Three major armed attacks have struck Pakistan’s Balochistan over just four days, killing at least 38 of the country’s security personnel and four civilians.
The deadliest of these attacks targeted a police checkpoint at the Mangi Dam area in northern Balochistan’s Ziarat district. Separatist militants first killed nine police officers there. Pakistan’s army claims that during a subsequent rescue operation, 18 more abducted police officers were killed.
In response to these attacks, Pakistan’s security forces launched counter-operations. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said counter-operations in Ziarat, Bela-Uthal, Kharan and Dalbandin killed a total of 54 “terrorists.”
However, Baloch insurgent groups claim the actual number of Pakistani security personnel killed is far higher than official figures.
Multi-pronged attack at Mangi Dam
Late at night on July 6, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) launched a multi-pronged attack on a police checkpoint near Pumping Station No. 3 of the Mangi Dam project in Ziarat district. According to Pakistan’s army, armed “terrorists” attacked simultaneously from multiple directions, engaging police in a prolonged gun battle. The attackers eventually took control of the checkpoint. At least nine police officers were killed, including two station house officers (SHOs) from Mangi and Kawas police stations and a head constable from the counter-terrorism force.
Pakistan’s army claims police killed 15 “terrorists” in the initial clash, but before army and Frontier Corps reinforcements arrived, the attackers took the remaining police officers hostage into the hilly terrain.
The situation turned into a hostage crisis after Pakistan’s army and Frontier Corps launched a large-scale operation. ISPR Director General Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said the “terrorists” took 18 police officers hostage alive.
He said security forces did not use heavy weapons or air strikes because of the risk to the hostages’ lives. However, when security forces surrounded them from all sides, the terrorists killed all 18 hostage police officers.
Sharif Chaudhry claimed 11 more terrorists were killed during the rescue operation, bringing the total number of terrorists killed in the Ziarat area to 26, according to Pakistan’s army. Following the incident, the Balochistan government suspended the Ziarat superintendent of police. A four-member investigation committee has also been formed, tasked with reconstructing the full sequence of the attack and investigating whether there were security lapses, command-level failures, or lack of coordination among law enforcement agencies, and issuing recommendations.
Attack on Pakistan army convoy
While the operation in Ziarat was under way, a Pakistan army convoy was attacked on the N-25 highway in the Bela-Uthal area of southern Balochistan’s Lasbela district.
ISPR claims the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) carried out this attack, which killed a total of 11 soldiers, including one junior commissioned officer (JCO) and 10 soldiers.
Pakistan’s army said 14 attackers were killed in the counter-operation. The BLA, meanwhile, claims its fighters killed 17 Pakistani soldiers in the attack and seized weapons and military equipment.
Pakistan under pressure from continuous attacks
After a series of attacks across various parts of Balochistan within four days, Pakistan’s army has come under significant pressure. ISPR Director General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry pledged at a press conference to hunt down the attackers wherever they are. He warned that operations against militants would face no questions of “reasonableness or proportionality.”
Blame placed on India and Afghanistan
At a press conference in Rawalpindi, the ISPR chief blamed India and Afghanistan for these attacks. He claimed India-backed groups are behind the attacks and that TTP members are using Afghan soil to launch attacks on Pakistan.
He further claimed that many militants killed in recent operations were Afghan nationals. However, he presented no evidence to support these allegations.
India, for its part, has as usual denied allegations of supporting Baloch insurgents. Similarly, the Afghan Taliban government has also rejected accusations that its territory is being used for attacks against Pakistan.
Despite being rich in natural resources, Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province, has long been a center of separatist insurgency, armed attacks and political instability.
Groups like the BLA have continued armed operations, while a long-running civilian movement also continues, demanding an end to enforced disappearances, political rights, and Baloch control over natural resources.
Human rights organizations allege that Pakistan’s security forces are pursuing the same harsh crackdown policy against both armed insurgents and peaceful activists. Strict legal action and prolonged detention of Baloch Yakjehti Committee leader Mahrang Baloch have further intensified that criticism.
According to analysts, military operations to suppress militancy are not the sole solution to Balochistan’s crisis. Without addressing underlying issues such as long-standing political marginalization, enforced disappearances, allegations of human rights violations and local public discontent, breaking this cycle of violence will remain difficult.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report