ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrived in the southwestern city of Quetta on Thursday to chair a high-level meeting on the prevailing law-and-order situation in Balochistan, his office said, after recent militant attacks killed 42 in the province.
Pakistan military spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said on Wednesday that at least 38 security personnel and four civilians had been killed in three major attacks in various areas of Balochistan since July 4. Chaudhry said law enforcement agencies had killed 54 militants in various counterterror operations.
“During his visit, the prime minister will chair a high-level meeting on the law-and-order situation,” Sharif’s office said.
Sharif was received by the governor, chief minister, and senior civil and military officials upon his arrival in Quetta.
Pakistan’s military has said that the recent attacks were carried out by the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) groups in Balochistan. The attacks underscore the worsening security situation in Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest but least populated province, which borders Afghanistan and Iran.
Balochistan has long faced a separatist insurgency led by the BLA, while the TTP has also intensified attacks in the region.
Chaudhry blamed India for supporting both militant groups and alleged that Afghanistan was allowing its territory to be used for attacks against Pakistan.
India denies Pakistan’s allegations that it supports the BLA and TTP, while Afghanistan has repeatedly said it does not allow militants to operate from its soil. Pakistan has carried out military operations and cross-border airstrikes in Afghanistan since last year, straining ties between the two nations and triggering fierce border clashes between the two nations.
