Operation Shaban toll reaches 129 after three more militants killed in Balochistan

QUETTA: Three more militants were killed in an operation in Balochistan, taking the number of militants killed in the ongoing Operation Shaban since July 5 to 129, according to security sources on Thursday.

The sources said security forces carried out the action jointly, with the Pakistan Army, Frontier Corps and police participating in the operation. They said the forces inflicted heavy losses and struck militant hideouts in remote and difficult terrain.

According to the sources, Operation Shaban includes both aerial and ground-based action targeting what they described as India-backed Khawarij. They added that the operation would continue across Balochistan until the last militant had been eliminated.

A day earlier, the same sources had said that three more militants were also killed in the province. They added that weapons and ammunition were recovered from the dead militants, including submachine guns, rocket launchers, mobile phones and other equipment.

Last week, Inter-Services Public Relations Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said at least 42 people, including security personnel and civilians, were martyred in three terrorist attacks in Balochistan earlier this month. He said India-backed militants had attacked the Mangi checkpoint, but police personnel responded and killed 15 militants in the initial clash.

The latest operation comes amid a wider rise in militant violence in Pakistan, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in 2021.