Pakistan’s army said on Thursday it had ended a week-long operation against separatists in Balochistan who attacked more than a dozen locations, took hostages, planted explosives and engaged in gun battles with security forces.
A man walks past a burnt vehicle at a burnt police station on the outskirts of Quetta on February 1, 2026, a day after an attack by Baloch separatists. (AFP)Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest and poorest province, came to a virtual standstill last Saturday when the separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) launched a coordinated sunrise offensive.
Its fighters entered schools, banks, markets and security installations across the region in one of their largest operations yet.
Images from the provincial capital Quetta and other areas showed buildings blown up, some collapsing to the ground and black bricks and concrete strewn across the streets.
“The situation is now under control as there is no fighting in the city but people are very scared and worried about their safety,” said Quetta resident Nasrullah Khan, 51.
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A search is on for the militantsThe military said it had “successfully concluded” its Raad al-Fitna 1 (countering disorder) operation, thwarting separatist attacks, busting sleeper cells and seizing weapons.
However, the BLA said in a statement that it considered its operation “Heraf” or Black Storm to be ongoing and rejected the military’s suggestion that their operation had ended as “propaganda”.
The military said 216 militants were killed in targeted attacks across the restive southwestern province in an operation that began on January 29, two days before the separatist attack.
It said 22 security personnel and 36 civilians were killed in the encounter with the BLA. A provincial interior ministry official said 45 security officers and 40 civilians were killed.
The BLA, which called on the people of the province to support the movement, said in its statement that they had killed 310 soldiers during their operation without providing evidence.
Security officials and witnesses said the insurgents seized government buildings and police stations at various locations and occupied the desert town of Nushki for three days before being driven out. Officials said helicopters and drones were used to drive separatist fighters out of the city.
“Combing operations are underway in some areas, including parts of Quetta,” Shahid Rind, assistant to the provincial chief minister, told a press conference.
He said a major highway connected to Quetta, the province’s biggest copper mine, was being repaired after it was damaged in an explosion.
Pakistan blamed India for the attack, a charge Delhi rejectedMineral-rich Balochistan borders Iran and Afghanistan and is home to Beijing’s investments in the Gwadar deep-water port and other projects.
It has fought a decade-long insurgency led by ethnic Baloch separatists for greater autonomy and a greater share of its natural resources.
Pakistan has blamed India for the attack, without providing evidence for allegations that could raise tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors, who fought their worst armed conflict in decades in May.
“India has once again intensified terrorism in Pakistan through its proxies,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Thursday.
India’s foreign ministry rejected the allegations and said Islamabad should focus on addressing the “long-standing claims of its people in the region”. The ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sharif’s statement.
(Reporting by Salim Ahmed in Quetta and Mushtaq Ali in Peshawar; Additional reporting by Mubasher Bukhari in Lahore and Tariq Maqbool in Muzaffarabad; Writing by Saad Saeed; Editing by YP Rajesh, Andrew Havens and Gareth Jones)
