SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
More than 250 people killed after separatist attacks in Pakistan: official
Islamabad, Pakistan, Feb 4 (AFP) Feb 04, 2026
More than 250 people have been killed in coordinated attacks launched by separatists across Pakistan's Balochistan province since Saturday, a security official said on Wednesday, with fighting continuing as government forces pursue the militants.

Pakistan has been battling a Baloch separatist insurgency for decades, with frequent armed attacks on security forces, foreign nationals and non-local Pakistanis in the mineral-rich province bordering Afghanistan and Iran.

A senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP on Wednesday that "197 terrorists have been killed in the ongoing counter-terrorism operations".

He added that at least 36 civilians and 22 security personnel were killed during the coordinated attacks in restive Balochistan.

Sporadic clashes were still taking place in some districts, after militants stormed banks, jails, police stations and military installations over the weekend.

The chief minister of Balochistan, Sarfraz Bugti, told a news conference in Quetta on Sunday that all the districts under attack were cleared.

"We are chasing them, we will not let them go so easily," he said.

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the province's most active militant separatist group, claimed responsibility for the attacks in a statement sent to AFP.

The group, which the United States has designated a terrorist organisation, said it had targeted military installations as well as police and civil administration officials in gun attacks and suicide bombings.

The BLA has intensified attacks on Pakistanis from other provinces working in the region in recent years, as well as foreign energy firms.

Last year, the separatists attacked a train with 450 passengers on board, sparking a deadly two-day siege.

The United Nations on Tuesday called the recent attacks "heinous and cowardly".


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Musk merges xAI into SpaceX in bid to build space data centers
NASA backs studies to boost hypersonic flight testing
Flat dark matter sheet solves local galaxy motion puzzle

24/7 Energy News Coverage
US contract vehicle to speed US made defense semiconductors into military systems
Equities and precious metals rebound after Asia-wide rout
Physicists predict significant growth for cadmium telluride photovoltaics

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
With Trump mum, last US-Russia nuclear pact set to end
India budget pledges record infrastructure and defence boost
Lockheed ramps up THAAD interceptor output with new framework deal and Camden facility

24/7 News Coverage
Sentinel 1 maps reveal flexible crust beneath Tibetan Plateau
Stable water tables help wetlands curb methane emissions
Rock microbes reveal hidden groundwater carbon engine



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.