Islamabad (TIP)- More than 250 people have been killed in coordinated attacks launched by separatists across Pakistan’s Balochistan province since Saturday, a security official said on Feb 4, with fighting continuing as government forces pursue the militants.
Pakistan has been battling a Baloch separatist insurgency for decades, with frequent armed attacks on security forces, foreign nationals and non-local Pakistanis in the mineral-rich province bordering Afghanistan and Iran.
A senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP on Wednesday that “197 terrorists have been killed in the ongoing counter-terrorism operations”. He added that at least 36 civilians and 22 security personnel were killed during the coordinated attacks in restive Balochistan.
Sporadic clashes were still taking place in some districts, after militants stormed banks, jails, police stations and military installations over the weekend.
The chief minister of Balochistan, Sarfraz Bugti, told a news conference in Quetta on Sunday that all the districts under attack were cleared.
“We are chasing them, we will not let them go so easily,” he said.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the province’s most active militant separatist group, claimed responsibility for the attacks in a statement sent to AFP.
The group, which the United States has designated a terrorist organisation, said it had targeted military installations as well as police and civil administration officials in gun attacks and suicide bombings. The BLA has intensified attacks on Pakistanis from other provinces working in the region in recent years, as well as foreign energy firms. Last year, the separatists attacked a train with 450 passengers on board, sparking a deadly two-day siege. The United Nations on Feb 3 called the recent attacks “heinous and cowardly”.
Baloch militant group releases pics of 2 women suicide attackers on Pak ISI camps
The banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) has released photos of two female suicide attackers involved in a large-scale militant assault across Pakistan’s Balochistan province, one of the deadliest incidents in recent years.
One has been identified as Hawa Baloch, whose father was a BLA fighter killed by Pakistani security forces in 2021, and the other Asifa Mengal, born in 2002, who carried out the suicide attack on the alleged ISI camp in Nushki.
Both Gen Z women were educated before joining the insurgency, reflecting the growing trend of young, educated women participating in the decades-long Baloch separatist movement.
The attacks come amid heightened violence in Balochistan, where the BLA has been targeting security installations and public spaces as part of its campaign against the Pakistani state.
According to provincial spokesperson Shahid Rind, attacks were reported from several regions, including Nushki, Hub, Chaman, Naseerabad, Gwadar and Makran. Pakistan’s Junior Interior Minister Talal Chaudhry said militants entered public spaces such as schools, markets, banks and hospitals while dressed as civilians. The Pakistani military said security forces successfully prevented militants from capturing any city or strategic installation.
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