Pakistan Security Forces Kill 145 Militants After Two-Day Battle Following Province-Wide Attacks

Pakistani security forces killed 145 militants during a nearly 40-hour operation across Balochistan after a wave of coordinated gun and bomb attacks left nearly 50 people dead, provincial authorities said on Sunday.

The violence is among the deadliest flare-ups in years in the resource-rich province, where insurgents have stepped up attacks on civilians, security forces and infrastructure.

Coordinated Attacks Across Multiple Districts

Officials said the assaults were launched almost simultaneously across Quetta, Gwadar, Mastung and Noshki districts, with armed men targeting security installations including a Frontier Corps headquarters, attempting suicide bombings and briefly blocking roads in urban areas. These attacks prompted large-scale counter-operations by the army, police and counterterrorism units.

Pakistan's military said 92 militants were killed on Saturday, following the killing of 41 others on Friday. Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti said the security forces had prior intelligence about the planned violence, stating that "we had intelligence reports that this kind of operation was being planned, and as a result of those, we started pre-operations a day before".

Bugti added that the toll marked the highest number of militants killed in such a short span since the insurgency intensified, though he did not provide comparative figures. According to the provincial government, 17 law enforcement personnel and 31 civilians lost their lives in the attacks.

Militants Disguised As Civilians Target Public Spaces

Pakistan's junior interior minister Talal Chaudhry said attackers entered hospitals, schools, banks and markets while posing as ordinary civilians before opening fire. He said that "in each case, the attackers came in dressed as civilians and indiscriminately targeted ordinary people working in shops", adding that militants had also used civilians as human shields.

In Quetta, the scale of destruction was visible in burnt-out vehicles at a police station, bullet-riddled doors and streets sealed off with yellow tape as security forces tightened patrols and restricted movement. Outside a damaged shop, private security guard Jamil Ahmed Mashwani said the attackers struck shortly after midday and recalled that "they hit me on my face and head".

Separatist Claim, India Link Rejected

The separatist Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the violence, saying it had launched a coordinated operation dubbed Herof, or "black storm", against security forces across the province. The group claimed it had killed 84 members of Pakistan's security forces and captured 18 others, a claim that could not be independently verified. The military did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said two of the attacks involved female perpetrators and accused militants of increasingly targeting civilians, labourers and low-income communities. The military said security forces had repelled attempts by militants to seize control of any city or strategic installation.

Pakistan's military linked India to the attacks, an allegation New Delhi denied. Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, "we categorically reject the baseless allegations made by Pakistan", adding that Islamabad should instead address "long-standing demands of its people in the region".

The United States condemned the attacks, with its charge d'affaires calling them acts of terrorist violence and saying Washington stood in solidarity with Pakistan. The Baloch Liberation Army is designated by the US as a foreign terrorist organisation.

Balochistan, Pakistan's largest and poorest province, has faced a decades-long insurgency led by ethnic Baloch separatists seeking greater autonomy and a larger share of the region's natural resources. Pakistan has also faced periodic attacks elsewhere in the country by Islamist militant groups, including factions linked to the Pakistani Taliban.