Pakistan’s security forces claimed to have killed 52 armed fighters, mostly linked to the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), in operations across multiple provinces.
Pakistan’s security forces say they killed 52 armed fighters, mostly linked to the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), in separate operations across three provinces over the past 24 hours, the army and officials said on Friday.
The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) said the suspects had been planning attacks on police and other law enforcement agencies.
“Acting on credible intelligence about the presence of highly dangerous terrorists in the Chhapri Dam area, Mianwali, CTD teams carried out a targeted operation,” the department said.
Raids in Balochistan
In Balochistan, two intelligence-based operations (IBOs) were conducted. The first, on the outskirts of Harnai district, saw security forces engage a reported terrorist hideout. “After an intense exchange of fire,” 30 armed fighters were killed, and a large cache of ammunition and explosives was seized and destroyed, the army said.
The military said “sanitisation operations” were ongoing in both districts to eliminate any remaining fighters.
Operation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a joint operation by security forces and police in Domel tehsil of Bannu district killed five TTP militants, including a commander. The 10-hour operation also claimed the lives of three civilians and injured several others, police said.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari described the operations as a demonstration of the government’s “unwavering resolve,” according to the Express Tribune.
Pakistan’s long-standing use of terror backfires
As Pakistan continue to face terror related challenges, experts have noted that these problems are far from accidental. For decades, the country’s military and intelligence establishment, particularly the ISI, has nurtured and deployed militant groups as tools against India, pursuing the infamous “bleed India with a thousand cuts” strategy.
UN-designated terrorist organisations such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) are widely reported to operate with state facilitation and shelter. LeT, for instance, has been linked to major attacks in India, including the 2008 Mumbai strikes, highlighting Pakistan’s longstanding policy of proxy terrorism.
As Hillary Clinton once warned Pakistan, “If you raise snakes to bite your neighbour, they will bite you first.” Pakistan’s support for militants has repeatedly backfired, destabilising its own territory and sowing internal chaos.
Human rights violations in Balochistan
The raids also underscore a broader pattern of repression in Balochistan, where human rights organisations have documented widespread abuses by Pakistan’s Frontier Corps and intelligence agencies. These include enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, torture, and arbitrary detentions of Baloch activists and civilians. Many detainees remain unaccounted for, while bodies showing signs of brutal violence have been found along rural roads.
Analysts also say Pakistan’s approach reflects a dual strategy, supporting proxy violence abroad to target India while brutally suppressing its own minority populations at home, particularly the Baloch and Hindus, to maintain control and intimidate dissent.
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