Pakistan says 36 terrorists killed in Balochistan operations
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan’s military said Friday that security forces killed 36 terrorists in a series of intelligence-based operations across Balochistan province over the past 12 to 24 hours.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, said the operations were conducted in Mastung, Quetta, Kalat and Sibi districts as part of intensified counterterrorism efforts.
In Mastung, security forces identified and engaged a group of militants, resulting in the deaths of six terrorists, according to the statement. Ammunition and improvised explosive devices were also destroyed at the site.
In another operation in the Shaban area of Quetta district, troops identified four militant hideouts and killed 26 militants following an exchange of fire, the ISPR said.
Two more militants were killed during a raid on a suspected terrorist hideout in Kalat district, while two others were killed after security forces, supported by local residents, thwarted an attempted attack on a police station in Bhag area of Sibi district.
The ISPR described the militants as members of what Pakistan calls Indian-sponsored groups, including Fitna al-Hindustan and Fitna al-Khwarij. These are terms used by Pakistani authorities for militant networks they accuse of being backed by India.
The military said a total of 48 terrorists had been killed across Balochistan during the previous 48 to 72 hours.
Security forces were continuing sanitization operations in the affected areas to search for additional militants, the statement said.
The operations are part of Pakistan’s broader counterterrorism campaign under Azm-e-Istehkam, a national strategy approved by the Federal Apex Committee under the National Action Plan.
