Security forces in Pakistan carried out two separate operations over the weekend in the restive southwestern province of Balochistan, killing three suspected terrorists, the Pakistani military said Monday. The operations came just hours before a bomb explosion in another district killed four civilians and wounded a dozen more.
The intelligence-based raids took place in Awaran and Kech districts on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Army, one suspect was killed and two others injured in a firefight in the Gishkur area of Awaran. In a separate operation in Turbat city, two additional suspects were killed during what the army described as an intense exchange of fire.
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Weapons, explosives, and ammunition were recovered from the sites, ISPR said, adding that the individuals targeted were believed to have been involved in multiple attacks against law enforcement personnel and civilians. The military said the operations were part of its broader effort to prevent “any attempt to sabotage peace, stability, and progress in Balochistan,” and that clearance operations were underway to eliminate remaining threats.
Separately, on Sunday evening, an improvised explosive device planted in a parked car exploded in Killa Abdullah district, about 60 miles from Quetta. “It seems the IED exploded before reaching its intended destination,” said local security official Ghulab Khan. Four civilians were killed and 12 others wounded in the blast, which occurred near a paramilitary compound.
No group has claimed responsibility for the bombing. Pakistan has long struggled with a separatist insurgency in Balochistan, where groups such as the Baloch Liberation Army and local affiliates of the Islamic State group have targeted security forces, foreign nationals, and civilians. Violence in the province has escalated in recent years, particularly since the Taliban returned to power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021. Islamabad accuses the Taliban government of harboring fighters who use Afghan soil to stage cross-border attacks, a charge Kabul denies.
Earlier this year, ethnic Baloch fighters stormed a passenger train, killing dozens and triggering a two-day siege. Since January, more than 240 people—most of them security personnel—have been killed in attacks across Balochistan and neighboring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, according to tallies by Pakistani authorities and independent monitors.