Quetta, July 17 -- In an escalation of its armed resistance, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed responsibility for two deadly attacks that killed 29 Pakistani army personnel in the Balochistan cities of Kalat and Quetta.

BLA spokesperson Jeeyand Baloch in an official statement on Tuesday called it a direct response to what the group terms Pakistan's continued occupation of Balochistan.

According to the BLA, its elite Fateh Squad executed a high-impact operation at Nimrag Cross in Kalat, targeting a military bus transporting Pakistani army personnel from Karachi to Quetta. The assault, described as an "intelligence-based operation," was coordinated using data collected by the BLA's internal intelligence wing, ZIRAB. The bus was...