More than 200 killed in intense clashes between separatists and army in Pakistan’s Balochistan
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "More than 200 killed in intense clashes between separatists and army in Pakistan’s Balochistan")
A man stands beside burnt vehicles inside a torched police station on the outskirts of Quetta on February 1, 2026 a day after an attack by Baloch separatists. Photograph: (AFP)
Mobile internet service across Balochistan has been jammed for more than 24 hours, while road traffic is disrupted and train services are suspended.
More than 145 militants and another 49 people, including 17 security personnel, were killed in the last 40 hours in a series of intense clashes between Balochistani separatists and Pakistani military forces, Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti said on Sunday (Feb 1). Addressing a press conference in the provincial capital of Quetta, he said, that the bodies of all the 145 killed militants were in the custody of enforcement agencies and the identification process is underway.
He said that another 31 civilians, including women and children, were killed by the militants, adding that the latest clashehs markss highest single-day casualty of the militants since the country launched its "war on terror."
Pakistan has witnessed a sharp surge in attacks against security forces, defence infrastructure and major city centres across the mineral-rich province over demands of independent Balochistan.
Bugti's statement comes a day after the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) said on Saturday that it has launched coordinated attacks at 48 different locations across 14 cities in Pakistan's Balochistan province, including its provincial capital Quetta, under the second phase of Operation Herof. The group claimed that its fighters carried out strikes in Quetta, Noshki, Mastung, Dalbandin, Kalat, Kharan, Panjgur, Gwadar, Pasni, Turbat, Tump, Buleda, Manguchar, Lasbela, Kech, and Awaran, targeting Pakistan’s military and administrative structure while inflicting heavy losses and pushing the Army back in several locations.
The BLA claimed it has killed 84 personnel from Pakistani security forces and captured 18 who are currently in its custody.
Trending Stories
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
"During this operation, a total of 84 occupying Pakistani army personnel, police, intelligence agencies, and CTD personnel were neutralised, dozens were wounded, and 18 personnel were captured alive and are currently in BLA custody," said Jeeyand Baloch, spokesperson for the BLA, in a statement.
The separatist organisation also stated that it took control of and destroyed more than 30 government properties, such as banks, government offices, and prisons, and set 23 vehicles on fire, forcing Pakistan to adopt a defensive posture.
