Following a suicide car bombing in Quetta that killed 14 people and injured 20, Pakistani security forces conducted intelligence-based operations across multiple Balochistan districts, resulting in the deaths of 17 terrorists, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
The targeted operations took place in Mastung, Nushki, Khuzdar, and Kech districts, where security personnel engaged multiple terrorist positions during intense exchanges of fire, ISPR confirmed Tuesday.
Operations resulted in the elimination of 17 terrorists linked to the designated group “Fitna al Hindustan,” described as a significant blow to regional networks, according to the military’s media wing.
The government uses “Fitna-al-Hindustan” to designate Balochistan-based groups allegedly affiliated with India-sponsored terrorism and destabilization activities.
Security forces recovered substantial weaponry, ammunition, explosives, and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) from the slain terrorists, who had been actively engaged in numerous terrorist operations in the region, ISPR stated.
“Continued sanitization operations will persist to eliminate terrorists from these areas, as Pakistan’s relentless counter-terrorism campaign under ‘Azm e Istehkam’ advances at full pace to eradicate foreign-backed terrorism nationwide,” ISPR emphasized.
Last month, five soldiers including a major were martyred during a sanitization operation in Balochistan’s Barkhan district, alongside seven terrorists killed during Pakistan Army and Frontier Corps operations.
Terrorism in Pakistan has resurged since the Taliban’s return to power in Kabul in 2021, with Islamabad urging the Afghan administration to dismantle terrorist sanctuaries – particularly those linked to the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan – those appeals remaining unheeded.
