Pakistan says it has killed 145 ‘Indian-backed terrorists’ after Balochistan attacks
‘The bodies of these 145 killed terrorists are in our custody, and some of them are Afghan nationals,’ the provincial chief minister said
Pakistani police and military forces killed more than 100 “Indian-backed terrorists” in counterterrorism operations across the restive southwestern province of Balochistan over the past 40 hours, government officials said on Sunday, a day after coordinated suicide and gun attacks killed 33 people, mostly civilians.
The raids began early on Saturday at multiple locations across Balochistan, and left 18 civilians, including five women and three children, and 15 security staff dead, authorities said.
Sarfraz Bugti, the provincial chief minister, told reporters in Quetta that troops and police officers responded swiftly, killing 145 members of “Fitna al-Hindustan”, a phrase the government uses for the allegedly Indian-backed outlawed Baloch Liberation Army, or BLA. The number of militants killed over the past two days was the highest in decades, he said.
“The bodies of these 145 killed terrorists are in our custody, and some of them are Afghan nationals,” he said. Bugti claimed that the “Indian-backed terrorists” wanted to take hostages but failed to make it to the city centre.
‘Indian-backed terrorists’ killed in Pakistan
He spoke alongside senior government official Hamza Shafqat, who often oversees such operations against insurgents in the province, and praised the military, police and paramilitary forces for repelling the assaults.
Militant attacks erupted on Saturday in a resource-rich region where Pakistan is seeking to attract foreign investment in mining and minerals. In September 2025, a US metals company signed a US$500 million investment agreement with Pakistan, a month after the US State Department designated BLA and its armed wing as a foreign terrorist organisation.