At least five terrorists of a banned terror group were killed and three were injured during intelligence-based operations in multiple districts of Balochistan. The operations comes after a string of terror attacks last weekend.
The security forces launched the operations after the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) — a separatist outfit — claimed responsibility for at least four terror attacks across the province, killing 50, including 14 security personnel.
At least 21 terrorists were also gunned down in the attacks. Twenty three passengers from Punjab province were offloaded from four trucks and gunned down in Musakhail district after being identified by their national ID cards.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement on Friday: “The security forces are conducting extensive intelligence-based operations (IBOs) to hunt down the perpetrators of these heinous acts.
“On the night [of] 29/30 August, in three separate IBOs in Kech, Panjgur, and Zhob district, five terrorists were sent to hell by the security forces, while three terrorists got injured during the intense fire exchange,” the ISPR said.
It added that the sanitisation operations would “continue until all perpetrators, facilitators, and abetters of these atrocious acts are brought to justice”.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also visited Quetta for high-level meetings and vowed to crush the terror outfits while President Asif Ali Zardari said there would be a “complete elimination” of terrorism from the mineral-rich Balochistan province.
On August 19, the separatist militants killed the deputy commissioner of Panjgur district.
The Centre for Research and Security Studies said there have been 1,524 violence-related fatalities and 1,463 injuries resulting from 789 terror attacks and counter-terror operations in 2023. Islamabad has urged the Taliban government to stop the TTP from using Afghan soil to launch attacks in Pakistan.