Focus Keyword: Operation Shaban: Security Forces Kill Three More Militants in Balochistan
Security forces continue Operation Shaban in Balochistan following the deadly attack on police personnel.
Operation Shaban continued in Balochistan on Sunday as security forces killed three more suspected militants, raising the total number of militants killed in the ongoing operation to 67, according to state broadcaster PTV News.
The joint operation is being conducted by the Pakistan Army, Frontier Corps (FC) and Balochistan Police following the deadly terrorist attack on the Mangi Dam pumping station in Quetta district on 7 July, where several police personnel lost their lives.
According to PTV News, air and ground operations against militants are continuing in the Shaban area. The state broadcaster added that 105 suspected militants have been killed in Operation Shaban and other intelligence-based operations carried out across Balochistan since 5 July.
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Security officials said the operation began after militants attacked a police post at the Mangi Dam pumping station. During the assault, the attackers killed nine police officers and abducted 18 others. Authorities later recovered the bodies of the abducted officers from the Zarghoon Gar mountain range.
The operation remains focused on locating and eliminating those allegedly involved in the attack.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan’s civil and military leadership had reached a unified decision to eliminate terrorism from the country.
Speaking during a meeting of the Provincial Apex Committee on the National Action Plan in Quetta, attended by Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, the prime minister said both civilian and military institutions were committed to taking collective action against militant groups.
“One thing is decided: it is a mutual and singular decision of the civil and military leadership that we must end terrorism collectively,” the prime minister said.
The meeting followed a press briefing by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, who said that at least 42 people had been killed in terrorist attacks and subsequent security operations in Balochistan since 5 July.
According to the military, the fatalities included four civilians, 27 police personnel and 11 members of the security forces.
The figures released by state authorities could not be independently verified. Security operations in the affected areas remain ongoing.
