Tag: Balochistan

Security forces on Saturday killed at least 58 terrorists as clashes continued across Balochistan following coordinated attacks by Fitna al-Hindustan at 12 different locations, media reports said.

According to reports, 10 security personnel were also martyred in said action against Fitna al-Hindustan – a term used by civil and military authorities for Balochistan-based terrorist groups working as Indian proxies – and all attacks were thwarted due to timely and effective action by law enforcement agencies.

State-run Radio Pakistan, citing security sources, reported that pursuit and engagement operations were continuing at multiple locations, with reports of further terrorist casualties and damage emerging as operations progressed.

In a post on X, Balochistan Chief Minister (CM) Sarfraz Bugti said security forces had killed more than 70 terrorists across the province over the past two days.

“In the morning, in an attempt to shore up their declining morale, Fitna-al-Hindustan terrorists attempted attacks at multiple locations,” he said, adding that the Balochistan Police and Frontier Corps (FC) jointly repelled the assaults and killed another 37 terrorists.

“These attacks cannot weaken our resolve. We will continue to pursue terrorists until the last one is eliminated,” he added.

CM Bugti also visited the site of a bomb blast in Quetta to review the security situation. A statement from the CM House said Inspector General of Police (IGP) Muhammad Tahir briefed the CM on the incident as he also met security and police personnel.

“The timely response against terrorist elements is commendable,” Bugti was quoted as saying, praising the police and the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD).

“Anti-state elements will not be forgiven under any circumstances. There will be no compromise on peace in Balochistan,” he said.

Earlier, armed attacks, firing and explosions were reported in several areas, including the provincial capital. Police said gunmen attacked a police mobile unit on Sariab Road, killing two police personnel and injuring three others. The injured were shifted to a nearby hospital, while the police vehicle caught fire.

A blast near Hockey Chowk in Red Zone also injured two people. Following the incidents, authorities sealed parts of the Red Zone, and activities at the Civil Secretariat, courts and some government offices were temporarily suspended.

Officials said armed men also attacked Khaliq Shaheed Police Station in the Eastern Bypass area, while videos circulating online showed an attack on Sheikh Zayed Hospital on the Quetta–Karachi road. Gunmen also targeted private banks in Hazarganji and entered a private school on Zarghoon Road.

Firing was also reported on Qambrani Road and Zarghun Road as security forces exchanged fire with attackers. Security checkpoints were set up at Quetta’s entry and exit points, and residents were advised to avoid unnecessary movement.

Emergency measures were imposed at government hospitals, including Civil Hospital Quetta, Bolan Medical Complex (BMC) Hospital and trauma centres, to handle casualties.

Officials said attempted attacks were also reported in Nushki, Dalbandin, Kalat, Gwadar, Pasni, Tump and Mastung, where terrorists targeted government buildings and security installations.

In Mastung, attackers injured several people, including a police officer, and freed more than 30 prisoners from central jail. Clashes were also reported near the DC headquarters and police lines in Kalat.

In Nushki, armed men abducted Deputy Commissioner Hussain Hazara along with his family and later released a video of the incident. In Pasni, a Coast Guards post came under attack, which security forces repelled, killing eight terrorists in retaliatory fire.

Authorities closed the Quetta–Sibi highway at Bolan, shut the Quetta–Karachi–Taftan highway at Lak Pass, and blocked the Qila Saifullah–Rakhni road, while explosive material planted on a railway track in Nasirabad was defused.

Reports also quoted security sources as saying that Indian media and social media platforms openly supported Fitna-al-Hindustan during the attacks, saying the coordination further exposed what they described as a nexus between the group and hostile information campaigns.

Balochistan Chief Minister (CM) Sarfraz Bugti on Friday raised concerns over the presence of internet towers in sparsely populated areas of the province, warning that such infrastructure could be ‘exploited for activities against the state’.

Addressing a presser in Quetta, CM Bugti said he was surprised to see internet facilities in areas with little to no population, including Sangan.

“When I fly over in a helicopter, 4G services are running there. Who put them up, and why?” he asked, adding that such facilities could be misused by militants against the state and law enforcement agencies.

The chief minister also announced a Rs3 billion project to lay fibre optic cables across schools, colleges, universities and hospitals throughout the province.

He said the initiative aims to expand internet access for the public while ensuring that its usage remains monitored.

Briefing the media on the security situation, CM Bugti said the Frontier Corps (FC) neutralised 12 terrorists during a recent operation in Kharan town.

He said the militants were killed while attempting to loot banks, adding that around 15 to 20 individuals had tried to enter banking facilities in the town.

According to Bugti, one civilian sustained injuries during the operation and is currently under treatment at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH).

He further stated that four of the militants were killed on the spot by law enforcement personnel at three separate locations.

The attackers attempted to break ATMs and flee with cash, with some managing to steal Rs3.4 million from one bank, he added.

Several passengers were wounded when three catriages of Jaffar Express derailed in Mastung’s Dasht area in Balochistan on Tuesday following an explosion on the railway track, officials have confirmed. 

Railway authorities have said that one carriage overturned while two others came off the track. The incident occurred when the train was en route from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s capital Peshawar to Quetta.

The explosion damaged the railway line, disrupting train services in the area. However, no casualties were reported, said a media report citing sources.

A leading English daily quoted Pakistan Railways’ Quetta division public relations officer Muhammad Kashif as saying that an inquiry into the incident has been launched. “The train was coming from Peshawar to Quetta and there were 270 passengers on board,” Kashif stated. 

This is not the first time the train service has been attacked. In June, five bogies of the Express derailed after a blast took place on a railway track near Jacobabad. That train was also en route from Peshawar to Quetta.

On March 11, the outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) militants blew up train tracks, attacking Jaffar Express, and taking more than 440 passengers hostage in a day-long standoff with security services in a remote mountain pass in the Bolan district.

After clearing the train and rescuing hostages, the military neutralised 33 terrorists. Before the operation commenced, the attackers had already martyred 26 passengers, while four security personnel were also martyred in the operation.

Pakistan has recently seen a spike in terrorist attacks carried out by Fitna al-Khawarij militants, who are reportedly hiding in Afghanistan and allegedly backed by India’s intelligence agency. This rise in cross-border incidents has occurred since Taliban rulers returned to Afghanistan in August 2021, particularly in the bordering provinces of KP and Balochistan.

Pakistan had repeatedly asked the Afghan Taliban government to cut ties with the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and meet its commitment to eliminate the terror group from Afghan soil, cautioning that failure to act would be treated as “hostile” activity.

Balochistan Chief Minister (CM) Sarfraz Bugti has lauded security forces for arresting a “would-be suicide bomber” as they foiled a terrorist attack on the country’s 78th Independence Anniversary, going on to introduce a detained individual who confessed to his connection to the banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA).

During a press conference in Quetta, CM Bugti revealed a recorded statement by Dr Mohammad Usman Kazi, who said he had a Master’s degree from the Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) in Islamabad, a PhD from Peshawar University, and was working as a Grade-18 lecturer. After releasing Kazi’s statement, the provincial chief executive noted that the information being shared was “not in great detail”, so ongoing investigation were not affected.

Explaining how the arrested lecturer was allegedly involved in facilitating the Nov 2024 Quetta Railway Station bombing, in which 32 were killed and over 50 were injured, CM Bugti said that Kazi facilitated the suicide bomber.

He maintained that Kazi’s mother was still receiving pension, which means she was a government employee. “His wife is also a government employee and he himself is a Grade-18 [officer] who pursued education and completed his PhD on Pakistani scholarship. His brother is an employee at Reko Diq, which means he was not deprived in any way,” CM Bugti added.

He critisiced the exploitation of narratives of marginalisation, questioning the claims of widespread deprivation, and said that such elements were also exploiting women to prepare them for suicide attacks.

The CM said that the outlawed BLA’s Majeed Brigade, which was recently designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) by the United States (US), operated in “three to four tiers”. He explained that the lowest tier was made of uneducated “footsoldiers,” the second involved women used for targeted killings in urban areas, while the top-most “sophisticated” tier included individuals like Kazi.

 “This is the first time when security forces have achieved such great success and arrested a leader of Majeed Brigade’s ‘sophisticated’ tier.”

He praised the security agencies, the Balochistan Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) and the police for saving the province from “huge destruction”.

‘I am deeply ashamed that I remained involved in these actions’

Earlier, Kazi, in his video statement, revealed that during his 2020 visit to QAU, he was introduced to three men linked to “an organisation”, two of whom were later killed. He said that two men, Dr Habetan and Feh Khaliq, then got him to join the militant group and had him meet with a man named Basheerzai.

“All these introductions were made through Telegram,” the lecturer confessed, adding he facilitated “three acts” on the group’s directives when he went to Quetta and that his alias in the organisation was Feh Hameer.

He recalled his facilitation of militants and the banned group on different levels and revealed he had also provided shelter to a man who was “about to be used in some event on August 14”. The lecturer also confessed to having bought a pistol that was used “in targeting security forces and government employees”.

“These are the acts I have done, the facilitation I have carried out. If it’s considered, the state has given us everything, respect, pride, a job… and even to my wife. But despite this, I went against the law and betrayed the state.”

He said he was deeply ashamed and the aim of the video statement was to inform the coming generations and the youth save themselves from these groups spreading anarchy.