The alleged mastermind of an attack by a Pakistani separatist group on the Chinese Consulate in the port city of Karachi last month has been killed, the group said.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), which is fighting for independence in resource-rich Balochistan, issued a statement on December 26 that Aslam Baloch, one of its leaders, had been killed.
"The important BLA commander Aslam Baloch, along with five associates in the organization, were martyred in an enemy attack on [December 24]," Jiand Baloch, a spokesman for the separatist group, said in a statement.
He did not say where the men were killed.
Balochistan is Pakistan's largest and poorest province, and it is confronted with ethnic, sectarian, and separatist insurgencies.
Last month, three attackers stormed the Chinese Consulate in Karachi, triggering a shootout that left the attackers, two police officers, and two civilians dead.
Security forces killed the three attackers, who were carrying explosives.
Karachi, Pakistan's largest city and financial center, has been marred for a long time by political, sectarian, and ethnic militancy.
