ISLAMABAD – Pakistan’s security forces intensified Operation Shaban in Balochistan, killing more than 100 militants this week in coordinated counterterrorism campaign. Officials said the offensive, involving ground assaults, aerial strikes, and intelligence-based operations, remains underway and will continue until militant networks operating in the province are dismantled.
Security officials said the latest operations over the past 24 hours resulted in the deaths of 16 militants, including seven killed in the most recent engagement after nine others were neutralised in earlier actions.
The ongoing campaign is being carried out jointly by the Pakistan Army, Frontier Corps (FC) Balochistan, and provincial police. Security forces have launched coordinated ground assaults backed by aerial operations, targeting militant hideouts scattered across Balochistan’s rugged mountains and remote terrain.
Officials identified the slain militants as members of Fitna al-Khawarij, alleging that the group had established operational bases in isolated areas of the province. The objective of the operation, they said, is to destroy the group’s infrastructure, eliminate its fighters, and prevent it from regrouping.
According to security sources, 64 militants have been killed specifically under Operation Shaban, while the overall toll has climbed to 102 after including intelligence-based operations conducted across Balochistan since July 5.
Authorities said the counterterrorism campaign remains active and will continue until every militant network operating in the province has been dismantled.
Amid fresh wave of terror in region neighboring Afghanistan, Pakistan intensifies nationwide counterterrorism operations amid growing concerns over cross-border militancy and what officials describe as the involvement of externally backed terrorist groups.
The operation also follows a strong warning from the country’s top leadership, who recently declared that terrorism supported by hostile intelligence agencies would be confronted with the “full might of the state.”
Operation Shaban: How Pakistan’s Security Forces Neutralised 75 Terrorists in Balochistan
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