Rawalpindi (GNP): Pakistani security forces carried out an intelligence-based operation in Khuzdar district, Balochistan, targeting militants linked to the group identified as Fitna al-Hindustan, an India-backed network, destroying two explosive-laden vehicles and killing four attackers in the process.
During the operation, security forces intercepted two vehicles configured as vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs) before they could be deployed.
Through a rapid response, both vehicles were destroyed and the four militants operating them were neutralized. Follow-up sanitization operations are currently underway to clear the area of any remaining militants.
Officials said the broader counter-terrorism campaign, conducted under the “Azm-e-Istehkam” framework approved by the Federal Apex Committee on the National Action Plan, would continue at full pace to eliminate foreign-sponsored terrorism from the country.
Background: Operation Shaban
This operation is part of a larger military campaign in Balochistan known as Operation Shaban, jointly conducted by the Pakistan Army, Frontier Corps, and Balochistan Police, aimed at dismantling terrorist networks across the province.
The operation was launched in response to a deadly July 7 attack in the Mangi Dam area that killed 27 police personnel, and involves both ground forces and air operations targeting militants across the region’s difficult mountainous terrain. Since it began, security forces have reportedly killed around 123 militants from various extremist groups operating in the province.
Balochistan has seen a sharp rise in militant attacks in recent months, with fighters from the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and the banned Balochistan Liberation Army increasingly targeting security forces, foreign investment projects, and infrastructure across the resource-rich province.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief General Asim Munir led a high-level meeting in Quetta to review the province’s deteriorating security situation. Sharif said afterward that both civilian and military leadership were united in their resolve to jointly confront terrorism.
According to officials familiar with the operation’s planning, Operation Shaban is intended as a sustained campaign to dismantle militant infrastructure, deny fighters safe havens, and restore government authority throughout Balochistan.
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The operation reportedly spans two distinct geographic fronts, representing an unprecedented scale of simultaneous military activity in the province.
Sohail Majeed is a Special Correspondent at The Diplomatic Insight. He has twelve plus years of experience in journalism & reporting. He covers International Affairs, Diplomacy, UN, Sports, Climate Change, Economy, Technology, and Health.
