Pakistan’s security forces killed 145 militants over a 40-hour period following coordinated assaults across Balochistan, provincial chief minister Sarfaraz Bugti said on Sunday, marking one of the deadliest flare-ups in the region in years.
Bugti told reporters in Quetta that the toll includes militants killed in raids on Friday and Saturday, along with others eliminated during ongoing clearance operations. Pakistan’s military had earlier put Saturday’s figure alone at 92.
Authorities said 17 law enforcement personnel and 31 civilians were also killed in the wave of violence, which erupted simultaneously in several districts including Quetta, Gwadar, Mastung and Noshki. Hospitals in parts of the province were placed on emergency footing as army, police and counterterrorism units launched large-scale operations.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest and poorest province, has endured a decades-long insurgency by ethnic Baloch separatists seeking greater autonomy and a larger share of natural-resource revenues. The banned Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the latest attacks, saying it had carried out a coordinated operation dubbed “Herof,” or “black storm,” targeting security forces across the province.
Pakistan’s military accused “Indian-sponsored militants” of carrying out the assaults. India rejected the allegation, calling it baseless and urging Islamabad to address internal grievances in the region.
Officials said security forces repelled attempts by militants to seize any cities or strategic installations. The clashes underscore the persistence of insurgent violence in resource-rich southwestern Pakistan, even as authorities reported their highest militant death toll in such a short span since the insurgency intensified.
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