75 militants killed in Balochistan since July 5, says CM Bugti

Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti on Friday stated that a total of 75 terrorists had been killed since July 5 in various intelligence-based operations in the province.

In a post on social media platform X, CM Bugti said: “Operation Shaban is progressing successfully following the terrorist attack on Mangi Dam Police Station.”

He elaborated that 39 terrorists had been killed in Operation Shaban as a result of joint ground and air operations by the Pakistan Army, Frontier Corps and Balochistan Police in rugged mountainous areas, while a total of 75 terrorists had been killed in various intelligence-based operations since July 5.

Bugti further said that a terrorist attack on Zehri Police Station in the Kachhar area of Balochistan had also been foiled today.

“The writ of the state will be maintained in Balochistan at any cost; terrorists cannot escape their fate,” he declared.

A day earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the country’s civil and military leadership had taken a “mutual and singular decision” to end terrorism after multiple major terrorist incidents in Balochistan in recent days.

He made the remarks at a meeting in Quetta of the Provincial Apex Committee on the National Action Plan, with Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Chief of the Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir also present.

Chairing the meeting, PM Shehbaz declared, “One thing is decided: it is a mutual and singular decision of the civil and military leadership that we must end terrorism collectively.”

PM Shehbaz’s visit came a day after the military revealed that at least 42 people — the majority of whom were security and law enforcement personnel — have lost their lives in terrorist attacks and subsequent operations in Balochistan since July 5.

Addressing a press briefing in Rawalpindi, the military’s spokesperson said that there were “three major terrorist incidents” in recent days — an armed attack on the outskirts of Quetta on July 5, an assault on a police post in Ziarat on July 6, and an ambush of an army convoy in Bela on Wednesday.

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry warned terrorists and their facilitators to expect no “rationality and proportionality” as security forces continue to hunt down the perpetrators of the attacks.

He also pointed the finger squarely at India and Afghanistan for being behind the attacks, saying that it was the handiwork of India and “those forces with India who cannot tolerate Pakistan’s respect, prosperity and stability”.