At least ten security personnel and 37 militants were killed on Saturday as Baloch separatists carried out ‘coordinated’ attacks in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, officials said.
Balochistan province, which shares borders with Afghanistan and Iran, has long been the site of a separatist insurgency, with militants targeting security forces as well as foreign nationals.
In a statement, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said 10 security officers were killed and praised the forces for killing 37 insurgents.
In a post on X, provincial government official Shahid Rind said on Saturday morning that more than 70 terrorists had been killed at different locations by security forces across the province over the past two days.
Following this, ‘terrorists have attempted to carry out attacks at a few places in Balochistan, which the police and the Frontier Corps (FC) thwarted by taking timely action’.
The attacks began almost simultaneously across the province, according to provincial Health Minister Bakht Muhammad Kakar.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the largest militant group in the region, claimed responsibility for the attacks in a statement sent to AFP. The BLA claimed the attacks were directed at military installations and police and civil administration officials.
Insurgency in Balochistan
Saturday’s attacks come a day after the military reported killing 41 insurgents in two separate operations in the province.
For decades, Pakistan has been battling a separatist insurgency in Balochistan, the southern and central parts of which are predominantly inhabited by ethnic Baloch, and with members of the minority often expressing grievances around political exclusion and economic marginalisation.
In March 2025, Baloch separatists killed dozens of people after hijacking a train carrying 450 passengers.
The Balochistan region extends into Iran’s southeastern Sistan and Baluchistan province, which has also been the site of significant unrest.
DW
