Pakistan’s security forces have killed 129 militants in Balochistan since Operation Shaban was launched on July 5, as the campaign enters its third week and ISPR continues to report daily intelligence-based operations targeting militant networks across the province (Bol News; The Express Tribune).
The operation is conducted under the Azm-e-Istehkam national counter-terrorism strategy, approved by the Federal Apex Committee under the National Action Plan following the July 4–8 coordinated militant assaults across Balochistan that killed 42 people including 38 security personnel. ISPR has attributed the insurgency to a joint operational posture between the Balochistan Liberation Army and factions of the Pakistani Taliban.
Among the operations reported in the past week: the arrest of two female suicide bombers in Mastung who were being deployed by Fitna al-Hindustan; a compound clearance operation in which ten militants were killed; and continuing sweeps across Khuzdar, Nushki and Panjgur districts targeting IED-laying and ambush cells.
The operation’s third week coincides with the appointment of General Aamer Raza as Commander National Strategic Command today — a restructuring of Pakistan’s highest military command that reflects both the scale of the ongoing security challenge in Balochistan and the broader restructuring of Pakistan’s unified defence architecture under Field Marshal Asim Munir’s Chief of Defence Forces role.
ISPR has not provided a projected timeline for Operation Shaban’s conclusion.
