Balochistan Violence Spirals: Pakistan Says 42 Security Personnel Killed in Attacks This Week

Balochistan has faced ongoing insurgencies and attacks from various militant factions, further complicating regional security dynamics.

Pakistan’s military said on Wednesday that 42 police and army personnel have been killed in three militant attacks in the troubled southwestern province of Balochistan since July 6. A total of 54 militants were killed in these incidents, the military added.

The latest violence included the killing of 18 police officers and 11 soldiers in separate attacks claimed by rebel fighters, military spokesperson Lieutenant General Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry said at a televised news conference on Wednesday.

He said the overall death toll included four civilians, while Pakistani security forces had killed 54 fighters during multiple operations. “We will chase you, we will hurt you,” Lt Gen Chaudhry said, alleging that “many Afghans” were involved in the attacks. “We will take on each and every terrorist, their facilitators, those who harbour them, those who nourish them and those who provide them bases, wherever they are located,” he added.

According to the military, the 18 police officers were abducted on Monday after dozens of fighters attacked a security post guarding the Mangi Dam project in Balochistan’s Ziarat district. Nine other officers were killed during the assault.

On Wednesday, 11 soldiers were killed when fighters ambushed a military vehicle travelling on a highway in Balochistan, Lt Gen Chaudhry said.

Pakistan has faced a long-running separatist insurgency in Balochistan, the country’s largest but least populated province, which borders Afghanistan and Iran.

The region has witnessed attacks by the banned Pakistan Taliban (TTP), which Islamabad says is allied with Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers, and the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA). The groups have targeted security forces, infrastructure and foreign investment projects in the resource-rich province. Pakistan has experienced multiple separatist insurgencies in Balochistan since gaining independence in 1947.

Islamabad has repeatedly accused Afghanistan of allowing militant groups to use its territory to launch attacks against Pakistan, an allegation Kabul has consistently denied.

Earlier this month, Pakistan’s military said it intercepted four drones launched from Afghanistan into Balochistan, amid escalating cross-border tensions.

The latest incidents follow a Pakistani military operation along the Afghan border in late June in which officials said 29 fighters were killed after an attack on a paramilitary compound in Karachi claimed by the Pakistan Taliban.

The Afghan Taliban administration disputed Pakistan’s account, saying the operation killed at least 36 civilians and injured 163 others.

With inputs from Reuters