Pakistani security forces killed at least 145 people during a 40-hour military operation launched in response to a series of coordinated gun and bomb attacks across Balochistan, local media reported on Sunday, quoting provincial Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti.
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), 92 alleged militants were killed during the operation, while at least 15 civilians also lost their lives.
The remaining casualties included security personnel targeted during the initial assaults.
Chief Minister Bugti said attackers killed 17 personnel from various law enforcement agencies, including the police and Frontier Corps, along with one Pakistan Navy official.
Several others sustained injuries during the clashes, bringing the total number of casualties to at least 31 among security forces and civilians.
Pakistan’s southwestern province has witnessed one of its most violent surges in recent years, with insurgents targeting civilians, security forces and key infrastructure.
Junior Interior Minister Talal Chaudhry claimed that the attackers entered hospitals, schools, banks and marketplaces disguised as civilians before opening fire.
Chaudhry said the attackers dressed as civilians and indiscriminately targeted ordinary people, using civilians as human shields during the assaults.
The separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the violence, stating that it had launched a coordinated offensive named Herof, or ‘black storm’.
The group claimed it killed more than 80 security personnel and captured 18 others.
Ethnic Baloch separatist groups have long plagued Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest yet poorest province, demanding greater autonomy and a larger share of the region’s natural resources.
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