ISLAMABAD: Over 200 security forces personnel were killed in several militant attacks in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province this year, Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti said on Sunday.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by since yet its most backward by almost all social and economic indicators, has suffered from a bloody separatist insurgency for decades launched by ethnic Baloch militant groups. The most prominent among them is the Balochistan Liberation Army.
These militant outfits accuse the military and federal government of denying the local Baloch population a share in the province’s mineral wealth, charges Islamabad denies.
“We have lost [in one year] 205 security forces personnel, including paramilitary, uniformed, police, levies, and along with that, there are six officers,” Bugti told reporters during a press conference.
The chief minister said Balochistan had witnessed 900 militant attacks throughout the year, adding that the number of civilian casualties was recorded at 280.
Bugti said security forces had also launched thousands of intelligence-based operations in 2025 against militants.
“Out of those, the terrorists who have been killed so far, that is 760,” he said.
TWELVE MILITANTS KILLED IN KALAT
Separately, the Pakistani military’s media wing said on Sunday that security forces had killed 12 “Indian-sponsored militants” in Balochistan’s Kalat district on Dec. 6.
It said the militants belonged to Indian proxy “Fitna al Hindustan,” a term the military uses frequently to describe ethnic Baloch militant groups who demand independence from Pakistan. Islamabad accuses New Delhi of arming and funding these separatist groups, charges India has always denied.
“Weapons, ammunition and explosives were also recovered from the terrorists, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area,” the ISPR said.
Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan, has seen a surge in militant attacks in recent months. Pakistan’s military said on Saturday that security forces had killed five militants in the Dera Bugti area of the province.
