QUETTA: Over 35 militants have been killed in an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in southwestern Pakistan’s Zarghoon Ghar area since May 13, a senior official said on Sunday, saying that several “terrorist” camps have been destroyed and key commanders arrested.
The IBO is being carried out since May 13 in Zarghoon Ghar area, a mountain range located east of the Quetta district in Balochistan, Adviser to the Chief Minister on Political and Media Affairs Shahid Rind said in a statement.
“More than 35 militants belonging to ‘Fitna Al-Hindustan’ were killed in the intelligence-based operation ongoing in Mangla Zarghoon Ghar since May 13,” Rind said.
Pakistan’s government and the military use the term “Fitna Al-Hindustan” for ethnic Baloch separatist militant groups that it alleges are funded by India, charges that New Delhi denies. These separatist groups frequently carry out attacks against law enforcers in Balochistan, accusing the federal government of denying locals a share in the province’s mineral wealth. The government denies these allegations.
Rind said three key militant commanders were arrested during the operation, adding that authorities extracted important information from them. The official said multiple camps and militant hideouts have been destroyed as counterterror operations in the area continue.
In a separate statement, a Balochistan Home Department official said police and law enforcement agencies successfully repulsed a “terrorist attack” in Dalbandin, a city in Balochistan that lies on Pakistan’s border with Iran, on Sunday night.
“Terrorists attempted to attack the city’s police station and establish checkpoints at three locations,” Babar Khan Yousafzai, an aide in the provincial home department, was quoted as saying in the statement issued on Sunday.
He said police launched an effective counteroperation against the militants, forcing them to flee the area.
“At present, the situation is under control and further checking/search operations are being carried out in the area until the culprits are arrested or eliminated,” the statement added.
Pakistan has seen a surge in militant attacks by separatist militants in Balochistan and the Pakistani Taliban in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province since the Afghan Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021.
Islamabad accuses Kabul of harboring Baloch separatist militants and Pakistani Taliban militants who launch attacks against Pakistan. Kabul denies the charges and has urged Pakistan to resolve its security challenges by itself.
The surge in militant attacks in Pakistan and Islamabad’s accusations have soured relations with Kabul. Both sides have engaged in fierce clashes, killing dozens of soldiers on both sides since October last year.
