ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces have killed 75 militants in counterterrorism operations across Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province since July 5, according to security officials on Friday, after separatist militant attacks killed dozens of people in the province this month.
Pakistan’s military said earlier this week that militants killed 42 people, most of them security personnel, in three coordinated attacks across the province since July 4, prompting a large-scale security crackdown.
One of the attacks targeted police posts in the Mangi area, killing nine law enforcement officials and triggering Operation Shaban, which has resulted in the killing of dozens of militants.
“Since 5 July, in Operation Shaban and other intelligence-based operations, a total of 75 terrorists have been neutralized,” the officials said on condition of anonymity.
“The total number of terrorists neutralized in Operation Shaban has now reached 39,” they added, saying ground and aerial operations remained underway.
The officials also said security forces repelled a separate attack on a police station in the Zaidi area of Khuzdar on Friday morning, killing eight militants.
They added there were reports that five to six more militants had been killed in helicopter operations, though those casualties could not be independently confirmed.
Pakistan has long battled both separatist insurgents, including the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army, in Balochistan and militants linked to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday blamed Pakistan’s “eastern neighbor,” a reference to India, for backing the attacks, during a trip to Balochistan.
Islamabad has repeatedly accused India of supporting separatist militants in the province, an allegation New Delhi denies, while it also accuses Afghanistan of providing safe havens to militant groups that carry out attacks inside Pakistan, a charge Kabul rejects.
