Pak forces kill 22 more terrorists in Balochistan, death toll rises to 177

Karachi/Islamabad: Pakistani security forces overnight killed 22 terrorists, raising the death toll of militants to 177 in the last two days in Balochistan after coordinated terror attacks at multiple places in the restive southwestern province, security officials said on Monday.

The counter-terror operation was launched after militants, including two female suicide bombers, belonging to ethnic Baloch groups carried out coordinated attacks across 12 towns, targeting civilians in Quetta, Mastung, Nushki, Dalbandin, Kharan, Panjgur, Tump, Gwadar and Pasni early Saturday.

“Since Sunday night, security forces have killed 22 more terrorists,” Shahid Rind, a spokesperson for the provincial government, said on Monday.

He said that 167 bodies have been sent to hospitals so far for future processing and identification.

Rind said most of the terrorists killed belonged to the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and had support from other insurgent groups.

“These terrorists have been killed over a period of over two days during the attacks or when security forces chased them and started clean-up operations,” he added.

On Sunday, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that the security forces were prepared and timely retaliated to push back the attackers, killing 150 terrorists.

The military and the state have designated these terrorists belonging to insurgent groups or the

Tehreek-e-Taliban as “Fitna-al-Hindustan”, a term the government uses claiming that the militants allegedly receive support from Indian intelligence agencies.

Due to the ongoing clean-up operations at various locations, mobile and internet services were suspended in Quetta, Mastung, Kalat, Khuzdar, Nushki, Dalbandin, Kharan, and other cities.