By Staff Reporter
QUETTA: Pakistan’s top military commander, Field Marshal Asim Munir, declared on Wednesday that no terrorist or facilitator would escape punishment and that violence could not be justified “on any pretext,” as he visited Balochistan in the wake of coordinated militant assaults that killed dozens of security personnel and civilians.
The chief of army staff and chief of defence forces made the remarks during a day-long trip to Quetta, the provincial capital, where he was briefed on the security situation and continuing counterterrorism operations, according to a statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing.
The briefing, the statement said, focused on a wave of recent attacks that authorities attribute to “India-backed internationally designated terrorists of Fitna al-Hindustan” — a term the state has adopted for Balochistan-based militant groups to underscore what it describes as New Delhi’s role in sponsoring insurgency. The military said security forces responded aggressively, thwarting attempts to undermine peace, stability and development in the restive province.
Munir’s visit came days after militants launched simultaneous strikes on Jan. 31 across at least nine locations in Balochistan, including Quetta, Mastung, Nushki, Dalbandin, Kharan, Panjgur, Tump, Gwadar and Pasni. The assaults killed 22 Pakistani troops and 36 civilians, including women and children. Since then, security forces have conducted sweeping clearance operations in remote mountainous areas, killing 197 militants. The operations have centered on insurgents linked to the separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), which authorities described as responsible for one of the group’s most ambitious offensives in years.
During the briefing, discussions also covered steps to bolster the state’s authority and protect residents and critical infrastructure, the ISPR said. Munir stated that “no terrorist and their facilitator will be spared and all will be dealt strictly as per law.” He praised the “professionalism, valour and sacrifices” of troops and law enforcement agencies in countering what the military called “nefarious anti-Pakistan designs.”
Accompanied by Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti, Munir visited the Combined Military Hospital in Quetta, where he met wounded personnel from the army, the paramilitary Frontier Corps Balochistan and local police. He commended their morale and “bravery and steadfastness” in defending the country against what the military described as foreign-sponsored terrorism.
The surge in violence follows a pattern of escalating attacks in Balochistan, a sparsely populated but resource-rich province that has long grappled with a separatist insurgency. The BLA and other groups accuse Islamabad of exploiting the region’s natural gas and mineral wealth while marginalising local residents. Militants have increasingly targeted non-Baloch workers and Chinese-backed infrastructure projects tied to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a flagship component of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Saturday’s assaults came a day after the military announced it had killed 41 insurgents in two separate operations. Last year, BLA fighters derailed a passenger train carrying 450 people, triggering a deadly two-day standoff that underscored the group’s growing capabilities. Pakistan has repeatedly accused India of arming and funding Baloch separatists. The neighbors, both nuclear-armed, have fought multiple wars and maintain a deep rivalry, particularly over the disputed Kashmir region. Islamabad’s use of the label “Fitna al-Hindustan” reflects its effort to frame the insurgency as externally driven rather than rooted solely in domestic grievances.
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