Nine killed, 20 injured after militants attack Pakistan police station with grenades and guns in Balochistan, the country’s poorest region

A shoot-out between police and armed gunmen killed nine people and injured 20 others in southwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, said police.

The firefight occurred after three gunmen entered police offices in the province of Balochistan, Loralai district, and threw hand grenades.

“Senior police officials were busy selecting candidates for different categories of civilian jobs when these terrorists entered the compound and hurled hand grenades,” said Balochistan police chief Mohsin Butt. “Police officials opened fire on them killing one of the terrorists.”

The two remaining gunmen went into hiding in the building and later blew themselves up. Three of those killed were policemen and six were civilian staff members, while twenty people were injured in the crossfire, Butt said. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest and poorest region, which borders Afghanistan and Iran and is rife with ethnic, sectarian and separatist insurgencies. Its residents have long complained that it does not receive a fair share of the profits made from its mineral wealth.