Shahid Rind, a spokesman for the Balochistan government, says 15 assailants killed in ‘clearance operations’.

At least nine police officers have been killed in an attack on a police post at a dam project in southwestern Pakistan, police and local officials said.

“At least nine policemen, including two officers, were killed in the
attack,” local police official Zahoor Ahmad said on Tuesday.

The assailants also abducted eight police officers, but all were later recovered by security forces, said Shahid Rind, a spokesman for the Balochistan government.

Paramilitary, police and counterterrorism personnel had “successfully carried out the joint clearance operations” against the fighters, killing 15 assailants, Rind said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Rind claimed that the Pakistan Taliban, known by the acronym TTP, were responsible, without providing evidence.

Pakistan has for years been battling armed groups targeting state forces, foreign investment and infrastructure projects in the mineral-rich province bordering Afghanistan and Iran.

The TPP, a separate movement from the Afghan Taliban, also maintains a strong presence in Balochistan and has fought for years to overthrow the government in Islamabad.