Security forces raise Balochistan militant death toll to 43 in Operation Shabaan

Pakistani security forces killed 17 additional militants during ongoing operations in Balochistan on Friday, pushing the total number of fighters killed under Operation Shabaan to 43, according to security sources.

The joint operation involving the Pakistan Army, Frontier Corps and Balochistan Police began following a terrorist attack on the Mangi Dam Police Station and continues to expand as forces intensify their campaign against militants across the province.

Attackers ambushed police personnel stationed in the Kach Mangi Phase III area of Ziarat on Tuesday, sparking hours long gun battles that killed nine police officers, including two station house officers. The assailants also abducted several civilians and police personnel during the attack, prompting the military to launch a series of counterterrorism operations throughout Balochistan in the days that followed.

Security sources said in a statement Friday that the operation had tightened its grip around militants hiding in the province’s mountainous terrain, with ground and aerial operations continuing simultaneously. The sources said forces killed 17 more militants over the previous 24 hours, raising the Operation Shabaan total to 43.

The sources also reported that security forces repelled an attack on a police station in the Zehri area of Khuzdar earlier Friday. Rapid response from Pakistan Army and Frontier Corps troops resulted in eight confirmed militant deaths, while additional reports indicated that helicopter operations killed five to six more fighters. The joint operation continued afterward, with forces using heavy weapons to target militants concealed in the mountains. Four more militants died during this later phase of the operation, and several others sustained injuries, the sources said.

Security forces had already killed 26 militants during operations carried out on July 6 and July 7, according to the sources. Since July 5, the combined total of militants killed through Operation Shabaan and related intelligence based operations in the area has reached 79.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari both praised the Pakistan Army, Frontier Corps and Balochistan Police for their performance during Operation Shabaan, according to state broadcaster PTV News. President Zardari said security forces remain fully capable of countering every type of threat and stated that those relying on proxy elements against Pakistan will not achieve their goals. He said India and other hostile actors were attempting to undermine Pakistan’s recent diplomatic gains, and he vowed that the country would carry its recent achievements through to completion. He added that the state would accept no compromise on national defense and would defeat terrorism regardless of the cost.

Prime Minister Sharif commended the security forces for their courage and professionalism in a separate statement, describing the killing of 75 militants as clear evidence of the forces’ strong operational capability. He praised the strategy security forces employed while conducting operations across difficult mountainous terrain and specifically credited the Pakistan Army and Frontier Corps for repelling the attack on the Khuzdar police station. He said the resolve of both the security forces and the nation would remain unwavering until authorities fully eliminate what the state refers to as Fitna al Khawarij. He pledged that the country would eradicate terrorism and defeat every plot aimed at destabilizing peace in Balochistan, adding that the entire nation stands behind its armed forces and police.

Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti also praised the progress of Operation Shabaan, saying the joint effort by the Pakistan Army, Frontier Corps and Balochistan Police in the province’s rugged terrain had killed 75 militants since July 5 through Operation Shabaan and other ongoing intelligence based operations. Bugti confirmed that forces had also foiled the attack on the Zehri police station in Khuzdar on Friday. He said the state would maintain its authority throughout Balochistan regardless of the cost and that militants would not escape accountability.

Balochistan has experienced a wave of attacks in recent days that killed several security personnel and civilians, prompting retaliatory operations that have killed numerous militants. On Tuesday, attackers struck an army convoy in the Winder area of Bela along the N25 highway, killing at least 11 soldiers, including a junior commissioned officer.

Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, director general of Inter Services Public Relations, told reporters during a briefing on Wednesday that the first major incident occurred overnight between July 4 and July 5, when militants belonging to Fitna al Khawarij attacked local residents in Hanna Urak. He described a second incident as a multi directional assault by the same group on a police checkpoint near Pumping Station Number 3 of Mangi Dam in Ziarat district. The military spokesperson said forces killed 15 militants during the resulting battle, while nine police personnel died in the exchange. Fitna al Khawarij refers to militants belonging to the banned Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan.

Chaudhry said nine police personnel died on the first day of the Mangi Dam attack, with 18 more dying later, raising the total number of police fatalities from that incident to 27. He added that security forces killed another 11 militants after attackers targeted the area a second time, bringing the combined death toll from both engagements to 26 militants. The military spokesperson also said India and other hostile elements remain involved in supporting terrorism inside Pakistan because they cannot tolerate the country’s stability and progress.

A United Nations Security Council report released in February documented a rise in attacks by the Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan originating from Afghanistan, along with a series of assaults by the banned Baloch Liberation Army against Pakistani security forces and infrastructure linked to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor. The report cited a September 2025 ambush in which the Baloch Liberation Army killed 32 troops during an attack on a military convoy patrolling the corridor. It also noted that some member states observed coordination between the Baloch Liberation Army and groups including the Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan and ISIL K, involving shared training camps and coordinated planning between commanders, though assessments found no significant ties between the Baloch Liberation Army and Al Qaeda.

The report further noted that armed groups operating from Afghanistan had obtained modern military equipment through cross border smuggling networks, including advanced rifles, night vision equipment, thermal imaging devices, sniper systems and drone based attack tools. A separate United Nations monitoring report from August 2025 described close coordination between the Baloch Liberation Army, including its Majeed Brigade, and the Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan. The Security Council report also referenced the hijacking of the Jaffar Express in Balochistan in March 2025, an attack that killed 31 people, including 21 hostages, and that investigators described as demonstrating a high level of complexity and brutality.