ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces have killed at least 145 terrorists during nearly 40 hours of intelligence-based operations across southwestern Balochistan following coordinated attacks by the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), provincial authorities confirmed on Sunday.
Addressing a press conference in Quetta, Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti said militants carried out simultaneous attacks in 12 towns, including the provincial capital, resulting in the martyrdom of 17 security personnel and the killing of 31 civilians.
“The bodies of 145 terrorists are in the custody of the authorities,” Bugti said, adding that intelligence agencies had received advance warnings of the attacks, prompting pre-emptive operations a day earlier.
Bugti said Nushki has been completely cleared and confirmed that militants failed to breach sensitive areas, including the Red Zone. He said that in Gwadar, terrorists killed five women and three children from a Baloch family belonging to Khuzdar and also targeted a labor colony.
“Why are Baloch people being turned into fuel for violence at India’s behest?” Bugti asked.
Rejecting calls for dialogue with the BLA, he said the group was not a political entity. “Is the BLA a registered political party that talks can be held with it?” he asked, stating that the group sought to impose its ideology through violence.
Reaffirming the state’s resolve, Bugti declared: “We will not surrender. They may try to destabilize us, but they cannot take a single inch of our country.”
“Our blood is not cheap,” he added, warning that the land would be “turned into hell for terrorists.”
Bugti rejected claims of indiscriminate force, saying the operations were limited and intelligence-based, and that heavy firepower was deliberately avoided to prevent civilian casualties.
He described Balochistan as a conflict zone and said Pakistan was fighting India’s proxy networks, vowing that the state was prepared to continue the fight “for a thousand years if required” to restore peace.
Separately, Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said coordinated attacks were launched on Saturday at 12 locations across Balochistan in an attempt to cause mass casualties and offset recent losses suffered by the BLA and its affiliates.
Addressing a press conference in the eastern city of Sialkot, Asif said the attacks reflected “two sides of the same coins, India and the BLA.”
“The BLA is operating as an Indian proxy,” he said, adding that intelligence reports and confessional statements from arrested militants clearly traced the links of the attacks back to India.
He said suicide attacks were attempted on Frontier Corps headquarters in Nushki and Dalbandin, while multiple other locations were targeted simultaneously.
“Due to timely action by security forces, all attempts were foiled,” he said, confirming that 11 security personnel were martyred during recent engagements and that over 100 militants had been killed in the past two days, with the toll expected to rise.
Asif expressed grave concern over the exploitation of women and children by terrorist groups, saying vulnerable populations were being systematically radicalized.
He said Pakistan was fighting a decisive war against the BLA and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and warned that facilitators of terrorism would face the same fate as militants.
“The fight against terrorism transcends political differences,” he said. “Loyalty is to the nation and the soil alone.”
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar strongly condemned what he described as “cowardly and heinous coordinated terrorist attacks” in Balochistan.
“These attacks were aimed at undermining the safety and security of our people and the stability of the province and Pakistan,” Dar said.
He praised the response of the security forces, stating, “Pakistan’s Armed Forces, Frontier Corps, Police and Law Enforcement Agencies responded with exemplary courage and professionalism, neutralizing the terrorists and protecting civilian lives.”
“We pay profound tribute to the Shuhada whose supreme sacrifices will forever remain a source of strength and pride for the nation,” Dar added, reaffirming Pakistan’s “zero tolerance for terrorism in all its forms.”
The international community continued to condemn the attacks following Saturday’s violence. Norway strongly denounced the terrorist attacks in Balochistan, extending its deepest condolences to the families and friends of the victims.
The United Arab Emirates, through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, condemned the attacks “in the strongest terms,” reaffirming its rejection of violence, extremism, and terrorism, and expressing sincere condolences to the families of the victims as well as to the government and people of Pakistan.
The United States Embassy in Islamabad also strongly condemned the January 31 attacks, claimed by the BLA, a US-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.
“On behalf of the United States, I extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to the victims of terrorism, their families, and all those affected,” US Chargé d’Affaires Natalie Baker said.
Earlier, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, Qatar, and the United States had also denounced the attacks.
Pakistani officials reiterated that counterterrorism operations will continue under the national vision to eliminate terrorism and safeguard civilians, sovereignty, and national integrity.
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