By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: A soldier was martyred and 14 militants killed in a security operation in the southwestern province of Balochistan on Sunday, the military said, as Islamabad intensified counter-terrorism sweeps it has attributed to Indian-backed proxy networks.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, said intelligence reports led security forces to the Naal area of Basima district on June 8, where militants belonging to a group it designates as Fitna al-Hindustan were allegedly preparing to strike a nearby police station and several banks.
“On receipt of the information, swift action was undertaken by security forces,” the ISPR said in a statement, adding that the operation was launched to “thwart the nefarious designs of the terrorists.”
Fourteen militants were killed and several others wounded in what the military described as an intense firefight. Four vehicles and a number of improvised explosive devices were also destroyed during the operation, the statement said.
Lance Havildar Muhammad Abbas was killed in the exchange, the ISPR said, describing him as having “fought gallantly” before paying the “ultimate sacrifice.”
Sanitisation operations were continuing in the area, the military added.
Pakistan has applied the Fitna al-Hindustan label to Balochistan-based militant organisations as part of a broader effort to draw international attention to what Islamabad alleges is New Delhi’s covert support for separatist and militant networks inside Pakistan. India has consistently denied those allegations.
The Basima operation is the latest in a string of military actions across Balochistan. On June 5, security forces killed six militants in an intelligence-based operation in the province’s Panjgur district. During the final week of May, 17 militants were killed across operations in the districts of Mastung, Nushki, Khuzdar and Kech — raids the military said followed a suicide attack on a passenger train near Quetta.
Pakistan has witnessed a sharp rise in militant violence, particularly in Balochistan and the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021. Islamabad has repeatedly accused the Taliban administration of sheltering militant groups that carry out cross-border attacks — an accusation Kabul denies.
The tensions escalated sharply in October 2025, when Pakistani border posts came under attack by Afghan Taliban-affiliated fighters, prompting Islamabad to launch what it called Operation Ghazab lil-Haq, in which scores of militants were reported killed or wounded. Despite multiple rounds of diplomatic engagement, the two neighbours have been unable to reach a durable agreement, with Pakistani officials citing Kabul’s unwillingness to act against groups operating from Afghan soil.
The ongoing operations fall under the national counter-terrorism framework known as Azm-i-Istehkam, approved by Pakistan’s Federal Apex Committee under the National Action Plan. The ISPR said the campaign would “continue at full pace to wipe out the menace of foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism.”
Copyright © 2021 Independent Pakistan | All rights reserved
