QUETTA/ISLAMABAD: Pakistani forces killed 67 militants while repelling coordinated separatist attacks across the southwestern province of Balochistan on Saturday, according to security officials, as clearance operations continued across multiple districts.
The attacks, involving gunfire and explosions, targeted several locations including the provincial capital Quetta and the coastal city of Gwadar, as well as towns in Kharan and Kalat, according to security and police officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“In the ongoing operation since this morning, the confirmed number of neutralized militants has risen to 67,” one of the security officials said, adding that follow-up operations were underway with reports of further damage to militant networks.
Security personnel shift an injured man at a hospital in Quetta on January 31, 2026, following an attack by Baloch separatists. Ethnic Baloch separatists launched "coordinated" attacks across Pakistan's Balochistan province on January 31, killing at least four policemen, officials said, the latest violence in insurgency-hit southwest region. (AFP)
At least 10 members of the security forces were also killed in the violence, the officials said.
In Gwadar, militants attacked laborer families, killing 11 civilians, including women and children, the officials said, adding that all assailants involved in that incident were later killed during follow-up operations.
According to Abdul Baqi Baloch, the station house officer in Kharan, armed militants stormed a residence in the town early Saturday, killing seven people, including a tribal elder, before fleeing the area.
“The clearance operation is ongoing in the city and its outskirts,” he said.
In Kalat, attackers set a city police station on fire, injuring three policemen, police official Majeed Raisani said, adding that the situation was under control but security operations were continuing.
A hospital official in Quetta said 15 bodies, including nine policemen, had been received, while several injured people were treated for gunshot wounds.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif praised security forces for foiling what he described as organized attempts to destabilize Balochistan, and paid tribute to personnel killed during the operations.
The separatist group the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) said it had launched what it called “Operation Herof 2.0,” claiming responsibility for attacks in multiple locations.
Family members mourn the death of a relative killed in an attack by Baloch separatists, at a hospital in Quetta on January 31, 2026. Ethnic Baloch separatists launched "coordinated" attacks across Pakistan's Balochistan province on January 31, killing at least four policemen, officials said, the latest violence in insurgency-hit southwest region. (AFP)
Pakistani officials describe BLA militants as Indian proxies, a charge New Delhi denies.
Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, has faced a decades-long insurgency by separatist groups who accuse the central government of exploiting the region’s resources without benefiting local communities. The government denies the allegations.
