Gunmen storm five-star hotel in Balochistan

File pic

Quetta: Four persons were killed after three gunmen stormed a five-star hotel in the southwestern Pakistani city of Gwadar, the centrepiece of a multi-billion dollar Chinese infrastructure project, the military said on Saturday.

The gunmen shot dead a security guard at the entrance to the hotel. "Security forces have cordoned the area. Guests safely evacuated. Terrorists encircled by security forces in staircase leading to top floor," a military spokesman said.

Earlier, the provincial home minister Ziaullah Langu said four gunmen had "opened fire" on the hotel. "There are reports of a few people sustaining minor injuries," the minister said.

Mohammad Aslam, the on-duty officer in Gwadar, said ambulances and rescue officers were waiting at a road leading to the hotel, and that he could hear gunfire but that the operation was coming to an end.

"There were no Chinese or Pakistani guests in the hotel," he said, adding that only staff were present in the building. The outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility of the attack which it said was carried out by the militants linked with its Majeed Brigade group.

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