ADVERTISEMENT

Two-day crackdown in Balochistan leaves 177 militants dead, says Pakistan government

Security forces chase attackers across multiple districts after assaults killed personnel and civilians, including women and children

Pakistan army soldiers stand at a tunnel where the Jaffar Express train was attacked by separatist militants, in Bolan PTI

PTI
Published 02.02.26, 05:52 PM

Pakistani security forces have killed 22 more terrorists, raising the death toll of militants to 177 in the last two days in Balochistan after coordinated terror attacks at multiple places in the restive southwestern province, security officials said on Monday.

The counter terror operation was launched after militants belonging to ethnic Baloch groups carried out multiple attacks at several locations on Saturday.

ADVERTISEMENT

"Since Sunday night, security forces have killed 22 more terrorists,” Shahid Rind, a spokesperson for the provincial government, said on Monday.

He said that 167 bodies have been sent to hospitals so far for future processing and identification. He added that 177 militants have been killed in the last two days.

Rind said most of the terrorists killed belonged to the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and had support from other insurgent groups.

“These terrorists have been killed over a period of over two days during the attacks or when security forces chased them and started clean-up operations," he added.

On Sunday, Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti had said that 145 terrorists had been killed.

On Friday, the military said that security forces killed 41 terrorists on Thursday in the Panggur and Shaban areas of the province.

The military and the state have designated these terrorists belonging to insurgent groups or the Tehreek-e-Taliban as "Fitna-al-Hindustan", a term the government uses claiming that the militants allegedly receive support from Indian intelligence agencies.

Due to the clean-up operations underway at different locations, mobile or internet services since were suspended in Quetta, Mastung, Kalat, Khuzdar, Nushki, Dalbandin, Kharan and other cities on Saturday.

Balochistan's Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Hamza Shafqaat told the media that the services would resume on Tuesday.

The terrorists, including two female suicide bombers, attacked multiple security and government installations at 12 different towns and cities in the province last week. So far, authorities have confirmed the death of at least 17 personnel of police, frontier corps and security forces. Eighteen civilians, including three women and two children, were killed in Gwadar.

Security forces engaged the terrorists in gun battles across the province.

Sarfraz Bugti on Sunday expressed firm resolve to eliminate the insurgent groups unless they surrendered and laid down their weapons.

Balochistan, bordering Iran and Afghanistan, is home to a long-running violent insurgency. Baloch insurgent groups have previously carried out several attacks targeting the USD 60 billion CPEC projects.

In 2025, the BLA claimed responsibility for the March hijacking of the Jaffar Express train travelling from Quetta to Peshawar, killing 31 civilians and security personnel and holding hostage over 300 passengers.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.

Follow us on:
ADVERTISEMENT