ISLAMABAD: Pakistan military’s media wing said on Thursday that 18 “Indian-sponsored terrorists” were killed in the southwestern Balochistan province this week, vowing to scale its operations and eliminate militancy from the country.
The militants were gunned down in two separate counter-terror operations on Oct. 28 and 29, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement. The first operation was carried out in Quetta district’s Chiltan Mountains on the reported presence of “terrorists” in which 14 militants were killed, the military’s media wing said.
It said that a “terrorist hideout” was busted and four militants were killed in the southwestern Kech district’s Buleda area in the second counter-terror operation. The military said weapons, ammunition and explosives were also recovered from the killed “terrorists,” who it alleged remained actively involved in numerous militant activities.
“Sanitization operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Indian sponsored terrorist found in the area, as relentless Counter Terrorism campaign under vision “Azm e Istehkam” (as approved by Federal Apex Committee on National Action Plan) by Security Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies of Pakistan will continue at full pace to wipe out menace of foreign sponsored and supported terrorism from the country,” the ISPR said.
Pakistan has been battling twin insurgencies in its northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan provinces and has faced rising militancy in both areas in recent years. A day earlier, the ISPR reported that six Pakistani soldiers, including a captain, were killed in the country’s northwestern Kurram district during a counter-terror operation.
In Balochistan, ethnic Baloch militants accuse Islamabad of denying locals a share in the province’s mineral resources and demand independence from the federation. Islamabad has always denied the allegations and maintained it is undertaking several health, education and social development projects in the province.
The most prominent of these separatist groups is the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), which has carried out some of the deadliest attacks in recent years against Pakistan’s law enforcement personnel.
BLA fighters stormed the Jaffar Express passenger train in March this year and took hundreds hostage. The hijacking ended after an hours-long military operation that killed 33 militants, while 23 soldiers, three railway staff and five passengers also lost their lives.
Pakistan’s military and civilian government have repeatedly accused India of sponsoring militant activities in Balochistan. New Delhi denies the allegations and insists Pakistan supports militancy in the part of Kashmir that India administers.
Pakistan has also frequently accused Afghanistan of allowing the use of its soil for cross-border attacks in its western provinces, a charge Kabul has consistently denied.
