The interior ministry confirmed four terrorists were killed and several suspects arrested during an operation in Balochistan’s Mastung district.
Quetta, Pakistan – Web Desk: Security forces killed four more terrorists during an operation in the Khad Kocha area of Balochistan’s Mastung district on Friday, according to the interior ministry and state broadcaster Radio Pakistan.
Radio Pakistan first reported the operation, stating that the slain militants belonged to a group the state refers to as Fitna-al-Hindustan, a term Pakistani authorities use to describe Balochistan-based militant networks they allege are linked to Indian-backed destabilisation efforts. Security sources cited by the broadcaster said large quantities of weapons and ammunition were recovered from the site, while several other individuals suspected of facilitating terrorism were taken into custody. The sources added that search and clearance operations were continuing in the area, with security forces maintaining close surveillance.
The interior ministry later confirmed the operation and the resulting fatalities in a post on X, stating that Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi had praised the security forces for the successful action. The ministry’s statement credited the forces’ professional conduct in carrying out the operation.
The ministry added that comprehensive operations remain under way against militant networks across Balochistan, quoting Naqvi as saying that the alliance between Fitna-al-Khawarij, the term used by the state for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, and Fitna-al-Hindustan would not succeed in undermining peace in the country. Separately, state broadcaster PTV News reported that Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti also commended the security forces for the operation.
The latest action follows a similar operation a day earlier, in which security sources said six terrorists were killed in the same Khud Kocha area based on what officials described as credible intelligence. That operation also resulted in the arrest of several individuals, including women suicide bombers and their facilitators, along with the destruction of a number of terrorist hideouts. The Balochistan Home Department had imposed a curfew in the area on Wednesday night to enable the operation, following an attack that killed three people and injured five others on a Karachi-bound passenger bus, along with an explosion that damaged a bridge on the National Highway.
The province has faced a prolonged spike in militant violence in recent months. Prior to Wednesday’s curfew, the military’s media wing reported that security forces had killed ten terrorists and apprehended two female suicide bombers along with a facilitator during operations in the Surab and Mastung districts over a 48-hour period. Earlier this month, security and law enforcement personnel launched Operation Shaban in response to a deadly assault on a police post at the Mangi Dam pumping station in Ziarat, in which 27 police officers were killed.
A security assessment released in early June by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies found that Balochistan’s security situation deteriorated sharply in May, with the province recording 71 terrorist attacks compared to 34 in April, and accounting for the overwhelming majority of nationwide abduction cases that month. On July 9, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the country’s civil and military leadership had reached a joint decision to eliminate terrorism following a string of major attacks in the province.
