Baloch rebels kill over 80 Pak troops, Afghan shells blast Pak border in Munir nightmare | Gravitas

Even as Pakistani Army Chief Asim Munir is trying to project himself as a peacemaker on the Iran front, trouble is brewing back home.

Baloch rebels claimed to have killed at least 80 Pakistani military personnel. On the other hand, Afghanistan opened fire at Pakistan across the border. One civilian was killed and five others were wounded as Afghan forces fired mortars into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s South Waziristan district.

The shelling reportedly targeted civilian houses and damaged several shops in the Angoor Adda market. It is worth noting that this area was previously a stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban.

Local authorities claimed that Pakistani forces were responding effectively and heavily. According to the Taliban, however, it was Pakistan that first carried out four strikes on the commissioner’s office and security installations in Afghanistan’s Paktika province.

In retaliation, it launched strikes against a nearby Pakistani military base and outposts. It claimed that several Pakistani soldiers were killed or wounded in these strikes and that their facilities sustained heavy damage.

The fresh escalation comes days after governor’s rule was imposed in the province, which was earlier governed by a PTI-led government. The KP governor condemned what he described as “unprovoked Afghan Taliban aggression” and stressed that Pakistan would not tolerate attacks on its people.

He also said, and I quote, “We will never allow anyone to undermine our security.”

Now, although both nations agreed to a ceasefire in October 2025, the truce ended in February this year after Pakistan conducted air strikes in Afghanistan. Islamabad has accused the Afghan government of sheltering the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, a charge that Kabul has consistently denied.

Earlier this week, Pakistan claimed that attacks planned on Afghan soil had caused 3,500 casualties in 2026 alone. However, the UN has documented over 1,100 civilian deaths and injuries in Afghanistan this year from cross-border violence.

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Now, things are heating up on the domestic front as well.

For instance, the Balochistan Liberation Front claimed to have killed over 80 Pakistani military and intelligence personnel since October 22 as part of “Operation Almas”. It said its fighters destroyed 12 armoured vehicles and supply trucks and shot down two surveillance drones. Two police stations were also seized.

Its fighters reportedly targeted a Frontier Works Organisation camp in the strategic port city of Gwadar, along with military positions in two other regions. According to the group, military vehicles and surveillance equipment were also destroyed as part of the operation.

It also threatened to continue targeting military installations and economic projects, including those associated with the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

Now, Munir’s forces have been unable to curb the growing attacks by Baloch rebels, who have staged a number of attacks this year. In July, for instance, gunmen killed nine police officers in an attack on a checkpost at the Mangi Dam project in Balochistan.

The growing escalation points to mounting pressure on Islamabad. At a time when its forces are struggling to combat internal turmoil, can it even honour the terms of the Mecca Pact?