Armed militants stormed a police checkpost in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province and also set fire to machinery and equipment of a cement factory in the vicinity before escaping from the scene, authorities said.

The incident took place on Thursday in Mastung town.

A police official confirmed that the attack took place at a time when the security personnel were changing at the checkpost and the armed militants snatched guns, ammunition, wireless sets and motorcycles before putting equipment in the cement factory on fire.

The armed militants had escaped well before security personnel reached the scene.

However, there were no casualties in the attack, sources said.

He said on Thursday armed militants suspected of being members of outlawed separatist groups had also carried out a similar operation in Khuzdar which is located in a remote area of the Balochistan province.

He said according to reports the separatists had robbed a bank and burnt a police station before escaping from there.

Security and political think tank groups say that since last year the separatist groups operating in the province have become increasingly bold and stepped up their terror attacks on security forces, installations and civilians working in Balochistan from other provinces.

“Balochistan is a very big province in terms of land and most of this land is in rough mountainous terrains and in remote areas and it becomes easier for these militants to carry out their attacks,” one security analyst said.

Balochistan, bordering Iran and Afghanistan, is home to a long-running violent insurgency. Baloch insurgent groups have previously carried out several attacks targeting CPEC projects.

The BLA accuses China and Islamabad of exploitation of the resource-rich province, a charge rejected by the authorities. It has fought a long-running insurgency for a separate homeland.

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