By Staff Reporter
QUETTA: Security forces have killed 50 militants in a series of intense operations over the past four days in Balochistan’s Zhob district, thwarting attempts by insurgents to cross from Afghanistan, the military said on Tuesday.
However, in a separate ambush in the southern Washuk district, nine security personnel, including an officer, lost their lives, underscoring the persistent threat of militancy in the volatile province.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, reported that 47 militants were neutralised in “successful engagements” in the Sambaza area of Zhob district, near the Pak-Afghan border, from August 7 to 9.
A follow-up “sanitisation operation” on the night of August 10-11 eliminated three additional “Indian-sponsored” terrorists in the same area, with security forces seizing arms and ammunition from their possession, the ISPR said. “The number of TTP (banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan or Khawarij) terrorists killed in the four-day operation has risen to fifty,” the ISPR statement noted.
In a separate incident on Monday night, a convoy of security forces was ambushed in the Basima area of Washuk district, near the Iranian border, resulting in the martyrdom of nine personnel, including an officer. Six soldiers were also injured in the hour-long gun battle, during which militants opened heavy fire on three vehicles, Dawn newspaper reported.
Security forces returned fire, engaging the attackers in a fierce exchange. “An officer and eight other security personnel embraced martyrdom while fighting bravely, and six others sustained injuries,” the newspaper quoting a senior security official as saying.
The official added that the militants also suffered casualties, though exact figures were not disclosed. The ISPR had not issued an official statement on the ambush.
In another incident in Basima, militants attempted to storm a police station recently transferred to local police control. The attack was repelled after a 30-minute firefight, leaving three policemen injured. “Blood marks on the ground and a motorbike confirm casualties on the other side,” the same security official said, suggesting losses among the attackers.
The violence extended to other parts of Balochistan. In Sibi, a police officer was wounded late Monday when an unidentified motorcyclist hurled a grenade at a police vehicle near the Government Girls College during a snap-checking operation, officials said. In Quetta, the provincial capital, a police vehicle narrowly escaped a roadside bomb attack on Link Badini Road near the Eastern Bypass. The explosion destroyed a passing civilian car, but its driver emerged unharmed. “The target was a police vehicle…but it passed the area a minute before the blast,” a senior police officer said. No group claimed responsibility for either attack.
The recent surge in violence underscores the complex security challenges Pakistan faces in Balochistan, where separatist groups like the BLA and militant outfits like the TTP operate. The province, rich in natural resources, has long been a flashpoint for insurgent activity, often complicated by its proximity to Afghanistan and Iran.
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