Unidentified gunmen open fire at Pakistan's Gwadar port, 2 attackers killed

Multiple blasts were heard at Pakistan's strategic Gwadar Port on March 20 after several armed assailants gained entry into the complex. According to media reports, a heavy gunbattle has erupted between the assailants and security personnel at the port.

Unidentified gunmen opened fire on Pakistan's Gwadar port authority building in the volatile Balochistan province on Wednesday, according to local media sources. The Balochistan Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the incident. According to reports, the attackers carried out blasts before the firing took place between them and security officials.

According to Geo News, two attackers were killed in retaliatory firing by security forces.

Gwadar is located near the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial oil shipping route in the Arabian Sea. The deep-water port is key to the multi-billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which also encompasses roads and energy projects and is part of Chinese President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative.

The Gwadar port is a part of the ambitious China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). China has invested heavily under its Belt and Road Initiative in mineral-rich Balochistan, including developing Gwadar, despite a decades-long separatist insurgency in the area.

Despite having an abundance of natural resources, including coal, natural gas, and minerals, the province of Baluchistan continues to be the most impoverished area of Pakistan due to its low population density, lack of access to water and human resources, and extremely subpar basic education.

Pakistan has seen a huge rise in terror activities in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan region after the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan ended its ceasefire agreement with Islamabad in 2022.