In a major counter-insurgency operation, Pakistani security forces killed 48 militants during a series of coordinated raids on hideouts in the country's southwestern region over a 72-hour period, the military announced on Friday.
According to an official military statement, the operations were executed based on intelligence reports in several districts of Balochistan, including Mastung, Sibi, Quetta, and Kalat. In addition to neutralizing the militants, security personnel successfully recovered a substantial cache of weapons from the targeted locations.
Balochistan, which stands as the largest but least populated province in Pakistan, has been the site of a long-running separatist insurgency. Much of the separatist violence is spearheaded by the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a group responsible for numerous high-profile attacks in recent years.
The raids come amid a broader surge in militant violence across Pakistan over recent months. Authorities have attributed a significant portion of this escalation to the Pakistani Taliban, officially known as the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Although separate from the Afghan Taliban, the TTP maintains close alliances with the group. Islamabad has repeatedly accused TTP leaders and fighters of securing safe havens in neighboring Afghanistan since the Taliban regained control of Kabul in 2021, a claim that Afghan authorities continue to deny.
Pakistan's military says security forces have killed 48 militants in multiple raids on militant hideouts in restive southwestern Pakistan over the past 72 hours
