Pakistani security forces hunt militants behind weekend attacks

By Saleem Ahmed, Ariba Shahid and Asif Shahzad

Pakistani soldiers were hunting down separatist militants on Monday who stormed schools, banks, and security installations, killing nearly 50 people, in coordinated attacks across southwestern Balochistan province, the military said.

The weekend attacks brought Pakistan's largest province to a near standstill as the separatist Baloch Liberation Army struck nearly a dozen targets in one of their largest-ever operations, killing 17 security officials and 31 civilians.

Pakistan's military has killed 177 BLA fighters in three days of fighting, the interior ministry said on Monday, while the provincial government has imposed restrictions on public gatherings and concealing identity, such as through face covering, local media reported.

Pakistan's government and military have said the group has received support from India, without providing evidence, charges that could escalate hostilities between the nuclear-powered neighbours who engaged in their worst armed conflict in decades in May.

Witnesses in Quetta described militants entering banks and markets, setting off explosives and opening fire across the highly fortified provincial capital.

"It was around 9.30 a.m. when a powerful explosion took place that rocked the entire area," said Robina Ali, a housewife who lives near the provincial administrative building.

"I thought the roof and walls of my house were going to blow up."

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said 22 more militants had been killed overnight in different areas of Balochistan, taking the total to 177.

"The Indian agents and their facilitators will be completely eliminated," Naqvi said in a statement. The prime minister's spokesperson also cited the attacks as spurring Pakistan to pull out of its cricket match with India at next month's T20 World Cup.

India's foreign office rejected the allegations on Sunday, saying Islamabad should instead address the "long-standing demands of its people in the region".

LOCAL SUPPORT

The BLA on Monday called for the people of Balochistan to support the movement, with analysts saying the group enjoys growing local support bolstered by the extraction of natural resources from Balochistan and the emergence of Chinese infrastructure projects across the province, which residents say have not delivered economic development.

Pakistan's military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"Remain cautious, maintain a safe distance from the enemy and continue providing support and assistance to the fighters in areas where the end of operations has not yet been announced, as has been done so far," BLA spokesperson Jeeyand Baloch said.

Balochistan, Pakistan's largest and poorest province, has faced a decades-long insurgency led by ethnic Baloch separatists seeking greater autonomy and a larger share of its natural resources.

The BLA is the strongest of those groups in the mineral-rich region bordering Iran and Afghanistan that is home to Beijing's investment in the Gwadar deep-water port and other projects.

The banned BLA said the latest attacks were part of a coordinated operation dubbed Herof, or "black storm", targeting security forces across the province.

Abdul Basit, who researches militancy and insurgency at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, said the group "has evolved from being a defensive, tribal insurgency restricted to parts of Balochistan ... to a middle-class, urban insurgency that is now on an offensive posture."

GROWING STRENGTH

Data compiled by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project shows a sharp escalation in Baloch separatist violence over the past five years, with incidents and fatalities rising by 60% in 2025, the deadliest year on record.

"The insurgents cannot create a separate state, and the military cannot fully eliminate them," Basit said. "This deadlock is producing extreme violence, which is what we are seeing in Balochistan."

The militants are also benefiting from porous borders with Afghanistan, "which gives them space to regroup," Pearl Pandya, senior South Asia analyst at ACLED, said.

"The state's violent response also feeds resentment and fuels cycles of recruitment."

Ihsan Ghani, Pakistan's former counterterrorism chief, said a military solution was not the answer and that the government must find a way to engage with moderate Baloch groups.

"The state has already lost the trust - so instead of talking about trust building, you are increasing the wedge with the use of force, and not giving them any chances to talk about their grievances."