese interests in Pakistan.It also claimed responsibility for the April 2022 suicide attack outside the Karachi University’s Confucius Institute.The outfit had also claimed responsibility for three coordinated attacks launched using rockets and sophisticated weapons in Balochistan’s Mach town in January, some 70 kilometres from the provincial capital of Quetta.The attack comes on a day when Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif asserted that his government will not tolerate any acts of cross-border terrorism.Gwadar Senior Superintendent of Police Captain (retd) Zohaib Mohsin said the situation is now under control.A large contingent of police and security forces had arrived at the scene when the intense firing was ongoing, he added.A statement from the United Nations Department for Safety and Security said several explosions followed by continuous firing were reported during the attack on the complex.The statement confirmed there were no immediate reports of civilian casualties, elaborating that seven personnel from three UN agencies based in Gwadar and two UN agencies on missions were safe and accounted for.
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