Pakistan army says protesters kill soldier and injure 16

QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) – Pakistan’s army said protesters taking part in a march in the southwestern city of Gwadar attacked security forces deployed to guard them on Monday, killing one soldier and injuring 16 others.

A nationalist ethnic Baloch movement has been demonstrating for the last two days in the port city, blocking a highway to press their demands for the release of members of their movement they allege were detained by security forces.

The army said protesters assaulted military personnel who had been deployed to guard them, killing a soldier. “The unprovoked assaults by the violent protesters have resulted in injuries to sixteen soldiers, including an officer.”

There was no immediate reaction from the Baloch movement’s officials.

Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, where Gwadar is located, borders Iran and Afghanistan and has long been the scene of a low-level insurgency by the separatist groups, who say they have been fighting for a greater share in the region’s rich mineral resources.

(Reporting by Saleem Ahmed in Quetta, Pakistan; Writing by Asif Shahzad)