ISLAMABAD: Five security personnel, including two officers, and a customs official were killed along with 21 militants in two separate incidents in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, the military said on Tuesday.
Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan and Iran, has faced a decades-long separatist insurgency as well as attacks by religiously motivated militant groups. Violence has intensified in recent years, particularly in Balochistan and the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The latest incidents took place in Nokcha in Chagai district and Ziarat Cross in Pishin district between Aug. 31 and Sept. 1. Militants set up an illegal checkpoint to extort commuters in Chagai, while a separate group launched a coordinated attack on a Customs House in Pishin, according to the military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
“Security Forces responded immediately and, after an intense fire exchange, killed eleven terrorists on the spot,” ISPR said, referring to the first incident on Aug. 31, when it said militants had established an illegal checkpoint along the N-40 Quetta-Taftan Highway in Nokcha, Chagai district.
The military described the militants involved in the Chagai incident as belonging to “Fitna al-Hindustan,” a term Pakistani authorities use for militant groups that they allege are backed by India. New Delhi denies supporting militancy in Pakistan.
ISPR said a large quantity of weapons, ammunition and explosives was recovered from the militants following the exchange of fire.
In the second incident, during the night of Aug. 31-Sept. 1, militants launched a coordinated attack in an attempt to breach the Customs House at Ziarat Cross in Pishin district. Security forces killed 10 militants during an intense exchange of fire and also engaged fleeing militants, inflicting further casualties, according to ISPR.
"However, during the exchange of fire, six brave sons of the soil, including two officers and a government official from the Customs Department, made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty," the army said.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant attacks, particularly in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021.
Islamabad accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban government of allowing Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, militants to operate from Afghan territory, an allegation Kabul denies.
Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have also resulted in deadly border clashes and periodic closures of their shared crossings since last year, disrupting trade and the movement of people between the two countries.
