Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: At least 145 Baluch terrorists, and dozens of security forces and others, were killed in coordinated attacks during combing operation in Baluchistan, the media reported on Sunday.
Pakistan’s security forces killed 145 militants over about 40 hours following a series of coordinated attacks across the restive province of Baluchistan that also left dozens of security personnel and civilians dead, the provincial chief minister said on Sunday.
The unprecedented death toll included terrorists killed during raids on Friday, as well as others slain in ongoing combing operations, Baluchistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti told a news conference in the provincial capital, Quetta.
“This is the highest number since Pakistan is facing this war on terror,” Bugti claimed, as quoted by Dawn.
Bugti said 17 law enforcement personnel and 31 civilians were also killed in the wave of violence, which erupted almost simultaneously across several districts, including Quetta, Gwadar, Mastung and Noshki. The attacks, claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), triggered large-scale operations involving the army, police and counterterrorism units.
Pak blames India, again
On Thursday, Pakistan’s military alleged, without offering any evidence, that the assaults were carried out by “Indian-sponsored militants.”
On Sunday, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif doubled down on that claim, saying the attackers enjoyed links to India and vowing to “completely eliminate these terrorists.”
“Even now our security forces are engaged in mopping-up operations,” Asif said.
In a strongly worded statement, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal rejected Pakistan’s claims and said these were nothing but Islamabad’s usual tactics to deflect attention from its internal failings.
“Instead of parroting frivolous claims each time there is a violent incident, it would do better to focus on addressing long-standing demands of its people in the region,” Jaiswal said, adding that Pakistan’s “record of suppression, brutality and violation of human rights is well known.”
BLA
On Saturday, the BLA said it had begun the second phase of Operation Herof or “black storm” targeting security personnel, a day after the military announced it had killed 41 insurgents in two separate operations.
BLA spokesman Jeeyand Baloch said its fighters took control of a Counter Terrorism Department headquarters in Noshki and overran a Frontier Corps facility, killing Pakistani soldiers during the assaults.
Elsewhere, militants freed at least 30 inmates from a district jail, seized firearms and ammunition, ransacked a police station and fled with weapons.
Security forces continued to comb affected areas on Sunday, with around a dozen sites sealed off. Mobile internet service across the province has been suspended for more than 24 hours. Road traffic remains disrupted, and train services have been halted.
Quetta, usually bustling, lay largely deserted after being rocked by explosions. Major roads and businesses were shuttered, and residents stayed indoors amid fear. Shattered metal fragments and mangled vehicles littered some streets.
“At least 15 Pakistani soldiers and 92 militants were killed in multiple counter-terrorism operations carried out by Pakistani security forces in Baluchistan province,” the Pakistan Army said.
“The operations were launched after militants belonging to ethnic Baloch groups carried out attacks at several locations on Saturday,” it said in a statement.
“The Pakistan Army said the militants attempted to disturb peace by carrying out terrorist activities in and around Quetta, Mastung, Nushki, Dalbandin, Kharan and Panjgur,” it said.
