BLA terror attacks may delay launch of China-backed airport in Pakistan – Times of India

ISLAMABAD: The start of operations at a Chinese-funded airport in Pakistan’s Balochistan has been pushed back for a security review after last week’s attacks by separatists in the area, govt and aviation sources said. More than 70 people were killed in the attacks, where militants seeking the region’s secession have been targeting govt forces and projects being developed as part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor.
The $200-million airport in Gwadar, a joint venture between Pakistan, Oman and China, is close to completion. The initial plan was for PM Shehbaz Sharif to inaugurate it on Aug 14 alongside Chinese officials, but that was called off after an ethnic Baloch rights group started a sit-in protest, the officials said. Following the attacks, two officials at CAA and two others in the provincial govt said the start of flights would be delayed as authorities review security in the region.
Pakistan’s military, meanwhile, said it had killed five insurgents and wounded three others in intelligence-based operations launched in the province in response to the attacks. “Operations will continue until all perpetrators, facilitators and abetters are brought to justice,” the army said.