By Staff Reporter
QUETTA: Pakistani security forces killed at least 37 militants after thwarting coordinated attacks at 12 locations across the restive southwestern province of Balochistan, officials and state media said on Saturday, in the latest clash amid a surge in militant violence.
The attacks by the “Fitna al Hindustan,” were foiled through timely intervention, the sources said, adding that 10 security personnel were killed in the exchanges. “Fitna al Hindustan carried out attacks at 12 locations across Balochistan,” one security source said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with protocol. “All attacks were thwarted due to the timely and effective action.”
The source added that the 37 militants “were sent to hell,” using language common in official Pakistani accounts of such operations. State-run Radio Pakistan, citing security sources, reported that security forces were still pursuing and engaging militants at various sites, with reports of additional militant casualties and damage.
Another security source said a total of 88 militants had been killed in Balochistan over the past 48 hours. That figure included 41 militants killed on Thursday in intelligence-based operations in the province’s Harnai and Panjgur districts.
Provincial government official Shahid Rind, special aide to the chief minister for political and media affairs, said on the social media platform X that police and the Frontier Corps had repelled attempted attacks at several places across Balochistan. He said the incidents followed the killing of more than 70 militants by security forces over the previous two days.
Mobile phone services remained operational, but data services were suspended in Quetta, Sibi and Chaman following the attacks, according to a Dawn newspaper.
Balochistan Planning Minister Mir Zahoor Ahmed Buledi condemned the militants for damaging public property and terrorizing civilians.”Balochistan will not be held hostage by these perpetrators of violence. With public support, LEAs (law enforcement agencies) have foiled terrorist designs,” Buledi said on X. He added that Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti had cut short engagements in Islamabad, including a meeting with the World Bank president, to return to Quetta and resume work at the chief minister’s house.
Health Minister Bakht Muhammad Kakar directed an emergency status for all government hospitals in the province, according to a health department statement. Kakar was overseeing medical treatment for those injured in firing in Quetta. The statement said operating theaters at the Quetta Trauma Centre and Civil Hospital were on alert, with additional doctors deployed. Quetta Trauma Centre Managing Director Dr Arbab Kamran and Quetta Civil Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Abdul Hadi Kakar were instructed to provide immediate medical facilities.
In a separate incident, police in Balochistan’s Nasirabad district said they had neutralised suspected explosive materials found on a railway track. “An anti-tank mine and explosive material were found on the railway line near Rabi Pul,” Nasirabad Senior Superintendent of Police Asadullah Nasir said in a statement. “A suspected IED (improvised explosive device) was neutralised as the police, FC and Special Branch took timely action.”
The recovered items included half a kilogram of explosive material, petrol and an iron rod, which were handed over to the Counter-Terrorism Department for investigation, the statement added.
The Saturday clashes followed a series of attacks on Wednesday described by security sources as part of a militant campaign branded “Herof 2.0” by the perpetrators. Those attacks, carried out by the Indian-sponsored banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), were swiftly repelled. In Quetta’s Saryab Road area, militants targeted a police van, but police and Frontier Corps forces returned fire, killing four militants and securing the site, security sources said.
In Nushki, militants raided the Frontier Corps headquarters, but troops forced them to flee without inflicting damage. At the Frontier Corps headquarters in Dalbandin, at least two explosions occurred during an attempted attack, but forces cordoned off the area and maintained control as clearance operations continued. In Kalat, militants targeted the deputy commissioner’s office and police lines, leading to a firefight in which security forces inflicted losses on the attackers. Further attacks were reported in Pasni on a Pakistan Coast Guards facility and in Gwadar on a laborers’ colony, both thwarted by police and Frontier Corps units. Grenade and gunfire attacks were also launched against security posts in Balicha, Tump, Mastung and Kharan, all repulsed, the sources said.
Security officials said the situation across Balochistan was under control, with only two to three security personnel sustaining minor injuries and no damage to strategic installations. The violence came after recent counter-terrorism operations that eliminated more than 50 militants, which sources suggested prompted the militants’ desperate response.
Security analysts pointed to BLA leaders such as Bashir Zeb Baloch, Allah Nazar and the exiled Harbiyar Marri, operating from safe havens abroad, mainly in Afghanistan. The BLA and Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) are proscribed in Pakistan, with the BLA designated a foreign terrorist organisation by the United States.
Analysts noted that while leaders remain abroad, local Baloch youth are pushed into high-risk operations, leading to heavy casualties often misrepresented as enforced disappearances by propaganda networks linked to groups like the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) and Baloch National Movement (BNM).
The militants’ focus on civilian targets has underscored their criminal nature, contradicting claims of representing Baloch interests, the sources said. Despite claims of success, the “Herof 2.0” campaign highlighted poor planning and rapid failure against professional security responses, officials said.
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif praised the security forces for foiling the attacks and killing 37 militants. “The prime minister praised the professional capabilities of security forces officers and personnel for thwarting coordinated attacks by ‘Fitna-al-Hindustan’ at 12 locations in Quetta, Noshki, Dalbandin, Pasni and Gwadar, and for sending 37 terrorists to their deaths,” a statement from his office said.
Sharif paid tribute to the 10 security personnel killed and prayed for their families. “The entire nation, including myself, is proud of our martyrs,” he said. “Security forces officers and personnel are engaged in defending the homeland without regard for their own lives,” Sharif added. “We will continue the fight against the scourge of terrorism until it is completely eradicated from the country.” “The whole nation, including myself, stands shoulder to shoulder with the armed forces of Pakistan in the unwavering resolve to defend the homeland,” he said.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by area but sparsest by population, has long been plagued by a low-level insurgency by Baloch separatists demanding greater autonomy or independence, alongside Islamist militant activity. The province borders Afghanistan and Iran and is key to China’s Belt and Road Initiative through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
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