By Staff Reporter
QUETTA: Three security personnel, including an army major, were martyred in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in Balochistan’s Mastung district, the military said on Wednesday, accusing India-backed terrorists of orchestrating the assault.
The attack took place on the night of August 5-6, when terrorists from “Fitna al-Hindustan” targeted a security forces’ vehicle with an IED, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, said in a statement. “They paid the ultimate sacrifice and embraced shahadat,” the ISPR added, referring to the three personnel killed.
Among the fallen was Major Rizwan Shaheed, hailed by the ISPR as “a brave officer who participated in numerous counter-terrorism operations and always led his troops from the front.”
Following the attack, security forces launched a sanitisation operation in the area, killing four Indian-sponsored terrorists. The ISPR vowed that such operations would continue “to eliminate any terrorists present in the area.” “The security forces of Pakistan are determined to wipe out the menace of Indian-sponsored terrorism from the country, and such sacrifices of our brave men further strengthen our resolve.”
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the Mastung attack, praising the troops for “swiftly eliminating four militants linked to ‘Fitna al-Hindustan.’” Offering prayers for the martyred soldiers, he extended sympathies to their families. “Their grief is not theirs alone; the entire nation stands with them in mourning,” Sharif said. “The soldiers of Pakistan’s armed forces continue to defend the country like a wall that cannot be shaken. Their courage cannot be forgotten.”
He reaffirmed the state’s commitment, saying, “the sacrifices made in this fight against terrorism are unmatched. The state remains determined to end terrorism completely.”
The Mastung assault was part of a broader wave of terror incidents in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where eight security personnel and three civilians were also martyred in separate attacks, officials said. In Balochistan’s Kirdgab area of Mastung district, another IED attack on Tuesday evening targeted a security forces’ convoy in Killi Pasand Khan, martyring three personnel, including a senior officer, and injuring three others.
“A vehicle was targeted with an IED, which was planted at the roadside and detonated with a remote control device,” a senior local administration official said. The injured were rushed to the Combined Military Hospital in Quetta for treatment. The ISPR linked this attack to “Fitna al-Hindustan,” a term the state uses for the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA).
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Karak district, militants ambushed a Federal Frontier Constabulary (FC) vehicle in Amankot, under Gurgari police station jurisdiction. Terrorists from the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, positioned on a mountaintop, opened fire on the pick-up truck, killing one Lance Naik, two sepoys, and their civilian driver. The slain troops were guarding an oil and gas facility in the area.
Rescuers shifted the bodies to a hospital in Terri. Separately, in Lakki Marwat district, an off-duty Frontier Corps soldier was killed in a gun attack near the Railway Station area. A police official identified the victim as a Zangikhel resident who had recently settled locally and was on leave. “After the attack, the police started combing the area in search of the assailants,” the official said. The soldier was buried with state honours.
In Peshawar, a police inspector and two civilians were gunned down Tuesday night within Michni Gate police station limits. Inspector Ali Hussain, in-charge of the station’s investigation cell, was travelling with friends when four unknown motorcyclists opened fire on their car. SSP Operations Peshawar Masood Bangash said 65 empty bullet shells were recovered, and the attackers fled towards Mathra on the city’s outskirts.
In Upper South Waziristan’s Ladha tehsil, Deputy Commissioner Asmatullah Wazir and Additional Deputy Commissioner Zahid Younis survived an ambush on their convoy in Habib Kot. Assailants fired indiscriminately, shattering vehicle windows and injuring two policemen with glass shards. “We reached Ladha headquarters safely,” DC Wazir said, adding that the attackers escaped as police launched an investigation.
Meanwhile, in Lakki Marwat’s Bachkan Ahmadzai area, a 22-year-old Pakistan Navy commando was injured Wednesday when two masked motorcyclists attacked him en route to his village. The commando, posted at PNS Iqbal in Karachi and on leave. “One of them tried to aim his pistol at me. When I resisted, the armed suspect opened fire and injured me.” Police registered a case and are pursuing the suspects. These incidents highlight the persistent security challenges facing Pakistan, as authorities vow to intensify efforts against terrorism.
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