RAWALPINDI — Pakistan’s security forces have killed 33 militants in a series of counter-terrorism operations across Balochistan since September 21, the military’s media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) announced on Friday.
Operation Shaban continues in Quetta
According to the ISPR statement, the latest killings came on September 24 as part of the ongoing Operation Shaban in Quetta district. Security forces busted additional terrorist hideouts, and after an intense exchange of fire, five militants were killed, bringing the operation’s total death toll to 22. The military said weapons, ammunition and explosives were recovered from the militant locations, and that clearance operations in the area would continue until the threat was fully eliminated.
Second operation in Nushki
In a separate engagement on September 25, an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Nushki killed 11 militants, with forces effectively targeting their hideout. Combined with the Operation Shaban toll, this brought the total number of militants killed since September 21 to 33.
ISPR said the militants killed were affiliated with Fitna al-Hindustan — one of two designations the Pakistani state uses for armed groups operating in Balochistan. The state uses the term “Fitna al-Khawarij” to refer to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) mostly based in Afghanistan, while “Fitna al-Hindustan” is used for Balochistan-based groups the state links to India, a framing intended to emphasize Indian involvement in destabilizing the province. Pakistan has long accused India of backing separatist and militant groups in Balochistan.
Part of a broader escalation
This week’s operations follow a pattern of intensifying counter-terrorism activity in the province. Just two days earlier, on September 23, security forces reported killing 19 militants in a series of operations across Balochistan, with one soldier killed in the fighting. That earlier push had also centered on the Shaban area of Quetta district, where intelligence agencies had reported multiple hideouts linked to Fitna al-Khawarij and Fitna al-Hindustan.
The uptick comes amid a broader rise in militant activity in the province. According to a monthly assessment by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, the number of terrorist attacks in Balochistan rose roughly seven percent, from 83 incidents in July to 89 in August.
Earlier in September, ISPR had also reported a much larger multi-district operation. In a September 4 statement, the military said security forces had killed 36 militants in coordinated operations across Mastung, Quetta, Kalat and Sibi districts, describing an intense exchange of fire in Mastung that alone killed six militants and led to the destruction of an ammunition and explosives cache. That wave of operations brought the overall total to 48 militants killed within a 48-to-72-hour period, according to ISPR figures released at the time.
Context and caveats
Pakistani state media and security officials frame these operations as defensive responses to Indian-sponsored terrorism. Balochistan has for decades seen a mix of separatist insurgency, sectarian violence, and militant activity linked to the BLA.
The military said in its Friday statement that clearance operations in the affected districts would continue, and that operations against what it terms foreign-sponsored terrorism in Balochistan remain ongoing.