Police kill nine militants in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province

Policeman stands guard in Quetta, Pakistan, on February 5, 2024. (AFP/File)

• The development follows a roadside blast in Balochistan that killed three paramilitary troops and injured four others in the Marget coalfield area
• Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, has been the site of a decades-long insurgency by Baloch separatists besides religiously motivated groups

QUETTA: Police in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province have killed nine suspected militants in an intelligence-based operation in the Pishin district, the provincial police’s counter-terrorism department (CTD) said on Saturday.
The militants belonging to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) were killed during a raid in Khanai Baba, a remote area of Pishin district located 55 kilometers from the provincial capital of Quetta, according to the CTD.
The TTP, which has been fighting with the Pakistani state since 2007, has stepped up its attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces, following the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul in August 2021.
Islamabad has frequently accused Afghanistan of sheltering and supporting anti-Pakistan militant groups, including the TTP, that carry out cross-border attacks in Pakistan. Taliban authorities deny the allegation.
“The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) Balochistan carried out the raid in Pishin, killing nine terrorists of TTP after an exchange of fire,” the CTD said in a statement. “Explosives and arms were seized during the operation.”
The CTD said the slain militants had been involved in various militant activities in the province, without offering any evidence.
Pakistan has been battling twin insurgencies: one led my religiously motivated groups like the TTP, mainly in its Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and the other by ethno-nationalist Baloch separatist groups in Balochistan.
The CTD raid followed a roadside blast in Balochistan that killed three paramilitary troops and injured four others in the Marget coalfield area near Quetta on Friday, a local administration official said.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion is likely to fall on ethnic Baloch separatist militants, who frequently target security forces, Chinese nationals, ethnic Punjabi commuters and laborers in the restive province.
The separatists accuse Islamabad of exploiting the province’s natural resources, such as gold and copper. Successive Pakistani governments have denied the allegations and said they only worked for the uplift of the region and its people.
Last month, the Baloch Liberation Army separatist group hijacked a train with hundreds of passengers aboard near Balochistan’s Bolan Pass, which resulted in the deaths of 23 soldiers, three railway employees and five passengers. At least 33 insurgents were also killed.
In a statement, Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti praised the CTD action against militants in Pishin.
“The intelligence-based operation averted a major tragedy in Balochistan,” he said. “The law enforcement agencies remain fully determined to completely eradicate terrorism from Pakistan.”