Pakistan military says 42 killed in fighter attacks in Balochistan

SaveSharefacebookxwhatsapp-strokecopylinkPeople watch an ambulance arrive with the bodies of police officers who were killed in an overnight attack, at a hospital in Ziarat, a district in Pakistan's southwetern Balochistan province, Tuesday, July 7, 2026 [AP]By AFP and APPublished On 8 Jul 20268 Jul 2026Rebel fighters in southwestern Pakistan have killed 18 police officers and 11 soldiers in separate attacks, the military has said.The latest attacks, which unfolded in the province of Balochistan, have brought the death toll since Monday to 42 people, military spokesperson Lieutenant General Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry told a televised news conference Wednesday.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Pakistan says it intercepted four drones fired from Afghanistanlist 2 of 4After Afghanistan fires drones into Pakistan, what’s next?list 3 of 4In South Asia, America has stopped asking India for permissionlist 4 of 4At least nine police officers killed in southwestern Pakistan attackend of listChaudhry said the casualties included four civilians, while security forces also killed 54 fighters across several operations.“We will chase you, we will hurt you,” Chaudhry said, claiming that “many Afghans” were behind the attacks.“We will take on each and every terrorist, their facilitators, those who harbour them, those who nourish them and those who provide them bases, wherever they are located,” he added.The 18 slain police officers were abducted Monday, when dozens of fighters descended upon a post guarding the large Mangi dam project in Balochistan’s Ziarat district. Nine other officers were killed in the attack.Then, on Wednesday, fighters ambushed a vehicle as it travelled on a Balochistan highway, killing the 11 soldiers, Chaudhry said. Escalating attacksPakistan has been battling a separatist uprising for years in Balochistan, which is the country’s largest, but least populated, province bordering Afghanistan and Iran.Fighters from the banned Pakistan Taliban (TTP) – which is allied with Afghanistan’s Taliban – and the banned Balochistan Liberation Army have targeted state forces, foreign investment projects and infrastructure in the mineral-laden region. At least five separatist uprisings have been recorded since Pakistani independence in 1947.Islamabad has repeatedly accused Afghanistan of serving as a base for separatist groups seeking to overthrow Pakistan’s central government, which Kabul has denied.Earlier this month, Pakistan’s military said it intercepted four drones launched by the Afghan Taliban into Balochistan, the latest in a string of tit-for-tat strikes since October 2025.The strikes came after Pakistani security forces killed 29 fighters along the Afghan border in late June, following an assault on a Karachi paramilitary compound for which the Pakistan Taliban claimed responsibility.The Afghan Taliban government disputed that those targeted were fighters, however, and said the Pakistani operation killed at least 36 civilians and wounded 163 others.Islamabad has also accused neighbour and rival India of backing the BLA without evidence. India says it does not support Pakistan’s rebel groups.In January, Pakistan’s security forces killed at least 41 armed fighters it charged had links to India.